Timber TuffTMW-02 Swivel Grab Skidding Tongs

I bought the Timber Tuff skidding tongs to hopefully make it easier to move logs out of the woods and closer to the trailer for cutting into rounds and eventual for firewood. Normally I would try my best to get trees and logs closest to the paths where the truck and trailer could get through, otherwise have to cut the logs into manageable pieces then carry them through the woods and throw them onto the trailer. Obviously this is laborious, and got old quick, but dead, seasoned trees and logs were thinning out so we were forced to go deeper and deeper into the woods. Eventually we began to bring an ATV with us on the trailer and wrapped a rope around logs to skid them out of the woods and to the truck, which worked fairly well. Eventually I stumbled onto the skidding tongs one day and decided to give them a try. Some of the reviews made me a bit wary, but for the price even if they didn't work well it wouldn't be a big loss, and if they did work rather than having to loop a heavy cotton rope around a log every time I could just clip these onto a log and be done with it.My first impressions were pretty good. They are pretty heavy-duty feeling, With thick steel present throughout. I am by no means experienced enough to accurately determine quality of metals, but as far as I can tell they seem to be cast out of some form of cheaper, lower-quality metal, but were still fairly resilient (it took some serious abuse to break them which I will describe below). The fluorescent yellow-green finish turned out to be more durable than expected, showing little wear even after repeatedly being dragged over rocks and through forest. The color also makes it a lot easier to find. My one complaint with the design is that the hook on the end is a grab hook for 3/8 chain, which to me seems a bit overkill. I didn't have anything that would safely link with the grab hook having favored rope and strap over chain, which prompted me to buy a few feet of pricey chain. I would have a preferred a slip hook.Before taking them out to my usual wood-getting spots, I wanted to give them a test run in the wooded area around my home, where there were some logs that needed to be moved anyway. My initial impression from hooking them onto a small log and tugging them by hand was very good. They didn't dig in at all, but they gripped well enough to move the log a few feet. I was intending on using a 2WD 1990 Yamaha Moto-4 350 to do the pulling, and figured with the extra power and speed the tong's teeth would dig in and I could pull small and big logs with ease. This was not the case. I tried several types of hardwood tree, including some green and some long dead and rotting trees, but no matter what with the same end result: not long after moving, the tongs would slip off. The teeth would not dig in far enough to hold themselves in. As long as perfect speed was maintained and no turns were required, they would be okay. In the woods with an ATV, that's nearly impossible in almost all circumstances. Small rocks and unevenness in the ground would slow the quad down, then as it made it over speed it up, lowering tension on the tongs then pulling them off. It became that more time was spent setting up the tongs than actually moving anything. I am not sure if I had more power available the tongs could really bite or if the logs were bigger that it would require more force before they began to move, but the fact is I don't have more power and logs any bigger would be too large for my purpose. I thought I must be missing something, I must be doing something wrong. I Googled to see, but what I found on Google was exactly what I had found firsthand; skidding tongs just aren't that great. They are much better in theory than in practice. I purchased a slip hook for the chain I originally bought for the tongs, and used that as a choker to grab and skid logs with much better result, even better than the rope I was first using. It might require a bit more work setting up and taking off, but so far there has been nothing that could throw the chain off.With my choker chain setup working wonders, I decided to pretty much retire the tongs. It wasn't until one day weeks later that there was a small, old stump sticking out of the ground that, mostly just for the heck of it, I decided to try to pull out using the tongs. The ATV didn't have the power or the traction to pull it out, so I tried hooking the skidding tongs up to my pickup. Lo and behold, the stump ripped out of the ground with minimal effort. It was so fun I had to try it again with another small old stump. Again right out of the ground it ripped. I found yet another stump, this one equal in size but much fresher. The first pull did nothing. The second, harder pull stopped the truck in its tracks, and bent one of the tongs. The third, and evidently final pull, where I accelerated up to a bit better than 10 MPH before running out of chain, broke one of the teeth off, ripped the other tooth through the stump, and left a positive impression on the durability of the Timber Tuff skidding tongs.To summarize, I was overall satisfied with the quality and durability of the product. However, I would not recommend them, based on their performance. From what I can tell, this is not something specific to this particular product, but to all skidding tongs. I would rather recommend a choker chain setup, and possibly a log stand or peavey to roll the log on and off the chain. For the price though, I think you'd be hard-press to do better.

Requires getting off tractor to work and then it sometimes doesn't grab. It's well made but not as useful as I had hoped..

Not a bad set of skidding tongs. They work and grab as expected. Not sure I’d recommend for a commercial application, but for skidding logs in for firewood, I couldn’t really ask for more.

Seems to be build good.

Not sure why some people are complaining about quality because I used these tongs, chained to my tractor bucket, to immediatly lift a 17"x10' poplar and move it to my log splitter without any issues. After a week of just about daily use, knowingly abusing it and using it in a manner the manufacture explicitly directs the user not to, I can say these tongs are completely worth the purchase price. I've had two slips, again useing it not as directed, and it was mostly the bark pulling off the tree as it was bouncing about as I drove along.Pros:- grip- quality- design- easy to useCons:- ugly yellow (please paint some Mahindra red 🙂)Even though the manufacture says "not for lifting" which I assume is a liability statement, I will be buying another set to balance my logs in transit.

This implement require s two people to operate. One on the ground to set it and one on a tractor to tighten the chain to lock in and lift. Takes a bit of practice but it works very well. It is sturdy and was invaluable to us building our cross tie walls and flower beds, BIG flower beds. Recommend it highly.

These are amazing back savers. We originally purchased them to move massive slabs onto the splitter (see image) but since they grab so quickly and consistently we found ourselves using them for smaller logs we would have normally just risked pulling muscles to get up.The log in the picture is probably about 450-500lb and the hooks held well. A couple times if we couldn’t get it to catch on wet wood, a quick notch with the tip of the saw or tap with the back of a maul would sink the teeth just enough to do the rest.If only there was a remote control to open and spring load close then my brother could operate them himself, and without getting off the tractor.Glad we purchased them!

Dose the job, keep a camper axe or light heavy hammer with you too sink the prongs in deeper.

Heavy and it pokes into logs so they can be moved.

This product is great, works just like it was meant to. Sometimes need a little help ie: hammer to drive points but its 5 stars by me all the way. Only way it could have been better is if they had painted it John Deere yellow.. instead of pukie green. :-)

GREAT TOOL.. This is awesome grips well on to the really heavy logs without a problem, some lighter logs i found i have to tap the points in with a hammer but all in all a great tool and save dragging straps or wire rope.

the tongs are a good quality and came fast

Fonctionne bien mais pas assez gros poyr mon utilisation