The homestead version of "which comes first, the chicken or the egg" (in itself a simple conundrum which has many more meanings for the homesteader than for many people) is "which comes first, this job or that one?" Or, expanded version, how many jobs do you have to do before you can do the one you thought you were going to do-the one that was only going to take a few hours, but you are still trying to get to a few months (or a few years) later? One thing leading to another to another to who knows where. Such is the wandering life of the homesteader. One of our recent wanders was into the realm of log hauling.

This particular project came about because our shop needed a new roof. It also needs a new foundation, but we decided the leaky roof was first, and soon settled on metal over the old roll roofing for the solution. A pretty straightforward job. But in contemplating the old-age problems of the shop, we realized that those insignificant small poplar trees that were here and there around the place when we built, had grown a lot larger, a lot older, and a lot closer in the ensuing 25 years. They needed to come down, preferably on our schedule and choice of landing place, not theirs. And preferably before we put the new roof on-just in case.

We decided to tackle the three largest that were behind the shop first. They, of course, wanted to fall on top of the shop. But with rope and tackle and our truck, we convinced them otherwise, and Steve managed to fell them where they didn't want to go (except for a few branches, but we won't dwell on that-no damage done). Great. A lot of sawing, splitting, hauling, and stacking later, we had a nice pile of firewood snaking through the woods behind the shop, a huge brush pile (for birds and critters to hang out), and three 14" to 18" diameter, eight foot logs that were just too nice to turn into firewood. We had talked for years of having some logs sawn for a supply of lumber, here was our chance. All we had to do was haul them out of the woods and call the portable bandsaw mill man.

For a change, we didn't mistakenly think this would be a quick, easy job. We'd dealt with logs before.First we tried pulling the poplars out with an old John Deere lawn tractor. Hah. Nice wheel ruts. Okay. How about the old Suzuki and a long rope. Nice log ruts. But, we did manage to get the logs out, and there they were, piled up beside the path. Then we got out a rake to repair the obvious path. We even managed to get the new metal roof on before the snow.

The expected snow was late so we turned next to all those large poplars around the house that were closing in and shading our solar heating panels and the house. The shortening days made it a priority to get some of our sunshine back. The rest of the shop poplars could wait until spring. Many days later we once again had lots of firewood and some great large logs. Only this time they were back in the woods, over rough ground and no practical way to snake them out with the Suzuki, which hadn't worked very well anyway. We hauled, split, and piled the firewood and left the logs on the ground for the winter, which had arrived.

Spring came and those first poplar logs looked accusingly at us every time we went by. We had a lot of other jobs that needed attention. But we knew and they knew, we had to get them sawn-or turn them into firewood.

We were looking at the same old difficult log problem once again. As woodworkers, we often wanted to get larger lengths of wood (usually hardwood) out of the woods and into our shop. Our solution had always been to cut the pieces as short as possible for the use, split them in the woods if necessary, and use muscle and a hand-drawn, homemade metal sled. We'd talked and dreamed and wished for a good, small, affordable, usable log hauler so many times it had become more myth than possible reality. But, as is so often the case, the log hauler's time had come. We couldn't move the poplars with muscle and sled. So Steve got out his pencil and paper and went out to peruse his scrap metal pile. A few days later he had designed a one-log hauler capable of carrying a 19" diameter, 10' long log, the largest we figured we'd be dealing with.

He had been looking for some time at the back axle of our old Dodge Rampage parts car (same chassis as a Dodge 024, Omni, or Plymouth Horizon), for one project or another, and decided it was perfect for this job. Some time with the torch under the jacked up car and it was free. More time with the torch and a cut-off wheel in his angle grinder and it was cut in half, wedges cut out and each side of the axle bent up and welded in an L shape (see photo). He then found enough pieces and scraps of angle iron for the rest of the frame. A trip to the hardware store rounded out the collection of bolts, nuts and washers needed.

The rest was a matter of measuring and cutting the pieces of angle iron, drilling or burning holes, and bolting it all together. Certainly not a piece of cake, but not an impossible job either. He had it done in a few days. It seemed almost anticlimactic after all those years of log-hauler wishing.

Of course, it wasn't quite ready yet. The frame was done, but we still needed a way to lift the logs up. For that, Steve attached our venerable workhorse come-a-long to the top rear frame by removing the attaching hook and bolting it to an arm on one side (see photo). The other end wedges between two brackets in the middle. It is easily detachable for regular use. A small wooden block helps keep it from twisting. The cable runs over a free turning pulley bolted between the center brackets. The one-log hauler was now ready for a trial run.

