Firewood Gathering With A Power Trac

[MossRoad]

Hey. My wife and I had a wood burning stove installed last October. Works great. We gathered a bit of firewood from the ground on our remote property and bought several cords ($40.00 a truck load, split, you load, great deal) last year. However, we (I) decided we should use our own wood from our place and I should split and stack it for exercise. Yikes! What was I thinking???

Anyhow, three or four weekends ago I went to our place and dropped about 50 small sassafras and locust trees in the 12" and under category as well as two larger cherries in the 18"-22" category with my chainsaw. That took a couple hours.

Last Saturday I went back out and dragged all of them up to the landing with the PT425. I was by myself and that meant I had to hop off the tractor, chain the log, hop on the tractor, drive to the landing, hop off the tractor, un-chain the log, hop on the tractor, use the forks to stack the log, then drive to the next tree and repeat. Surprisingly, that only took about three hours and I was not very tired at all. I think that is due to the PT425 being so low to the ground that I have to sit down in it rather than climb up on it. Same thing for getting out of it, rather than climbing off of it like a conventional tractor. Very easy to do. If I would have had a grapple on the front, it would have cut the time down considerably as I could have just grabbed the logs instead of chaining them. I leave the chain dragging behind the tractor and it never seems to interfere with anything. The PT is so maneuverable that I can usually get within 2-3 feet of the log end without running over the chain. Even if I do run it over, the turfs just spin and slide right over it. I just have to pay attention to where I stop so I don't park on the chain.

Anyhow, it worked out pretty nice. We went back Sunday without the PT and I pulled up to the stack of logs and cut a cord and loaded it on the trailer. That took about an hour and a half. We have another cord left to cut from the log pile. I need about three cords more for next year but would like to get four.

Any of you draggin firewood out with your PTs?

 

[stray]

Moss I drag some trees on occasions. I have found that with the size chain I use you can, with no attachment on the pt, lock the chain into one of the two sides of the quick connect thus an easy and quick way to attach and adjust the length of the chain to the log.

 

[MossRoad]

I just drop mine in the pin hitch on the back. The grab hook is so large that it doesn't pull through behind the pin.

 

[kjm3232]

i'll use my towing hitch with a chain to drag trees that i cut down or trees that had been cut down years ago to one of my burn pits in order to get a pasture eventually built in the back part of our property

 

[Central_PA_Chris]

I've been cutting, splitting and stacking where the wood falls/is felled. I've started seasoning it in place so it's out of the way. The PT comes into play in clearing brush from the work area so I don't have to fight briers and such while cutting & splitting. I have a smallish electric splitter that I drag behind the atv (generator in atv bed to run it) thus far it seems to be the right combo of gear and tactics for me. I use a timberjack to get the logs off the ground for cutting, that tool is indispensable for wood cutting. Though I think I need to alter the angle of the spikes or sharpen them, not quite aggressive enough.

Seasoning Firewood How and When

 

[SnowRidge]

Chris, thanks for posting that link. I had never heard of that technique. I think I am going to give it a try.

 

[MossRoad]

That does look neat. I'll give it a try, too. I have to go cut and haul another cord tonight after work. Don't have time to split it yet, but will by mid summer. That should leave enough time to dry it out.

 

[SnowRidge]

I have to say I am a little skeptical. It seems almost impossible to dry firewood that fast in our hot climate, let alone in Germany. For those who have never been there, a description of Germany's four seasons follows:

Winter -- when the glühwein flows and fülligfrauen stick red hot pokers in your drink at the bierhalle. It's cold as the dickens out, but you can't feel it, and you really don't care. Besides, there is nothing else to do.

Spring -- a date on the official calendar when a regimented society doffs its coats and its women switch to light frilly things, despite that fact that there are blizzard conditions in Hamburg and three meters of snow on the ground of the average Bavarian dairy farm.

Summer -- the entire month of August, the only time of year that the snow doesn't stick.

Fall -- a date of the official German calendar when a regimented society dons heavy coats, scarves, and mittens despite the record heat wave crushing Europe, all because the nationale Regierung says its Fall.

 

[MossRoad]

Here is a picture of the logs that I brought up last week before I started cutting them up into firewood lengths.

 

[MossRoad]

The nice thing about the Power Trac is that I was able to drag and stack the logs in the first picture with ease using the forks. Stacking the logs like that allows me to start at one end of the pile with the chainsaw and just start lopping off firewood size pieces. It takes me about a half an hour to cut off a cord of firewood and then about an hour to load it on my trailer.

Here is one trailer load brought back home last week. I went out again tonight and cut a similar amount. From the time I left my house, drove out to our property about 7 miles away, get situated, cut and load and drive home was about 2hrs and 15 minutes.