Two years ago a maple (soft) snapped off 15 feet up & fell. Its between 2 and 3 feet in diameter. So I've been looking to harvest it.
Cutting it up with a chain saw was fairly easy.
The longest piece is 10' long. To move any of the pieces, I needed a log arch.
They are 2 wheels with an arch between them. You lift the log between the wheels on the arch and there is a long lever to lift & move it.
They're usually metal, but I'm not a welder.
I saw https://youtu.be/dvtzQmx7uNQ made from wood.
I have 2x4s, so I started off with that.
I used 10" wheels and a bolt through 2 vertical 2x4s as an axle. I think it is simpler and stronger.
I wanted to move it to a clear area so I could split it into quarters The chain is for a come-a-long winch.
Lucy was a big help. My son was a bigger help pulling the log along.
We tip the arch forward pivoting around the wheels, wrap chains around it and under the log, then pull the arch back down to lift.
This is from the logs cut in the 1st photo.
We moved he big section 30-40 feet.
I didn't have a cross brace for the arms so I notched a log in the woods. Otherwise you tend to squeeze the arms together and there is just a 1/4-20 bolt preventing it.
The brace under the arms also keeps the arms higher & the log higher off the ground.
I split the log in 1/2 and called it a day. One 1/2 was 10' long and the other was 6' because it didn't split evenly the last 4'.
I painted the arch because it will be outside lots.
I made 2 cross braces, notched with a bolt through them holding them to the arms.
This is the 6' half. No come-a-long winch needed. I was able to lift & push it myself!
Next is the 10' hakf.
I couldn't suspend it fully, but I could get the front up and pull with a rope & pulley.
And the log won.
When I tried to suspend the whole log, I found out drilling the arms for the bolt of the cross brace was a bad idea.
It broke right at the cross brace. It was scrap 2x4 and had a bit of damage.
The good thing is the arms and angles under are all bolted on. I can make a new arm. I had taken it apart for painting.
The cross braces were a big help, but drilling a hole through the arms to hold them isn't the right way. The notch will do the work and I shouldn't need bolts at the arch.
At the other end, I need something different. Maybe an upper & lower cross brace with notches and something holding the upper & lower together so it can take forces up & down. With just the bolts, the brace got pulled out.
I'm going to make some larger (2-3 ft) wheels out of wood sometime. That will make it easier to move around in the woods.
Despite the failure, I'm happy with this. 10' is an awful big log and the arch didn't even creak with the unpainted, uncrossbraced version. With the bolted cross brace, I heard creaking w/ just 1/2 of that log before it broke.
I went to https://www.omnicalculator.com/construction/log-weight and used 30" down to 20" diameter for silver maple. It came up with 1500lbs. After 2 years, I'd guess it was closer to 1000lbs or less. With leverage, you can move a lot of weight!
