TIPS & HELPFUL ADVICE

Practical Advice : The Skidding Cone Kit

Among all of our forest harvesting equipment, the skidding cone kit is often considered a great starter kit. In fact, the pulling plate, the Kevlar cable, the corner block and the skidding cone will become part of your standard equipment to go to the woods and you will use them every day. This kit no doubt offers the best price/performance ratio on the market. Wood harvesting has never been so simple, and doing it without jeopardising your personal safety !

But let’s briefly see why. First : the ATV. Besides its versatility, this machine has great pulling power which easily compares to drum winches (electrical or mechanical). And generally speaking, the power of drum winches decreases substantially as the cable winds up. Use of an ATV eliminates this loss of power. In fact, the power will remain the same from the beginning to the end of skidding ! Furthermore, the operating speed (75-90 ft/min) of an ATV can only be found on powerful industrial level agro-forestry winches.

The key is a good network of trails. Have main trail that will be upgraded so you can travel with heavy loads without sinking.. Another network of smaller trails, off the main trails, will provide easy access to every point in your woodlot.

All these trails will be used for winching with the ATV. Thanks to the use of a corner block, it is possible to maximize the ATV pulling power while increasing the life of your Kevlar cable. To do so, just position the pulley as high as possible so that the ATV can benefit from maximizing the lifting effect on the log. The pulley will also allow you to skid logs out of dense forests while keeping your ATV safely on the trail. You can even use more than one corner block at a time. The automatic tripper, easily ajusted on the rope, will make the rope come out of the block at the appropriate time and the log will change direction.

To skid logs, you already know that use of a skidding cone increases safety for the user. In addition, did you know that use of a skidding cone would contribute to maximising the pulling capacity of the ATV ? Generally, the use of a cone will double the ATV’s pulling capacity ! And this increase in power will be even more obvious in harsh ground conditions. Furthermore, the cone can be used all year around. In fact, it can be just as efficient in the snow. The fact that it makes travelling easier will allow you to do more work on the trails, even with snow. Naturally, it is recommended to use the skidding cone with a snowmobile!

Important : the corner block must be facing the stem to be skidded. This will prevent the cable from accidentally coming out of the block. Should the cable happen to get dirty, you can clean it by placing it on a driveway, and hosing it down with water. You could even use the washing machine !

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