E006 Moving Logs With the Mini Ex 

Your welcome and thank you. Lost my dad at age 16. Got a great partner and son though!! Terry

Your welcome and thanks! We had never use a mini ex or skid steer until we started our project. Its been a blast learning how to use them. More like playing than work. Terry

Sounds like you had fun! We see it as playing when running these machines, ha ha. Its is a blast and fairly easy to learn. Thanks for sharing. Terry

Forest To Farm renting a mini excavator may be a way to get the wife involved…Let her be the driver of the machine! 😎

@@CliffsideStables Good idea but she does not care to do that stuff. I wish she would. Its a blast. Terry

Thanks, we learn something new every time as well, lol!

Always open to ideas here. You learn more that way for sure. We have started taking some trees down by digging around the stump and pushing over now. Its all a learning process and we are definitely learning, ha ha. Face cut then wedge below makes perfectly good sense, thanks. I agree on the forks being easier to move stuff and no doubt much much faster. However we had the mini ex on loan for free so we used it all we could. Its was slow but it worked well for us at the level were at in learning at the time. We did not have access to a grapple at the time but they are awesome. We do not yet have a dump trailer but its on our list of things to get. Thanks for the suggestions. Terry

Forest ToFarm, another great response. Many thanks from northwest Georgia. Jerry

Great comments demand a great response! : )

Forest ToFarm, many thanks!

@@snakedriver73 May be renting soon. Gonna give your method a try if we get the chance. Terry

They get the job done for sure. Terry

Thanks!

Sounds like you have a great plan. Those mini's are little beasts!! I love the old 8N tractors. Hope to own one some day. Terry

You heard her Brian! :) Terry

Thanks! Its slow going having to work our regular businesses and farm. But gonna be worth every minute!

it is awesome! Yeah we always take care of our fiends.

I have both. The argument can be said for either machine, depending on the task.

@@snakedriver73 I agee. It depends a lot on what you are doing with it. Terry

Thanks!

Thanks! We love the mini ex. Just used it yesterday and it not only does an excellent job digging but also it levels the soil very well. Check bvack here later, we have a couple more videos coming showing us digging stumps and leveling (excavating) afterwords. Terry

They do not have a grapple where we rent. The mini is the only way we have of carrying logs. It gets the job done. We only rent the skid steer as well. Terry

Forest To Farm I’ve watched several episodes since that one. I get the rental issue, now... but it sure is a shame. I’m excited to see the progress over time. From a rural Bama boy now on the Savannah islands, y’all sure are making me homesick for the woods. Keep it up. Wish y’all all the luck! I very much appreciate yalls attention to detail and quality.

Thanks Ben! We have a blast doing this and there is no place we would rather be than in the woods. Our land particularly but any woods will do. I quit a very good paying job because it kept me inside. I would rather have less but be outside more. Terry

I agree! They do not look like much but they sure do get the work done. Wish we could buy one! Terry

I agree. We are aware of time and try to plan things so we can get the most out of the rental time as possible. Thanks for the advice and for the compliments! Terry

Thank you. Brian does a pretty good job with that mini. Terry

Thanks for commenting! I agree the grapple on a skid steer is a great choice. Especially considering we were moving logs anywhere from 600 to 1000 feet. That mini excavator is slow. The skid steer could shorten the transport time by a good bit. However we had to use what was available. The skid steer we have been renting is a T590. One consideration for us is where we were moving the logs to is in the forest behind where our houses are going. There are a lot of large trees along the path/drive we created to get back to the bone yard as we call it lol where the logs are stored. The mini ex can twist side to side allowing you to maneuver through tight spaces so as you say there are advantages to each piece of equipment and what is right for one job may not be for the next. If given the choice we would definitely use the skid steer and grapple combination. Glad to have you aboard and we will be watching for your future videos! Terry

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Thanks for the tip! We have lots to learn.We are always open for suggestions and appreciate your input. Terry

In a mini excavator you want to have the blade in front of you especially when carrying 2000 pound logs that way if it tips it will catch you so the statement above is incorrect. It would apply in a let’s say a 325 cat excavator good job guys.

@@nickkofron441 thanks for the comment and compliment. Terry

Great machines!! Would love to own one as well some day. Terry

Hey Rex! Thanks! Would you believe that thus far we have actually dug around these stumps by hand with a shovel, mattock and post hole diggers. Then cut the roots in two. Then we used an old skid steer that runs great but has 3 bald tires and a very warped bent up bucket with only 3 teeth left, lol. With the skid steer we push the stumps back and forth until the remaining roots going down are broken free. Its been a long strenuous process but cost us only fuel so we have saved a lot of money. Its old school but we are having a blast doing it all. I think that mini ex would do the job but so far we have only had use for two days. Its time was best spent moving those larger logs. A good friend was generous enough to loan it to us. The skid steer was also on loan from a friend. For the largest stumps we plan to let a friend come in with a big caterpillar that should push them up with no problem. Probably take a day or two at most so the cost will be small compared to if we had him remove all the trees and debris. Hope you keep watching. We will eventually have the entire build of this homestead/ farm on video. We hope to get a following so we can get paid for all this effort, ha ha. Either way we will continue on. Terry

I agree. Wish we had use of one. That mini is a work horse but slower than molasses, ha ha. It gets the job done though and the skid steer would not do the digging we need done as well as the mini so its a trade off I guess. Plus when he gets them back to the bone yard as we call it (place where we store them the skid steer would not be able to stack the logs like a mini can. We currently have over 140 14'+ logs stacked up in the woods. Terry

I was wondering why’d u use chains on a skid steer grapple also?

