Calling engineers and safety minded people

Burn all the motherberkeleying trees where they lay.

*actual engineer

Those are tiny. You should be able to tow them with just about anything. 

I moved a 60" diameter oak in 10' chunks with 3/8 chain. That was lifting them. Some pieces the backhoe would only lift 6 inches before the hydraulics bypassed. Off the top of my head, 3/8 chain is rated at 10k pounds. 

Where I would rather use chain, the cable or even the rope will probably work for what you are doing. Cut the trees into more manageable chunks and make more drags.

 You will need to take some precautions if you use the rope or cable. They will whip if they fail. It is extremely dangerous if they do. Anyone within the length of line or more can be seriously injured. I have seen the aftermath of a 1/2" nylon rope removing a man's arm after it snapped. He was 30' away at the time and it still got him.  At 60'+ line length, I would probably use at least two heavy weight  and folded blankets to control the line if it fails. 

Edit to add: Depending on the grade of chain, 3/8 is rated anywhere from 2650 to 8800 pounds. 

I would consider using the Elantra. I have dragged 40' oak logs with an 85 VW GTI using a nylon strap 2" wide. I cut a groove to attach the strap and pulled them a 1/2 mile or so on a 2 track. If the car gets stuck pull it out with the truck.

I did this probably 25 or 30 times. It's probably a horrible idea and I was luckier than Hades

They are small, I see little danger.  

But I think the best idea so far is the cut them up in place them move with the truck, or a trailer even if it means waiting until the ground is frozen.  That eliminates any need to drag, worry or buy stuff.

volvoclearinghouse said:

Burn all the motherberkeleying trees where they lay.

*actual engineer

This+1

 Not worth moving. If the surrounding ground is always wet there shouldn't be a concern for the fire getting out of control. If there are some larger pieces you want to save, throw them into a wheel barrel..

Loggers around here seem to prefer chain.

volvoclearinghouse said:

Burn all the motherberkeleying trees where they lay.

*actual engineer

That was the original plan. The assistant fire chief 2 doors down was not a fan of it though. Probably should have begged forgiveness instead of asking permission. I thought offering brush fire practice for the department was being helpful. The roughly 15 gallons of used cooking oil, motor oil, and ATF I have in the shop would get it going for sure. 

I'm gonna see what I can drag Friday, when there's finally no children here to get in the way. Otherwise, I've arranged for a few trucks to be here Saturday, someone can drive into the yard if necessary and maybe even make it back out. 

fasted58 said:

Nice place for a tree stand 

Thas all I gots

Crossbow means I don't even have to step outside. 

But the deer here are freakishly tame. We've taken a couple through the years in the yard, but they don't seem to mind or notice.when there's snow you can even find prints up to the porch door. 

They're smart though, there was a really nice buck living around here when I was a teenager. Easy 12 point with a ridiculously wide spread. Disappeared the beginning of archery(October), then came back after muzzle loader(January).  It's easy to see the good local genes, but haven't had a monster in a while. 

To calm your mind about breaking stuff recoiling, use a length of rope at the truck end as a fuse. Make a loop of maybe 4 strands of rope to get a higher pull rating, but keep it below the rating of the cable. Then if anything breaks, it'll be the rope, then the cable and chain recoils away from you. Make sure no one is anywhere within pulling radius of the tree.

Do you have a buddy with a small 4wd tractor with a bucket.   
 

easy button is cut to stove length, full bucket of tractor drive down hill. Go back again.  

My input is that you shouldn't resist the need for better equipment to get it done safely. Money will never rebuild your body if you or family become injured. But Money can rent or purchase what you need to be safest. But recovery straps, small tractor, a couple more chainsaw chains. 

Still it is worth giving it a trial effort  but be open to calling it quits and challenging your self with every pull.

For the trial, Pulling with the truck hitch is your best option. The front hooks can be used but a spreader bar would be required.

I think the wet towel will do little for you. Something with more mass would be needed to actually control a chain. The trees look small but have a large surface area generating resistance through friction. Be careful keep everyone very far away from the pull. 

even if you don't want to cut to size, I would at least cut them in half to lower the weight and drag to more manageable levels

Here's where I'm at right now. 

Missing some Oscars to use the cable so I'm playing with rope. I've broken it about a half dozen times, but I've gotten several large ones moved.

I'm presently waiting on a weed wacker because mine wasn't repaired properly (grumble shiny happy person friends grumble), and a lot of stuff has been grown over.

There's an F150 and 250 on their way over. Dave decided he wants them in 10 foot sections, so this may have gotten easier, if not more awkward to load. Especially considering my child labor isn't showing until tomorrow.

The yard is a swamp, but trucks should be close enough together to pull each other out.

And just to bring some closure to the thread.

 this is all that's left. About 2 Truck loads of mostly already cut stuff.

A lot of the small branches and E36 M3 that had been buried since April in the weeds are going to stay there. They're almost completely decomposed already, and I think come spring a tractor that needs a deck repair will fix it all up.