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.