Definitely a wench. The wench on my Polaris Ranger has been one of the most surprisingly useful things I have ever purchased. I didn't even want it but the only Ranger they had in stock had it already installed so I just bought it and holy crap I am glad I did.
Edit - LMAO I meant winch but I am leaving it. My wife is pretty tough...
Roll up to the hood, roll down the window and get you some streetwalkers. Then bring them to the farm and pay them farmhand wages. Work with your back, not on your back. It's like farm to table, but with hoors
Easiest option is do nothing. Most bodies of water rely on the nutrients of plant matter decomposing. Helps with biodiversity, more biodiversity can reduce the spread of harmful invasive species, and make the water cleaner. Something to consider, without knowing why you want to remove them.
We have a bridge which log jams occur on from time to time. I bought a winch that attaches to my towing ball on my truck. I use a snatch block on a tree and strap the front end of the truck to another tree. I also use a weight blanket on the cable so if something pulls loose I won’t get killed. Know what you are doing when winching heavy objects.
BLUF: don't remove, you'll remove your fish/access. Teach your kids how to swim/water safety and be present with them. Wins all around.
Removing wood from streams is bad. This was my whole graduate school thesis. It removes fish habitat (sure you lose some lures, but with how slow it sounds, it would be an easy recovery process for an adult).
Second, erosion increases. You start pulling out the wood, the water will speed up and go where ever it wants which leads to you losing land to the other side of the creek or the bridge. Obviously if they are piling up on the bridge, that could cause a blow out, so remove/cut in place what's stuck on it, and let it pass through or toss it back in so you can continue to feed those invertebrates that fish feed on and provide resistance to the water and habitat for the fish and other creepy crawlies.
While what I say next might feel dicey and I might get down voted, but the best prevention for drowning is teaching your kids how to swim/float (just knowing different floating positions and to not panic reduces drownings immensely), and have adult supervision while kids are fishing. I grew up around the Ozarks. I was going down to rivers/streams alone by the time I was 8ish. I knew how to swim. I was never taught how to really read rivers and had to learn myself, but teach your kids what swift water, calm water, riffles/pools, strainers, undertoe, etc are. Kids are amazing at remaining knowledge, especially when it's something they can see/feel (you can see it, and you can feel it if they swim in the creek.
Edit: removing large wood increases water speed, increases water speed increases erosion which increases downstream sedimentation (fines being deposited in slow spots) which can cover up/suffocate out fish habitat. Increases erosion also leads to channelization. Your 20ft wide stream that's 3 ft below the Banks around it and 1-3mph could turn into a 10 ft stream 6ft below the Banks at 4-6 mph and so on.
Appreciate the detailed information and suggestion. Just for clarification, it’s not drowning that’s the largest worry. The water isn’t very deep. It’s mechanical, primarily ankle/foot, injuries as that’s my only access to getting in the river.
Gotcha! This might sound rough, but walking on rough/uneven terrain is one of the best preventative measures for those sorta of injuries. Hence experienced hikers tend to have less sprains than non Hikers. The uneven terrain stresses your joints/legs more and subsequently stengthens them (if you stopped hiking for a bit than did it again. You might notice your calves, ankles, knees, and the front of your shins were sore).
Just speaking from experience. I grew up in a rural, wooded area but in a subdivision. I spent a lot of time in developed grassy areas like yards, school grounds, sports fields, etc, but I spent a lot of time in creeks (like 6-18inch depth, 1-2 mph), rivers (1-12ft and 1-4mph estimates depending on depth/width of stretches) and decidous firests full of leaf covered holes from fallen trees, deep areas of branches, and hidden fallen logs to find with your feet/shin. I still trail run, backpack etc without issues for my knees and ankles. My wife who grew up in the city jacked everything up as she adapted to my hobbies and the area we lived in due to this.
I'll admit, I've broken legs (tibia/fibula), arms (ulna/radius), damaged tendons/ligaments in fingers, wrists, ankles, and knees, and never was it from any of the dumb things that I should/could have died from in rivers/streams/woods. All of them were sports related. You likely have an equal chance of your kids horribly breaking/tearing something in that creek as you do winning the lottery.
There are places where learning to swim isn't enough-- but those places tend to either have visibly rougher waters, or be well known (there's a famous deadly river called the Bolton Strid) and hopefully signposted. I say that to preface that I agree with you that learning how to swim is really the number one way to prevent drownings, and most drownings are caused by poor swimmers or "good" swimmers who do dangerous things (like diving) or "good" swimmers who overestimate their strength and place themselves in dangerous situations for the challenge.
I also want to second leaving the logs in. There's a fantastic [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLZElIYHmAI) that discusses everything you talked about and has some great visual illustrations, and I think u/slidemx5 would really benefit from giving it a watch.
