Moving large rounds with winch?

[connor77]

Last weekend I took a very large oak tree down on my parent's property. It fell where I wanted it to and I've bucked up a lot of the wood but I need some ideas on how to move the very large rounds to a central spot (near where I split ideally). I'd like to avoid having to noodle every round if possible. I need to move the rounds about 50 feet and was considering a small winch (Warn 1700). I don't have a regular need to skid logs so buying anything super serious is not in scope. I have read where people have used old car hoods (as a sled) and moved rounds that way and wondered if anyone has tried this or has any other ideas. My splitter has a manual log lift and will handle sizeable rounds which would prevent my from having to noodle everything.

I've read a few threads on skidding but I didn't see anything specific on moving large rounds.

As much as I like cutting and splitting wood I too also consider how many times I handle wood and it sometimes feels incredibly inefficient.

This tree, by the way, was on its way out. Lot of dead stuff at the top and something was eating it from the bottom. Still perfectly acceptable for firewood and it will likely produce quite a lot of it.

 

[leonz]

As long as you have snow on the ground or frozen ground the car hood is a good way to go; many folks haul christmas trees out with them too so its done quite often during the winter and they are stable in moving hay bales too.

The hassle is dragging the hood back to the stumpage empty as the hood will get heavy quick -it may be better to get a winch with a longer wire rope and have a sheave block set somewhere to be able winch the hood back after the round is dumped off to reload it with the next round.


If you have a close tree in good condition you could use a tree saver band wrapped around the second tree to winch the hood back and the sheave block will not interfere with the cable-they unhook from the winch cable with a cotter pin and spring pin that holds the sheave block together- look at

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to see a lot of sheave blocks and check at TSC to see if they have the sheave blocks that can be separated to release the wire rope.

A single sheave block will increase the wre ropes towing capacity as it wil make it easier to pull the car hood with the round- you may be able to chain 2hoods together and move two rounds just as easily if the ground is frozen.

Buying a winch with more cable in one lay of rope is not a waste of money for you in this instance as www.ramseywinch.com has a sale going on as does www.JCwhitney.com

Another winch option is the warm hand held winder that is 110 volt and is simply a tugger and you secure it to your tractor and can wind the load in but you have to be carefull of the rope coming in to be sure it does not foul up and you could simply carry the little winch back to the stump and winch the hood back with a piece of rebar stuck in the stump to reload it.

 

[2458n]

Use a set of log tongs hung from front end loader. Cut your log to firewood length and haul away to the splitter. I have also used the log tongs on the back of a 3pt hitch. When you pick up the end of the log it will add weight to the rear tires and you can skid a good bit. The winches always seem slow.Try to Google "Bailey's" and see what they use to move wood.

 

[MikeInEburg]

Use a set of log tongs hung from front end loader. Cut your log to firewood length and haul away to the splitter. I have also used the log tongs on the back of a 3pt hitch. When you pick up the end of the log it will add weight to the rear tires and you can skid a good bit. The winches always seem slow.Try to Google "Bailey's" and see what they use to move wood.

I also use log tongs - from Northern Tool I think. I sharpened the tips and they work great with loader. I lay the round directly onto the splitter. Remember that a log moved with tongs can drop at any moment so never be under it.
Mike

 

[LD1]

Another vote for the log tongs. Just make sure before you but them that the will open far enough for your rounds.

But just curious, why dont you take the splitter to the wood, I would think in your case it would be faster than taking the wood to the splitter.

 

[Egon]

Fifty foot move; you have a tractor with bucket?:thumbsup:

 

[Ductape]

Do you have a set of forks? How about a three point carry-all?


I used an attachment I made with a set of tongs to move my 4' Sugar Maple rounds....... but I wouldn't want to go very far with them hanging. It wouldn't take much swinging to flop the tractor over.

 

[20 20]

connor77; What type of machinery do you have? It looks like you have a FEL, a set of cheap tongs from northern tool might be what you're looking for?? How big are the blocks you're trying to move?

 

[connor77]

Thanks for the help guys.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear - 50 feet is more of a straight line from where the rounds are to the splitting area I use (because it's flat there). It wouldn't be 50 feet for me to move the rounds with my tractor due to the terrain and the path I have to take. This is why I was thinking a winch set up.

I have log tongs and also have a boom pole that I can attach the tongs to but there's no way I would want to drive with a huge round behind me or in front of me to where I have to split because of how un-level and hilly the ground is. The size of the rounds are about 70% of what Ductape has pictured. And I have about 25 feet of them this diameter (bucked to about 18").

I could tow my splitter to some of the rounds but then I'm handling the wood a lot. The area where I normally split I can take the split wood right off my splitter table and put it right into my 5' x 10' utility trailer. Works great and minimal handling. If I split where the large rounds are I suppose I could split into my bucket and then dump into my utility trailer but I'm still dealing with a nasty ride to my utility trailer.

I need to get some pictures up so you can see what I'm dealing with.

 

[LD1]

Would it be possible to park the utility trailer where the rounds are now and then go back and tow the splitter down there.

Have bothe the trailer and splitter their. When done, tow the trailer full of wood back up to the house/barn/wherever.

 

[Dead Horse]

I learned a couple seasons ago that the most efficient approach is to bring the splitter to the logs or the logs to the splitter, but bucking and THEN moving them to the splitting yard was very inefficient.

