Using a Skid Cone to Move Logs for a Cabin
Vložit
- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
- Join the SilviCultural community for FREE
silvicultural....
Free Forestry Guide: thetimberlandi...
After deciding my forwarding trailer lacked the agility needed for an effective small scale harvest, I'm experimenting with using my tractor to forward smaller amounts of wood to hypothetical points along a main trail spaced further apart. My first experiment involves using the simplest of all small scale harvesting methods: the skid cone.
Skid cone: amzn.to/3X9nwyE
🌲Join my newsletter for updates and get your guide: thetimberlandinvestor.com/how-to-read-your-forest-an-intro-to-diy-forest-management🌲
I have never seen one of these cones, I have cut on my woodlots in NH for years for firewood and lumber for my own buildings and barns. I have started cutting around the edges of hay fields for a farmer friend to stop shadeing the edge and thinkthis cone will work great to not tear up ground as much. Thanks.
They're a game changer. I have a Honda engined Portable capstan winch, which works wonder with that cone.
@@yonmusak Absolutely, I bought the portable winch and cone years ago, works very well in many situations. I use the cone with my ATV as well but my lot is very wet so I'm trying to stick to winter logging, I drag the cone behind my snowmobile, love it.
I use choke chains. Also put a bar across your 3point it will give you the ability to lift the log slightly which is much better. I actually cut a point in logs if I have to drag them thru tangly or stumpy areas.
Like Thomas said - consider a drawbar on your 3 point hitch. Get a few hooks that are a cross between a chain hook and a clevis. You can pin those onto your drawbar then hook the chains into them. (Set so hook faces up so stay hooked if goes slack.) 3pt gives you lift ability and keeps the weight below CG. Safer than a ball and can drag mult logs.
Love the tractor, I have the same B2601 but with loader and a smaller brush grapple on front. Ive moved a lot of BIG logs with it, works amazing, but obviously needs some width to maneuver. The biggest surprise has been using the grapple for land clearing. Since I have sandy soil here, I can clear land almost entirely with the grapple, no need to brush hog or use a mulcher. I am planning to do a small milling operation like you, if I ever find the right land. I would likely go a Woodland Mills 36” mill. Don’t love China stuff at all but they seem passable and the price diff is ridiculous now with FJB inflation. I have their small stump grinder and boy is it useful. Sits on the 3pt like a counterweight but it will rip and destroy roots so works great in conjunction for land clearing. I think a grapple on the back with a skidding winch is nice, only thing I didn’t like on Sandy’s setup was how at risk the rear end of the tractor and hydro hoses seemed to be to a log strike. Youll definitely want some counterweights on the front if you do that, especially with no loader. I would not worry at all about ground disturbance with that thing, it’s the lightest compact tractor on the market. One of the main reasons I bought it, since it won’t mess up my reel mowed lawn when I do aeration and top dressing. Best of luck with the cabin, glad to see others getting serious about the problems coming our way. God bless.
Thanks for the info. Yeah, counterweights were definitely on my mind. I could use them right now to be honest, as I think it could help the steering responsiveness.
Take a good look at all the skid-steer style attachments you could put on a front loader, might make more sense then spending hundreds on weights. Keep in mind the limited hydro flow from a 3rd function on the Kubota vs skid steers. Grapple, bucket, and forks are used regularly on mine and I have a trenching type bucket too which is occasionally useful. Plan to get an augur for the loader since they work so much better than a 3pt augur. Forks would be slick if you did IBC firewood system. Also grapple/forks will be a lot better then that skidding crane to put logs on the mill I think, you don’t want them slamming around. Just some ideas, obviously this stuff isn’t cheap, but if you have a family consider the lifetime the equipment might see.
Thanks, I appreciate the thoughts. I have a lot to consider clearly.
I am definitely concerned about the grapple crane, but plan to use the bunk as a sort of "settling pool" for the logs, so I can get a good, centered grip on them for better control.
3 point skidding winch will change your life. For the better😊
Elasticity is the word I think you were looking for. Steel cable has roughly 1.5% which is enough for it to snake back towards a winch operator when it fails. That is why you see people throw a jacket or blanket over a wire when winching. Nylon has 40% which is why it is not used except in specific applications.
Oh yeah, elasticity, duh
Just the tip!