@@bertlj6367 I am not sure. We have never used a skid steer grapple but they sure look like they make work a lot easier! Terry

Agreed. However we have a dump site/compost heap in the woods that is quite a distance from where we are clearing. We call it the bone yard lol. Those mini’s are so slow it’s takes forever lol. Terry

Thanks for the info. I had never heard of a log wizard. We have about 50 or more of these larger pines that we will be harvesting in the future as we get settled into the place. Then there are a bunch of large Poplar trees as well. We will definitely check into the log wizard.

They are awesome. Little workhorses. The only drawback is they don't move very fast, lol.

Thanks! We have used it on a slight grade (going down the grade) and found out really quickly that it will tip forward when carrying a 2,000 pound log. When going downhill with a heavy load, I find it best to spin around and have the weight in the uphill direction. That way you have a good counter balance. I always travel with the log tucked into the machine as close as I can, then I can move it out some if I need more balance. It can be tricky at first figuring out the best route to take. I wouldn't just go for it with a big log without having taken the planned route first empty to see how it reacts to the trip. Hope this helps!

that totally makes sense and helps a ton! thanks for the tips!

@@chulhochang No problem.

Well that would probably work great.

We stack them on a slight own hill grade. The lower end where the first logs go is against or very near to a larger tree to hold the logs back. Then we stack them heading back up hill and crosswise to the hill in hopes they do not move. The slope is very mild and on video its hard to see slope so it is not always obvious there is any slope at all. Hope that helps and we are no experts on this stuff so I am sure there is likely a better way but we are not currently aware of it. I do have concerns of the logs shifting but so far no problems. We hope to get a saw mill in the next year or so. In the future we plan to use a piece of rough cut lumber to strap to the ends of the log piles with lag bolts maybe connecting 3 or 4 logs together if and when we have any and then that should help make the pile much more secure. Also only stack the ends maybe two levels high and the vary end only one log high when you reach the limit of a particular pile of logs. Hope that helps. Terry

Thanks!

Good point. Honestly you should really always have it down when working but we tend to only pull it down when handling brush or when working in thick brushy areas.

Great tool if you have a use for one.

I agree and the skid steer moves sooo much faster as well. We have 3000 lb forks for our tractor but it can’t lift that much. We hope to own a skid steer one day soon. Lots more work to do. Thanks for watching!! Terry

+THE TRUTH WILL AMAZE thanks! That particular log may not have weighed 2,000, but many were that and more based on the log weight charts and when picking them up they would tip the machine over. I'd get out and cut the ends off until it would sit back upright, haha. Thanks for watching!

thats a very very clever way of balancing the weight alright....very clever....most people would panic and jump out lol....im doing some felling at the moment that requires a mini digger ( thats what we call them over here in ireland ) at the edge of my garden there is a 30 foot drop down into a small river ( i have a silly video on here about it lol ) there are over 100 ash trees sitting on the little river bank below and if i cut them they will all fall into the river and god knows where they will end up....so i plan to park the mini digger on the edge of the lawn and tie a rope from the bucket to the tree below...them go down and cut the trees and hope the mini digger will hold them kinda upright so i can pull them up onto the lawn...hope this works because im after trying flooting and rafting hahaha

Maybe you could try doing like you said, but tie the tree to some other tree above or a truck or something solid. Then tie the lower section of the log to the mini and cut it loose. Pull it up the hill and reset and do it again until the entire tree is up the hill. That is assuming the trees is so large that the mini struggles to get it over the hill in one piece. If they are smaller trees than maybe no worries.

all the ash trees are in kinda clusters of 6 and 8 so what ill so is tie the bottom of the tree im going to fell first to the bottom of the tree beside it and then cut it....this will stop it falling into the river...then i raise the arm of the digger and reverse at the same time...a slow job of jumping in and out of the machine and up and down the ladder but worth it in the end for about 100 good ash trees...the largest tree is about 40 foot high and 18 to 20 in in diameter....safety is a must at tree felling

OK I was thinking bigger trees. Sounds like a good idea to me. Good luck and be safe!! Slow but safe is best. When we get in a hurry we sometimes get hurt. Never a good day then.

Yes it gives you a bit of leverage. Some stumps can be a booger to pull out. Terry

@@ForestToFarm A ripper attachment can be really useful on those roots.

Skidder*

Yeah but some times we need a mini ex and then its good for moving the logs as well. Ideally we wpuld have both all the time but that is not possible. Terry

Yeah they are nice. We just rent the machines. Thanks for watching!! Terry

We were leaving a bit of log to help get the stumps up later. We have been told its easier when you have a few feet of stump for leverage. Terry

According to the specs on the web a 248B will do about 2000 pounds. Some of our logs were 2200 pounds. That cat would have struggled to carry one based on the specs. I have no clue what they can actually do but I doubt they can pick up 6600 pounds which would be 3 of the larger logs we had. Are you sure you have the model number right?

