Moving Cordwood

[deezler]

I use clamp on bucket forks. Works pretty well. If you get skillful enough, you might be able to poke the forks into your pile and snag a few logs without ever leaving your tractor seat. Getting on and off to chain up and un-chain logs sounds miserable, and rather dangerous.

However, I can't wait to get a new tractor with SSQA and have a proper pallet fork attachment. Decided not to spend $1000 just to convert my current tractor to SSQA and lose 100-150 lbs of lift capacity.

 

[Cameron Smith]

Sharpen your saw chain and buck them up where they are since you will have to do it anyway. Split them later or as needed. The short pieces are much easier and SAFER to handle and the money you don't spend can go towards an implement that you really DO need!

 

[gtunney]

THANK YOU to all the good folks for the great suggestions. I will look for a grapple attachment, or some sort of brush forks or tongs to fit my bucket. Much cheaper than trading my tractor buddy.

Add some hooks to your bucket - good source is Ken's Bolt-on Hooks and if you are looking for inexpensive forks, hit up Pallet Forks.com (Titan Attachments). I bought two sets of their 30 inch working length forks, one for me and another for my Dad. Easier to work with than some of the longer, heavier ones available. Here is what my set up looks like. Or as someone else suggested, a good set of teeth. Heavy Hitch has some teeth sets that don't require drilling, but you will need to call about the fit for your Kubota as bucket thickness. Here is what mine look like - note the bolt-on hooks on top of the bucket.

 

[Grapple guy]

I have a Kubota B2710 which I love, but here's my problem. My logger dropped a grapple load of wood in front of my garage (the only place he could) so it's difficult to get the cars in/out, and it will be impossible to plow next year. It's at least 3 years worth of wood, so I need to move at least 2/3 of the pile before Fall. So far, I've been doing this by cutting each log in half and I chain each "half-log" to the bucket, and move it to the back yard where it's out of the way. This often involves climbing onto the wood pile to unhook the chains. As you can imagine, this is only marginally safer than Alaskan crab fishing.
My dealer quoted me on a L2501HST tractor with an LA525 loader with "quick release" attachment function, and a Land Pride grapple. With the grapple, I can keep the tractor between me and the wood. Much safer.
It's more than I want to spend, but I also don't want to be maimed or killed because I was too cheap to buy the right equipment.
Does anyone have any experience with this kind of work, or the L2501 (or Lx2501) tractor? I like the "quick-release" attachment idea, but I'm afraid of trading "down" from my B2710. Not sure if the engineering is better, or whether they just made it lighter-duty to cut costs.
Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dave.
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One of the other members had a cheap option so here is what you would need. I had 5 minutes to spare, lunch is over.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I would just cut the logs into 4' bolts, roll each bolt into the bucket, and store them that way.

 

[Martin Roper]

Have you thought about just adding hydraulics and a grapple to your bucket... Can you weld?

Having a grapple on the bucket or forks will at least double the capability of the tractor ( in my opinion )

 

[jetdriver]

Forks. I cut 40 face cord a year and pick up 2 to 3 logs at a time with my B2650. Quick attach and pallet forks

 

[arrow]

These "forks" were made for 50 bucks. 3/4" stock. They bolt to the bucket with 1/2" bolts.
If I had to do them over, I'd make em out of 1" stock.
The curl in the stock is important. It makes it uber easy to mount the log onto the tines.

 

[sfabern]

I have a Kubota B2710 which I love, but here's my problem. My logger dropped a grapple load of wood in front of my garage (the only place he could) so it's difficult to get the cars in/out, and it will be impossible to plow next year. It's at least 3 years worth of wood, so I need to move at least 2/3 of the pile before Fall. So far, I've been doing this by cutting each log in half and I chain each "half-log" to the bucket, and move it to the back yard where it's out of the way. This often involves climbing onto the wood pile to unhook the chains. As you can imagine, this is only marginally safer than Alaskan crab fishing.
My dealer quoted me on a L2501HST tractor with an LA525 loader with "quick release" attachment function, and a Land Pride grapple. With the grapple, I can keep the tractor between me and the wood. Much safer.
It's more than I want to spend, but I also don't want to be maimed or killed because I was too cheap to buy the right equipment.
Does anyone have any experience with this kind of work, or the L2501 (or Lx2501) tractor? I like the "quick-release" attachment idea, but I'm afraid of trading "down" from my B2710. Not sure if the engineering is better, or whether they just made it lighter-duty to cut costs.
Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dave.
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Pallet forks are the easy and inexpensive way to go. Make sure you check their strength rating. Also I recommend welding hooks on to your FEL; they come in handy for all sorts of jobs and are less expensive than hydraulic grappling hooks. And I'd cut those timbers in half for safety and ease of manouevering

