Have anybody tired to pull trees as a skidder? Will the 400 auto with a clutch kit do it?

 

I don't know what you mean by "skidder", but I've pulled plenty of trees (up to 30 feet long and 12' thick) about 1/4 acre without a problem. It's a stock 400.

 

Did you use a device to help you or make the wheeler work less? What I meant was, to pull the trees out.

 

When I skidded logs for fore wood I used a large v-plate (large chunk of angle iron) that was bolted to a plated so it pivoted and had a chain to strap the log lown. THis whole thing was bolted to the tow hitch. One end of the tree was picked up and paced in V and stapped down and then off you went.

Did not use it very long as it tended to grind dirt into the tree bark which wold dull the chain when cutting it up for fire wood. So I went to cuttingit to small lengths and totally loading it into a trailer to haul.

SJ

 

Is the plate towards the wheeler or the end of the log?

 

The plate bolted to the wheeler where your hitch is at. Like a ball hitch except it pivoted. THis kept the end of the log you were pulling from burrying itself inthe dirt and bring you and the wheeler to a screeching halt.

It worked very well while we used it. Now we have a single and a tandem axle trailer that we hook together and then to the wheeler. It has stake sides on it with steel ramps that we roll the logs up if we cannot lift it by hand. The whole thing can be difficult to maneuver inthe trees with 20ft logs (we are building a log cabin) but it is better than skidding them along the ground. We have 160+ acres we are gathering the trees off of so its a lot of area to cover. We find ourselves building many trails.

Time is not wasted on the trails as it increases the amount of area yo have to moose hunt in.

SJ

 

Thanks. I have seen plates and A upside down "U" form shaped device with a winch on it The winch p/u's the end and off you go. How big of a diameter are the trees?

 

Yeah I have seen some logging arch things but for what I need it for its too much money.

Most logs are for firewood. size and length varries for them as long as the are dry and burn.

Logs we are using for the cabin are 12-20ft long and 8-12inches in diameter. Cabin is about 75-80% complete. Don't recall the exact number of logs but we have a lot of time invested by the time we cut, limb, haul, hand peel and scribe each log. We cut them inthe fall after moose season is over and let them dry all winter then finish peeling them and scribe, notch and install during the spring and summer. Walls are about 6ft high right now and we want 9ft before the gables. So should be roofing this summer.

Cabin is 16 x20 with a 12x16 foot extention all enclosed. I hope to finish it withinthe next 2 years.

SJ

 

That is realy cool. Good job.