Mini Log Skidder Built From Scratch

2015 - Volume #39, Issue #6, Page #28

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Kevin Ranette operates a steel fabrication and repair shop and also does logging near Moyie Springs, Idaho. He recently sent FARM SHOW photos of a home-built “logging tractor” loaded with features to make logging work easier.
  “I mainly use it when a homeowner has a few trees he wants taken down but doesn’t want any heavy equipment used,” says Ranette. “It’s also a lot easier to haul this small skidder to the job site instead of using a semi to truck in heavy equipment for just a few trees.”
  He had a small Deere garden tractor that he used for pulling small trees out of the woods and for other logging chores, but it wasn’t built for such heavy work. “The entire back part of the frame broke,” says Ranette. “I had just installed a new 22 hp Briggs and Stratton engine, so I salvaged it and other components to build a heavier-duty log skidder from scratch. It’s really handy.”
  He used 3 by 1 1/2 by 1/8-in. thick rectangular tubing to build the tractor’s main frame and welded on mounts for the transmission, engine and a front axle that he made from 1/4 by 2 1/2-in. sq. tubing. He made the spindles and everything else from scratch. Then he used 16-ga. steel to build the dash, hood, and fenders. He built a rollover protective structure (ROPS) out of 1/8 by 1 1/2-in. sq. tubing. “The ROPS saved my life on 4 different occasions when the machine rolled over,” says Rannette.
  He used 3/16-in. sheet steel to build a 40-in. wide, 16-in. high blade and added a cutting edge made from 1/4 by 1-in. flat bar. An electric winch on front of the tractor is used to raise and lower the blade, and a home-built cable arch equipped with an electric winch on back is used to pull logs out of the woods. Both winches operate off a new truck battery with 875 cold cranking amps.
  The front 16 by 8 tires are off a Gravely 817 tractor. Ranette bought new 20 by 10.8 rear tires and uses tire chains with steel spikes on them for extra traction.
  “It’s not the prettiest thing in the world and it’s small, but it pulls amazingly well and can outpull two garden tractors. It’ll pull entire big trees out of the woods,” says Ranette. “After I de-limb the trees, I use the blade to stack the logs into a pile. I use a homemade reversing switch with a joystick to operate both winches. I flip the switch one way to raise or lower the blade, and the other way to operate the rear-mounted winch. The rear-mounted winch has about 5,000 lbs. of pulling capacity.
   “I also use the blade for other jobs like pushing dirt, plowing snow, and grading work, and even to push small trees and tree stumps over. I made everything from scratch, including the spindles.”
  He says he has used this machine to push big 5-ft. high piles of brush, branches and logs with no problem. “It has so much torque that when I start to pull a big load, I have to be careful so the front end of the tractor doesn’t lift off the ground. I rolled the tractor over 4 different times while working sideways on steep hills trying to pull logs out of the woods.
  “At first I tried mounting a grapple hook on front of the tractor, but because it was electric-operated it didn’t have enough opening pressure and worked too slow, so I replaced it with the winch.”
  Ranette installed a 9-amp DC alternator on the tractor to keep the big truck battery from losing its charge too fast. “The engine’s original alternator was too small to keep the truck battery charged, so I connected the wires from the engine’s original alternator to it,” he says.
  He spent about $400 for the steel, $600 for the engine, $175 for the transmission, $100 for new rear tires and about $100 on miscellaneous parts such as the fuel tank and muffler. In all, he spent about $1,500 on the machine.
  Ranette says he’s willing to custom build logging tractors and skidders or other machines for others, including much larger models and other logging equipment.
  “You can pay $10,000 for a used log skidder with 10,000 or 20,000 hours, or have me build a new one for $10,000 or so that has everything the factory ones have and more, except that mine are brand new,” he says. “I’m now building an articulated 4-WD log skidder that’s about the same size as a Deere 640 or a Cat 518. It has a 1/2-in. thick frame that I made and it’s going to have a dual arch and grapple, a cab and lots of other nice features,” notes Ranette.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kevin Ranette, 286 Enchanted Lane, Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845 (ph 208 267-6157; ranetteironworks@gmail.com).

