Log Skid Arch

Big Dave · #1 08/27/08, 05:13 AM

A few days back I saw a post about CF going to a logging or tree care seminar?
The thing that caught my eye was the arch that you hooked to your ATV. I got a catalog from Northern Tool + Equipment yesterday. In it I have found two types of Skid Arches from $439-$699. Has anyone experience with this company or product?

nc_mtn · #2 08/27/08, 09:58 AM

Here is one that acutally pickes the logs up, not just drag them in the mud....

www.mistersawmill.com

I think they are a little tougher then the others....

CIW · #3 08/27/08, 10:04 AM

You'll probably tear the transmission apart if you try dragging that kind of weight with your wheeler. They aren't meant to work that way.
Hitch it to a tractor or better yet a team of mules.

Quint · #4 08/28/08, 02:13 AM

You can pull a shocking amount of weight with a modern ATV. I skid logs out of the timber with my ATV all the time and it's an older one. When I have friends over helping and I've used a newer, big bore machine with more power you can pull even more. Best of all I can pull them out of places you simply can't get to with a tractor. In fact I've got 4 nice logs I'm yanking out of the timber next week that are in an area you wouldn't dare take a tractor.

sugarbush · #5 08/28/08, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

CIW, the way the arch works, you aren't "dragging" anything -the arches and the wench or cable loop hold the log up and off the ground and the arch is on wheels so it just rolls behind the ATV.

and if they seem pricey, we did see a "homemade one" by one of the other participants but based on the same design. Some welding and some assembly required.

Actually they only hold one end of the log of the ground, the other end drags. You do need a 4x4 atv or tire chains on a 4x2. They are good for moving small diameter logs and soft woods, but not much else.... They are great for getting firewood together. You will not drag many hardwood sawlogs with them though. I recently did a sawing job where they where using one. We where sawing cedar and poplar. It did great with the cedar, but the 8 ft x 20 inch poplars it would not move and they are light compared to other hardwoods. The wheeler could not get enough traction even with three people weighting it down. It had plenty of power, but you can have all the power in the world and it is useless without traction.

mikellmikell · #6 08/28/08, 11:45 AM

The ones I saw were an accident waithin to happen. Pulling from the top of the arch will just lift the back of the atv on a big log. You can lift it there but you need to pull from lower than the center of the rear wheels to keep things on the ground.

mikell

big rockpile · #7 08/28/08, 12:13 PM

Dang I'm still thinking about me pulling and loading Logs with a Tractor,having my wife set on the front end to hold it down.I'm just thinking there is no way I would try it with an ATV.

big rockpile

haypoint · #8 08/28/08, 01:15 PM

A hundred years ago, vast areas of huge timbers were moved using this same principal. "Big Wheels" with a short lever out the front could lift a log or logs, often with only a little tail weight. Teams of horses would pull the hitch. It wasn't an actual tongue, so as the wheels met holes or roots, the hitch beam would swing wildly from left to right. Having a load well balanced, with little tail weight meant easier pulling, but any down hill slopes would allow the Big Wheels to overtake the team. Dangerous job.
I suspect that those same dangers exist in this modern arch. Don't let that weight create a danger for you.

Bret · #9 08/28/08, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Dang I'm still thinking about me pulling and loading Logs with a Tractor,having my wife set on the front end to hold it down.I'm just thinking there is no way I would try it with an ATV.

big rockpile

Trying to hold my guts in--Why would telling about your wife sitting on the front of the tractor to hold it down be any less dangerous than dragging logs with an ATV?

But seriously, getting the front of the log(s) up a little helps alot to keep from plowing with the logs. Plowing and dragging takes a little more power.

big rockpile · #10 08/28/08, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret

Trying to hold my guts in--Why would telling about your wife sitting on the front of the tractor to hold it down be any less dangerous than dragging logs with an ATV?

But seriously, getting the front of the log(s) up a little helps alot to keep from plowing with the logs. Plowing and dragging takes a little more power.

Not much less dangerous.Just I'm thinking the Trouble we had with a Large Tractor handling Logs,wouldn't even think of it with a ATV.

I was trying to just roll Large Logs up on a Truck with Carry All,kept raising the Front End up.She says her Dad always had her get up on the Tractor,so that is what she did

big rockpile

sugarbush · #11 08/29/08, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

uhm, not all of all them and it would depend on the length of log you were hauling out. Here's a picture of one in action as I described it above - one end winched up and the other end suspended with a chain or cable loop. The log is rolled out of the woods -not drug out.

http://www.futureforestry.com/arbori...s/atv/main.jpg

That style is extremely dangerious. An atv does not have the breaking power to stop a 1000 lb log that is completely off of the ground. Especially on rough ground that you encounter in the woods. You will get a c-saw effect on rough ground which will drive one end of the log into the ground pulling the atv up on end....maybe even crushing the operator between the log and the atv.

If you plan to use an arch with an ATV get one that drags one end of the log on the ground.