trail clearing technique and tools

[Hay Dude]

I own a forwarding trailer, but it's on the heavy side for use behind an ATV or SXS: it's probably close to 1500# empty, and can carry a 6000# payload. Mine is too small to be of interest for a commercial logger, and too expensive for a typical landowner to consider just for personal use (I got it used with only about 50 hours on it for a good price). Mine has the optional hydraulic winch. It's much slower than the 3 Pt Hitch logging winch on my tractor, but it is handy reaching logs that are not right on the trail. Given the limited reach of the boom, I would not own one of these trailers without a winch.

There seems to be a big gap between the lighter models intended for use behind a 4-wheeler: about $3000, rated for 1 ton with the boom manually operated (swing by hand, hoist with a hand cranked winch or a small electric winch) and those designed for use behind a tractor ($20,000 & up). There are a few on eBay in the middle ground, around $8000 with a 3000# rating. Pictures show them in use behind an ATV/UTV, but I imaging the load would exceed the tow rating of the ATV. Some have an optional hydraulic drive on the trailer wheels: helpful to get moving again when stuck, and also act as a brake when going down hill (movement is rather slow then the hydraulic drive is engaged).

Here is mine hauling some firewood home after doing wildlife mast tree release and trail cleanup:
View attachment 786133

and another picture where I was helping my daughter with her Girl Scout Gold Project, creating an outdoor classroom area in the woods behind our local elementary school.
View attachment 786134

That is VERY cool

 

[2manyrocks]

I own a forwarding trailer, but it's on the heavy side for use behind an ATV or SXS: it's probably close to 1500# empty, and can carry a 6000# payload. Mine is too small to be of interest for a commercial logger, and too expensive for a typical landowner to consider just for personal use (I got it used with only about 50 hours on it for a good price). Mine has the optional hydraulic winch. It's much slower than the 3 Pt Hitch logging winch on my tractor, but it is handy reaching logs that are not right on the trail. Given the limited reach of the boom, I would not own one of these trailers without a winch.

There seems to be a big gap between the lighter models intended for use behind a 4-wheeler: about $3000, rated for 1 ton with the boom manually operated (swing by hand, hoist with a hand cranked winch or a small electric winch) and those designed for use behind a tractor ($20,000 & up). There are a few on eBay in the middle ground, around $8000 with a 3000# rating. Pictures show them in use behind an ATV/UTV, but I imaging the load would exceed the tow rating of the ATV. Some have an optional hydraulic drive on the trailer wheels: helpful to get moving again when stuck, and also act as a brake when going down hill (movement is rather slow then the hydraulic drive is engaged).

Here is mine hauling some firewood home after doing wildlife mast tree release and trail cleanup:
View attachment 786133

and another picture where I was helping my daughter with her Girl Scout Gold Project, creating an outdoor classroom area in the woods behind our local elementary school.
View attachment 786134

Do you drag trees out of the forest with a winch or something to get them close enough to the forwarder trailer to pick up? Or do you cut an area like in the photo where there is room to use the forwarder without any winching?

 

[ArlyA]

We are still in snow here but thinking about trail work this summer. Looks like we'll have an spring early here. These photos are recently taken of bridges on our trail. What will you be doing to yours?

 

[airbiscuit]

Not thinking about trails while watch more snow coming down. When spring eventually comes, I will be widening a few of my trails. We had a part of our hunting land logged off last year. The aspen shoots are coming up thicker than hair on a dog's back.

So, I will be cutting and moving some slash back, and cutting a few stumps off at ground level.

 

[John_Mc]

Do you drag trees out of the forest with a winch or something to get them close enough to the forwarder trailer to pick up? Or do you cut an area like in the photo where there is room to use the forwarder without any winching?

The first photo was one of my trails. The second was a clearing I made in the woods behind our local elementary school for an outdoor classroom area that was part of my daughter's Girl Scout Gold project (similar to an Eagle project in Boy Scouts). That's not my normal mode. I do very little clear-cutting, unless I'm making an opening for wildlife such as when creating early successional forest habitat.

Most of the time I'm working in fairly dense forest stands, thinning to favor targeted trees/species either to improve timber value or to encourage greater food production from mast trees (my current Crop Tree Release project). I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to get the cull trees down in crowded conditions without damaging the trees I'm trying to promote.

Since I don't want to build a trail up to every tree I'm taking out, I generally use my 3 Pt Hitch logging winch to get the trees/logs out the the edge of the trail. My winch has 230 ft of cable on it, but it's rare that I use all of it. (When a log is 200'+ from the tractor, with intervening the hills and the trees I often need a spotter to see what's going on at the other end of the cable.)

Once they are trailside, I'll generally load them on the forwarding trailer to bring them home. If it's firewood, sometimes it comes home as long logs, other times I cut and split it trailside and load it into a trailer right off the splitter.

If the trees are already near the trail, I might just use the winch on the forwarding trailer. It's limited to 100' of cable and a LOT slower than my logging winch, but it beats taking two steps for something that is only a few feet out of reach.

 

[2manyrocks]

Thank you. I found your YT video on winching. Very informative.

Here's a general tip that helped me this week. I had one log with a butt end that wanted to dig in and hang up so I spent a few minutes with the chain saw cutting a bevel on the end. That made it a lot easier to drag.

 

[kenmbz]

Waiting for the ground to harden as it's too soft to go out and finish what I started last year. Need to clear out some fallen trees/branches and widen the train.
Also a few small stumps to dig out.

 

[ArlyA]

Checking out new routes today.

 

[ArlyA]

I should add a fellow who towed our dead machine out this winter said he has a new 30 series JD compact tractor with 3 point mower and other accessories for it, we could use it this summer. But most people who say "I'll do that!" don't when the time comes.

 

[airbiscuit]

Which dead machine, and towed it out with what?