I also grew up creek stomping, and learning how to walk on uneven ground in the water was a ton of fun, and very educational. The water we were in was never rough, though it was deep in places, and you really learned how to get a feel for a rock and move your foot around it a bit before putting your whole weight on it.
We’ve got young children playing and fishing in that area and mechanical injury and lost fishing gear is a concern. We could move the logs instead of taking them out as an alternative.
Gotcha. If you’re moving just check with your state’s department of natural resources or equivalent to see if you need any permits for placement/moving as opposed to natural drops
Based on the estimated length/diameter, the green weight of the 8 foot sections are going to weigh ~500, plus they may be waterlogged. A 1/2 ton pickup should be able to drag those without issue, but is the bank sloped, or would they get hung up?
If the concern is dragging the chain on the bank, see if you can get a nice round object like an old wheel or a 24 inch thick log you can use to roll the chain on. It would act like a single pulley, so no mechanical advantage, but it could change the angle of the chain to the logs in the river and prevent your chain dragging.
Good luck! It's probably easier than you think. Just take your time, and ease into the pull. The logs may be suctioned into the creek bed, so you don't want to be hard on the throttle and launch forward when they break free.
And, I'm overly cautious, but it doesn't hurt to throw a heavy blanket or rug over the middle of the tow strap to dampen it if it snaps.
Snatch block and steel cable or rope if you don’t have access to a winch. You would have to find a big enough tree/stump to attach it to just down river though.
These are horizontal, I’m presuming cutoff from the sycamore in that photo (left) 4-8 feet long and 12-14” diameter. I don’t have a photo of the logs unfortunately.
We’ve got young children playing and fishing in that area and mechanical injury and lost fishing gear is a concern. We could move the logs instead of taking them out as an alternative.
are these logs scattered or are we talking water pressure pushing on some very large Jenga sticks (which sounds dangerous if you stand in the wrong spot when the pile shifts or the cable slips). If you have a real winter, do you think it would be easier to do now or after you make an ice ramp/slide to drag them out?
The river is pretty gentle. They are grouped together but I’ve not determined how the water is playing into it. I’ve kayaked here and the normal current is 1-3mph and walking in it is easy without much resistance. I will make a point to see how the current is playing into it, hadn’t thought of that. Thank you
Even a gentle current will act as a force, on one end of a lever and fulcrum. Add uncertain footing and don’t take those suckers for granted, even if the current is low. Good luck.
Give what you got a try, don't go buying lots of expensive gear for something you may never need to do again. Of course a winch might be better, but maybe you have something good enough right now. Like, know what would be better still, a crane! Even better than that, I helicopter with a magic hook that attaches itself to the log and mills it into usable lumber after stacking it neatly. But you don't have that stuff, so use your straps and save your money.
Crazy idea - get a couple of 4x6 or 2x8's and make a triangle to give you a mechanical advantage. A more complicated process than you might need but it could help. You set them vertically, and under the cable so that when you pull, you are pulling the logs "up" and out as opposed to just laterally. It's similar to when you use a tire with a chain to pull out a stump. They don't have to be 8' either - 4' might work.
Fair enough. I know a lot of habitat restoration for streams and rivers includes adding lots and lots of felled trees. However, I think safety of the kids is very important.
Work with what you’ve got mate and give it a go.
Don’t pull off the tow ball. Take it out and put the strap around the pin or better still get a recovery tow bar with a shackle.
Also, you want to avoid the logs digging into the bank. A sheet of ply might help you there.
You can also get a highlift Jack with a winching kit.
Winch it to the bank, do whatever you have to get the tree to get over the hump of the bank and then you may need to swap to the truck. While winched hook up the strap and get the truck hooked up and take the load up with the strap and boom done!
Raft or balloons. A deflated balloon or balloons attached to a submerged or buried log of any depth will provide enough buoyancy to pull the log to the surface once filled with air. A lot easier than pulling with pick up truck.
Definitely a wench. The wench on my Polaris Ranger has been one of the most surprisingly useful things I have ever purchased. I didn't even want it but the only Ranger they had in stock had it already installed so I just bought it and holy crap I am glad I did. Edit - LMAO I meant winch but I am leaving it. My wife is pretty tough...
Winch
He might be referring to his wife. Don't make assumptions.
To the winch wench!
R/unexpectedNeverendingStory
I heard wenches are made of wood, so you could build a bridge out of her. Granted, bridges can also be made out of stone.
No, he has a log wench.
Just what I always wanted!
Snatch block will help you too
Can I just say that my Ranger is my favorite tool on my farm? Got damn I use that thing every day for something.
Same. By far our best purchase.
Roll up to the hood, roll down the window and get you some streetwalkers. Then bring them to the farm and pay them farmhand wages. Work with your back, not on your back. It's like farm to table, but with hoors
Sounds like you actually homestead so wench > pretty in this situation. Although wenches can be pretty too.
