Winter Logging Footage

[Does’ Leap]

Here is some video footage and pictures from logging this winter. My set-up is pretty low tech – a small digital camera propped on a tree limb for the video. I uploaded the content and edited it in iMovie.

It’s been a tough winter for logging. Lots of ice in December and January followed by lots of snow (it is thigh deep right now in my woods). There were some decent pockets in between, but not my most productive season.

George

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuCtODwJuPg[/video]

[Ed Thayer]

George,

Great looking video. Looks like nice wood. Do you find it a pain to switch between the d-ring shackle and hook for twitching wood then undoing the shackle to go back to the pin on the evener for forecart yarding?

I want to redo my evener so it has a welded hoop on the back so the d-ring and twitching hook can stay on the evener while yarding. Then I can just hook the evener onto to a welded hoon on the forecart tongue.

Horses are looking good. Nice grapple attachment too. Looks like a handt tool on the landing.

ED

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Ed:

I have tried different permutations that would allow me to keep the swivel/grab attached to the evener while on the logging cart. The main problem I had was that I kept bending the hook. The last hook I had on there was 1″ cold rolled round stock and the horses bent that with large hemlock log behind them. Even when that hook was working I didn’t like that it lengthened the hitch. Those extra few inches make a difference when navigating between trees. I have gone back to the 3/4″ hitch pin for durability and so I can keep the hitch as short as possible. As far as time, I would pulling the pin and attaching the swivel might add a minute to the operation – no big deal for me.

If you were set on the hook, I would make it out of 1×2 stock (bent, of course) and use a pulling evener with a large hole to accommodate the the hook (check out Carl R’s evener). I have a large hook like this on my bobsled with a loop of 5/16 chain around it. I attach the swivel to that loop of chain and it works well. However, I am not as concerned with the length of the hitch on the bobsled b/c – unlike the logging cart – I use it almost exclusively for yarding logs.

The “thumb” is a slick tool – great for logs, moving piles of brush, and cleaning out the bedded pack in the barn. Here is a link if you are interested.

George

[Carl Russell]

Great video George.

Over the years I have tried different configurations of hooks and swivels. I have found the Bitch-link on a swivel to be fail-proof. Easy to hold onto, doesn’t bend, and it is very easy to hitch on chokers. The challenge of keeping hooks and swivels on eveners on carts is the hammer-strap often doesn’t offer enough room to accommodate everything. Like George, I think the time to connect or disconnect a clevis is insignificant in the scheme of things.

However, I find I rarely disconnect the horses from the cart. If the snow is too deep to use the cart, I generally use the bobsled, or scoot, and on those devices I have room to leave the even all set up.

This has been a challenging winter for sure. I have a tendency of more work than I can get done, some of which is forestry consulting, so when logging conditions are difficult to manage, I get started on other projects, then when weather is suitable, sometimes I am knee-deep in another project. Then when I complete that project we get another 20″ of snow…. thank god I have an old crawler to bust open trails.

Carl

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Carl:

It is interesting that you rarely disconnect from your cart. I do quite often. Sometimes I do this out of necessity as the terrain will simply not accommodate my arch due to ledge, hummocks, width of skid trail, trees I don’t want to remove and other factors. Sometimes I disconnect out of choice. Yes, I could get “there” but the amount of futzing around getting my cart turned around in tight terrain leads me to disconnect and ground skid.

I think some of our differences over disconnecting from the cart have to do with the cart itself – the Barden vs. the Forest, the first being smaller and more maneuverable. However, I have used the Barden cart for the past couple of years at a neighbor’s farm with whom I do some cooperative logging. We also find ourselves disconnecting from the Barden as well. I plan on bringing the Barden here next year and giving it a try at my own place with my horses. Looking forward to it.

55 and muddy here today. My logging window is closing rapidly. Bring on the grazing!

George

[Carl Russell]

You know George, I have a favorite coffee cup and a large table spoon that I measure sugar with, but sometimes I dump sugar in, or maple syrup, and stir with a fork, or (god forbid) I use a different cup…… 😉

I am not completely convinced it has to do with the type of the cart, as I have a high-wheeled version as well. I think that if I know I am going to be ground skidding because of terrain, or conditions, then I am likely to just take the sled….. something about being on the ground already that leads me to want to roll bunched logs onto a sled.

