Anyone use their 8n to pull logs?

[ErikL97]

I’m wondering if anyone uses their 8n to pull logs. I got my 8n to do stuff around the new property and I needed a smaller tractor. I had some trees fall during the hurricane a few years ago and I’m just trying to get it cleaned up there is some good looking logs hopefully I can get some use from them

 

[MM-TX]

I’m sure you can unless they are huge. If you don’t already know. Just make sure you pick up the lead end off the ground so they don’t switch ends and whack you if the lead end digs into the ground.

 

[Eman85]

No diff lock so you'll only have 1 wheel drive, you can pull until you can't.

 

[ErikL97]

Alright thanks fellas.

 

[Tall T]

I’m wondering if anyone uses their 8n to pull logs. I got my 8n to do stuff around the new property and I needed a smaller tractor. I had some trees fall during the hurricane a few years ago and I’m just trying to get it cleaned up there is some good looking logs hopefully I can get some use from them

Make sure you pull from the lowest connecting point like the swinging draw bar mounted under the differential -- if you have one.
It helps to have front ballast too especially if the logs are biggish. the leading end of the log can also come up against some immovable object like a stump, rock or tree as well.

I made the mistake once of using my boom crane to lift some logs to get them to the edge of the bush in a pulling position . . . which was OK up to a point but then I should have switched to the draw bar for final pulling. but I kept pulling slowly with the upper crane attachment and up went my front end. Yikes!
I quickly put my clutch in and my front end came down with a nasty bang. Lesson learned!

Terry
My front ballast (weight lifting plates)

 

[Dober_paw]

<up went my front end. Yikes!> For that reason for something large & heavy I've always used reverse.

 

[504]

And never pull from the top link

 

[Richard G.]

I’m wondering if anyone uses their 8n to pull logs. I got my 8n to do stuff around the new property and I needed a smaller tractor. I had some trees fall during the hurricane a few years ago and I’m just trying to get it cleaned up there is some good looking logs hopefully I can get some use from them

Yep been doing that for 60 years with the same 52 8N.
Just have to use common sense as with any tractor.

 

[buickanddeere]

I’m wondering if anyone uses their 8n to pull logs. I got my 8n to do stuff around the new property and I needed a smaller tractor. I had some trees fall during the hurricane a few years ago and I’m just trying to get it cleaned up there is some good looking logs hopefully I can get some use from them

My neighbor did a few times until the N tractor could not move the log. So the neighbor raised the N's three point hit lower arms and the drawbar. Fire department picked the tractor up and dragged my neighbor out . Not deceased but with many breaks and bruises.

 

[Mad Farmer]

I've done it with my 9N. Lifted the front end of log just enough to get it off the ground. Have to be careful the log does not get hung up on a rock/root/stump. Keep your foot on the clutch just in case.

Be careful.

 

[Cliff (VA)]

I would suggest getting a log arch.

Cliff(VA) now (NC)

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I have a very heavy rear blade.
I run a choker cable under the blade which is about 4 inches off of the ground.
This has solved all problems for me since the 1980s.

 

[Ray,IN]

No diff lock so you'll only have 1 wheel drive, you can pull until you can't.

The tractor should have individual wheel brakes. My H. Ferguson TO 20 did. I hooked to the small end of the log with the 3-pt hitch and it's drawbar, raised the end of the log slightly and drove away. If one wheel began to lose traction I braked that wheel enough to equalize both wheels.

 

[Tall T]

The tractor should have individual wheel brakes. My H. Ferguson TO 20 did. I hooked to the small end of the log with the 3-pt hitch and it's drawbar, raised the end of the log slightly and drove away. If one wheel began to lose traction I braked that wheel enough to equalize both wheels.

Shear genius!

Towing from the skinny end of a log
and using the brake to get the effect of positrak.

A reporter once asked Bob Dylan about his repeatedly being called a genius. But he didn't buy into that in the typical way.
He said, "I think genius is just instinct."
I like that response!

T

 

[ErikL97]

I have lots of trees down and need to clean up most of my property is a really steep hill which I’m gonna be using blocks and pulleys for my cable to pull uphill to my landing area where it’s mostly flat because my 8n I doubt will make it up that hill it’s steep. I do have a custom bumper with a hitch attachment maybe I can make some kind of weights to go on a hitch attachment

 

[joeysmith]

I have lots of trees down and need to clean up most of my property is a really steep hill which I’m gonna be using blocks and pulleys for my cable to pull uphill to my landing area where it’s mostly flat because my 8n I doubt will make it up that hill it’s steep. I do have a custom bumper with a hitch attachment maybe I can make some kind of weights to go on a hitch attachment

If i had a lot of them to pull up that hill id rig up a snatch block to drive down hill while dragging the log up hill.

Little time consuming but if rigged up rite you could hook the next log while you were at the bottom then go back to the top to unhook the last log an hook up the tractor to pull the next up

 

[Woodtroll]

I have lots of trees down and need to clean up most of my property is a really steep hill which I’m gonna be using blocks and pulleys for my cable to pull uphill to my landing area where it’s mostly flat because my 8n I doubt will make it up that hill it’s steep. I do have a custom bumper with a hitch attachment maybe I can make some kind of weights to go on a hitch attachment

Sounds like you need a three-point skidding winch for your tractor, if you have that many downed trees down over slopes. It's much safer than pulling logs with the tractor itself - much better control, cables are usually 150'-200' long, and you're not sitting on the tractor if something does go wrong.

I bought one last fall, frustrated with my slow progress on Helene cleanup, and it's literally been a game changer and maybe even a lifesaver. The downside is they're not common in our mid-Atlantic part of the country, and they're hard to find used. I bought a new Tajfun because there was a rep fairly local to me, and I believe it was one of my most cost-effective purchases in a long time even though it is one of the more expensive brands. I've read that the cheaper Chinese-made MechMaxx are reasonably good machines, and they offer free delivery. If I couldn't find a new or used name-brand one within reach, I'd risk my money on a MechMaxx before I'd tackle a prolonged cleanup like that with just the tractor itself.

Just in case you're not familiar with what I'm talking about:

 

[Ray,IN]

I have lots of trees down and need to clean up most of my property is a really steep hill which I’m gonna be using blocks and pulleys for my cable to pull uphill to my landing area where it’s mostly flat because my 8n I doubt will make it up that hill it’s steep. I do have a custom bumper with a hitch attachment maybe I can make some kind of weights to go on a hitch attachment

Pulling up a hill, I doubt I'd try that using my technique; too much chance of human error. I like your block n tackle method better; slower and safer.