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.
Attachment classes covered on this page: grapple, pallet-forks, rotary-cutter, Engine HP, 30 – 50 HP, PTO HP (min), 22 – 35 HP, Loader lift @ pin, ≥ 2,000 lb, ', value: , }, { label: , , 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 every tractor shown meets the horsepower, hitch, and lift thresholds this page publishes, and a newly verified model appears here automatically. Each figure comes from manufacturer documentation with its source and verification date on the record.