Turned my Skidding Tongs into a Poor Man's Grapple

[fitter1]

I've been thinking of using the boom on my PHD with a logging tong. But that pulley setup sure is nice.

 

[TractorGuy]

Very ingenious design.

I was wondering what I was gonna do with that drawbar I added the top link frame to.

I can use that pulley idea for the rope on my dirt scoop too.

 

[Buggs67]

I have never used tongs. Does a more expensive set work better than the cheap ones. I bought a cheap cant hook from NT one time. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to work. I finally heaved it into a burn pile after getting smacked with it. I went and bought a good one and no problems. So I didn't know if the same holds true for tongs.

I got mine from Northern tool. Bigger than I need but go big or go home. That's a great improvement. I use mine to lift big logs onto the splitter or move them around. Picks up rocks too. And with my boom pole to carry/drag wood out of the forest.

 

[jmc]

I use mine to lift big logs onto the splitter or move them around. Picks up rocks too. And with my boom pole to carry/drag wood out of the forest. View attachment 409196

Buggs67,

I was thinking about doing something like that. Wondered what it is like on bumpy ground having several hundred pounds suspended and flopping around back there?

I once made an impromptu water delivery run for the local fire department fighting a brush fire where their trucks couldn't go. Unfortunately, my post hole digger was on the back at the time and I had to go slower to keep it from banging around too much. Several hundred pounds back there might have been a real handful.

 

[Buggs67]

Buggs67,

I was thinking about doing something like that. Wondered what it is like on bumpy ground having several hundred pounds suspended and flopping around back there?

I once made an impromptu water delivery run for the local fire department fighting a brush fire where their trucks couldn't go. Unfortunately, my post hole digger was on the back at the time and I had to go slower to keep it from banging around too much. Several hundred pounds back there might have been a real handful.

We bought this out about .25 mi over very rough trail. With the equal size log in the FEL and taking it slow it wasn't bad. Well balanced.

 

[square1]

Gordon,
Please remember, imitation is the highest form of flattery That being said, I'm trying to figure out what you have going on between the top of the A-frame (where your chain suspending the skidding tong hooks in) and the tractor. Looks like the top link is bungee strapped out of the set up, does the chain go down to the draw bar? Again, I'm not ripping you off, I'm flattering you

 

[Gordon Gould]

Hey square1 good morning. I think the whole idea of the forum is to share info and ideas. I have gotten so much out of this forum I only hope that something I put on will be somehow useful to someone and be a small payback for all I have received. Thank you.

When I made the video I didn't know if it would work but I thought that I would need the A-Frame to lean out quite a bit so that the tongs would be free hanging and not hitt it. My top link wasn't long enough and I didn't want to commit to welding yet. So you are right the TL is just bungied out of the way.

I used the tong chain for a top link. It passes thru the notch and into a slider that I pinned into one of the 3 TL holes in the tractor. That way I could adjust every thing easily to figure out what I needed for a permanent solution. Here is a pic of my chain TL. I used it the other way around from the pic - the slider in the tractor end and the choke hook hanging. I had to grind the slider a little as it was about 1/8" to wide.

The only problem I had was when I pulled the rope to latch open the tongs it would pull the A-Frame vertical and the tongs would hang up on it so I had to keep the A-Frame from rotating back by wrapping a chain thru a tractor hook on the bottom. Kind of rube but OK for an experiment.

Since then I have welded a set of long ears to the top of the A-Frame for a standard TL connection and the chain is just used to hang the tongs from the notch. The long ears add 4" to the TL length and allow me to tilt out the A-Frame as needed.

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

Here is the finished A-Frame with the TL ears welded on

 

[square1]

Here is the finished A-Frame with the TL ears welded on

Thanks Gordon. I was able to get a pretty good start on mine yesterday. I have a 3" angle across the bottom that my drawbar will bolt horizontally too (instead of vertical like yours ) so I can put a 1 7/8" ball where you have the hook. My plan is to push my log arch over the log, unhook the log arch from the ball, hook into the log with the skidding tongs, pull the log into the position to be lifted with the arch, secure the log to the arch, and tow it out of the woods.