Logging Arch for my 40c?

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hydrogeo
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Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by hydrogeo » Wed May 27, 2020 8:12 am

I have a 40c that appears to have come from the factory or dealer with a Carco C-3 winch. I have not run across another one of these. I primarily use the crawler to skid firewood. It really works great, as it's small enough to get around my wood lot without making a huge mess. The one issue is that even with chain chokers I can't get the hitch I'm skidding far enough off the ground to not catch on every stump and rock I go over.

I see some of the 440s had a factory skidding arch, and I thought about building one similar to this. However, I'm concerned about the additional stress this would put on the rear housing. Any thoughts on this? Anyone else built a skidding arch for their 40/420/440?

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Lavoy
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by Lavoy » Wed May 27, 2020 3:34 pm

I would build a wheeled one. Not quite as convenient, but works great and no stress on finals.
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Jim B
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by Jim B » Wed May 27, 2020 4:52 pm

I recommend a wheeled one. Not bad once you get used to it and you can get the butts up better than one on the crawler. Just use a bit of care, if you get off to the side on a pull, many have flipped them. Ideally the hitch on the arch will swivel so as not to twist the crawler drawbar. They appear on the Maine and New Hampshire Craigslist at times.

The 430 my father-in-law had, and I got with the farm, had a Gearmatic 8A winch and mounted fairlead arch. We ended up doing bearings in both finals before he got a wheeled arch. He didn't remove the mounted arch but there was no more trouble with the finals after he started using the wheeled arch nor did I have any troubles during the time I had it.

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JDCrawlerdog3
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by JDCrawlerdog3 » Wed May 27, 2020 9:16 pm

If you do a search on John Deere’s #100 Log Arch, it might give you some ideas. The were made specifically for the 420/430/440 crawlers in tandem with the Gearmatic 8A winch. It basically moves the winch mounted arch onto a set of wheels, with a roller pulley and the fairleads mounted up high on a “boom”, lifting the twitch up so that only the ends of the logs are in contact with the ground. The arch mounts to the drawbar of the crawler with a pivoting swivel. Keeps the weight off the finals and keeps things cleaner too. Not as maneuverable as a crawler with an integral arch, but very productive unit with amazing capacity for its size.

Another option might be a Logrite fetching arch. Pretty spendy new, but used ones are around. I used a friend’s for a while. Worked well. Mounts to drawbar with 2” ball hitch. Pull in your logs with your winch. Connect the arch to the drawbar and use the hand winch on the arch to lift one end of the logs off the ground. The ball hitch seemed to rotate enough on fairly uneven ground. Does not have the same capacity as the JD arch, but pretty beefy for what it is. Might be better than someone's backyard weekend fabrication.

You could also try a skidding cone, depending on how many logs and the diameter of the logs you are pulling at one time. You won’t be able to pull more than a 20” diameter log with a cone, but it will keep things from getting hung up. Last resort is a hood from a mid-50s car or similar sheet steel. I used a hood from a Buick for a while – big, round and heavy, with a whole Honda's worth of sheet metal in just the hood. Ratchet strapped the hood to the logs and ran the winch cable through a slot on the front of the hood. Worked, especially with snow on the ground, and it did not cost a dime.

hydrogeo
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by hydrogeo » Thu May 28, 2020 7:32 am

OK, thanks for the input. I was a little concerned about a wheel arch being cumbersome in the woods, but it seems like by far the best approach. I have an old trailer axle with some good sized wheels and a bunch of steel in the scrap pile, so I'm going to try to put one together. The hardest part will likely be figuring out what to use for the pulley.

Jim B
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by Jim B » Thu May 28, 2020 9:24 am

My wheel arch uses a track roller, inner edges cut away to make it a smoother shape, on bottom in the throat and steel rollers (heavy pipe with bearings on a shaft) on the sides.

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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by Ray III » Sun May 31, 2020 9:31 am

I saw a guy selling a crawler with a JD 100 arch on a facebook page. The name of the page is "John Deere models M, 40, 420, 430 and 435." You would have to do some digging to find the post, it was a couple weeks ago. He is in western NY.

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Paul Buhler
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by Paul Buhler » Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:34 am

For the pulley, I’d suggest welding a short length of choker chain to the top cross member, then just hook in the last slider to it. This will swivel and hold up to the forces while winching. The load will lift and drop easily; just stand clear for safety.
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hydrogeo
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Re: Logging Arch for my 40c?

Post by hydrogeo » Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:43 am

I did some rummaging and found the old roller fairlead from my rock crawler winch (I switched to synthetic rope on that which uses a hawse fairlead, the rope is incredible for recovery winches). It will work great for the side rollers but It will need a more stout bottom. I don't have any old track rollers, but I found a couple good sized pillow blocks. I have a lathe so I think I'm going to machine a shaft and make a roller by centering the shaft in a piece of 21/2" schedule 80 pipe that can act as the roller.

The slider idea sounds good but I'd be concerned about wearing out the slide pretty fast.

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