Wednesday, May 30, 2018

New Log Skidder Post for the Ford 8N Tractor

After my struggles moving the trees that fell at my parents' property from last October's storm , I had some ideas on how to improve the use of the old Ford tractor . . .
A proper log skidder post allows us to use the power of the three point hitch on the back of the tractor to pick up logs and move them where they can be parked and worked on .
So after some surfing on the web for some ideas , and a scrounge through the scrap steel pile  . . .
. . . and a bit of cutting and grinding the idea starts to come together .
Some drilling .
And some more serious drilling with a three quarter inch drill bit .
 A few tack welds to square it all up .
After a solid day of grinding and welding we arrive at this . . .
Sometimes I even amaze myself . . . yea I know , it don't take much .
And it even fits on the tractor like it was meant to . . . .
It works too . . .
 . . .  almost like I knew what I was doing
That log is about fourteen feet long and about thirty six inches in diameter at the base . If my contraption did not bend or break under that load , I am pretty sure it can hold up to normal abuse . The three point hitch could just barely lift the log about four inches off the ground and it maxed out .
I love it when a plan comes together .

7 comments:

  1. We always just used the drawbar and a grab hook. After Dad passed away, though, I got a Farmi winch.

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    1. Lifting them with this rig works really well, better than I expected. I really figured I would be unable to move that big fourteen footer. But all it takes is getting the front end up a couple inches and it makes it possible for the old 37 hp Ford model a engine to do the job.

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  2. Ahora deberías construír un carrito con 1 caster wheel para atarlo a la cola del tronco, para que no arrastre sobre el piso.

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    1. Si estaba considerando algo asi, pero no se si es realmente necesario.

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  3. Very Innovative Indeed

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    1. An addition I am considering is couple short fork tines, perhaps ten inches long, pointing back just below the level of the draw bar, to lift the front end of the log so I can get the chain under the log without having to dig under it. The bucket on the front does not have the strength to lift them enough.

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  4. OK folks, sorry for the delay... it seems the mooks at google blogger have changed the setting on things and I am no longer being notified by email when someone comments so that I can approve and respond. I only found the above, when I went to my dashboard and found a pile of comments "awaiting moderation".

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