swedish equipment/ short wood method

[jac]

Hey guys I am well impressed with both Simons and Johns system but have a question.. all the fotos seem to feature either new england d or scandinavian harness.. is there any way my western breeching harness can be converted to work with the shortened shafts ??..
John

[john plowden]

I have been trying to figure out an easy mod for a western style harness – as of yet have come up with a custom tug so to speak that replaces the original tug – I made the harness I use from a wesern britchen – I have a simple d-ring mod that removes the rear tug replacing it with a bolt and pin for the shafts –
As far as articulation I have designed enough play in the joints that is more than adequate – the square tubing is light and strong and the joints between the shafts and arch are reinforced – We put some really good loads on in the woods and have never had to repair or add more bracing – The shafts are adjustable by removing a pin and sliding to anothe hole –
John

[simon lenihan]

John,
I have no doubt that square tubing is up to the job, its just that the scandinaviand have moved away from box section many years ago as have the other who build this equipment throughout europe. I still can not understand how you get 4 to 6 inches articulation on the joints [ sorry ]. One should be able to hold both shafts in their hands off the ground and level, push the right shaft back 4 to 6 inches the left shaft should not move at all. I say fair play if you achieved this with square tubing and would love to see a close up picture only to show where we went terribly wrong using square tubing all those years ago.
simon lenihan

[john plowden]

Simon – There is about 1/16″ space between the tube that fits inside the “support” tube leaving at least 4″ of movement – Somehow it works without being to sloppy – I do think that round tube would give limitless movement barring the retaining pin – Square tube is what I’m set up for – John

[simon lenihan]

john,
good thinking, yes that would work, well done.
simon

[Scott G]

Simon,

Any idea on what the current price is for the SJM forwarder/loader you have?

Do you know of any that have been bought & shipped to North America?

Thx,
-S

[simon lenihan]

scott,
The sjm forwarder/ our forwarder costs somewhere in the region of £16000 to £18000, VAT cancells itself out if both parties are rejistered for same.
simon lenihan

[Scott G]

Thanks,Simon. The price is pretty much in line for what Payeur & Majaco untis are in North America, I believe.

What is VAT? Some sort of trade agreement?

[jac]

Hey Scott , VAT is a Value Added Tax, currently at 20% and this gets added to goods and services. If you are vat registered you claim it back.. if not you’ve 20% more to pay for your stuff.. have to say its not helping in this reccession.. especially when some sob’s think its ok to keep you waiting 90 freakin days on your payment:mad:..
John

[Jim Ostergard]

Simon,
Thanks for posting all the pictures. I had found some of them but have now copied them to a folder on my computer. I am going to take the walking beam wheels off my arch and have a rear bunk built for them. Thus, I can use the wheels on either. I have a front axle which I will build the front bunk on. My question is, if I wanted to put a wire crane on it would I set it up so that the crane weight was directly on the front axle? I can see if I just set it up for pole wood no loader then the logs could load over the front. A second question; from all the photos I have I am not sure where the boom articulates on the wire crane. Is it just at the heel of the boom or does the whole upper part of the crane rotate? Thanks for posting all the pictures.
Jim

[simon lenihan]

JIM,
Yes you are right the crane has to be over the front axle, this is a pic of a sjm wirecrane forwarder, i will try and post better pics when i find them. Once you get this up and running jim you will never look back. It will allow you log for many years to come.
simon lenihan

[simon lenihan]

Jim a smaller version of the wire crane.
simon lenihan

[jac]

Over on the “routine for work horse “thread is a great picture of George’s hitch cart set up for timber.. I notice the eveners are on top of the pole. This seems to create a flat angle of draft.. on the other hand I notice the shafts on Simons and Johns rigs have a very steep angle. Is there any difference in the actual draft on the horses between the 2 set ups ?? I usually hitch wagons, plows and mowers and setting up the draft angle is easy on these thing but dragging timber is clearly a lot different from the small amount of firewood my lot have to pull:D..
John

[john plowden]

I’ll try to explain my understanding – the lower point of draft allows the line of the traces to stay at a ninety degree angle to the shoulder – this can be maintained with a d-ring belly band and saddle adjusted properly holding the trace at this angle – one difference between the two is the shaft /traces are already at the optimum angle allowing for maximum lift at the hitch point – if you can imagine a straight line ninety degrees from the hame all the way down to the point of draft –
Does this help?
John

[simon lenihan]

John is correct, straight line of draft back to hitch point on most swedish equipment, why is it not possible to do the same on skid carts used in usa. Why is it not possible to have the pole on skid carts at the same angle as the shafts on swedish equipment to achieve a straight line of draft.
simon lenihan

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