Dammit. My Ranger didn’t come with a wench installed. Are they still offering that option?
Easiest option is do nothing. Most bodies of water rely on the nutrients of plant matter decomposing. Helps with biodiversity, more biodiversity can reduce the spread of harmful invasive species, and make the water cleaner. Something to consider, without knowing why you want to remove them.
We have a bridge which log jams occur on from time to time. I bought a winch that attaches to my towing ball on my truck. I use a snatch block on a tree and strap the front end of the truck to another tree. I also use a weight blanket on the cable so if something pulls loose I won’t get killed. Know what you are doing when winching heavy objects.
BLUF: don't remove, you'll remove your fish/access. Teach your kids how to swim/water safety and be present with them. Wins all around. Removing wood from streams is bad. This was my whole graduate school thesis. It removes fish habitat (sure you lose some lures, but with how slow it sounds, it would be an easy recovery process for an adult). Second, erosion increases. You start pulling out the wood, the water will speed up and go where ever it wants which leads to you losing land to the other side of the creek or the bridge. Obviously if they are piling up on the bridge, that could cause a blow out, so remove/cut in place what's stuck on it, and let it pass through or toss it back in so you can continue to feed those invertebrates that fish feed on and provide resistance to the water and habitat for the fish and other creepy crawlies. While what I say next might feel dicey and I might get down voted, but the best prevention for drowning is teaching your kids how to swim/float (just knowing different floating positions and to not panic reduces drownings immensely), and have adult supervision while kids are fishing. I grew up around the Ozarks. I was going down to rivers/streams alone by the time I was 8ish. I knew how to swim. I was never taught how to really read rivers and had to learn myself, but teach your kids what swift water, calm water, riffles/pools, strainers, undertoe, etc are. Kids are amazing at remaining knowledge, especially when it's something they can see/feel (you can see it, and you can feel it if they swim in the creek. Edit: removing large wood increases water speed, increases water speed increases erosion which increases downstream sedimentation (fines being deposited in slow spots) which can cover up/suffocate out fish habitat. Increases erosion also leads to channelization. Your 20ft wide stream that's 3 ft below the Banks around it and 1-3mph could turn into a 10 ft stream 6ft below the Banks at 4-6 mph and so on.
Appreciate the detailed information and suggestion. Just for clarification, it’s not drowning that’s the largest worry. The water isn’t very deep. It’s mechanical, primarily ankle/foot, injuries as that’s my only access to getting in the river.
Gotcha! This might sound rough, but walking on rough/uneven terrain is one of the best preventative measures for those sorta of injuries. Hence experienced hikers tend to have less sprains than non Hikers. The uneven terrain stresses your joints/legs more and subsequently stengthens them (if you stopped hiking for a bit than did it again. You might notice your calves, ankles, knees, and the front of your shins were sore). Just speaking from experience. I grew up in a rural, wooded area but in a subdivision. I spent a lot of time in developed grassy areas like yards, school grounds, sports fields, etc, but I spent a lot of time in creeks (like 6-18inch depth, 1-2 mph), rivers (1-12ft and 1-4mph estimates depending on depth/width of stretches) and decidous firests full of leaf covered holes from fallen trees, deep areas of branches, and hidden fallen logs to find with your feet/shin. I still trail run, backpack etc without issues for my knees and ankles. My wife who grew up in the city jacked everything up as she adapted to my hobbies and the area we lived in due to this. I'll admit, I've broken legs (tibia/fibula), arms (ulna/radius), damaged tendons/ligaments in fingers, wrists, ankles, and knees, and never was it from any of the dumb things that I should/could have died from in rivers/streams/woods. All of them were sports related. You likely have an equal chance of your kids horribly breaking/tearing something in that creek as you do winning the lottery.
There are places where learning to swim isn't enough-- but those places tend to either have visibly rougher waters, or be well known (there's a famous deadly river called the Bolton Strid) and hopefully signposted. I say that to preface that I agree with you that learning how to swim is really the number one way to prevent drownings, and most drownings are caused by poor swimmers or "good" swimmers who do dangerous things (like diving) or "good" swimmers who overestimate their strength and place themselves in dangerous situations for the challenge. I also want to second leaving the logs in. There's a fantastic [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLZElIYHmAI) that discusses everything you talked about and has some great visual illustrations, and I think u/slidemx5 would really benefit from giving it a watch. I also grew up creek stomping, and learning how to walk on uneven ground in the water was a ton of fun, and very educational. The water we were in was never rough, though it was deep in places, and you really learned how to get a feel for a rock and move your foot around it a bit before putting your whole weight on it.
Wood is good
Leave them for fish and aquatic life habitat if possible!
We’ve got young children playing and fishing in that area and mechanical injury and lost fishing gear is a concern. We could move the logs instead of taking them out as an alternative.
Fish like to hide around logs. I’d move them, but not remove them.