I rolled one of the logs out into the path over a sturdy tie-down strap we had from the old motorcycle days, positioning it where I guessed the center of weight was, while Steve hitched the hauler to the old John Deere lawn tractor. The whole unit has a pretty wide turning radius, but it backed up easily enough over the log. Ratchet the come-a-long down to hook over the strap hooks, and ratchet it back up, log and all. We tied a rope across the top front of the frame to keep the front end of the log from bouncing up, then Steve drove off, easy as can be. Homestead magic. I suppose it wouldn't seem like magic if you had never struggled with moving a large log by hand.

At the holding area, Steve lined the log up beside where we wanted it, got off and lowered the log with the come-a-long (this takes a fair amount of muscle with a large log, something I had a bit of trouble with, though I could lift the log with the come-a-long okay). Unhook the hooks, drive off, roll the log off the strap, and off to get another one. Then walk back to get the strap that you had forgotten to take with you.

Before we tackled getting the logs that were in the woods, we replaced the strap with a log chain and hook (inexpensive and available at the local hardware), which is much easier to handle, and faster. Then the strap replaced the rope which holds the front of the log down, because it is easier to adjust.

Now it was time to see if this tool would work where we really needed it-in the woods. It did, and we did. We ended up cutting and hauling almost 30 logs-poplar, bass, cherry and maple. Though the log hauler can't turn tight corners, with the lawn tractor pulling it it doesn't need a very wide path and we were able to snake it in some pretty tight places. Sometimes Steve could drive straight in and turn around, sometimes back in, sometimes go part way then detach the hauler from the tractor and maneuver it the rest of the way and over the log by hand, then back the tractor up to it. This was usually the easiest. It wasn't fast, but it certainly beat anything else we had tried. Our only problem was occasional tire slippage of the rear tires of the tractor when going up and over fairly large depressions and bumps. When this happened, Steve would either lean back over that side, or I would add the needed weight until on flatter ground. Tire chains would probably also help.

In addition to the saw logs, we used the log-hauler to carry three 20' long fir poles out of the woods, needed for renovating our wood shed. We trimmed all branches off, tied the three larger butt ends together and lifted them as high as the hauler allowed, letting the smaller tops drag on the ground. It worked slick as could be.

The photos and drawing should give a good idea of how our one-log hauler is made and used. But a few clarifications and suggestions might help:

• The main structural pieces and tongue are of 3"x 1/8" angle iron, the diagonal braces of 1". This proved sturdy enough for a 15"x 8' maple log, traveling slow and gentle.
• The joints can be either welded or bolted, whatever your skill, time, or preference.
• Position the lifting chain or strap on the log so that the log end nearest the tongue is a bit lighter than the rear end. When the log is raised, the front end is held down by a rope or strap across the top front arms of the hauler. The log is then lifted a bit more to bring it up horizontal and completely off the ground. This pressure helps keep the log from bouncing around.
• Cant hooks are invaluable if you're going to do much work with logs. We have a heavy duty four-foot and a smaller three-foot, which have turned out to be well worth the investment.
• A piece of plywood (or two) in the front rectangle end of the hauler (over the tongue) makes a nice spot to set a chainsaw, or a box for tools. Steve bolted an old lunch box to the fender of the lawn tractor to hold the chain and ropes, which works fine.
• At first the tongue of the hauler was fastened with a bolt to the lawn tractor back bar. But that made hook-up and disengagement slow and difficult when the tractor and hauler were canted at various angles due to uneven ground (which was usual in the woods). Steve then bolted a cross drilled pin to stick up solid on the tractor bar. The hauler tongue with hole could then easily be slipped up and on the pin, then secured with a clevis pin in the cross-drilled hole.
• Some arrangement to easily attach the cant hook to the top sides of the hauler would be handy, since you'll need it (or them) at both ends of your trip. However, a human cant-hook-carrier works well, too, if one is available.

By mid-June our saw logs were nicely lined up in the yard and ready for the portable mill. We called the sawyer, arranged a time, and found out all the logs needed to be aimed the same way. Of course. Some time spent with cant-hooks and muscle and we had them moved and realigned with small ends all facing north, neat as can be. Man and machine arrived, set up, ready to go, mentioning that it was nice the logs were all right there ready to be sawn, but he'd need to turn each one around because they needed to be aimed the other way. Sigh. How not? But two days later we had three nice stacks of lumber drying for many future projects, known and unknown. Another great homestead joy. I oiled the ends to alleviate splitting and we turned our attention back to all those other spring projects that were still waiting patiently on the list, and on the homestead.