# ATV log hauler?



## sneno77 (Mar 10, 2009)

Does anyone have any experience w/ the ATV log haulers? I've been looking at the Baileys model as well as the Bercomac and just wondered how useful they are. I have access to plenty of ground that isn't too steep and thought it would be a great tool. I was curious if anyone here had any experience w/ these. Would be used mostly for hauling softwoods to the house to work up into firewood. Thanks.


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## jeeptj19992001 (Mar 10, 2009)

thank god
i thoght the search function was broken


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=91092&highlight=atv


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## sneno77 (Mar 10, 2009)

Ya...thank God you read the question. I was asking about these:
http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=900TR&catID=161


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## MJR (Mar 10, 2009)

No to rich for my diet. Good luck to you.


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## sneno77 (Mar 10, 2009)

Those are my concerns as well. Figured I'd at least ask over here and see if anyone had used one and how big of a machine they used to pull it. Most of the wood would be dry DF or Lodgepole, so compared to hardwoods, it would be relatively lite. 
I'd be using a Kubota RTV to pull it, but still a little concerned about weight. Thanks for the replies.


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## blackdiesel (Mar 10, 2009)

wow, for 11k you could buy a REAL log truck with a REAL grapple. and even have a set of brakes.  i would deffently look into a truck before you shell out that kind of money.


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## chainsawboy1996 (Mar 10, 2009)

my dad was thinking about gettin one before i aquired my f-150 but ruled it out due to size and weight but im tryin to get him to reconsider it.i think a that hauler is more built for a mid sized truck with short bed and cab.


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## bowtechmadman (Mar 10, 2009)

Hope that trailer has brakes! ATV may pull it but good luck stoppin her.


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## chumwithrum (Mar 10, 2009)

It doesn't have hydraulics like the trailers your looking at but I've been using the Novajack forestry trailer for the past five years and absolutely love it. I pull around 30+ loads of Jackpine a year, usually 12 or 15 footers. If the trails are muddy or the terrain is hilly I load 9 footers. 

It uses a loading mast to load heavy the logs. I just attach a chain to the trailer, roll the log over the chain, then hook the rope on the mast to the chain and wind it in with a two speed hand winch. It takes very little effort, but it's kinda slow. Takes me probably 20 minutes to do a full load.

I have no trouble pulling it with my Arctic Cat 650, it's a heavy pig with a granny low tranny.

If you can justify the cost, that aluminum Bercomac is sweet. That's the one i would get.


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## sneno77 (Mar 10, 2009)

http://www.bercomac.com/accessoiresDetails_ang.php?page=videos&noAccessoire=29&directe=1

I agree...the Berc is a nicer unit. I found a great used one for 7500, but it's all the way across the country..

I like the ski option they show in that video as well. Only problem is I would have to invest anoter 4-6K for the tracks to run on snow. I wonder if a guy could get around the gate closures by using it as an OSV and not get in trouble w/ the USFS. During spring snow conditions (hard pack) a guy could do some serious wood getting w/o all the compitition..(=


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## grampakev (Mar 10, 2009)

now thats a great looking setup


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## windthrown (Mar 11, 2009)

sneno77 said:


> Ya...thank God you read the question. I was asking about these:
> http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=900TR&catID=161



Wow, $11 grand? I uses the ATV to drag logs with a chain wrapped around them, 3-4 at a time. Not as fancy, but $11 grand?


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## IndyIan (Mar 11, 2009)

sneno77 said:


> Does anyone have any experience w/ the ATV log haulers? I've been looking at the Baileys model as well as the Bercomac and just wondered how useful they are. I have access to plenty of ground that isn't too steep and thought it would be a great tool. I was curious if anyone here had any experience w/ these. Would be used mostly for hauling softwoods to the house to work up into firewood. Thanks.



