Log Lifter

[Dave Delo]

Not an original idea but a real handy tool for getting heavy blanks into the vehicle. Thanks to Mike Peace for the idea. Came across a nice straight 18" diameter, 8'+long piece of white oak recently and cut it into four 2' pieces. Don't know exact weight but each piece was well over 200 pounds. A little bit heavy for these old bones to lift by myself. With the "log lifter," no problem. You can get rough dimensions from Mike's video on youtube. I changed mine to a #6 hinge and it works great.

 

[David Wrate]

Very clever, thanks for sharing.

 

[john lucas]

There was an article in American Woodturner many years ago on a logblifter similar. If anyone wants to build one look it up.

 

[Doug Agee]

Great pro tip, Dave. My back thanks you!

Here is video from Mike Peace Woodturning that Dave mentioned:

 

[Doug Freeman]

Believe the concept can be adapted to a ladder, fab a platform piece that locks behind the sides

 

[Kalia Kliban]

I reworked a $99 ATV lift from Harbor Freight. Added wheels and a crossbar at the front, plus a beefed up handle for moving it around. Works like a champ and makes it possible for me to move and cut the big stuff single-handed. There's a little foot-pump piston that raises the arms. I use the bed of my truck as support for my cutting cradle (a square of scrap plywood with some beater 4x4s screwed on top crosswise and a cleat underneath that anchors it into the gap between the bed and the gate), which you can see in the photo.

 

[Monty Ivy]

That is a fantastic design and a great solution. Would you mind adding another photo that shows the modifications that you made?

 

[Dave Delo]

Very cool

 

[Kalia Kliban]

The first pic is the unit right out of the box. The handle was a POS and the weld broke almost instantly so I replaced it with a 2-stem handle of galvanized pipe screwed together (you can see the handle construction in the 3rd pic). That still had a bit too much flex so I had a friend weld the pipe joints together and it helped. The handle is held to the body with pipe clamps. We're talking NASA-level engineering, here :>)
The second pic shows the modifications pretty clearly. The unit as it comes has wheels on the back but not the front, since it's not meant to be moved under load. I added a wheel assembly to the front end. The front wheels are small-but-mighty casters, and they allow the front end to sit about 3/4" off the ground. What keeps the logs from rolling off the lift is the 2x6 assembly bridging the 2 lift arms. When the lift is all the way down and the wheels are chocked I can roll a log over the roughly 3" step and onto the lift assembly, and the 2x6 keeps it in place during the lift.
It's cumbersome to move the hoist when it's loaded so my usual procedure is to roll the log until it's roughly parallel with its final position up on the cutting cradle, get the hoist right behind it and chock the wheels, then roll the log onto the hoist. With a couple of pumps on the pneumatic lift I bring the corners of the 2x6 assembly a few inches off the ground and then can carefully scoot the whole shebang straight forward to my truck. I pump the lift to get the log as high as it will go (my Tacoma is a good fit with this lift. An F-150 is too tall for this lift, though there might be others out there that would work) and re-chock the back wheels on the hoist. Depending on the log size I can then roll the log forward onto the cutting cradle and trundle the hoist out of the way while I chainsaw the log into manageable pieces. Some of the material I work with is still too big for me to move safely solo, so for those logs I get help rolling them onto and off the hoist.
I really wish I'd come up with this _before_ I injured my back, but I'm sure grateful I have it now.

 

[Kalia Kliban]

That is a fantastic design and a great solution. Would you mind adding another photo that shows the modifications that you made?

Posted.

 

[Monty Ivy]

The first pic is the unit right out of the box. The handle was a POS and the weld broke almost instantly so I replaced it with a 2-stem handle of galvanized pipe screwed together (you can see the handle construction in the 3rd pic). That still had a bit too much flex so I had a friend weld the pipe joints together and it helped. The handle is held to the body with pipe clamps. We're talking NASA-level engineering, here :>)
The second pic shows the modifications pretty clearly. The unit as it comes has wheels on the back but not the front, since it's not meant to be moved under load. I added a wheel assembly to the front end. The front wheels are small-but-mighty casters, and they allow the front end to sit about 3/4" off the ground. What keeps the logs from rolling off the lift is the 2x6 assembly bridging the 2 lift arms. When the lift is all the way down and the wheels are chocked I can roll a log over the roughly 3" step and onto the lift assembly, and the 2x6 keeps it in place during the lift.
It's cumbersome to move the hoist when it's loaded so my usual procedure is to roll the log until it's roughly parallel with its final position up on the cutting cradle, get the hoist right behind it and chock the wheels, then roll the log onto the hoist. With a couple of pumps on the pneumatic lift I bring the corners of the 2x6 assembly a few inches off the ground and then can carefully scoot the whole shebang straight forward to my truck. I pump the lift to get the log as high as it will go (my Tacoma is a good fit with this lift. An F-150 is too tall for this lift, though there might be others out there that would work) and re-chock the back wheels on the hoist. Depending on the log size I can then roll the log forward onto the cutting cradle and trundle the hoist out of the way while I chainsaw the log into manageable pieces. Some of the material I work with is still too big for me to move safely solo, so for those logs I get help rolling them onto and off the hoist.
I really wish I'd come up with this _before_ I injured my back, but I'm sure grateful I have it now.

Thank you!

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Beautiful solution to a perennial problem. Do you take the unit with you in your truck, or just use it in your log processing area?

 

[Kalia Kliban]

Beautiful solution to a perennial problem. Do you take the unit with you in your truck, or just use it in your log processing area?

While I'd love it if it was portable enough to take when I go to pick up logs, it's pretty cumbersome to load into my truck and takes up a ton of bed space. It also requires a hard and reasonably level surface since the front wheels are tiny, and that's a rare luxury when I'm collecting logs at a drop site. Usually I use a sturdy hand truck to get the logs into position and then roll them up a ramp with a helper. It's often possible to make good use of a curb or driveway slope to get the pickup gate low enough that the ramping is easy, which is another advantage to having a smaller truck :>)

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Got it. Thanks!

 

[henry dalton]

I have a lift gate on my truck. Makes loading much easier.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Jealous.

 

[Gary Morgan]

I reworked a $99 ATV lift from Harbor Freight. Added wheels and a crossbar at the front, plus a beefed up handle for moving it around. Works like a champ and makes it possible for me to move and cut the big stuff single-handed. There's a little foot-pump piston that raises the arms. I use the bed of my truck as support for my cutting cradle (a square of scrap plywood with some beater 4x4s screwed on top crosswise and a cleat underneath that anchors it into the gap between the bed and the gate), which you can see in the photo.

This Viking Solutions L-E- Vator was about $120 delivered. I put 3 inch coasters ($12) on it. It clears the lathe bed, helps getting pieces in place that are too heavy for me. It folds up for storage.

 

[robo hippy]

Proof that necessity is the mother of invention! Great ideas. Don't need them yet, but that time is coming sooner than I want....

robo hippy

 

[Mike Johnson]

I usually bring the misses along with me on my wood log ventures.