logging arches

D ring harnesses alleviate tongue slap? This is an attribute that Les should make a bigger emphasis in his talk. The fact that they take away tongue weight from the neck is obvious. For those who feel tongue weight isn’t a problem for them, tongue slap might be a different issue. A really good demonstration would be to lay a half round of fire wood infront of one of the tires of a fore cart and drive over it. that would demonstrate how that harness deals with tongue slap. I don’t think correctly fitting a traditional western brichen harness (correct term?) does anything to prevent tongue slap. If you have a well loaded two wheeled cart and you hit a good root with one wheel the tongue has a lot of lateral load.

Simon,
Just got back from a short trip and am downloading your JPgs, thanks so much!! On my walking beam I think the turning radius is decreased. The butt will ride up and over the rear tire. I always push this and now and again have to deal with the mess I’ve caused.
Jim O

Hello Simon,

1. I haven’t noticed any difference in friction or ground disturbance whether hitched high or low.

2. I’ve never used one.

3. I don’t have a problem on moderately rough ground, but in really rough going I ground skid.

I think the biggest advantage of a two wheel cart is that you can skid tree-length for longer distances. The down side is it requires a bit more time to hook to the hitch, it requires a wider and clearer trail and it requires more space and time to sort wood on the landing. (as opposed to cut-to-length forwardng)

If you

In defense of what John was saying about slap associated with pole height and the D-ring harness, several logging carts out there like Forest Products, and Farmer Brown’s, are designed with a very high hitch, to get the logs hitched high.This results in pole height that is too high for normal horses to be able wear the D-ring high enough to get adequate lift on the pole, and in those cases the pole WILL slap back and forth.

Another point about the D-ring and pole slap, is that if the front trace is too long then the D-ring will be too low to get adequate lift on the pole, and the hitch will not be tight.

Logging carts, as Rick says, have their greatest advantage in ease, so they should be designed to facilitate that. Getting a ladder to get up on every time, in my mind is not easy. The effect on the horse, and relation to the harnessing system is extremely important, almost more so than how high they can lift the log. Carl

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Earlier I had mentioned that we would have better graphics of our simple Charlie Fisher style log arch. This device can be used single or team or multiple hitch.

The new improved 3 – D graphics can be found at:

http://www.healingharvestforestfoundation.org/docs/Log_Arch_Plans.pdf

Thanks DAP folks.

Also wanted to mention that our first installment in a series of segments about HHFF will air on RFD-TV Rural Heritage show starting on the 15th of September.
Hope you all enjoy it and stay tuned to upcoming shows that will have more actual techniques of doing this work safely and efficiently.

We want to thank Joe Mischka at Rural Heritage, Bailey’s Forestry Supply and Pennfield Feeds for their support and sponsorship.

Regards,

About 35 years ago I was skidding on the ground with a double tree and team and had a friend helping. We were also moving laps and tops from a previous harvest down a skid trail we didn’t build. My friend did the step over the log
move, got his foot caught and injured and basically at that time, ended my interest in logging with horses.

Skidding on the ground is dangerous, primitive, old fashioned, hillbilly, backwards,
inefficient, environmentally damaging (not be human centered here, but people are part of the environment and if a person gets hurt easily then it would follow reason that the rest of the surroundings may suffer also), and much harder on your horses, mules or oxen.

Then at the Mid-Atlantic Winter National Draft Horse pull I met a fellow that said he knew a fellow than ran a crew of 25 teams supplying his sawmill using a “Log Arch”. I went and found that fellow and he was my first mentor on modern horse logging. The device we give away blueprints for on our web site were designed by the late Charlie Fisher, of Andover, Ohio. He spent his life working in the woods with horses.

This “log arch” device is state of the art in many respects, but is not patentable because it is to simple and all the features are ancient, (with the exception of pneumatic rubber tires of course). It is a device because it has no moving parts other than the wheels. The parts that wear out can simply be replaced.

The wheel is a pretty cool invention. We even live on a round planet. So putting some of the load on the wheels, just enough to keep the front end of the log off the ground is an incredible increase in efficiency of moving tons of firewood, pulpwood, saw logs, beam logs, whole smaller trees, etc. It is estimated to increase animal tractive capacity many fold over the course of a days work. Those who have done much of both already know this.

A skid trail less than six feet wide is very reasonable for the spacial arrangement of a healthy vigorous forest made up of superior specimens and appropriate species.

The operation of a logging arch is safer, more efficient and modern.

Yet knowing all that to be absolutely true – we still skid on the ground sometimes. Short skids on step ground can be quickly bunched downhill
to be forwarded with an arch to the landing. But you better know what you are doing and have a great animal to work with.

I am totally sold on using a log arch. Yet I don’t sell them, I give the plans away. I know folks that manufacture them here in our community, but any good welder can make one from the blueprints you can download from our website and print and you keep the money in your community.

I wouldn’t consider and can’t imagine serious animal powered forestry without a log arch. Not if you see it as a part of how you make your living.