Today we side load a 24' x 36" Pin Oak on to the tandem axle gooseneck trailer by using an old technique called 'par buckling'. This log weighs in at over 8,200 pounds prior to removing a 7 1/2' length off the small end. That resulted in a loss of roughly 750 pounds for the remaining 17 feet of log.
There IS a certain level of danger during the process, but so is there danger for a country boy crossing a busy intersection on foot at rush hour. I'd rather load a log myself. THAT situation, I can control. Not so much the traffic entering the intersection. Sometimes they don't play by the rules. With the process of loading a heavy load by hand, there are constants you can rely on. Constants that do not change for a given motion. Some of those are gravity, friction, force and weight....and the dreaded 'squish-factor'. The goal is to not put the squish factor into play. Now, that's not very scientific, but then I am not a scientist, so I guess that gives me poetic license to make statements that aren't really exacting. But one thing for sure, we CAN load a log and rely on physics that will work doing so.
Basically we use a few snatch blocks (pulleys with a swivel hook) to change direction of the 'pull' from the 12,000 pound Badlands APEX winch and one to cut the amount of force required to move the log up the ramps in half. It still takes a good deal of force to move the dead weight but it is still nowhere near the capacity of the surprisingly good winch.
The Missus gets to swing by the loading site today and describe in her own words what's taking place...among other things. We even get a few stories from the old friend about how frugal his brother 'Carl' was. Personally I've not met another person near his level of frugality !! He was a good guy though. I'd worked for him quite a while in the mid 70's after coming home from my time traveling the world with Uncle Sam.
Now it must be noted that during the unloading back at the shop the Missus gets a little excited when the log rolls towards her position with the camera, but in actuality she was never in any real danger. But I have to admit it IS a little intimidating having a rolling 7,500 pound load of deadly force heading in your direction. No biggie, its good to keep the ladies on their toes ya know. I do have to point out though that she still hasn't collected on the promised fancy coffee and a visit to a nice restaurant..... She should be happy she didn't get to add herself to the equation as the 'squish' component. #parbuckling, #winch, #oak, #log, #loading
12 дек 2023