I guess on flat ground an ATV could lug those around. 900 and 1100lbs before you put a stick on sounds like alot to pull behind 900lbs of atv with you on it... I've had a 1400lb oak log on an arch it was much more stressful than having my usual 800 or 900lb load of firewood. I can't really imagine pulling 2500lbs+ with an ATV unless you are on flat flat dry ground... 
I wonder how much lighter the novajack version is, obviously from the pics it can haul a decent load.
Are you going to do dozens of cords a year to sell? I guess then you could use the automation. Just to do 4 or 5 cords a year I wouldn't bother. I just use a northtrails atv trailer that dumps and usually drive right up the fallen tree, buck and load, dump at the wood pile to split... 
I guess its your money but I'm getting a small 4x4 tractor with a loader before I'd get an 11k trailer.
Ian


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## sneno77 (Mar 11, 2009)

Agree...I don't know how well an ATV would do w/ a full load on one of these, but it sure does look handy for the flat areas on my property. I figured w/ the 2" ball, I could also use it for firewooding on mountain roads behind my truck. Cut a bunch of 10' lengths and use the loader to load the truck as well as the trailer and significantly cut down on my round trips. We are in the finishing stages of a house build, and installed a CL5036. I've had it fired for about a month to drive moisture out of the house and dry the drywall mud...so far, its using quite a bit of wood, but the heat is turned up way more than I would normally have it. I figure on getting at least 10cords piled up for it this year. My father in law also heats his house and shop w/ wood, so I usually end up cutting or help cutting between 12-15 cords for him. Always end up helping my dad w/ at least 4-6 cords as well, so all totalled, it's a lot of wood cutting for me. I see something like this as a long term investment to reduce impact on my body and speed up the process so I can enjoy more time fishing..(= 
We have some pretty good lodgepole patches around here that have been beetle killed. Most are w/in dropping distance of the road. How nice would it be to fall the tree, limb it, cut in suitable lengths, and load everything up w/ the grapple. Get back to the house, use the grapple to unload 3-4 logs at a time onto the cutting bunk. Run the 7900 through them w/o fear of hitting the ground, and repeat as neccessary.....hey, it's my dream, don't let common sense get in the way of a good day dream..:greenchainsaw:


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## Taxmantoo (Mar 11, 2009)

Krusty said:


> That thing is cool as hell, but what ATV can tow that much weight in the woods? Now if you had an old YJ Wrangler I could see it being useful.



Local guy who used to run a sawmill (still has the mill, but hasn't milled in a few years now) would occasionally cut the timber too. Used a 1980's Honda 185 three wheeler (I believe it had a dual range tranny) and a homemade log arch. He'd haul logs out of the woods with the ATV, then hitch the arch to his truck and drive to the mill. I wish I had a picture of his arch.


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## IndyIan (Mar 11, 2009)

sneno77 said:


> Agree...I don't know how well an ATV would do w/ a full load on one of these, but it sure does look handy for the flat areas on my property. I figured w/ the 2" ball, I could also use it for firewooding on mountain roads behind my truck. Cut a bunch of 10' lengths and use the loader to load the truck as well as the trailer and significantly cut down on my round trips. We are in the finishing stages of a house build, and installed a CL5036. I've had it fired for about a month to drive moisture out of the house and dry the drywall mud...so far, its using quite a bit of wood, but the heat is turned up way more than I would normally have it. I figure on getting at least 10cords piled up for it this year. My father in law also heats his house and shop w/ wood, so I usually end up cutting or help cutting between 12-15 cords for him. Always end up helping my dad w/ at least 4-6 cords as well, so all totalled, it's a lot of wood cutting for me. I see something like this as a long term investment to reduce impact on my body and speed up the process so I can enjoy more time fishing..(=
> We have some pretty good lodgepole patches around here that have been beetle killed. Most are w/in dropping distance of the road. How nice would it be to fall the tree, limb it, cut in suitable lengths, and load everything up w/ the grapple. Get back to the house, use the grapple to unload 3-4 logs at a time onto the cutting bunk. Run the 7900 through them w/o fear of hitting the ground, and repeat as neccessary.....hey, it's my dream, don't let common sense get in the way of a good day dream..:greenchainsaw:



Well that is a whack of wood to cut in a year! Used behind something heavier than an atv I think those trailers are pretty good. $11k divided by 200 cords is still $55/cord but it does sound good, being able to move logs that easy. There are certainly worse things to spend money on thats for sure! And I guess when you figure what it would cost to heat all those buildings without wood then $11k isn't that much.


