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Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Obtaining and Handling Logs 
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
 Here is a picture of the little stack I got off one log he was going to burn. I have 20 more ready to saw and whatever I can get out of the red oak (800-900 bft?) by the time I butcher it to get it on my little mill in 1/4.  From contributor K: I'm offered logs every now and then, but all I have is an F150 pickup, and a 16' trailer. I'm usually left to load the logs and unload them. I end up turning most of it down, because I just don't have a bobcat, or anything to load with. I can probably drag them out of the trailer, if I put a winch on the front of my truck, but the loading is a stumper for me. From contributor R: Loading is actually the relatively easy part. I have loaded some really big logs by rolling them up a ramp on the side of the trailer. The procedure I use is:
From the original questioner: My mill is in town. My shop is across the alley from a lawnmower/auto shop with a forklift. The city street department and I share the block, and they have a backhoe. My buddy who is a backhoe operator has 3 backhoes, 1 trackhoe and 2 bobcats and is 4 blocks away. I am on the edge of town. The rural road shed is also 4 blocks away. They have 2 backhoes and a big endloader. With all that, I have had logs I couldn't move because everyone was gone at once. I broke down and bought a small Bobcat with a grapple bucket. I don't usually take huge logs, as they can be more work than they are worth. 36" and under… Heck, the majority don't even grow that big around here. I swear under my breath when I see a 48" roll in and know I am going to have to 1/4 it. From contributor K: Do they make a bobcat small enough that I could drive it up onto the back of my pickup for traveling, yet strong enough to load and unload logs? From contributor D: I am not all that knowledgeable about equipment. But I do know the one I am getting weighs 3500lbs even though it is small. I think the weight of the machine is important for offsetting the log's weight. You would need something a lot heavier than the log to pick it up. I don't think you want that in the bed of the truck. You can still get a decent pile of logs and a small bobcat on a trailer. I don't even chase logs - the one I have is for use around the mill. I have only been doing this since last November and with no adverts, I usually have as much as I can saw brought to me. If there are free logs I can't pass on, there is a guy here in town who is semi-retired that chases for me. He ran after the walnut and oak for something to do, and he heats with wood so he likes to see me sawing 'cause he takes a lot of the scrap. From contributor D: Another idea if you are only looking at 1 or 2 logs at a time... You live in Illinois, right? Call the Illinois Propane Gas Association. I had talked to a guy one time when I was thinking about a way to move logs without a loading machine. They have special wagons for moving propane tanks that you pull over the tank, crank it up, then drive off with it. He is in the know with all the gas distributors through the state, and usually knows where a guy can pick one of those things up used. From contributor J: A bobcat that will lift 2000lbs weighs about 10,000 lbs. From contributor K: Yes, in northern IL. Is that legal to drive down the highway with a log chained under such a carriage? From contributor D: I would think it would be less of a hazard than 500 gallons of liquid propane. I'm not a cop, but I think with proper flagging it should not be a problem. It's rural here - you see a little of everything going down the road. Sometimes there is more farm equipment than cars. So a log going down the road would not even get a second look. The one I am familiar with is one my uncle used in his propane and fuel oils distribution business when I was a kid. I would help him sometimes during the summer. He sold out and retired years ago, and I don't know what became of his. It would have made a better log hauler than the one I linked to, but they are out there. That office I mentioned before is in Springfield, but the rep travels the whole state.
From contributor A: I have hired a flatbed from a local towing company to recover logs. The going rate is 75 to 100/hr. If I have the logs lined up and trimmed of branches, they can back right up and use the winch to pull them up on the bed, then I roll them off in my yard where they get sawn. From contributor S: We haul logs regularly with a tandem axle trailer using a parbuckle technique to load. If it's a whole lot of logs, we hire a truck. 
Image by Scott Banbury of www.scottbanbury.com. From contributor H: Those trailers you talked about moving propane tanks don't leave the tank dangling. They hoist up the tank, then put two pieces of curved iron (to fit the tank - one near each end) under it, then let the tank down on the iron. You could do the same for logs. From contributor E: Got real lucky last weekend and picked this up for $55.00 at a farm auction. Hope it helps with what a towable log hauler should look like. I parked it over a spare log deck and am happy to see that I will be able to back the log over the deck and drop it where it needs to be sawn.  From contributor B: Here is what I use and it works spectacularly. I pull up near the tree and unhook my trailer, back up to the tree, pick it up so it will clear the side of my trailer and then throw another chain around the log and hook it to the two blue chain hooks on the back side of my truck, pulling it up snug. I then chain the other side likewise and I can drive with the log without it swaying and swinging all over. I back up to the trailer, unload and reverse the process when I get home to set it on the mill. In the picture, I have wrapped the chain around the log twice and as I lift, I can turn the log to position it (that is a 24+" post oak 16' long.) My winch setup is mounted on a 3'x4'x3/8" plate of steel that is bolted to my p/u frame. It will slide right out if I need the regular p/u bed. Total cost about $2500 - and it will pick up more than most bobcats and is probably cheaper.  From contributor T: Future Forestry manufactures a line of arches for moving and transporting logs. They're very simple to use and affordable. The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment). Comment from contributor M:
Trailer: $1400 new, winch $400 new, winch mounting plate $80. It is fun to use, because three large logs can be easily pulled up the ramp and into the trailer bed, sitting alongside each other. Two more medium sized logs can be pulled up on top of the original three by removing the trailer ramp (pulling it off of its hinge pins) and leaning it lengthwise up against the logs already on the trailer. I usually can pull the following two logs up on top of the originals without much trouble. Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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