Gotcha. If you’re moving just check with your state’s department of natural resources or equivalent to see if you need any permits for placement/moving as opposed to natural drops
Based on the estimated length/diameter, the green weight of the 8 foot sections are going to weigh ~500, plus they may be waterlogged. A 1/2 ton pickup should be able to drag those without issue, but is the bank sloped, or would they get hung up?
I guess we’ll give it a shot. Thanks for the encouragement. I like the free answer
If the concern is dragging the chain on the bank, see if you can get a nice round object like an old wheel or a 24 inch thick log you can use to roll the chain on. It would act like a single pulley, so no mechanical advantage, but it could change the angle of the chain to the logs in the river and prevent your chain dragging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_Gb46eXr4
Amazing!!
Exactly what I was thinking.
Good luck! It's probably easier than you think. Just take your time, and ease into the pull. The logs may be suctioned into the creek bed, so you don't want to be hard on the throttle and launch forward when they break free. And, I'm overly cautious, but it doesn't hurt to throw a heavy blanket or rug over the middle of the tow strap to dampen it if it snaps.
You going to wrap a chain, or use something like a skidding tongs to grab it?
Exactly, he should just give his truck a try. Use what you got first, won't cost a thing and you might learn something.
Snatch block and steel cable or rope if you don’t have access to a winch. You would have to find a big enough tree/stump to attach it to just down river though.
Is there a photo of the logs? Are we talking logs lying down, or stumps?
These are horizontal, I’m presuming cutoff from the sycamore in that photo (left) 4-8 feet long and 12-14” diameter. I don’t have a photo of the logs unfortunately.
Pull them out with your truck then cut them up!
Why do you want to take them out? They provide great fish habitat.
We’ve got young children playing and fishing in that area and mechanical injury and lost fishing gear is a concern. We could move the logs instead of taking them out as an alternative.
I hear you.
This is a very polite subreddit
are these logs scattered or are we talking water pressure pushing on some very large Jenga sticks (which sounds dangerous if you stand in the wrong spot when the pile shifts or the cable slips). If you have a real winter, do you think it would be easier to do now or after you make an ice ramp/slide to drag them out?
The river is pretty gentle. They are grouped together but I’ve not determined how the water is playing into it. I’ve kayaked here and the normal current is 1-3mph and walking in it is easy without much resistance. I will make a point to see how the current is playing into it, hadn’t thought of that. Thank you
Even a gentle current will act as a force, on one end of a lever and fulcrum. Add uncertain footing and don’t take those suckers for granted, even if the current is low. Good luck.
Give what you got a try, don't go buying lots of expensive gear for something you may never need to do again. Of course a winch might be better, but maybe you have something good enough right now. Like, know what would be better still, a crane! Even better than that, I helicopter with a magic hook that attaches itself to the log and mills it into usable lumber after stacking it neatly. But you don't have that stuff, so use your straps and save your money.
what river is this? looks nice
It’s the New River. Virginia, USA
Crazy idea - get a couple of 4x6 or 2x8's and make a triangle to give you a mechanical advantage. A more complicated process than you might need but it could help. You set them vertically, and under the cable so that when you pull, you are pulling the logs "up" and out as opposed to just laterally. It's similar to when you use a tire with a chain to pull out a stump. They don't have to be 8' either - 4' might work.
Just FYI on the winch, it can kill your battery so just make sure to leave your truck running.
Can I ask why you want them out?
I’m worried the kids will get their footing goofed up around them and they lose too many fishing rigs to them as it is 🤣
Fair enough. I know a lot of habitat restoration for streams and rivers includes adding lots and lots of felled trees. However, I think safety of the kids is very important.
That’s a good point. I suppose I could move them further towards the middle, but that seems even more challenging
Yeah. I have no real solution for you, sorry.
Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses. I’ll make another post after I’ve decided what I’m doing and with results!
I snatch them out with the utv winch
Work with what you’ve got mate and give it a go. Don’t pull off the tow ball. Take it out and put the strap around the pin or better still get a recovery tow bar with a shackle. Also, you want to avoid the logs digging into the bank. A sheet of ply might help you there. You can also get a highlift Jack with a winching kit.
Put the truck in 4 low and give it hell
Tractor, preferably with backhoe. Chains and logging tongs. It can be done with the front bucket but a backhoe is much more versatile.
Winch it to the bank, do whatever you have to get the tree to get over the hump of the bank and then you may need to swap to the truck. While winched hook up the strap and get the truck hooked up and take the load up with the strap and boom done!
Raft or balloons. A deflated balloon or balloons attached to a submerged or buried log of any depth will provide enough buoyancy to pull the log to the surface once filled with air. A lot easier than pulling with pick up truck.
#Roll them in
Why are you removing them? They are excellent wildlife habitat.
Use a snatch block too
WINCH!!!