Handy Bucket-Mounted Log Tongs

Handy Bucket-Mounted Log Tongs TRACTORS Loaders “It lets me pick up and haul logs without ever having to get off my tractor ” says James Box Muscle Shoals Alabama who uses a pair of long ropes to open and close log tongs he attached by a long chain to the bucket on his Deere loader tractor The chain bolts to a clevis that’s welded to the top of the bucket Box welded a large nut on both sides of the tongs and tied ropes onto each nut The ropes run through clevises he welded onto both sides of the bucket and then back to the drier through small nuts he welded onto the loader arms The tongs hang about 2 ft below the bottom of the bucket Box keeps the rope ends in his lap as he drives the tractor He pulls on the ropes to open the tongs and lowers the bucket over the log then lets go of the ropes to close the tongs and raises the bucket to lift the log off the ground “I came up with the idea because I’m 70 years old and want to take it a little easier ” says Box “I own about 4 acres with a lot of timber that’s continually blowing or falling down due to storms so I have a lot of logs to pick up I place them on a trailer for people to come by and cut up into firewood I had been using the bucket-mounted tongs without the ropes My wife would hold the tongs open while I let the bucket down over the log and then step back as I raised it The ropes now make it a one-man operation ” If Box wants he can raise the log 2 to 3 ft higher by tilting the bucket all the way back “The extra height comes in handy when installing 8-ft fence posts in the ground ” he notes Contact: FARM SHOW Followup James Box 1125 Mount Pleasant Rd Muscle Shoals Ala 35661 ph 256 710-4528; jdboxmail@gmail com

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