Hey, anybody in the Treehouse have any experience with log arches? More specifically the ones manufactured by Logrite? I'm considering the Fetching Arch for moving medium-sized pieces from backyards to the street. I can't begin to justify the cost of a mini-loader at this time, but the Fetching Arch is less than $2K. I've also considered the 36" Tractor Arch, which can be had for less than $3K. Any ideas/advice????
Log arches
- Thread starter treesmith
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Al Smith
Mac Daddy
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Put the money down on a mini and grapple or keep saving. Never handbomb wood or brush ever again.
sawinredneck
Treehouser
Seriously, if you are looking at $3k, talk to Dave (TNTTree) I think he has two of the Thomas mini's left, and you won't be much over that and have a versatile, handy, BACKSAVING tool!!
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
If you can swing a mini, great, if not, an arch is a versatile tool> LogRite is an awesome company to do business with, and their products are unbeatable.
Reddog
TreeHouser
Logrite is owned by good people.
They seem to build their tools real well.
If you have any questions give Kevin a call.
They seem to build their tools real well.
If you have any questions give Kevin a call.
SkwerI
Treehouser
I'll also vouch for the Logrite tools although I've never seen a log arch in person. Great company to deal with and excellent quality tools. I love my two cant hooks from them.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
sotc
Dormant hero!!
i agree on the mini. i built a log arch and its still alot of work. also doesnt seem to save much time as i could cut and haul most logs that i would use it on in the same time (nearly) as messing about with the arch. havent used the logrite one but mine was similar
SkwerI
Treehouser
The arch is good for someone looking to salvage the logs for milling. Willie is correct, cutting the logs up and hauling out smaller pieces is usually faster. The advantage to the arch is that it's a low cost method of moving millable size logs out of tight access areas.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
"And I want a toilet made out of solid gold, but it ain't going to happen, Baby!"
-Austin Powers
(Not exact, but you get my point.)
-Austin Powers
(Not exact, but you get my point.)
we bought both the arches you are talking about after we got our log truck. They work great. I would recommend them. they are more versatile than you think. If a piece is down hill or too big to pull just hook up the chipper winch. Good luck with your decision.
No_Bivy
Treehouser
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Messages
- 6,459
gold seat would cost more................:what:
Fruitbowl
Treehouser
I have both their ATV arch and the small arch in Al's photo. Very well made! I love the arch behind the quad but I certainly wouldn't go out and buy a quad just for this application. (Lesson learned) We rarely use the tiny arch as we either just drag it with the quad or double team to move the piece. I think if you work in hilly terrain and already have a winch, then the fetching arch would be a great tool to have to skid up hills without tearing up the soil. I have never used a mini so I can't yet comment on them.
thattreeguy
TreeHouser
i had that exact one shown in the pic, great tool if you want the logs, it was a bit undersized for some of my applications but darn handy to have on the truck, a mini would be better, but if ya can get one for a couple hundred do it
Ax-Man
Don't make me chop you
Interesting comments from the ones that do own one of those small arches.
I have been meaning to buy or build one but haven't done either. I think they would be handy for some jobs in certain situations.
We recently did a good sized tree removal in a totally fenced in yard with only a 36" gate for access. Of course the tree was located in the far back corner and it was a totally manual labor job getting the tree down by climbing and walking brush out to the drive and carting the wood out with my homemade customised log dolly I made.
I couldn't help but think on of those arches would nice for those medium sized logs. I think we could have gottem them out of the yard in longer pieces easier and quicker with the small arch instead of having to cut the wood into firewood lengths and carting them out on my log dolly which takes a fair load by itself. Normally if we have the room we can move three or more pieces in three to six foot lengths loading them side ways on the cart. With the gate being only 36" wide we couldn't do that. Had to cut them into firewood lengths.
It was slow going getting that wood out doing this way. Using an arch seems like it would work better than doing all this cutting and carting. Using an arch to move a log lengthwise seems easier and quicker going through a gate. At least we could get some of that wood out in longer lengths so we could use our log truck to pick up the pieces instead of loading them into a truck one at a time.
