Go BottomTractor Skidding Tong Dangers
 | skipll
Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 184 Robbisville NC USA 
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2011-11-20 181286
Question---has anyone ever heard of these skidding tongs coming loose and flying back and injuring/killing some one?
Have a neighbor who I lent one of these. After using it he went to town to buy one. While in the store one of our town alcoholics was there. He told my neighbor these were very dangerous & could fly back if it came loose. So he bought a short cable instead ( I know a broke cable will fly & perhaps cut your head off)
I tend to disagree with the alcoholic as my friend Paul --who has done much logging around here in these mountains since he was a big young boy ( as he would say )---he also disagrees.
What ya all think ?
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 | kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina 
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2011-11-21 181292
Skip have used those tongs not a ton but a fair amount. Nothing can fly any further than what ever is flexible so if hooked right to draw bar and only way I have used them rear of tractor is as far as they could flip. I have never had an issued with them but then am not one who would run 15 mph using them. If you are using decent speed and have the front end lifted find them coming loose very seldom if set right. Do think the short cable on a 3 pth will be much less able to lift the log clear to pull it creating more issues. Would not recommend using the tongs with a chain or cable but hooking direct to the draw bar to lift the log.
Now Murf is the logging pro and my Dad was and he is who I inherited the tongs from. ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2011-11-21 181296
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I think you got the key to it right there Skip.
We've used those tongs in our family for some 9 generations that I know of. The only thing they ever hurt was a toe or two when they were dropped on them. ;)
The only time anything will fly is if the chain, rope, strap or cable pulling is under tension and is suddenly released. Stored energy when released has to go somewhere.
The idea of those hooks though is that the harder you pull, the harder they bite in. If you happen to snag the front of the log on something, the hooks are supposed to tear out of the wood, slowly releasing that stored energy, not violently or suddenly.
The key to safely using them is to a) make sure your skidway (the path you drag them on) is clear of roots, rocks and stumps, b) you're pulling with only a Grade 70 or better chain (much harder, less stretch).
Kenny, thanks for the kind words.
Best of luck. ....
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