Yeah. That would have been nice. The mini did the job all be it slow. Terry

I agree, however the problem is we did not have access to a skid steer with a grapple. :) Gotta make do with what you have available sometimes. Terry

@@ForestToFarm I realized that. Your video just made it sound like a skid steer is not good at moving logs, and that's just not the case. If the mini ex you guys borrowed didnt have a thumb, you would have fought it just as much. Even heavy equipment needs to be set up for the task at hand.

@@noobpvptv5176 I made it very clear at 15:40 and there about that we did not have a grapple and just had a bucket and that the bucket we were comparing with only had two teeth and was broken. We were not comparing to a skid steer with a grapple or any other possible attachments. If you look at what we are about its a homestead/farm being built and we are sharing our experiences along the way so we do not profess to be experts and actually make that clear in the video as well. Earlier you mentioned running backwards and just spinning the mini around but its down hill to where we stacked the logs so he puts the blade out front in case it tips forward down hill. Then as he gets to the lower area where the logs are stacked he does run backwards but that is to keep the log uphill thus reducing the possibility of it tipping forward because its even steeper down there. I am not trying to dispute you in any way, just making it clear what our position is. A skid steer with a grapple would be amazing and far better than anything we have used at getting those logs moved fast but we did not have access to one. Terry

@@ForestToFarm it doesnt matter if the blade is in front when your moving, the log is. It will keep you from tipping over. The blade is only important when you are reaching out. As far as the turns go, if you insist on traveling with the blade forward, then learn how to do a no pressure turn. Put the log on the ground and lift the machine, then pivot. Tracks are expensive and dont last as it is. I only told you the impression I got when I watched your video, I am not going to take the time to quote time stamps to make a point. I dont care that much. I have been running a sawmill, equipment, and logging or 40+ years. Listen to what I have to say, or dont, I dont lose sleep either way. I already have a successful buisness. I know when I was starting out and old times gave me advice, I listened and said thank you that they though I was worthy of that advice. Since you guys are just starting out, I tried to pass some of my trial and errors to you. Good luck.

Yeah that would be great to move the logs. We did not have that option. Also the mini is able to stack the logs a little better. I would love to have a grapple though but gotta get other things done first. Terry

I have a skid steer with a grapple and would love to have a mini.

Maybe hope that one day we can own both. Terry

a bobcat t190 with a grapple would smoke that mini ex moving logs! i know becouse thats what i do.

I agree! We need quite a few things but the budget gets out of hand if we get them all. Terry

Can not remember but around 24” or better I would guess. Terry

@@ForestToFarm Damn thats some serious weight.

We are building a homestead out of a forest. We have limited resources like most anyone else. We do rent a skid steer but not one with a grapple it just has a bucket but at a great price. The mini will move logs slow but it will move them and it does a good job of digging stumps up or other digging we may need done also at a great price. We are willing to sacrifice our time for cost because we are spending lots of cash doing this project keeping our costs to a minimum. Plus we just enjoy being there working. We are no experts for sure but its more about money than experience as far as what equipment we rent. Some of these other places that rent equipment charge more than twice the amount we are paying for the same product and its large chain companies. We like renting local and supporting our neighbors. Terry

Hey Pat. Its a long story but the short of it is we are building two houses. One for my son and his wife and one for my wife and myself. We started with a raw forest and will end up with working farm/homestead and barn we build ourselves. We plan to do as much of the work ourselves as possible. Hence the video you are talking about here as with many more we are showing "our" experience and not always a proper "how to" but rather our "how we got it done". They could end up being the same thing but many times are not. We do not claim to be experts, ha ha and that is obvious. We just want to share our experience with all who care to follow along. We had zero experience with heavy equipment of this type when we started so as part of our rookie experience we are learning how to get it done. In the process others can watch and learn sometimes what to do and others what not to do, lol. This has been a life long dream of mine that started with my father when I was a small child but he died young. The dream has lived on in me and now my son and I are making it a reality. I think it will be worth following along for others with similar dreams. They can learn through us what some of the stuff they will encounter will be. Thanks for commenting and your interest! Terry

Amen brother. I was a terrible teenager. And now my greatest joy in life is the time i spend with my father. We got a simular thing going. One house down one more to go. Then hopefully its apple picking, canning, grand children, and a whole lot of healing. Let me know if you ever need help. Im a truck driver so ive driven by.

Great! Glad you get to spend time with your father. Its amazing the number of people staring to do this similar life style. We are so looking forward to getting in there and then working toward our food paradise. Nothing like eating food you produced yourself. Thanks for the offer! Will you in mind. Terry

Its a rented skid steer and it did not have a grapple. No easy way of picking it up with a bucket.

We were not comparing apples to oranges. We were simply explaining what worked for us based on what we had available. Obviously a grapple is a great choice but we did not have one to discuss for this project. Terry