Gin Pole loading equipment

Yeah, I used to drink a lot of Gin….. Oh! Wrong kind of poll…never mind!

Jason,
I think there are probably as many designs for gin poles as there are folks who have used them. I am surprised that engineering students wouldn’t just design their own. Do you want the horses to power the lift? Do you need a swinging boom?

I have built a couple of different styles. One kind was made by attaching a boom to a tree with a long chain at the top, and resting the pointed bottom in a hole at the base of the tree. From the end of the boom I hung a come-along with which I would lift the log off the ground, then swing it manually onto the load. This works good for logs stacked, or decked beside a trail, loading a sled or wagon on the trail. You really only get 90* swing.

For building my log home I built one that resembled a ships mast, with a hand operated windlast to lift the logs suspended from the end of the boom. This one has continuous rotation because of how I built it into the structure of the house, but many of this style were guyed in place, so the boom would have to operate below the guy wires.

One reference on gin poles is a book that I used to build our home, written by B. Allan Mackie, The Owner-Built Log House.

The other style of log loader that gets its lift from a gin pole, or tree, is a frame that has a set of movable arms. The logs are rolled onto the lift, and when the horse pulls the rope or cable through one bloc at the base, and another elevated in the tree, the frame hinges at ground level and the log is lifted to the height that the arms are set to. This device was shown in SFJ about 10-15 years ago, and belongs to John Rhicard of Owl Hoot Farm, Stanbridge East QUE. If this sounds like the deal, I can get his contact info, I am lacking it right this second, and a four year old is bothering me.
Carl