The way the loggers do it if by a cable which is suspended high in the air.
So maybe attach the end of your chain to the front loader of the tractor and raise it up, then drive backwards?
Here is a drawing of how the loggers do it (high lead cable logging)...
Maybe you could cut a generous chamfer into the lower egde of the butt end so that it doesn't dig in as much.
....
I'd use the 3-pt to do it from the rear (if there were any logs around here, that is)...of course there's always the "bigger hammer" ploy. :)
How big a log and what size tractor of which we speaketh here?
It's basically a matter of using as short a connection as you can manage, so that the tractor is pulling UP as much as it is forward. You also want the connection point on the tractor to be as high up as you can get it, *WITHOUT PUTTING IT HIGHER THAN THE REAR AXLE!*
If you put it TOO high, then when the log does dig in, the tractor will try to do a back-flip. This isn't usually a problem with pickups, because they don't have enough torque to walk out from under.
--Goedjn
Can anyone recommend a website that shows how a cable can be attached to a log in some way that will allow it to be dragged behind a tractor without the butt digging in?
If you can't lift the butt off the ground while hauling, like a proper grapple-skidder, you might try something like an old-time "boat"- a very strong sled (in effect) that would be slid under the butt.
HTH, J
On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:16:10 GMT, "Bubba" wrote (with possible editing):
Up here, the loggers use skidders and the process of dragging logs is called "skidding". What we amateurs do is buy a logging winch for your tractor. It has a long cable on a winch, usually with two pulleys, one low and one high. On the cable are "choker chains" which are maybe 4' chains with an eye on one end. You wrap the chain around the log once and through the eye. The winch cable has gizmos on the end which slide along the length of the cable and grab the chain. They are shaped with a "O" on one end with a slot along the other. You let out enough cable to get to the log furthest away and then hook the chain around that log through the "O" and then lock the chain through the slot. (the purpose here is that you can cut a few trees in one area and winch them all to the tractor)
You put the cable through the highest pulley and winch the entire "twitch" back to the tractor. (the logging winch is in its lowest position at this point, usually with its bottom on the ground. You can either hook the individual chains onto a slotted bar lower down or take the cable off the high pulley and put it over the lower pulley. Then you raise the three point hitch and off you go. The logs are held high enough off the ground that they normally won't snag, and if they do, you won't flip. (a very serious danger, since tractors have enough power and traction to do this)
Without a logging winch (which I think REALLY helps and makes this MUCH easier) you could put a bar on the lower arms of the three point hitch and wrap a logging chain around it and then raise it high enough so that the logs clear the ground by maybe 6" to 12". On most tractors you can't raise them higher than the rear axle, but if that is possible, DON'T do it! This way if there is a snag, you'll stop, not flip.
Hope that helps. I'm certainly no expert, but I've done this a lot.
I built a light duty one for skidding railroad ties (more than 300 of em) for a retaining wall. A bent 1/8" plate with a hole in the up leg. Run the chain or cable through it to the log, place plate in front of log and pull. If it doesn't want to climb on the plate you might have to dig a bit to get the edge started under the nose of the log first.
Harry K
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