Tips for using 310-8 on hillside and for logging

[Exhaust 25]

Some pretty great advice already mentioned here.  I might have missed it but I didn't see any mention of reversing up the hill.  Maybe it sounds foolish but it is the safe work practice that is recommended for operators traversing a slope.  When driving up a slope it is strongly recommended, when under load, always back up the slope in reverse.  This will ensure you don't flip over backwards, which is one of the easiest things to do and one of the most dangerous.  Obviously this would require some special rigging for those situations, considering you are skidding logs.  I work in the tree business, when the load is too big we use the saw and make it smaller.  Takes more time day to day but it saves time and lives in the end. 

 

Regret is always after the accident, never before.  Think about what is possible and keep regret on your mind not on your conscience.  

[wildfire305 58]

I ended up with tire chains and filled the tires front and rear. I used a single pulley and anchor system to reduce the load on the tractor and just finished pulling (tractor on a long upward 15 degree slope) two cord worth of oak up a 70 degree slope. I had to use rope to get down to the timber, hitched the drag line to it, and man did that tractor pull it right up the hill at half throttle in Low 1. It easily pulled 15 foot long 18" diameter logs up to the bucking area. Without the chains, liquid and the help from all of you, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I have two more trees to pull from the same hill. These machines are amazing! They don't make anything like them today that are affordable for the home lumberjack. 

Edited July 16, 2018 by wildfire305

[wildfire305 58]

Oh by the way - I've seen it mentioned people get 6 gallons in the rear. I have 23 x 8.5-12 tires and using an rv pump, a special regulator, the air bleeder/Schrader adapter, and an assortment of angled valve stem adapters - I was able to to get 7 gallons each by pressurizing the liquid to 12psi. Two and a half gallons in each front tire. I used the angle adapters mostly to depress the valve stems on the tires instead of remove them. The regulator allowed me to automatically cut the flow off at 12 psi. I'm a plumber so this is all stuff I had laying around except for the liquid/air adapter. 

[Sarge 3,463]

I ran two valve stems on the wheels I used and no tubes with RV antifreeze - nearly 7.5 gallons per rear tire. That resulted in nearly blowing out my lower back when I lifted the 1st one off the bench - it also had the 50lb cast iron weight bolted into it. 145lbs each rear, no spinning, lol...

You have to block the wheel up at just the right angle to really fill them up at maximum, but be aware your frame/rear axle will probably suffer as a result.

 

Sarge

[wildfire305 58]

I decided not to add wheel weights, because I think it would be too much for the little Feller. My drive belt slips ever so slightly before I lose traction , or the front starts coming off the ground so I figure it's heavy enough as is, and if it can't pull what I'm trying to pull with it I just need to add more pulleys and rope.

[ebinmaine 67,422]

1 hour ago, wildfire305 said:

if it can't pull what I'm trying to pull with it I just need to add more pulleys and rope.

That right there is a great mindset.