Additionally, there are times when I will bunch for the sled using a cart.

For me I think it comes down to the way I see the work, and woods. I will fall trees differently when I’m using the cart. I have long chains, rings, and tongs that I use to reach long distances, and of course the lay of the tree must have taken those into consideration.

Just for an example of the personal perspective on this, at 2012 BWW I was chopping blow-down hardwoods for 3-4 teams in a woodland bowl with moderate to steep slopes. Near the end of the day I had finally worked my way up to some very difficult trees….. but of course having done this kind of work before, I had “worked” my way there with an eye toward functionality, as everyone was using an arch. One of them just wouldn’t do it, one other nearly had a tragedy, and Chad Vogel and Jim Brown just drove up, backed around hitched, tightened, and drew them away.

I have marked a lot of trees for all kinds of loggers, and we each have our own way of seeing how to get them out…… so whatever feels the best, usually is.

Right now I am working in a pine plantation, cutting 26-32 foot cabin logs, in 2-3 feet of snow. I pushed open a main trail with the crawler, but most of the trees are not close to the trail, and they are specifically selected for the project. I will find the best fall toward the trail, use a long chain if I have to, pull the whole tree if we can (20 feet or so) cut off a log, back and rehitch, those kinds of things….. I suppose that’s what you refer to as “futzing around”…. which in my mind keep me in the groove that makes it work for me.

Thanks for sharing, it is great to see other ways to do things.

Carl

[wild millers]

George

I enjoyed watching that, thanks for sharing.

Carl

I thought maybe you would have stirred your coffee with your thumb. 🙂

[Does’ Leap]

Hey Carl:

Yes, lots of different approaches to working horses in the woods. That is what makes it interesting! Now with my expanded logging arsenal – arch, bobsled, and scoot – I get to choose which tool best meet my goals and the terrain at hand. Firewood aside, I have shifted from logging mainly hemlock to cutting low grade hardwood which I sell as tie logs. I have found loading gnarly, bowed, twisted hardwood on a sled challenging. I can load large hemlock logs easier than than a bowed stick of firewood that has half the footage. With the hardwood, it works well when I buck out straight sections of 8 or 10′ but then the amount of footage I can put on my sled goes way down. So I started experimenting yarding with my arch. Compared to short logs on the sled, I can haul nearly as much with the arch with much less effort (and time) on my part.

I too have been long chaining trees with my cart, especially in this deep, wind blown snow. Felling toward the skid road, chaining, pulling, bucking off logs, pulling, etc. etc. I wouldn’t call this futzing, just work – necessary work in these conditions. To quote a famous teamster, “It’s a lot of work to work horses” 😉

The “futzing” I am talking about is when the effort of getting the arch to the logs outweighs the effort of detaching and ground skidding. My cart adds 3′ feet of length to the hitch, a lot more weight, more width and less maneuverability. I also don’t like widening skid trails to accommodate the arch unless I have to – that feels like adapting the terrain to suit the tool and not the other way around. If I am hooking on to a bigger logs (250’+), the lift on the arch comes in very handy (especially on up hill skids) and I will do what I have to get get the arch there.

Too bad you are not closer, doubtless I could learn a lot from you. In the meantime, I will just have to settle for video footage (hint).

George

[Carl Russell]

Yes George from that standpoint I totally get it. Beech logs load hard and are hard to chain securely even when they are straight. I have had as much as 500 feet behind my cart several times with as many as 7-8 tree-length logs chained together in different configurations. Of course in perfect conditions and downhill…

I got thinking a bit more about the cart to the log thing, and it may have something to do with the Barden cart after all. Because I can always get into a safe position easily, I find I feel better using it, even on extremely steep slopes and rough ground…. deep snow is another matter, just because the wheels trig up.

Anyway, I do think that working on the ground next to a log cart, especially in tight-going is much more dangerous and difficult than riding or ground driving loose rigging…. and having to climb up and balance on a high seat would be even more cumbersome.

Anyway, have fun, Carl

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