I must be missing something here. What is the big drawback with these arches anyway. Saving a few trips back and forth adds up on jobs like this one.
Having a small loader is the way to go but a 36" gate will throw a wrench into the works weather you have one or not. I don't volunteer to tear down fences or gates. I let the owners do that but will sometimes take down a fence section if the customer or client isn't able or doesn't have anyone that can do it for them.
What is the lowdown on the arch ??? Before I get into a welding project or spend about $ 500 like I almost did just for this one job I was talking about.
Larry
I have been meaning to buy or build one but haven't done either. I think they would be handy for some jobs in certain situations.
We recently did a good sized tree removal in a totally fenced in yard with only a 36" gate for access. Of course the tree was located in the far back corner and it was a totally manual labor job getting the tree down by climbing and walking brush out to the drive and carting the wood out with my homemade customised log dolly I made.
I couldn't help but think on of those arches would nice for those medium sized logs. I think we could have gottem them out of the yard in longer pieces easier and quicker with the small arch instead of having to cut the wood into firewood lengths and carting them out on my log dolly which takes a fair load by itself. Normally if we have the room we can move three or more pieces in three to six foot lengths loading them side ways on the cart. With the gate being only 36" wide we couldn't do that. Had to cut them into firewood lengths.
It was slow going getting that wood out doing this way. Using an arch seems like it would work better than doing all this cutting and carting. Using an arch to move a log lengthwise seems easier and quicker going through a gate. At least we could get some of that wood out in longer lengths so we could use our log truck to pick up the pieces instead of loading them into a truck one at a time.
I must be missing something here. What is the big drawback with these arches anyway. Saving a few trips back and forth adds up on jobs like this one.
Having a small loader is the way to go but a 36" gate will throw a wrench into the works weather you have one or not. I don't volunteer to tear down fences or gates. I let the owners do that but will sometimes take down a fence section if the customer or client isn't able or doesn't have anyone that can do it for them.
What is the lowdown on the arch ??? Before I get into a welding project or spend about $ 500 like I almost did just for this one job I was talking about.
Larry
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
I was going to buy one for the quad to extract wood with in some pretty hard terrain... But I broke the quad before I bought it 
okietreedude
Treehouser
Larry, most minis will fit thru a 36" gate, at least my vermeer will. the grapple rake on the front is wider but will go over a 6' fence. the only draw back is if the gate is tight against a house. I did one like that once and put the mini in the back, dumped all over the fence, the went thru and loaded it all. minor inconvenience but easier.
Ive not used an arch but will say they are still manual labor. I know a guy that works for my main competition and was recently told he has a ruptured disk in his back. wether or not is a work related injury or not, i dont know but they still carry big stuff from back yards to the street by hand and load it. another guy from the same co. underwent hernia surgury last summer. you'd think they'd figure it out.
with the slow economy it may be hard to justify a mini, but check the used market. even a walk behind toro dingo would be better.
I too am w/ axman, I dont offer to take down many fences. (Actually i do, i just try to get out of putting them back up.) but there are times removal/replacement is faster than working around them.
Ive not used an arch but will say they are still manual labor. I know a guy that works for my main competition and was recently told he has a ruptured disk in his back. wether or not is a work related injury or not, i dont know but they still carry big stuff from back yards to the street by hand and load it. another guy from the same co. underwent hernia surgury last summer. you'd think they'd figure it out.
with the slow economy it may be hard to justify a mini, but check the used market. even a walk behind toro dingo would be better.
I too am w/ axman, I dont offer to take down many fences. (Actually i do, i just try to get out of putting them back up.) but there are times removal/replacement is faster than working around them.
Ax-Man
Don't make me chop you
I know some of those mini's will go through a 36 in gate but this job was like you said. The gate was next to the house. We had another route out but it meant cutting down a hybrid lilac and the owner wasn't thrilled with that option.
I was going to rent a Boxer with a grapple for this job. Just to try one out and see if I would like one. It was a track machine that would pull the tracks in to go through a small gate. That didn't happen I just hired some extra day help to get the job done quicker.