In your case, it would seem you have few choices, in which I would go with the choice that affords the most safety. Take the splitter to the rounds, load the FEL and move to the trailer..... it will go faster than you think anyway, certainly faster than moving all the rounds to the flat splitting area.

Be safe and enjoy the heat.

 

[leonz]

Thanks for the help guys.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear - 50 feet is more of a straight line from where the rounds are to the splitting area I use (because it's flat there). It wouldn't be 50 feet for me to move the rounds with my tractor due to the terrain and the path I have to take. This is why I was thinking a winch set up.

I have log tongs and also have a boom pole that I can attach the tongs to but there's no way I would want to drive with a huge round behind me or in front of me to where I have to split because of how un-level and hilly the ground is. The size of the rounds are about 70% of what Ductape has pictured. And I have about 25 feet of them this diameter (bucked to about 18").

I could tow my splitter to some of the rounds but then I'm handling the wood a lot. The area where I normally split I can take the split wood right off my splitter table and put it right into my 5' x 10' utility trailer. Works great and minimal handling. If I split where the large rounds are I suppose I could split into my bucket and then dump into my utility trailer but I'm still dealing with a nasty ride to my utility trailer.

I need to get some pictures up so you can see what I'm dealing with.

Good morning Connor,


A winch with a longer wire rope will be fine if you have a poor routing due to terrain all you need are more sheave blocks thats all.

You could simply chain the hood with a pair of shackles and hook the chain directly in th center of the hood and tow it from point to point unhooking the shackle where necessary to allow it to bypass the obstacles; then resetting the shackle, tree guard wrap and or the other shackle where needed; its done in logging all the time its not a huge problem as you are still using the sheave block pulley to its mechanical advantage and increasing the pulling power of your winch and saving the 12 volt windings of the winch.

There is no reason you cannot use a second cable of 1/4" wire rope with thimbles and wire rope clamps, swivels and hooks to add to your winch length to add length to the first cable and the chain attached to the car hood.

All you need to do is decide how many sheave blocks you need and one or more tree guards- dont worry you will reuse everything at one time or another connor it will not be a one time purchase that will be unused after the rounds are moved. even if you buy six sheave blocks you will speed the retrieval of the car hood manyfold as the wire rope will be guided and will have much much less strain on it and it will last much longer for you; be sure to use fluid film or a very light wieght turbine oil- straight 5 wieght on the wire rope to prevent rust and keep the strands lubricated.

The car hood, hood chain and second wire rope section will allow you to selectively thin trees and carry out the smaller rounds with the same efficiency without exposing you to any possible injury or your tractor to any danger in being damaged.

No worries, easy to do, nothing will be wasted, and it will allow you to work faster Connor.

 

[cuoffroad]

Fifty foot move; you have a tractor with bucket?:thumbsup:

x2....let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be. :thumbsup:

 

[leonz]

We dont have the slightest idea of how much room he has
or whether there are other trees affecting the width and
retrieval distance.

The other issue iis the diameter of the rounds as they are
larger than the useable area of a shallow loader buckets depth.

 

[Johnbro]

I'm confused. Why not just throw some chain around them and drag them where you want them to go? I always try to buck the logs and get them to where I want to split them, then cut them into 16" rounds. Easier to move a whole log than a bunch of rounds.

And now that I've got my handy-dandy pallet forks, I plan to just pick up some logs and cut them right on the forks! :thumbsup:

 

[connor77]

If it were just a straight shot of 50 feet I would probably load the round into the bucket (try to anyway - they are large as previously mentioned) and drive them to splitting area. If I take the path that is safest it's probably 200 feet each way which is a lot of travel for one round. There are a fair amount of trees and stumps in the way along way.

I cannot get my utility trailer to these rounds (trees in the way and steepness of the hill would prevent me from doing this even with no trees). I can, however, get the splitter near the rounds and could split onto the ground and pick up (with a carry all) or split into the bucket and make trips to my utility trailer.

Still need to post some pics which I'll try to do today.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[easygo]

You are saying that you have a carry-all too. Then why not take the splitter to the wood and then load the carry-all and the bucket and transport split wood to where the trailer can be safely parked. Your other option might be to put a round on the carry-all and another strapped into the bucket and take up to splitting site. Pictures of the whole process would be great.
I love to see how people tackle challenges.

Edit: I would suggest a ratchet strap for the round in the bucket. That can be tightened down very well instead of a chain.

 

[Egon]

200 feet ain't that far.

 

[connor77]

Pics added

 

[connor77]

First couple of pics are from the dropped tree to the splitting area. In this area where there is just a clear area of snow I can get my splitter and small utility trailer. I usually move the rounds to the small hill and then I take them and load them onto the log lift and can take the split wood right from the splitter table and throw the split pieces over my shoulders into my trailer.
Not sure how well you can see the topography but there are a lot of small hills and as I mentioned I don't think I'd want to move any large rounds in either my bucket or with tongs any meaningful distance. Where the tree is there are a lot of stumps. Difficult but not impossible to get the splitter there but then I'm taking my tractor down that rather steep incline to get to the utility trailer. This is my parents yard - I take the wood a couple of miles in my utility trailer back to my house. There is a picture of my parent's house to give you an idea of the grade. We used to go sledding down that hill as kids. Not sure I want to go sledding down the hill with a tractor full of wood. In the picture that shows the flat area there is a nice path I can take where I bring my utility trailer full of wood to the driveway and then attach trailer to my truck.
Thanks again for ideas. No matter how much work it is I will be getting this wood off the hill one way or another - there's a lot of it!