Picking up Logs for the Sawmill | Urban Logging

Today I have an urban logging pick up.  Grabbing these two pieces of white oak out of a side yard.  I’ll start with the bigger one since those then to be easier.  I’ll get a chain on it and see what it wants to do.

Since it’s wanting to just roll and slide to the side, I’ll hook the chain on the underside of the log which should cause it to go in the direction that I want.

Now it’s nicely lined up to be skidded closer to the trailer.  Now for a bit of back story on these logs.  A couple of viewers who are neighbors reached out to me about these logs.  They got into chainsaw milling and have been slicing up logs from this tree which is in their neighbor’s yard.  These remaining pieces are a bit big for their mill and their neighbor is ready for them to be out of their yard.  Luckily for Adam and Pete, they know of a guy who can pull these things out of a yard.

Now back to the loading.  The big one is pretty close to the trailer now and I can prep it to go on.  Biggest thing here is not clobbering the fence.  I haven’t damaged any fences in my years of doing this and I’d like to keep it that way.  I’ll shift the connection point on the arch from the middle to the side to keep the log away from the fence.

Now it’s positioned nicely and I can do the first lift.  This is something that I frequently see done incorrectly by those using these arch trailers for the first time.  Ill see them chain the log too short lifting the log way up into the air and having it slam down onto the trailer.  This first lift should be graceful.  The log should be chained a few feet from it’s end with a chain length a right around the height of the arch.  I chained this one a bit long which wasn’t a big deal since the angled back of the trailer helps ease the log onto the deck.

And that’s it for the first lift. The end of the log is sitting on the back of the trailer and I can move on to rigging for the second lift which will scoot the log further onto the deck.

Now real quick I want to point out one thing I’ve shown in the past that I’m using a lot on this pick up. This is a chain shortener.  It’s just two grab hooks linked together but its super handy to take out slack in a chain.  You could make one with a pair of hooks and a few links of chain or buy a premade one like this for about $12.

A quick reposition of the chain and we can go for a second scooting lift.

Now the log is sitting on the deck cantilevered off the back and can be pulled the rest of the way onto the trailer.  I’ll use my log tongs to drag it the rest of the way since this log isn’t super big.

Ok onto the smaller log.  These little logs have historically caused me way more grief than any big log.  Especially goofy logs like this one with very non uniform weight distributions.  Regardless though, the firs thing on the list is to get it over by the trailer.

In my experience these logs load easiest if I can get the lower crotch vertical.  I’ll wrap the chain around the log so it grabs and rolls the log into the position I want.  I’ll give a lift a try with the chain as is and that wasn’t successful so I’ll switch to the tongs which will grab the log and keep it from rolling.

I’ll move the big one over a bit to make some more room and then we’ll just brute force this baby log onto the trailer.

Chain everything down and roll out.

Back home, I can get the trailer unloaded.  The bigger log ended up being 30″ at the base, splaying to 44″ at the crotch, and 8′ long.  The smaller one is 7′ long, 16″ at the narrowest and 28″ at the crotches.

Off to pick up more

My buddy, Brent, from Meridian Tree saves these big or crotchy logs for me.  Everything they haul from removals is ground up into mulch which ends up being burned to heat buildings.

This load consistened of a red oak that is 13′ long and 34″ at the butt; a 9′ 18″ diameter cherry log; and a white oak crotch around 4′ wide.

Everything gets set in the log pile to await its time on the saw.

Meridian Tree Experts (Brent) – https://meridiantreeexperts.com/

Urban Logging Gear
Chain Shortener: https://amzn.to/3guGSbN
Peavey: http://amzn.to/2m3Wple
Hi-Lift Jack: http://amzn.to/2nwL9Nq
Anchor Seal: http://amzn.to/2rTQdAD
Log Tongs: http://amzn.to/2sVjj1h
3/4″ Shackle: https://amzn.to/2ow91DC
Grab Hook on Pear Link: https://amzn.to/2CmBzcL
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