For cutting, hauling, and stacking firewood, run a 25 to 45 HP compact tractor with a root grapple on the loader, pallet forks, and a 3-point log splitter or PTO-driven splitter. Usable loader capacity 24 inches forward of the pin should be at least 1,300 lb so you can grapple bucked rounds and stack them on pallets.
Firewood is loader-and-grapple work, not PTO work. The grapple is the single most valuable attachment a wood-cutting owner can add. Add pallet forks and you can stack a full cord on a pallet in fifteen minutes instead of an hour by hand.
Heads up: this list is filtered on PTO horsepower and usable loader capacity at 24 inches. The third-function valve and hydraulic flow aren't filter criteria here, so check each one on the model's spec sheet before you buy. A grapple needs a third-function valve to run.
Attachment classes covered on this page: grapple, pallet-forks, rotary-cutter, Listed PTO HP, 22 HP and up, Loader lift @ pin, ≥ 2,000 lb, ', value: , }, { label: , , value: , }, { label: , , value: . Tractors are only listed here when usable loader capacity 24 inches forward of the pivot pin reaches 1300 lb, never on the at-pin marketing figure. Recommended models are filtered live from the tractor and implement records, so a newly verified model appears here automatically. The list is filtered only on the criteria this job requires: horsepower, loader capacity, hitch category, three-point lift or sub-compact class. Other figures in the spec grid describe the job and do not filter the list, so check each against the model's own spec sheet. Each figure comes from manufacturer documentation with its source and verification date on the record.