Converted an Old Skid Trail into a Tractor Road

Gordon Gould · Sep 7, 2015

I spent most of the weekend doing this. This will be the second of two main skid roads for this winter.

I played leap frog with the dozer and tractor thru the woods. The old skidder trail was grown in some. I cut it by hand and dragged the smaller stuff into to the woods. For the bigger stuff I set a snatch block back in the woods and used the winch to pull the trees off the trail. I don't like to pioneer with the dozer because I end up with a big twisted mess of logs, trees, stumps, roots, rocks, and dirt in front of the blade with no where to put it. Here is a section I cleared before and after photos.

After I had a swath cleared I used the dozer push out the rocks and any solid stumps and make a flat road. Some places were easy and some not so easy.

When I had a OK road I would get the tractor and move some rocks into low spots just off the edge of the road to sure it up.

Here are some shots moving along the road.

gg

ultrarunner · Sep 7, 2015

Looking good... also a good combo for what you are doing.

Enjoyed the pictures.

kebo · Sep 7, 2015

Nice work!! How long are the skidder trails?? I guess you'll be using them mostly to drag out logs for firewood?

Rustyiron · Sep 7, 2015

Nice job, good roads makes life so much easier! That dozer earned it's keep this weekend didn't it!

BigTee · Sep 7, 2015

Great job, I'd like to have you at my place for a few days.

GreenYellow · Sep 7, 2015

Nice! Good pics and good job. I love projects like this myself. Very rewarding.

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RCman · Sep 7, 2015

Looks like a good time. Sure was nice (albeit hot) weather for it this weekend.
Dozer looks handy!

Mikejeakins · Sep 7, 2015

Nice stuff. What year is that Dresser Dozer?

Gordon Gould · Sep 8, 2015

I am having fun - thanks for the comments.

The dozer is a 1991 Dresser TD7G with a six way blade. It has a 70 hp air aspirated 239 Cummins and weighs about 15,000 lbs. I bought it pretty cheap with a under carriage in very poor condition but otherwise in good shape. Spent a year getting it ready for the woods.

The new trail is about 1/4 mile long. Shaped like an open horse shoe.

We have a ton of balsam fir, Christmas trees to you easterners, and after it reaches 50 or 60 years old on my lot it gets stump rot. If they are not cut they will just blow over and ruin some healthy trees in the process. I love to spend the winter cutting them and selling the logs to a saw mill for dimension lumber. They are grouped with eastern spruce for lumber purposes.
They are not large trees. Most are 9" to 16" dbh with an occasional one over 20". Here are some past photos to show you what I mean.

A big old fir - notice the pileated wood pecker hole. A sure sign of rot.

The rot is quite severe on this one.

After it is limbed.

Then I start cutting the butt off to find solid wood. Made two cuts on this one and lost about 5 feet off the bottom log.

Then I winched it up to the trail. This one came easiest by cutting it in the middle and choking up both pieces at the cut. Also needed a snatch block.

Skidding it up to the landing. You are looking at the big end and the small end. The mill takes 10', 12', 14' or 16' logs down to 6" on the small end.