This is a load of Beaver killed ash from its maiden voyage last winter

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Forgive the messy shop. This is the ski assembly during construction. I welded a 1.5"x1/8" square tube strong back to the bob house skis to improve rigidity. The ski hoops are 3/16" flat bar that I welded to the tip and shaped into a hoop so the ski would not fold back when it inevitably hit a stump or rock buried in the snow. While it is not in this picture, I also welded a 1/8" plate gusset to the uprights to give fore and aft strength.

The Bob house skis are W shaped and provide two 1.5" contact points with a raised center. We filled the center of the W with shaped oak that blended with the ski profile to create a more conventional shallow U shape. We applied an HDPE skin to the bottom of the skis for better slip across the snow. I also installed 1/2" steel bar runners bolted through the oak and strong back to help the sleigh track better behind the machine and so the plastic would not suffer if the sleigh was dragged across rocks or bare pavement. Unfortunately, one of the runners departed the sleigh on the first run this year but the sleigh still tracks fantastic so repairs will likely wait till spring.

 

The pivot point for the skis are four tabs cut from 3" angle. 1/2" grade 8 bolts act as the pivot point where it attaches to the sleigh frame.

 

This is the partially constructed sleigh frame.

 

Here I have added the diagonal tongue braces and have started to set up the attachment for the crane. The crane base is a 2" square tube to bring it up the same height as the cross tube with two ears of angle iron added for width. The crane is bolted the the base with 1/2" grade 8 bolts. Notice that the crane also attaches to the front cross bar to spread its load. I had originally planned on building outriggers that would socket into the end of the front cross bar to help when hoisting from the side. I have not yet built the outriggers but it is high on the future upgrades list because we do have issues when pulling from the side.

 

Here the crane is attached and you can see the adjustment rails for the ski positions on the bottom of the frame rails.

 

Here the stakes and pockets have been tack welded and the heavy duty hook eyes have been attached to the frame.

 

A better view of the tie down eyes I used. While originally designed to be bolted on, I chose to weld them in place.

 

Here is the sleigh when it was almost ready to use. Note the ski skins, shiny black paint and some reflective stickers. For this year I added a battery box and electric winch.

 

This is the current setup for the sleigh. This load was six logs, three large, three small, all in the 10'-14' range. I was able to tow the load on a packed trail with no problems with my Expy SWT. I do have Kold Kutters in the track to help with traction but aside from a couple of rough patches on the trail, I barely even knew there was a load behind me.

Future planned upgrades are:

Attach a couple of ammo boxes beside the battery to store rigging equipment in.

Build an outrigger that slots into the front cross tube for side pulls.

Make a rack that braces the stalk of the crane and prevents logs from coming past the crane and smashing the battery box ( haven't broken one yet but it has been close).

Stretch goal:

Make a groomer attachment that slots into the back of the sleigh (where the extension was going to go). The winch on the crane could be used to lift the groomer blade and a polar/otter sleigh with some ballast could be towed behind the groomer blade to pack the shaved trail.

All in all, this has been an interesting project to build. Aside from some trial and error to come up with successful methods of using the sleigh to move the wood we want, it has worked out very well for us. Not too bad for a brain fart that had to be built.

 

Looks good and thank you for the detailed pictures.

For my use i would have to drop it down lower like wooden flat sleds.

 

Neat, thanks for the pictures and explanation, those cranes are quite inexpensive, i thought they be more than that, your tongs it seems are bought, i was thinking you made them yourself, i made a set but they don;t balance well , was thinking a double claws in a future project....which is already in the planning after seeing this thread!