[Does’ Leap]

@Donn Hewes 38480 wrote:

I wouldn’t hesitate to hook a horse over 1500# to the 5 1/2 bar.

Hey Donn, you know a lot more about mowers than me, but that seems like a lot for one horse – the equivalent of an 11 foot bar for two horses. As you know, I run a 6 ft bar on my flatter land (this is a relative term), and a 5 ft bar on my hills and I would like to think my horses are hard and my mowers are well tuned. The I and J is a ground drive unit (I know they sell a motorized mower)? Do they really run that much better than the MD #7s and #9s?

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Scott G 38432 wrote:

Significant scars, defects, cankers, etc… will all count against you. It’s all about eye and knowing what your local mills/markets want.

Scott, part of the beauty of selling hemlock (for me), aside from the good price that I am getting, is that it is not graded. The mill will dock you for shake, significant sweep, etc., but I have a pretty good handle on that. If hardwood prices rise in this area, I will venture into cutting graded logs which I am sure has a learning curve.

I decided to plug in some numbers:

• On a 20′ log with a small end diameter of 14″, it scales out at 175 feet (international).
• A 10′ log with the same diameter scales out at 80 feet. Another 10′ log with a 15″ diameter scales out at 95 feet.
• So with a 1″ taper / 10 feet, two 10 footers scale out the same as the 20 footer (i.e 175 feet in both cases). With the price differential ($330 for 20’s and $310 for shorter logs), this would yield me an additional $3 (gross) in this case. Not a whopping difference, but it is not a big log and those differences add up over time.
• If the taper jumps to 2″ per 10 feet, I would do slightly better cutting to 10 footers with those logs scaling out at 190 feet. Any of you foresters / loggers know how to figure diameter from the circumference of the log accounting for the fact that diameter is calculated inside the bark?

On a different note, finally some snow here…..Note all the short logs:eek:
[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eI_n0RtIuFU/UNc4vRbR98I/AAAAAAAABlM/nSoCHN5HbW4/s800/P1040133.JPG[/IMG]

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Tom, that is the price at the mill and I pay trucking ($60/mbf). It is still a good price. Carl, part of my problem with scaling logs is that I don’t have a scale stick. I write the top end diameter and length on a piece of paper and refer to a table when I am back home. Perhaps I should invest in a scale stick and bring it along to the woods with my other logging gear. I was pulling through soup this morning. Conditions look and feel solid until you drag of bunch of logs through and then they turn to mush. We have had a lot of moisture here in the past month and things are far from frozen.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Thanks for the response. I am figuring out this logging thing as I go along without having had the benefit of working with someone with experience, so your input is helpful. I will ship some of those logs. I think I will also lean toward the 20 footers. I have watched guys running slashers over here and they seem to be always cutting for length on hemlock.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Thanks for the responses. I took a tape to the slash I cut off some hemlock yesterday and it is more like 8″-10″ in the coarse spots. Scott mentioned 12-16″ in the contracts he writes out West, what is common in the northeast? Carl, I like your idea of mimicking what would happen in a wind storm in certain locations, I will give it a try.

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Mark Cowdrey 38383 wrote:

….when hitching my mower I make sure the cutter bar lift mechanism is released so that when I pick up the end of the pole I am not lifting the cutter bar. Mark

Wow, I must have missed that tip – thanks Mark. Hopefully I will remember it when I pick up my pole next summer. Does it make a big difference?

George

[Does’ Leap]

Eli, looks very functional and should work well. The only thing I would do would be to put some sort of dashboard up front . Unless I am on really good roads, I am driving my horses with one hand and holding on to balance myself with another. This would also help prevent you from pitching over the front.

Here is a picture of my arch (Forest) with the dash.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Hey Jared:

Keep in mind that the land in that video is dead flat. Hills make all the difference. I raked hay with a halflinger and a draft-cross for several years and there is no way either of those horses could pull a rake for any distance solo on my hilly land, especially after a good stint of mowing and tedding. Something to think about….

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Carl Russell 38128 wrote:

I have had a scoot all cut out for a bout 2 years now, and I think with this wet weather I may try to finish it this week….

Carl

Carl, I know it is not the “weapon” :), but my scoot sure pulls nice on this soft wet ground compared to the bobsled. How about some pictures when you get your new scoot out?

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Carl Russell 38108 wrote:

What are you doing that seems to create difficulty? I Just keep the chain wrapped and taught by looping around the upright stakes, so that when I stop, I just open the binder and lay the chain ends open, roll on the logs, pull up the ends, and bind….

Carl

Hi Carl:

I do the same thing as I learned the practice from you. There is no big difficulty, just my desire to refine the process. What you write makes sense and I will continue to chain and bind the same way. How important is it to keep your loops that go around the bunk toward the outside of the bunk? My chain has a tendency to drift toward the center of the bunk, kind of like yours in the picture above. Would you load with your chains positioned like that or move your loops toward the outside? Seems like a trade-off between bunching your logs together (loops toward the center) vs. pushing them down toward the bunk (more toward the outside).

Thanks for the input.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Jared:

Thanks for posting those pictures. I really like the draft buffer / single tree set-up pictured mid way through. I have never set up scan. shafts, but here is how I would go about it: Skid a log with your horse and single tree dropping as many links as possible on your trace chains so that the load is a close as possible without hitting the back of your horse’s legs. Then measure from the d-ring to the end of your trace and that should be your shaft length. Depending on where your shafts are in relation to your load, you could shave off a little more. Judging from those pictures at the end, the load is further back from end of the shafts.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Eli:

I prefer leather and I would recommend looking around locally for a used harness. I have been able to purchase 6 harnesses over the past 5 years or so and have spent anywhere from $75 to $200 / harness. These were all harnesses kicking around in peoples’ barns and were all serviceable with minor repairs (on some). Perhaps you could try craigslist or put the word out. A new harness, especially leather, will cost significantly more.

George

[Does’ Leap]

If Carl’s hardware cache doesn’t pan out for you, why not make squares instead of rings? Irregardless of whether you are making a pole from sapling (round) or purchasing one (square) you should be able to shape your pole to fit the square under the bunk, still using the eye bolt to secure it. The nose ring/square is even more forgiving, you just want some play around your pole and a square should serve nicely. It would be relatively quick to fabricate – 8 cuts and 8 welds. This would be easier than the rosebud option or perhaps even the forge for that matter.

George

George

[Does’ Leap]

Hey Ed:

Do you have a forge and anvil? If so, I don’t think it would be too bad to fabricate them. The ring under the bunk is made out of 3/4″ round stock and the front ring is only 1/2″. If you come up short, I can take some measurements.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Jared:

I have had good luck clipping all sorts of vegetation with a sickle bar (MD #9) including goldenrod, raspberry, aster, – even small poplar saplings. My experience is that if you have decent ground speed, you can cut through a lot, even on bumpy ground.

George

[Author]

Posts