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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

O/T Skidding trees

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SteveinCT

02-06-2006 15:10:35




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I am working a property for a guy that wants every tree gone. It's 5 acres of hillside with a wood road at the bottom, all behind his house. I can get my 4x4 truck up the road to the bottom of the hill, so the plan is to fell the trees and skid them down the hill to the road and take them out. I bought skidding tongs and tried them this weekend. The minute the tree hit some resistance as it was coming down the hill, the tongs pulled out. I hammered both points in with an axe and kept a nice steady pressure on the 3/4 rope I am using. Kept pulling the tongs out, and the wood is oak, both barked and de-barked. What am I doing wrong?? It's not the truck or the rope, I just ditched the tongs and tied off to the tree and pulled it done the hill no problem, except the hassle of untying. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Steve

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Joel Harman

02-09-2006 08:50:38




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
There are skidding tongs & loading tongs. Of course I cannot recall which is which.



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Slofr8

02-09-2006 01:21:10




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
I have a skidding cone from www.novajack.com
and love it. I use it to skid my fire wood with a four wheeler.
Dan.



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daFarmerDave

02-08-2006 18:15:40




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
I skidded with the cheaper Norther Tool tongs with a tractor. I used 3 pt boom pole or crane or hog skinner or whatever you calls it. The picking up action on the 3 pt seems to help a lot.

I tried dragging them with the draw bar first and skidder tongs first. But I kept dropping them.

My tongs broke after about 50 logs. I had to replace the pivot bolt. I had to use a new bolt and a nylon lock nut.

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buickanddeere

02-07-2006 07:56:45




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
A couple of things to consider. Some jurisdictions have regulations on tree harvesting, water shed alterations etc. This fellow maybe hiring you instead of a regular logging contractor hoping you don't know any better. And you will get whacked with most of the fine and court time. Stripping the trees off a hill is a fast an easy way to get flooded out or washed away in a landslide. Happens all the time in both third world countries and here. Hauling with a crawler or tractor allows full pulling power at slow speeds and fewer worries about body work damage. Getting a crawler or tractor hooked 3 to 5 ft from the end of the log with a short chain is the same as tractor pulling. The front of the log/sled isn't digging into the earth increasing drag. And the weight of the log is being transferred to the drawbar which improves traction. This offer of logging work will cost you more than it makes. Time to move onto something
else.

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Slowpoke

02-07-2006 00:42:27




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
The way I get it, you are not backing up the hill and hooking up a few feet from the butt.
You are staying at the bottom and pulling the log from there, with a long rope, right? In that case, there is not much force on the tongs, since gravity is doing a lot of the work for you.
So the points tend to loosen from the vibration and fall out. Have you ever tried to split a piece of firewood where the wedge will fly back out like it has a spring on it? Sounds like the same kind of wood, so the points won't stay in. A choker or chain will work better. My 2�.\

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Garyin co

02-06-2006 22:33:51




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
The closer you tie them, the better. Never had access to a logging arch, always used a choker cable or a chain. The closer they are, helps lift the butts off of the ground.



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jack12345

02-06-2006 21:35:40




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
I use a logging arch , keeps your logs clean AND easy pulling dont tear up ground either! Of course I have my own sawmill blades to be concerned about.



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NC Wayne

02-06-2006 18:50:09




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
I agree with Patrolman, you need to get yourself a cable choker to skid them with. We had one made up using 5/8 cable nearly 16 years ago that we used it to pull out all the logs when Dad built his house. We used it again 4 years later when I build mine and I'm still using it to this day to skid logs our neighbor took down recently to put on an addition. The most recent log I pulled was a elm that was nearly 24 inches across the butt and around 25 feet long. We've skidded dad's lot with his old '60 Chevy truck, til we got hold of a 440 Deere dozer. Now the dozer gets utilized all the time, for everything, including my recent skidding work. There are a couple of things you need to watch for when using a cable. First you already know about from using the tongs, it can come off and shoot forward if you have enough pressure on it. I usually try to hook up at least three or four feet from the end of the log to give it a little room to slip and be noticed and rechoked before it comes all the way off. If ou can hook up below a knot, limb, etc then it's almost guaranteed your gonna break the cable before it ever slipps off. In that case if you hit a snag one of three things is likely to happen. One the towing vehile comes to a screaching stop, two the cable snaps (not likely if you get a large enough diameter cable), and three, if all conditions are right, the cable can lever the log up ann forward toward the towing vehicle bringint the tail end crashing down toward you. This third scenario isn't likely to happen if your skidding long logs, especially with a typical 4x4 but if you strp up to a heavier tracked vehicle it s a distinct possiblilty. The main thing is to simply make sure everybody stays at a safe distance when your doing this kind of work so no one gets hurt when something unexpected happens. As the other posts suggests Baileys is a good place to get a choker if you don't have a cable place local to you that can make one up.

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Coldiron

02-06-2006 18:38:20




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
Steve, I agree with the idea of the chokers or you could try a 45 deg bevel on the ends of the logs to prevent them from snagging so easily. They did that in the old days to make dragging them easier. That was before the days of high lead logging. On the tongs I have the points angle toward the tow ring so the harder the pull the deeper they dig into the log.



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in sticks

02-06-2006 17:44:29




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
if you can get the ''butt end'' of tree/log off the ground when pulling it will skid easier.hitch higher on your ''skidder'' versus lower.also BE CAREFUL.



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in sticks

02-06-2006 17:37:11




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
if you can get the ''butt end'' of tree/log off the ground when pulling it will skid easier.hitch higher on your ''skidder'' versus lower.also BE CAREFUL.



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supergrumpy

02-06-2006 16:23:40




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
do a search on "logging arch"



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Patrolman

02-06-2006 16:04:10




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
Don't know where you are located?
I have used a cable choker for skidding logs for many years. Try www.baileys-online.com . Good company for any thing to do with cutting wood or logging. I suggest trying thier 3/8" X 12' one, $14,95


x



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Fawteen

02-06-2006 15:31:31




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-06-2006 15:10:35  
I'm not trying to be a wisea$$, but my first suggestion would be to search the archives and read all the threads about people who have gotten themselves and/or their equipment all stove to he!! skidding logs without the proper equipment or experience.



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SteveinCT

02-07-2006 04:35:45




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to Fawteen, 02-06-2006 15:31:31  
Thanks everyone, gonna try the choker. Fawteen, I appreciate the thought, I should have said I am using a block securely tied to a big tree so I am not pulling straight down towards the truck, but at a 90 degree angle. I don't want to get all stove up!



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rc in ct

02-07-2006 08:45:48




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-07-2006 04:35:45  
Off chance you're cutting white pine. I need 20-30 straight pine logs. Could use yellow birch,w/r oak etc as well.



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SteveinCT

02-07-2006 10:01:20




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to rc in ct, 02-07-2006 08:45:48  
No white pine to speak of, some Norway spruce, to about 18", some still standing, I'd have to count how many there are, but if you can get them and want them, as long as the homeowner doesn't mind(he shouldn't), they are yours . I am doing firewood with all the hardwood, mostly black birch. It's in Roxbury. Let me know.



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rc in ct

02-07-2006 10:49:55




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 Re: O/T Skidding trees in reply to SteveinCT, 02-07-2006 10:01:20  
Thanks for the reply at the moment I'm not looking for spruce. I know of one logger that is/was looking for black birch trees,logs. If you're interested I'll ask him what the market is paying at the moment or pass you his phone #. Five acres worth could be profitable.



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