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Mini Log Skidder Built From Scratch WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Kevin Ranette operates a steel fabrication and repair shop and also does logging near Moyie Springs Idaho He recently sent FARM SHOW photos of a home-built “logging tractor” loaded with features to make logging work easier “I mainly use it when a homeowner has a few trees he wants taken down but doesn’t want any heavy equipment used ” says Ranette “It’s also a lot easier to haul this small skidder to the job site instead of using a semi to truck in heavy equipment for just a few trees ” He had a small Deere garden tractor that he used for pulling small trees out of the woods and for other logging chores but it wasn’t built for such heavy work “The entire back part of the frame broke ” says Ranette “I had just installed a new 22 hp Briggs and Stratton engine so I salvaged it and other components to build a heavier-duty log skidder from scratch It’s really handy ” He used 3 by 1 1/2 by 1/8-in thick rectangular tubing to build the tractor’s main frame and welded on mounts for the transmission engine and a front axle that he made from 1/4 by 2 1/2-in sq tubing He made the spindles and everything else from scratch Then he used 16-ga steel to build the dash hood and fenders He built a rollover protective structure ROPS out of 1/8 by 1 1/2-in sq tubing “The ROPS saved my life on 4 different occasions when the machine rolled over ” says Rannette He used 3/16-in sheet steel to build a 40-in wide 16-in high blade and added a cutting edge made from 1/4 by 1-in flat bar An electric winch on front of the tractor is used to raise and lower the blade and a home-built cable arch equipped with an electric winch on back is used to pull logs out of the woods Both winches operate off a new truck battery with 875 cold cranking amps The front 16 by 8 tires are off a Gravely 817 tractor Ranette bought new 20 by 10 8 rear tires and uses tire chains with steel spikes on them for extra traction “It’s not the prettiest thing in the world and it’s small but it pulls amazingly well and can outpull two garden tractors It’ll pull entire big trees out of the woods ” says Ranette “After I de-limb the trees I use the blade to stack the logs into a pile I use a homemade reversing switch with a joystick to operate both winches I flip the switch one way to raise or lower the blade and the other way to operate the rear-mounted winch The rear-mounted winch has about 5 000 lbs of pulling capacity “I also use the blade for other jobs like pushing dirt plowing snow and grading work and even to push small trees and tree stumps over I made everything from scratch including the spindles ” He says he has used this machine to push big 5-ft high piles of brush branches and logs with no problem “It has so much torque that when I start to pull a big load I have to be careful so the front end of the tractor doesn’t lift off the ground I rolled the tractor over 4 different times while working sideways on steep hills trying to pull logs out of the woods “At first I tried mounting a grapple hook on front of the tractor but because it was electric-operated it didn’t have enough opening pressure and worked too slow so I replaced it with the winch ” Ranette installed a 9-amp DC alternator on the tractor to keep the big truck battery from losing its charge too fast “The engine’s original alternator was too small to keep the truck battery charged so I connected the wires from the engine’s original alternator to it ” he says He spent about $400 for the steel $600 for the engine $175 for the transmission $100 for new rear tires and about $100 on miscellaneous parts such as the fuel tank and muffler In all he spent about $1 500 on the machine Ranette says he’s willing to custom build logging tractors and skidders or other machines for others including much larger models and other logging equipment “You can pay $10 000 for a used log skidder with 10 000 or 20 000 hours or have me build a new one for $10 000 or so that has everything the factory ones have and more except that mine are brand new ” he says “I’m now building an articulated 4-WD log skidder that’s about the same size as a Deere 640 or a Cat 518 It has a 1/2-in thick frame that I made and it’s going to have a dual arch and grapple a cab and lots of other nice features ” notes Ranette Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Kevin Ranette 286 Enchanted Lane Moyie Springs Idaho 83845 ph 208 267-6157; ranetteironworks@gmail com

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