Calling engineers and safety minded people

I have to do something potentially stupid and dangerous this week, and would like some tips on not damaging myself or my vehicle in the process. 

This spring at the chainsaw party, I cut down a E36 M3load of trees. Well, there's still a good dozen or so laying across my yard, which is too wet to just drive a truck across. 

I'm thinking of dragging the trees closer to the driveway. This is where the safety minded and engineering comes in. 

I have 100 feet of 1/2" rope, in 2 50 foot sections, with a 360lb working strength. I have 100 feet of 3/16" steel cable, 2200lb working strength, I have about 25 feet of 3/8" logging chain with ends, a 4wd Ranger with front tow hooks and manual transmission, and a come-a-long with a 6 foot lead. 

My current thought is to tie the chain around the tree trunks, one at a time, connect it to the cable with clips, and connect the cable to my tow hooks. Then throw a towel over the cable as a just in case. 

The longest drag is about 70 feet, shortest around 60.

Should I have the chain side on the truck instead? Just use cable or rope and ignore the chain? Should I use my hitch or frame instead of my front tow hooks?

In other words, what's the best way to drag the trees out of my yard without risking my life or windshield?

IIRC, use the chain to drag. If it breaks, it goes dead and just falls down - unlike a cable which will snap back. This is what I remember from vehicle recovery classes a decade ago.

Can you connect to the rear of the Ranger? More gearing options.

Wait until the yard dries out? I mean, they've been there since spring.

We have wrapped cables and chains around trailer balls more times than i care to admit to yank dead cars and trees. Never tried front hooks except on the vehicle being recovered.

A chainsaw and a wheel barrow.

Hmmm.

I recently saw somebody using a forklift pulling on a skid.  The bolt connection broke.  The chain came back and broke one of my coworkers legs....

It reeeeeealy depends on how big we're talking with the trees. My gut reaction is that anything small enough to pull with a ranger should just be cut up and moved with a wheelbarrow. Trees are much heavier than most people think. Cut a foot off one end, throw it on a scale, do some math, figure out how much weight you're really dealing with. 

If you have a receiver hitch on the rear you can remove the sticker and hook whichever method you choose to the pin that holds in the sticker in place. 

The rope will likely cause the least damage if it breaks, but is the most likely to break. 

How big and heavy are the trees?

You are already ahead of the game if you haven't already asked someone to hold your beer and watch

wvumtnbkr said:

 

I recently saw somebody using a forklift pulling on a skid.  The bolt connection broke.  The chain came back and broke one of my coworkers legs....

Note that my recommendation is based on recollection of a class I took some time ago. I would recommend verifying it.

I guess I do need to do some clarification.

This weekend I will actually have help to get rid of the trees. As all our kids are too young to be good carriers, I'm trying to cut down the distance carrying logs. 

I don't even necessarily want the trees dragged out of the yard, so much as turned sideways, so we can be in a dryer part of the yard cutting it all up, and not need to carry the heavy stuff as far. 

Most of the trees are between 4 and 6 inches in diameter at the base, but all are well over 40 feet long

I'd be perfectly happy attaching at the trunk end and just dragging it around so it's going the long way across the yard instead of the the short way. 

Here's a pretty bad picture for reference. I took this the day we cut everything down. Most of the branches are gone. It's 75 feet from where the picture was taken to where Matt is standing in the grey hoody. I have a better one somewhere, but can't find it. Changing computers this week messed up my file categorization. 

Waiting for the yard to dry out is pointless. I've been waiting since 2014, but living at the bottom of two hills and having record breaking rainfall the past several years, means even in February when it is well below zero, my yard is slushy mud. It doesn't even freeze anymore. 

Yea, those are little trees, I'd still use chain if it reaches, but those should drag easy. 

Nice place for a tree stand 

Thas all I gots

I heat with wood, and have cut all of my own fuel for 25 years. I've towed literally hundreds of logs out of the bush using chains without a single problem. I've used the front tow hooks, as well as the rear receiver hitch. In the front, I use a shackle through the hole that serves as a tow hook (Nissan Frontier),  or a shackle through the ball mount in the receiver hitch (ball removed). Use low range and pull smoothly - no jerking.  I prefer to pull with the front, as I can keep an eye on things more easily, and react to potential problems sooner.
 

I would use the chain close to the truck, and keep the cable as far from me as I could. No rope.

EDIT: on looking at your photo, I'd pull those out with a shoelace and a lawn tractor! I'm talking logs 1 to 2 feet in diameter. :-)

Reverse is typically the weakest gear in a manual trans. Don't pull them in reverse. 
ask me how I know....

My dad's Tundra has a nice tattoo on the tailgate now from where a chain snapped and hit it this summer. Fortunately, the hook flew over the cab. He was pulling logs with it at the time...