I'm really enjoying your book and videos! I'm very safety oriented (I work in an operating room and have seen some gnarly logging injuries). I recommend that you consider buying a new forestry helmet; the fading that seems evident is a cardinal sign of UV damage that will lead to brittleness that compromises the protection it should afford you.
Thanks for looking out. To be honest, this is an older chainsaw helmet I use mostly for the muffs, but I should definitely have something a little integrous for working with the crane.
They make "C" shaped hooks that will slide on a chain at least well enough for this. Not as well as a proper wire choker, but decent. Chain benefits are easy modification, use with chain hooks on buckets, etc.
I use a grapple a lot and the age on it is around 40 years.
Is the terrible music so you don't get a copyright strike?
I know. It's like Vince Guaraldi on Valium (tm).
It's hideous and that weird snapping noise too. Had to mute the video.
Great choice in equipment. Horrible choice in music. 🤮
🇺🇸🇩🇰🌳🌲👍😀
Your timber is small bro
You get the best silvicultural bang for your buck by harvesting small timber. That's the point.
@@thetimberlandinvestor No.. let the forest grow. Stop disturbing it for increasingly devalued USD. Resources > 'currency'
By harvesting old, rotting fir and small fir that is unnecessarily competing with healthier, more vigorous individuals, I can maintain healthy crowns and ensure the remaining trees are growing far more rapidly than they otherwise would be, and I can ensure they reach a larger size sooner. Moreover, I can change the forest composition to promote longer living and larger growing species. This was from a cut-over aspen/fir stand that I am moving more toward spruce, maple, and birch.
Intervening at a young age ensures that every year of growth will be more valuable and longer-lasting for the duration of the rotation.
This harvest was about the forest, not the front end return.
Please tell me those micro "logs" can't honestly be for lumber... No wonder lumber you buy today is garbage
From what I understand there is a healthy market for firewood. But I also know that softwood, e.g. pine or spruce make lousy firewood due to the creosote buildup.
@@drmodestoesq Almost no one makes a business out of firewood, especially not a place like Maine where population is declining even though a LOT of people burn for heat up in Maine. He has to be selling those logs to a lumber mill to make any $$$ consistently. Sure, as a side business, firewood can work, but in general? No. Most "hardwood" is not all that great and actually worse than say Hemlock/Fir/Spruce/pine depending on species of course). The GOOD hardwood(Oak, Hickory, Rock Hard maple) is great for firewood regarding energy in vrs energy out and low particulate smoke content. That being said, if you have a modern double burner firebox/place it doesn't matter what you burn regarding smoke particulate. as there is no creosote as it gets burned in the 2nd chamber If you have an open fireplace then 100% HARDWOOD regardless of energy content of the wood in question.
Yes, the utilization of small diameter logs for 2x4s and 2x6s specifically have been a huge boon for the economic viability of selection harvesting and intermediate treatments like thinning. The specifications of the mill I cut for gave me a top size diameter of 4", which allowed me to sell vastly more volume than I otherwise would have been able to (and helped pay for the mill). They certainly won't be very productive on a portable mill, but I will use them for some 2x4s and 4x4s, and they will come in handy for some comparative production analyses.
We can complain about lousy board quality, or we can complain about lousy markets for wood, but we can't complain about both.
@@thetimberlandinvestor ? Market for straight grained hardwood is always available. Now planting these species and waiting the ~100 years is another story. Now softwood pulp/junk rough construction wood is another story due to BC, Georgia, and increasingly, the Tropics where trees grow ~2X--3X faster. Frankly it is surprising that Brazil/Indonesia/DRC haven't completely cornered and outright OWNED the international lumber and pulp market. With rock bottom cost of Ocean transport, its more than viable. I know, I keep looking at land with lots of Ponderosa pine on it, with a few Douglas Fir, both, a MUCH superior wood to the Georgia Pine, but they grow slower and in interior USA cost of transport is too high to get it to market. I have to essentially discount all Ponderosa as ~zero even though the poor saps in Eastern USA are buying that garbage out of Georgia or having wood shipped in from Canada(BC) That and the horrific USFS letting millions upon millions of acres burn for absolutely no reason. It still gets cut and sold locally, but its value is abysmally low. Scale of operation is the problem.
Just wondering, what species are you cutting? Looks like Balsam.
"Skidcone" sounds like a great backwoods insult.