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Osage harvesters
Eric Krewson:
I misunderstood the question I guess; this is my mobile unit; I don't know how you could make a better one. I have a much bigger tractor now, it wouldn't be near as handy going through tight places as the small one in the picture, it doesn't matter because my osage cutting days are over.
When it comes to processing, I asked Mike of the former Mike's osage if they used any power splitters to process the thousand or so staves they produced a year. He said they built a long log splitter to run their logs through but the splits would be unpredictable with a lot of waste so they went back to processing staves completely by hand.
Badger:
--- Quote from: Eric Krewson on October 13, 2022, 07:12:44 pm ---I misunderstood the question I guess; this is my mobile unit; I don't know how you could make a better one. I have a much bigger tractor now, it wouldn't be near as handy going through tight places as the small one in the picture, it doesn't matter because my osage cutting days are over.
When it comes to processing, I asked Mike of the former Mike's osage if they used any power splitters to process the thousand or so staves they produced a year. He said they built a long log splitter to run their logs through but the splits would be unpredictable with a lot of waste so they went back to processing staves completely by hand.
--- End quote ---
this was one of the main things I was wondering about was the splitting, I know when I split I have to change directions quite often because it doesn't always follow the grain
osage outlaw:
I wanted to build an ATV log skidder like this for hauling logs out. I bought the axles and winch, but never got the steel.
I've been using a simple log sled I made from barrels. It works surprisingly good. I've hauled big logs up hills with my old UTV. I built a log arch trailer that loads the logs with a winch and pivoting arch. I use that to transport logs to the sawmill.
As far as splitting, this is my set up. I can't imagine a better way to do it. My yard is sloped. The rails are level. I drag a log in front of the top end and roll it onto the rails. I roll the logs to the bottom to split them. They are the perfect height to split without bending over. I roll them back and forth to walk the split down both sides. This is a huge back saver. I've split logs from morning until night without any back pain. This set up is much better than working on the ground.
Anonymoustoo:
We don’t get anywhere near that volume of wood. Mostly we just cut 6-8 inch stuff to 6 foot lengths and rip them in half with a chainsaw and pack them out. Pretty well any yew tree the size of your Osage is spiral twisted so badly they are only good for lams. Mostly bull work all the way.
ssrhythm:
Good Lawd! Y'all are cutting some big osage trees! I have a spot where I'm welcome to cut any Osage I want that has an ancient fencerow with the most enormous osage trees I've ever seen. I look at it each year with hopes of figuring out how to cut it without killing myself or having to find an adrenaline-junkie tree crew on drugs that might actually agree to do the job for me...and every year I walk away shaking my head. One of those trees would set me for my lifetime, but I just don't see how to get any of them down safely and without tearing the ^$% out of the adjacent ag field, as all of these trees are intertwined and enormous. After seeing this thread, I'm thinking I need to go look at those trees again and figure it out.
I am cutting a few 16' diameter trees and a bunch of 10-14' diameter trees out of the back of a muddy, hilly, rutty cow pasture and dragging the logs out with my electric buggy or the landowners mule one 7' log at a time then loading them end over end onto my 14' trailer. It's always a near heart-attack experience. That skidder looks really cool and useful, and I might look at building a slightly smaller version of that for cutting Osage back in the woods.
I've been thinking that the ideal setup for me would be a double axle trailer with seriously stout axles with some tall 10ply all terrain tires. The trailer would be only long enough for my hunting buggy or a 2 seat sxs to fit in it. It would have two or three out-and-up racks on each side made from stout steel. The bottom racks would be the widest and would hold two or three 16" x 7'-8' long or longer logs stacked on top of each other. The next rack up would hold a couple of 10"-12" logs of the same length, and the top rack could be for smaller diameter sections and saplings. I need to figure out a way to lift the bigger logs over the uprights of the rack and lower them into place, but brute force and determination would work absent a lift.
So the trailer would be ~35" wider than a standard electric buggy or sxs for easy maneuvering on decently maintained logging roads and the relatively open pastures I currently cut in, and it would be short enough to maneuver through the trees and have stout enough axles and suspension to carry that load down the interstate at 85 mph. I think it would be easy enough to make, but the last thing I want to design for it...I haven't figured out how to do it yet, I want it to have a short tongue for maneuvering with the buggy to and from the truck to the cut site, but I want to have a tongue that will extend about 5' for when I have it hooked up to the truck for long distance towing and backing it up when needed.
I wish I could post pics, but it's only a vision in my mind at this point. Maybe one day...
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