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## windthrown (Mar 11, 2009)

Ba ha ha ha! Now we are up to $26k for a used Bobcat? $35k new? 

Man, get a real 4WD tractor for that kind of money. A good L series Kubota or a JD with a roll cage and a bucket and tooth bar and fork lift brackets. I did a lot of logging and clearing with a Kubota 4WD. Dragging trees, knocking over snags, loading and such. Then put a tooth bar on the bucket and rip up the blackberries, grade and rock roads, dig and place culverts, etc. 

You need bigger size with logging. A little Bobcat is good for building houses with and loading in a factory and in tight situations. Out in the woods I want a larger tool to do the job. And at that price for a Bobcat, holy :censored:!!! I can hear the JD and Kubota tractors calling to me.


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## windthrown (Mar 11, 2009)

*$15k gets you this...*

This is on CL today, $15k. 50HP L series Kubota with a box scraper and a bucket setup. Good hauling and loading ability. I used one of these and a larger M series Kubota to manage a 105 acre sheep ranch and 85 acre timber stand with. It did the job and then some. For logging the smaller L series 4WD did the job, as well as grading the roads in and out of the areas that we were falling logs and thinning. It was hard on my knees after a few hours of operating. But that thing can haul a lot w/o a trailer rig. Just drag them with chains. 

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/grd/1064896212.html


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## sneno77 (Mar 11, 2009)

Wow...definately some cool tools/ideas out there. I love the Kubota stuff, but that Toolcat is pretty sweet. The main reason I wanted something smaller is to manuver around in crowded timber and navigate roads/trails that may not be accessable to full sized vehicles/equipment. My FIL has a new 50+ hp Kubota tractor w/ the Farmi wench, brush grapple, and other acc. It's definately very handy around the house, but taking it up into the woods isn't too practical. Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas on my quest to make my wood gathering more efficient.:greenchainsaw:


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## milkie62 (Mar 12, 2009)

I am using a 1980 Kubota L305 4wd and loader.The engine is only 79 ci and in the low 20 hp range.My trailer is 46"x84" long with 18" sides.The tractor weighs around 2000 lbs plus loaded rears.This setup is fine for level and small grades but I need to drop it down to granny gear to get up one steep hill on my property.This tractor is equal in size to a Ford 8n but with alot less power.I think an ideal woodlot tractor would be around a 125 ci 4wd tractor that weighed about 3000lb before loading the tires


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## windthrown (Mar 12, 2009)

sneno77 said:


> Wow...definately some cool tools/ideas out there. I love the Kubota stuff, but that Toolcat is pretty sweet. The main reason I wanted something smaller is to manuver around in crowded timber and navigate roads/trails that may not be accessable to full sized vehicles/equipment. My FIL has a new 50+ hp Kubota tractor w/ the Farmi wench, brush grapple, and other acc. It's definately very handy around the house, but taking it up into the woods isn't too practical. Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas on my quest to make my wood gathering more efficient.:greenchainsaw:



Well, one huge difference I see between the Bobcat and the Kubota is ground clearance. Having run over many many many many stumps and sworn many times after not seeing them all, I would recommend something with more than the Bobcat has. Small tires, low clearance... means trouble in the woods.