If I can ever sell my old chipper I could think about buying some kind of small loader. On most backyard jobs we can use one but it is these totally fenced yards that I am not too fond of. But this job worked out nice for this time of year. It wasn't too cold to be working and we were able to get it done during a thaw period where other jobs that required a truck would be just to muddy.
Larry
I was going to rent a Boxer with a grapple for this job. Just to try one out and see if I would like one. It was a track machine that would pull the tracks in to go through a small gate. That didn't happen I just hired some extra day help to get the job done quicker.
If I can ever sell my old chipper I could think about buying some kind of small loader. On most backyard jobs we can use one but it is these totally fenced yards that I am not too fond of. But this job worked out nice for this time of year. It wasn't too cold to be working and we were able to get it done during a thaw period where other jobs that required a truck would be just to muddy.
Larry
sawinredneck
Treehouser
It's the cost of the damn things Larry! I looked into them and a four wheeler to pull it. I could have bought a damn Boxer cheaper!!
Yes, you can build one, but even then, you still have to get it on the truck or trailer! Drive the quad on for the first few rounds, then you are back to having to either piece it or have He-man come help you, either way you handle the wood more than you want to! As well as one end of the wood is tearing up the grass as you drag it out!
ind a quad that will fit through a 42" gate even, otherwise you are pulling it by hand. My Thomas is set at 42"'s now, without the bucket and narrow tiresI could do 36" with the grapple, but I won't. I want the room or I'll take a section of fence down.
I was presented with a VERY good opertunity on my machine. Sure it needed some things, but I had most of them handed to me by the seller, and for what I spent on that machine, I would have been a fool to not have bought it!
Yes, you can build one, but even then, you still have to get it on the truck or trailer! Drive the quad on for the first few rounds, then you are back to having to either piece it or have He-man come help you, either way you handle the wood more than you want to! As well as one end of the wood is tearing up the grass as you drag it out!
ind a quad that will fit through a 42" gate even, otherwise you are pulling it by hand. My Thomas is set at 42"'s now, without the bucket and narrow tiresI could do 36" with the grapple, but I won't. I want the room or I'll take a section of fence down.
I was presented with a VERY good opertunity on my machine. Sure it needed some things, but I had most of them handed to me by the seller, and for what I spent on that machine, I would have been a fool to not have bought it!
Ax-Man
Don't make me chop you
Your answering a few questions I have had at the back of my mind. Other than dragging a log with a quad are one of those arches that hard to pull by hand???? I would think with two wheels and balancing the log in the middle it wouldn't be that tough. Or is it??? I don't know. I know our cart doesn't have much problem unless the ground is really uneven. On some jobs I have laid plywood down to even out the ground and make the cart easier to roll. Hauling plywood around isn't my cup of tea either.
Getting the wood onto a truck isn't that big of deal to me I have a log loader if there is a lot of wood and is long enough to handle and I also have a truck with a lift gate for small jobs. It is getting the wood to the truck is the problem.
I have kind of skipped a step and not kept up with the times if you are following my thinking by not having a loader yet. But I also have things that other tree guys don't have so it evens out.
Larry
Getting the wood onto a truck isn't that big of deal to me I have a log loader if there is a lot of wood and is long enough to handle and I also have a truck with a lift gate for small jobs. It is getting the wood to the truck is the problem.
I have kind of skipped a step and not kept up with the times if you are following my thinking by not having a loader yet. But I also have things that other tree guys don't have so it evens out.
Larry
sotc
Dormant hero!!
its still alot of work. i built mine with never flat wheel barrow tires, if i was to do it again id use bigger tires
Ax-Man
Don't make me chop you
Does that mean working solo or having a helper or two to assist. If your working alone I can see where it would be alot of work and tiring and probaly frustrating.
I got to go to bed. It's past my bedtime.
Thanks for the input.
Larry
I got to go to bed. It's past my bedtime.
Thanks for the input.
Larry
