Block and Tackle Question

Good Morning!

I'm still hung up on these big maple trees that we're getting ready to cut down. I can't decide if we should keep all the lumber or not.

So one of the issues is how to move the logs from where they fall to where they're out of the way until I decide what to do with them. We don't have any tractors or earth moving equipment, and I can't get our 1/4 ton truck close enough to be of any help.

I'd like to figure out a way to move them ourselves, simply, and inexpensively. I figure each log could weigh as much as 1000 lbs. We're 3-4 of us. So I was thinking, why not a block and tackle?

My question is, it seems to me that when you use a block and tackle, as you pull on it, the pulleys move closer together. So if you want to move something a big distance, do you have to keep stopping and repositioning the pulleys to pull them apart?

If anyone has any other brilliant ideas for 3-4 of us moving logs say 50', I'm all ears. There's gotta be a way.
 
two cant hooks and roll them or pull them with a chain under them and back to the truck anchor chain to solid object run it under log and over the top to the truck pull till you get to where yur headed it will roll it like rolling pin if you are in the center of the log. best way is with a tractor. or two vehicles one on each side depends on the log length and size of it one truck can roll alot of log..
 
post a pic of the trees in again, so i can get a idea of the size,, whats the bottom measurement of the tree diameter?
here is a pic of one i had cut and it was rolled around alot by me and my brother with cant hooks..
32"x10ft long ash....
attachment.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well then you have to pay someone to cut them up into boards then move them to where you are going to store them, stick and stack and cover for 2 or more years.
I find it a whole lot easier to buy rough kd stock directly at the mill.
Maybe if I had cherry and walnut trees I would but not for maple or oak.
I don't really care about getting turning blanks or maybe I'd think different.
If your tree guy cant get rid of the tree plus all the branches I'd pay a few bucks more to get someone who does.
 
post a pic of the trees in again, so i can get a idea of the size,, whats the bottom measurement of the tree diameter?
here is a pic of one i had cut and it was rolled around alot by me and my brother with cant hooks..
32"x10ft long ash....
View attachment 53992

They're all between 2' and 3'. Like 2' 4", 2' 10", 3' 1". It's (only) 3 big leaf maples. I'd like to keep the bottom, say, 15' of each. I can get him to cut them into say 6' length so it's easier to manage, and I'm okay with shorts. The bottom part and the knotty/burl/weird parts I'll cut out and save for my Family. ;)

maples1.jpg

maples2.jpg

maples3closeup.jpg

maples4closeup.jpg
 
Well then you have to pay someone to cut them up into boards then move them to where you are going to store them, stick and stack and cover for 2 or more years.
I find it a whole lot easier to buy rough kd stock directly at the mill.
Maybe if I had cherry and walnut trees I would but not for maple or oak.
I don't really care about getting turning blanks or maybe I'd think different.
If your tree guy cant get rid of the tree plus all the branches I'd pay a few bucks more to get someone who does.

Bob, the tree guy can rid of it for me, but I want to keep them for now at least. If I get a portable sawmill person to come, I still have to move them to a different location for him. He can't set up right where they fall.
 
post a pic of the trees in again, so i can get a idea of the size,, whats the bottom measurement of the tree diameter?
here is a pic of one i had cut and it was rolled around alot by me and my brother with cant hooks..
32"x10ft long ash....
View attachment 53992

Larry if you and your brother could move that, then 4 of us should be able to move mine. :rofl:
 
yup you can and look at the logs close cynthia,, that one isnt any good for 3 ft up that crack is junk..so get the best 9ft on ech of them and then if yu can get another one after that then go for what length works best,, generally they cut 9'6" for a log, but you can cut them where ever but you will be able to move those around with no problem just a chain and your truck might make a trench if you dont roll them but that can be repaired..DONT get in frnt of those logs when anyone is rolling it.. you cant stop it with your hands or your feet well enough..and chunck of wood is the best way to control it from going ot far or the wrong direction you can pivot them with a cant hook and piece of split wood..
 
Larry what if Cynthia used a dolley with big wheels on i and levered the logs one end onto it and tied that same end with chains to the back of a truck. Would that work.

I am thinking in terms of these kind of wheels from a kit that northern industrial has. Would that not avoid the trench?

143309.jpg
 
Larry's advice is good, pay attention and you will live to post here again.
I suspect those are going to be much more than 1,000 pounds each. Pity to waste.
Maple spalts very quickly. You should, at least, split. That can be done with a black powder splitter.
Or, how about a tow truck to lift and haul?
Hope it doesn't go to waste.
 
Pretty much what Larry said, as to moving them.

In pic#1, the bottom 4~6 feet of thos logs (below the 'crooks' in them) won't make very good limber, but the spinny guys would love that stuff for bowl blanks. From the crooks up, they ought to make good lumber, though.

You do realize that stickering and drying the boards will take a couple years in your wet climate?

Also, make sure you seal the ends of all the boards - and all the turning blanks as well.
 
Pretty much what Larry said, as to moving them.

In pic#1, the bottom 4~6 feet of thos logs (below the 'crooks' in them) won't make very good limber, but the spinny guys would love that stuff for bowl blanks. From the crooks up, they ought to make good lumber, though.

You do realize that stickering and drying the boards will take a couple years in your wet climate?

Also, make sure you seal the ends of all the boards - and all the turning blanks as well.

yeah, that's okay. gifts for spinny types. yes I know, good things come to those who wait. :) I just hate to waste it. yes i know. If I seal the ends, can i leave it in whole logs for a while? what if i get it up off the ground?
 
cynthia that tree can give you a log thats 24" small end and a 30" large end. and we wil say its 9ft long.. that log will weigh approx.. 1745LBs and should give you around 275 bf of lumber if cut on a band mill..so take that and times it by the number of logs you think yu can have out of these trees which from what i saw is at least 3 maybe 4.. and your looking at approximately 900 bft of lumber.. now take and look at the stacked size,, that would be a stacked and stickerd pile that is 4 ft wide and around 72" high figuring the stickers are around a inch thick.. and that you left a gap between each board on the layers horizontally .. thats a bunch of wood girl:)
 
cynthia that tree can give you a log thats 24" small end and a 30" large end. and we wil say its 9ft long.. that log will weigh approx.. 1745LBs and should give you around 275 bf of lumber if cut on a band mill..so take that and times it by the number of logs you think yu can have out of these trees which from what i saw is at least 3 maybe 4.. and your looking at approximately 900 bft of lumber.. now take and look at the stacked size,, that would be a stacked and stickerd pile that is 4 ft wide and around 72" high figuring the stickers are around a inch thick.. and that you left a gap between each board on the layers horizontally .. thats a bunch of wood girl:)

:rofl: :rofl: I know, Larry, I know :rofl: :rofl: that's why it breaks my heart to see it all chopped up into firewood. And that's why I'm asking you how to move the logs until I can get the sawmill guy over.....:D :D ;) ;)
 
Top