 

[sfabern]

Adding pallet forks are the easy and cheap way to go. But make sure you check the weight rating is adequate for the work you want to do. I also suggest that you weld hooks on to the FEL. You'll find they come in handy for lots of different jobs. I'd also cut those timbers in half for safety and for ease of manuevering.

 

[beenthere]

Get the forks and then add "The Thumb" for an effective and low cost solution.

 

[Jstpssng]

These "forks" were made for 50 bucks. 3/4" stock. They bolt to the bucket with 1/2" bolts.
If I had to do them over, I'd make em out of 1" stock.
The curl in the stock is important. It makes it uber easy to mount the log onto the tines.

Nice. I had something similar on my first Kubota. One comment though; It would be simple and advantageous to put an upright piece on each fork to prevent the logs from rolling up the bucket and down the loader arms into your lap. Recent;y I posted about a local man who didn't have that, and was killed when a log rolled onto him. Self exiled member OldPath also pointed that out frequently, and showed how his bucket forks were set up.

 

[arrow]

Nice. I had something similar on my first Kubota. One comment though; It would be simple and advantageous to put an upright piece on each fork to prevent the logs from rolling up the bucket and down the loader arms into your lap. Recent;y I posted about a local man who didn't have that, and was killed when a log rolled onto him. Self exiled member OldPath also pointed that out frequently, and showed how his bucket forks were set up.

This is always a good idea.
I think some people curl their buckets too much in order to hold the logs in. They also raise their buckets too high w/o tipping the bucket down for fear of losing the log.
These forks are long enough to hold the stem in and the little "curl" on the end prevents them from rolling off as I tip the bucket to approach load off.
I can safely stack logs in this way with no fear of roll back.
Those little fork bar holders I have are 8" off the bucket and can also lend themselves to prevent roll back.
They have never had to be put into effect in this way with these forks and responsible fel handling

 

[CalG]

These "forks" were made for 50 bucks. 3/4" stock. They bolt to the bucket with 1/2" bolts.
If I had to do them over, I'd make em out of 1" stock.
The curl in the stock is important. It makes it uber easy to mount the log onto the tines.

Those are what I call "bucket tusks". I'm thinking discarded auto leak springs would be Ideal stock . Having a bit of curl in wouldn't be a bad thing. Real bear cat to drill though. Hard pressure and sulfur cutting oil.

 

[Freep]

I'll second the use of simple tongs for a one-time job. I did this for a whole lot of wood with my tractor.

But then I got pallet forks, and they are just so extraordinarily useful for stuff that I cannot imagine owning a tractor without them now. So the SSQA + forks is the best bet overall, in my estimation, and buying some tongs for $100 is a fine budget approach. I still use mine once in a while if I need to lift a log straight up out of a pile and need to situate the focus of the load further back toward the pins of the tractor (I do this be dangling them off the fork frame).

 

[sd455dan]

I'm with the add a set of forks group , but used the chain around the bucket style
they also had a rectangle built in, to insert two 2 x 6's as a back stops.
Worked very well before getting a grapple and then pallet forks from a skid steer

Bought mine from another company - but these are similar

Bucket Pallet Forks - Pair

Pair of Pallet Forks For Loader Bucket || Quick Mounting With Chains and Binders || Positive Clamping Resists Side Thrust || No Full Load On Bucket Lip || When assembled, all parts stay attached and You will never loose parts in repeated use any time.||

www.neatfarms.com