[Scott G]

As has been stated, pads need to be 2″ larger than the collar. Otherwise the contours do not match. Specifically the collar shoulder/draft contour with the pad shoulder/draft contour. The pad is wider there for a reason.

Considering that collar fit and placement is the most important aspect of harnessing in my book, I don’t skimp. I use adjustable collars and have a couple of different sized pads when I tighten or loosen up. Realize that spot of the collar is where the majority of energy transfer takes place.

Avoiding sore shoulders is paramount. Sore shoulders = no work

[Scott G]

Great to hear from you Jim & good luck with the new team. If I’m able to make it back to LIF again someday maybe I’ll actually get a chance to spend some time with you. Take care of yourself. You’re not gettin’ as old as you think you are.;)

My Dad and neighbor, 75 & 89 respectively, teamed up this past week to log out some salvage beetle kill. Dad is felling for the 89 yo neighbor who is skidding with a farmi/tractor. Dad can’t hear worth a damn and Ralph (89yo) can hardly see. Somehow they manage not to kill one another and enjoy themselves to boot. I’d love to hide out in the woods and watch that show…

As one old timer once told me: I work as hard or harder than I did in my twenties, I just don’t seem to get as much done…

[Scott G]

The stuff has no ‘tack’ and slings off the bar way too easy. Kinda’ like running winter weight in July, just not effective and way too messy.

Besides, I was getting tired of always looking over my shoulder to keep bears off my ass because I looked & smelled like a french fry…:eek:

[Scott G]

One should always work at least 1 1/2 – 2 tree lengths from the next closest faller, for that very reason.

Often times it seems that working together in the same proximity with a large crew is one of the unsafest situations. You are constantly tripping over one another or screaming “heads up”.

I like working with myself or one/two other folks at most. If each has a specific duty, i.e. felling, skidding, or working the landing, it can be a pretty efficient system. Still, I like being responsible for only myself, my horse(s), and my dog if he decides to come along…

[Scott G]

Thanks for the tip, Kevin! I purchased it. It is one of Jim Brown’s arches that is basically new; barely even a season of use. Was able to buy it for about half of what it is currently listed for. Will be getting a shaft adapter/shafts so that I can run it with a single as well. This cart is definitely worth the coin…

[Scott G]

Very nice, Bradley! It is apparent that you took your time with this and your level of craftsmanship is superior.

Did you make the hardware as well?

[Scott G]

@Jim Ostergard 25809 wrote:

Nice rig.

…When I had Rusty (put the old fella down three weeks ago)…

Sorry about Rusty, Jim. I know that old hoss meant the world to you…

[Scott G]

Fellman,

Welcome!

Do you know Jennifer Morrisey? She lives not far from me and is very involved in promoting Fells. If you want, e-mail me and I’ll forward you her contact.

-Scott

[Scott G]

@pistolpete 25643 wrote:

rhode island

Bummer… 🙁

[Scott G]

@Carl Russell 25464 wrote:

Before this thread slips away, I just wanted to write that the chain on the end of the skid system really comes in handy when piling logs on a landing. That way there are no chains to pull out form under logs.
Carl

I really like your method of securing the ends of the crosshaul line to the skids, Carl. I’ve used the crosshaul (parbuckle) method to load my flat bed truck & GN trailer many times when a loader wasn’t available or rolling the logs up with a peavey was just too much. Power source has not only been horse, but also ATV, truck, & winch. Other than being slow, my main issues have been pulling the line/chain back out from under the load if it wasn’t resting up on bunks and the “dead spot” that seems to deveop as you build the load towards the top. Moving the cross haul line with the skids makes a lot of sense. Kinda’ makes me feel stupid for not thinking of it before…

I noticed that Ronnie’s skids seemed short as compared to what I normally use which is 12-16′. Do the shorter ones work better for you Ronnie?

Probably my biggest obstacle in making regular use of methods such as these is the fact that in my life’s journey I owned & ran a decent sized mechanical show in the years between horse operations. Now I’m back to where I want & need to be but I’m still very much a production & efficiency minded logger & forester. It is hard to remind myself that real efficiencies can still be realized when kept in context with the scale that a particular operation is tailored to. There are no bottlenecks in operations like Ronnie’s and they are the absolute epitome of efficiency.

Not saying I still don’t love my forwarders & hydraulics but the reality is that I’ll be putting a small wagon on the back of an arch that I’m picking up in a couple of weeks and that will be my forwarder. Hand loading posts & poles and crosshauling ponderosa pumpkins that I can’t handle with a peavey. The end result is that I’ll still be realizing the benefits of forwarding larger pre-bunched trailside loads to the landing as opposed to skidding a few stems. Same idea, just scale appropriate.

Forwarder with a loader will still be in my future down the road, but it will happen when the numbers require it, not nominally justify it.

For me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of logging is that it’s a thinking man’s game. That becomes extremely apparent when you do more with less.

Anybody else feeling philosphical with the coming of Mud Season or just plain stuck? :confused:

[Scott G]

Thanks guys, those are the type I’m looking for I just just need a higher WLL. None of the ag or hardware stores here carry any HD ones. Some of the larger ones in the Ace site might work. I was just trying to find something in a reasonable size that had a high WLL. Mitch, the marine rigging outfits are where I last left off and still might be the best best.

George, I’m putting together some multiple choker long lines to overhead blocks/lines as well as some low tech rope rigging with an improvised carriage for working some steep & nasty. Swivels just have a way of making everyone behave in the rigging…Could use another spare couple for my tongs, etc. to attach to a clevis as well rather than just slipping the ring in my grab hook.

In short, I just like options when it comes to rigging a unit

Bought one of David Miller’s HD grabs a couple of years ago. Worth the investment and he sure is a lot handier with his plasma cutter than I am with a torch…

[Scott G]

Thx Ed & Mitch. Tapping trees intrigues me as a forestry practice and I’ve never been exposed to it,…except on my pancakes 😀

Never have developed much of a taste for turpentine…

Mitch, boxelder, Acer negundo, aka “Manitoba maple”, is native out here and we have a lot of it, albeit most are multi-stem shrubby looking stuff. There are a lot of silver maple down in the urban corridor and some red maple and other assorted Acer species but they are all street trees.

I have a Grandma Moses print hanging by my bed of sugaring in New England. Its one of my favorite pics and is as close as I’ll probably get to the “sugaring scene” anytime in the near future…

Geoff, my “rig” is an old chevy flatbed and I “rig my rigging” in the trees.:D

[Scott G]

So for somebody like me, who doesn’t know a damn thing about tapping trees (syrup from pine, spruce, & fir probably is a no-go :rolleyes:), what is an arch??

[Scott G]

Break up/end of Mud season doesn’t typically come around here until late-April at lower elevations and late-May in the High Country. We still have time to think about it..

[Scott G]

@goodcompanion 24974 wrote:

I usually use a deferred collateralized security tranche of each horse in an amortized hay annuity-based debt retained revenue expenditure obligation, plus a 15% accrued capital income dividend allowance for each hoof I haven’t trimmed since I’m busy filing taxes.

Plus if the barnyard is wet in April I consider the assets to be offshore.

Baffle them with Bullsh**!!

They do it to us so turn around is fair play in my book!!:D:D

[Author]

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