tractor for cordwood?

[wilson-nate]

Hi

im looking at buying a tractor probably a kubota b series. my main purpose would be for moveing cord wood into my dump trailer and moving logs. does anyone know what a good size machine would be for this? how a bucket loader would do picking up the wood out of a pile (not stacked). any comments will be helpfull.

Thanks

 

[Treemonkey1000]

If you are going to the expense of buying the tractor to move wood like that you would probably be tickled to have the front hydraulic grapple on the bucket. I have loaded wood into the bucket on my tractor and then driven it to the wood pile to stack. I am the type that likes to minimize how many times I have to move that wood..

 

[Diamondpilot]

You will need a good sized tractor to be able to drive in the bucket into a wood pile. Something like 35 HP with a lot of counter weight and filled tires. Like the others say a grapple is absolutely necessary. Tires will make a big difference also for the traction needed to get the tractor into the pile. If on asphalt or concrete probably R4's, if on soft ground like dirt, gravel, or sand R1's would be the first choice.

Chris

 

[spruce Deere]

Best "tractor" for cordwood, John Deere 648-GIII, 150HP, 24.5-32 16ply tires, 100in easco swing boom grapple, 7 foot blade, heat and a/c. Oh,I am a 3rd generation farmer/logger. This IS the tractor for cordwood. "Thats a four foot across bug kill spruce tree in the grapple".

 

[wilson-nate]

any idea if a bobcat would do any better?

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Just my two cents is you would have more versatility with a tractor if you have any other sort of work to do around your property. Say mowing or post holes. Things like that. Bobcats are great machines. If you were just doing firewood then that might make sense.. Not sure of the lifting capacity of the B series Kubota you are looking at.

 

[spruce Deere]

I have also used the farms NH7740 mfwd tractor with a woods 255 loader when dealn with cut up cord wood. The neighbor does allright with his 43 horse montana tractor,dont know the model number, when he has a pile to deal with. Rather shuffle around wood with the 790. Works good, just takes a little longer. The rock/debris bucket on the 790 works good to keep dirt, bark and other stuffs out of the piles while holding more wood than the standard bucket also. The 790 is in the B series size range of tractor you are lookn at. A little bigger tractor would move more, faster. JD790 or B series kubota is more manuverable in the small spaces than the bigger tractors.

 

[Usta]

Hi

im looking at buying a tractor probably a kubota b series. my main purpose would be for moveing cord wood into my dump trailer and moving logs. does anyone know what a good size machine would be for this? how a bucket loader would do picking up the wood out of a pile (not stacked). any comments will be helpfull.

Thanks

Let us know how much wood (cords)you are talking about. If you are talking 2 cords a year, most anything will help out although it would be difficult to justify the many thousands of dollars. If you are talking hundreds of cords commercial business it is a different answer.

 

[tommu56]

I have used my BX-23 to move it around it does work better with a tooth bar I can tell you that much.

I cant get a lot in my bucket but it sure is better than picking it up by hand.

tom

 

[wilson-nate]

the pile is probably about 20-25 cord. we usually have 2 piles and will probably be expanding from there if we have something to save our backs with

 

[smfcpacfp]

My B3030 works great for cordwood:

20 plus cords of wood:

Great for handling the big pieces:

and stacking the wood high:

 

[wilson-nate]

yeah it looks like it would work but i would be picking it up from a pile and be dumping it into a hydroaluic dump trailer.

smfcpacfp have you ever done this?

the tractor i am looking at is a 1996 kubota B2150. its a 24 horse 3 cyclinder diesel with a 48" buckect 4x4.

now the grappel attachement any idea how much that costs and if it compatable for a b series kubota?

 

[medicshawn]

I think you need to look at a L or M series. You can buy pin on grapple that just replace your bucket but it's probably 15 minutes each time to switch. If you get your loader converted to the skid steer quick attach you can switch from bucket to grapple in 2-3 minutes. The other problem is lift capacity if you put a grapple on a B series you will only be able to lift 1000LBS worth of logs -depending on Capacity of your loader. With the bigger tracors you get more capacity. You could put a Grapple on the front look at Markham Welding's light duty grapple and a grapple or winch for the rear. Here's a website I found.
https://www.oescoinc.com/W3-woodlot.pdf

 

[Egon]

Many of the folks around here use a trailer with a picker on it for moving their cord wood.