That being said, those are small enough that I think you'll be ok, just be very cognizant of what you're doing at all times. 25' should be enough to just wrap around the log and pull directly with the truck. I think I'd rather not mess with the cables or ropes and try to create as few failure points as possible.

If you use something stretchy, stay the hell out of the way..  I lost a friend 40 years ago when a chain with rope on each end broke at the tractor end, and fired the chain through a six inch hole in the windshield of his semi and hit him in the chest.  Stopped his heart.

Towing with stretchy things is bad.

Streetwise nailed it.

Mass x energy = bad news

Stretchy stuff is stored potential energy.  A chain is the mass. 

You need a choker: 

EDIT: on looking at your photo, I'd pull those out with a shoelace and a lawn tractor! I'm talking logs 1 to 2 feet in diameter. :-)

It is there size that concerns me. They're small, and in some cases intertwined. Should be fine if they drag, but if they catch on something, I could have problems.

If I just use the chain, I'm solidly in the yard, which means I'm most likely getting stuck. I doubt the Elantra could pull me out, and not sure when someone bigger could get over here. 

Having worked in a precast concrete facility, I've got a healthy fear and respect for cable. We weren't even allowed in the building when they set tension in the forms because someone got tore in half. It's just a hell of a lot cheaper than buying enough chain to only need the once. 

From when we pulled them down, I know two of us on a rope can drag them but that sucks more than carrying a bunch of logs. 

Why not cut them up some more? Not necessarily wheelbarrow size, but small enough to remove some of the danger.

I'm thinking more pulls, less risk.

Only comment from me is to dampen the cable with something more substantial than just a towel. It would help, but heavier fabric is better, so if you have something made of canvas, that'll dampen any potentially broken cable from recoiling as viciously.

Here's what I would do..

Remove brush from trees..  Cut logs into firewood size chunks..  Wait until ground freezes(That's like what two weeks from now where I live)..  Drive over pickup in ranger and drive to road.. 

If that dosen't work, just use a wheelbarrow.  

If you pull them with the truck, use some sort of damper as below.. A heavy blanket works well...

https://www.amazon.com/ARB-ARB220-Orange-Recovery-Damper/dp/B0010DYFPW/ref=asc_df_B0010DYFPW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312141063511&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5851155091843361278&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003243&hvtargid=pla-568756475982&psc=1  

edwardh80 said:

Only comment from me is to dampen the cable with something more substantial than just a towel. It would help, but heavier fabric is better, so if you have something made of canvas, that'll dampen any potentially broken cable from recoiling as viciously.

I was going to say this as well. We always called using those thick, huge moving blankets......and potentially more than at both winch companies I worked for. 

I you gotta drag, there are right ways and wrong ways.  I usually do it the wrong way.

Those trees aren't that big.  I wouldn't hesitate to use the 3/16" cable, but you have to rig it properly to prevent making it weak.  That rated strength is only correct if you don't kink, pinch, or otherwise damage the cable in the dragging process.

Wrap the trunk twice.  This causes a choke situation so that the cable is wrapped around and the force is distributed in a linear vector to the cable.  It also prevents the cable from slipping down the trunk.  Your chain idea is also fine for around the trunk and then hook the cable to the chain.

What kind of end does the cable have?  Bare end?  Hook?  If you need to add a hook, make sure you get a properly-rated thimble and clamps.  When using the clamps (often times called Crosbys), never saddle a dead horse.  of the two parts of the clamp, you have the bail and the saddle.  The bail is the threaded u-bolt part and the saddle is the forged piece that you bolt on.  The tapered V in the saddle is what does the holding.  The bail just squishes the cable down in the V.  Put the saddle on the live load side of the loop... the part that does the pulling, not the short side (dead side) of the loop.  Hence, never saddle a dead horse.  Remember to put the saddle on the load side.  Also... use TWO Crosbys.  For proper rating, they need to be spaced apart at least twice the diameter of the cable... in your case, space them at least 3/8" apart.  My rule is one finger (but I don't know how fat your fingers are)

Never use wire rope (cable) if you don't have a thimble and proper torque on two crosbys.   Never use it like a chain where you just double the cable back and hook it onto itself.  Cables lose their integrity exponentially the more they are bent, which is why thimbles have a specific radius.

Just came in here to advise making sure the tow hooks are "recovery rated" and not just tie down hooks.  If they are not recovery rated, find a better spot to rig to on the vehicle.  Lots of perceived tow hooks are actually just tie down hooks for transport.

Why not spend a few bucks on some proper rigging? 

The cable will likely be fine if treated nicely. The trees are small.... But I like non metallic rigging personally....