The LumberWorksForums

Hey WoodButcher,

I'm working on one too. Not sure how it will come out cause it's made from all scrap material, but it should do the job. I'm making it to haul logs up off the ground as well. I'm tired of cleaning and/or stripping mud caked bark off the logs. The arch part of mine is made from what they call a "horseshoe", the kind of guard post they place at the end of fuel isles to keep the pumps from getting smoothed out by someone that probably shouldn't be driving any kind of vehicle. I work part time for an oil company, and have access to bent ones that have been hit by the above mentioned "drivers". I got an old trailer axle from a friend that I cut the hubs off of. I'm gonna use 1.5" pipe for the "back bone" as you call it. I'm not so sure how that's gonna work, but we'll find out soon.

Anyway, I am actually working on it today and need to get my butt movin. I will keep you updated, and if it doesn't look too bad I'll get a few pics of it. The paint won't be going on it till spring time, but I need to get it done and start using it last month. I guess I'll be a little late .

Good luck with yours! I look forward to seeing the pics.

PS: I thought you had already built one a while back??

Yeah lainemech, I did make one that I still use. I'm like you though,... I'm sick of muddy logs. The back bone of mine hooks to the 4x4 and the arch can be adjusted to one of five different locations along the back bone. The shortest length is 5' which will haul a 10' log off the ground. Then there is another hole every foot down the side of the back bone, take your pick. I just found this pic on my phone,... the arch is on the forks. You can't really see the sleeve that the back bone goes thru, but it's 3" x 3' long. This thing in gonna rock!! In the second pic you can see the sleeve a little better but not real good. This thing is kinda heavy, yet very well ballanced and EZ to move by hand or with the 4x4. Also, in the second pic you can see the arch part is upside down to the tongue ,... thats just for welding the bottom part of the arch.

Looks good, I want suma that steel,,,

WB, it's an elegantly simple device. It would great behind a good pair of mules... Are you going to be able to lift at multiple points so you can lift one end of the log at at time? Looks good buddy.

Theo

WB,
I would put bracing from the uprights that hold the axles to the ends of the sliding piece to stop any twist that could be caused by hitting a stump or rut or pothole or just vibration from over time going down the road. Looks good otherwise

Ken

Hey WoodButcher,

It's kind of funny that the progress on our arch's are kind of running parallel. The biggest difference between our arch's is that my "sleeve" is mounted under the arch and set pretty much from the arch forward. What I did (hopefully) to anticipate the stress on the tongue arm (backbone) was to weld in a couple braces from the arch to the sleeve. They are angled down from near the front of the sleeve to a point about half way between the top of the arch and where the axles stub out. This still allows the backbone to be adjustable. I used some lighter angle for these, and may have to replace them with something heavier if they don't seem to do the job under a heavy load.

I have also thought about adding a removable bar to slip in under the log after it's raised up on the arch. You could then lower the log on the bar so it would be resting on the bar rather than swinging in the breeze from a chain or cable, then secure the front of the log with a chain. Like I said before, I'm not sure how the 1.5" round pipe "backbone" will hold up, especially when the backbone is extended all the way out. I'm not worried about the downward force (tongue weight). That can be adjusted by the balance of the log. It is the lateral stress from turning that concerns me. I will refine the design as needed (if I need to) after using it a few times.

I'm still not sure about the winch mounting yet. I really wanted to get over to Harbor Freight today, but we got 2+ inches of snow here last night, and you know how snow and South Carolina don't mix well! Don't know if I will be going anywhere today.

I look forward to seeing some more pics of yours. I'll try to get some pics of mine on here later today if I can.

Hey WB, Yeah, go figure. I can drive an 80,000 lbs gas tanker over the tank pads to drop gas at the station, but some guy comes along with a tractor or bobcat on a trailer behind their pickup truck and the station owner has a fit if they get near the pad!

As far as the arch goes, mine will be used off-road only. It will be used primarily to move logs across my yard. I only have an acre or so here and have no way to get logs over to the mill set up without driving over the septic tank or field. I have pulled them over there on a trailer with the lawn tractor many times, but I don't feel real comfortable driving them over there with an F-250. And the trailer is a pain in the butt to get a log on to. I figure the arch will be much easier to lift and offload a log, and can still be pulled with a lawn tractor. With it being built from lighter material when sawing away from home I can lift it myself and tote the arch to the site in the bed of the PU truck and still trailer the mill behind.
I'm sure I wont be able to break any speed records while hauling logs on the arch, especially big ones. If needed I will rebuild the backbone/tongue and the sleeve part with heavier square tube steel. I used the 1.5 round pipe for those parts (the sleeve is 2" pipe) cause I had quite a bit of it laying around and wanted to get rid of it. The arch part (the horseshoe) and axle stubs are more than strong enough to handle anything I'll be able to get under it. I really don't want to have to redo it, but as you well know it's really not that big of a deal to "cut this off and add that on" when working with steel. Unlike wood, you can cut it off, weld it back on, add on to it or whatever. A lot easier to modify if needed. At any rate, this is really just a prototype and may need some R&D work. We'll just have to give it a try and see.
I wasn't able to get pics of it today. I have to work Sun. & Mon. nights, so it will be Tues. before I get back to it and get some pics. Hopefully, it will get it's maiden voyage the same day. I would guess You should have yours in use by then as well.
BTW WB, I like the way you made the tongue arm angled downward toward the coupler. Mine is straight, then 90's down to the coupler. I did this so I could adjust the coupler up and down to keep the coupler and arm horizontal when changing towing vehicles. This may turn out to be the weak link on my arch when making a sharp turn.

WB,
Yup, I agree that you should put braces from the sleeve down to the axles. If you hit a stump and the wheels get bent sideways the quad would have a hard time pulling it. Even with the wheels braced I could see that avoiding stumps would be a good thing. Good ideas sparkin here!

Theo

Ok, this can be followed up here: the-prayingmantis-t730.html