Poor Man's Skidder

Examples of log-moving rigs creatively improvised on a modest budget. March 28, 2010

Question
In my shoestring operation, support equipment is out of the question. A come-along is used to lift the butt end. Can anyone offer opinions?

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"Photo by Perry Williams".

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor D:
If that's attached to the bed, I was tooling down the hill with a log slung somewhat similar, the log caught a stump. I looked in the rear view to see my bed, log still attached, waiting for me to come back and get it.

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From contributor J:
I recently bought a pipe dolly and it seems to work fine for what I do. I believe in the wood working circles this is called a logging arch.

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From contributor V:
I welded this one up from the rear axle of a front wheel drive car. The lifting mechanism hasn't been worked out yet. I used it to move some logs from my neighbor’s yard that came down in a storm.

This is my one man trailer loader. A ramp built from white oak and a manual winch/crane on the other side of the trailer. Wrap the cable around the log and roll it up the ramp.

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From contributor R:
Here is my shop-built crane on a trailer.

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From contributor R:
Here is an arch I built for the rear end. Need one for the front now, still trying to work out the steering spindle.

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From contributor B:
My log hauler made from an old boat trailer to pull with my four wheeler.

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From contributor B:
You don't have to build another arch for the front. Simply cut that axle and cross member out of the center of the one you now have and center your log (balance it) at the wheels. Take a look at JackW"s pipe dolly. It would save you a lot of building and materials. You may have to beef up the spindle attachment when you cut out the axle from the center of your arch, and add a little arch-to-tongue arm bracing. You may also want/need to extend the tongue arm for the length of logs you want to carry, but balancing the log with the length you now have would allow you to carry around twice the length you can now. It would be a lot of work to build a wagon like pivoting (steering) arch for the front, when you really don't need to. You already have a pretty nice, sturdy built log arch.

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The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment).

Comment from contributor A:
It looks like the front of the log being pulled by the Ford tractor is suspended by a chain attached to the top link attachment point. You should never use a rear attachment point that is higher than the centerline of the rear axle because the tractor could come over backwards. The other suggestion to cut the center out of the log arch axle and extend the tongue is much better.