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## IndyIan (Mar 12, 2009)

I agree with windthrown, the toolcat is neat but too much weight with not enough tire for woods adventures. 
What do real skidders run for tire pressures? 10-8 psi? probably even less. I run like 3.5 psi or less on my atv. Sometimes the tires look pretty funny but they stay on the rim and I'm not going fast. 
A kubota like the one shown with a logging winch is a pretty good substitute for a skidder for personal use. I'd get something like that with a wagon frame and then you can haul a few tons at a time.
Ian


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## sawinredneck (Mar 12, 2009)

Well this has been interesting?:help:

It seems you are not afraid of spending money to get the "right equipment. So how about a completly differnet idea?
My scnario: I cut 100 miles from home, I have an F150 and a 16" trailer. I have worn out more help than you can imagine! I have 80 acres of heavily wooded Oak that we carried out by hand. I needed to be able to do this by myself and CAN NOT leave ANYTHING out there! If they can't steal it, they would destroy it!
My solution came increadibly easy!!

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92620&stc=1&d=1236880305

And does what I need VERY well!
http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92621&stc=1&d=1236880434

This was a used machine, 1400 hrs (I can work on it) with the bucket and grapple $4250 delivered to my door.

There are track machines that would work better:
http://www.boxerequipment.com/

These are about the best on the market right now. Figure between $16-$18k new, used they are reasonable.
The grapple is around $2500, the web site is down now? and I will give you a link when it's back up.
Take the truck, park on the road, go in wih the mini, minimal impact, low ground presure easy to manuver, leave room on the back of he trailer, then use the machine to unload and cut them up.
It also opens up a multitude of other uses around the house.


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## IndyIan (Mar 12, 2009)

Krusty,
No offence, but have you driven one on an ATV trail? They are 5500lbs...
I guess Idaho is pretty dry overall so I guess it may work for you. 
I'd get one from a dealer and go for a trail ride with it, you might find it works well or not work well. 
I still think that the psi in the tires is a quick way to guess how well a vehicle will do off road and especially off trail. 
I'm sure its a useful machine around a well planned farm yard, for going ice fishing not so much... Sleds have from 0.27psi to 0.5psi ground pressure.
Ian


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## IndyIan (Mar 12, 2009)

Well if it works for you, I won't say it doesn't! 
That's a good system to be able to haul the MT55 and a trailer load at once. For my off site firewood collection I usually leave my atv there over night and haul the load of wood back, which is fine on private property with a good hiding spot, chain and lock.


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## sneno77 (Mar 12, 2009)

Redneck...those are neat little machines. I was just over on the classifieds looking at one. Thanks for another option.


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## sawinredneck (Mar 12, 2009)

sneno77 said:


> Redneck...those are neat little machines. I was just over on the classifieds looking at one. Thanks for another option.



You are welcome!

Krusty: Bobcat makes a great larger machine, worked for the dealership, easy to work on, nice design etc.
I do not like the Bobcat mini's. They are hard to work on, do not have a platform to ride on, have a propietery mount (about all the machines on the market are the same mount, EXCEPT Bobcat) and VERY expensive for what they are.
They have about the highest lift avalable for their size, the lift capacity is increadable and the deisel engine will run forever.
But for the money I think better options are out there.

Edit: here are the links I promised ealier, equipment he does have more used than he has listed:
http://www.topnotchequipment.com/

Attachments, the grapple is $2100:
http://branchmanager.us/


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## nickblaze466 (Mar 12, 2009)

not to hijack the thread, but i've been lookin for something like the MT55 myself for a while. 

i've never bought equipment new from a dealership before, how much room do they have to wiggle on the price? what i mean to say is, if you don't mind me asking - what does one sticker for and what did you actually end up getting it for?

toolcat looks awesome. i'd like to see the setup you have for haulin' it in the bed of your truck, that would be impressive. how do you get it up there?


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## Cowboy Billy (Mar 12, 2009)

Windthrown A+ on the kubota and a grapple bucket. My dad is buying a M9000 kubota 90hp 4x4 cab heat and air for 27,000 hope to have it in a week or two. 

This is what I used last fall







B21 kubota w/backhoe my dad bought four years ago for 16,000 and we have used it a lot!! Picked up a old running gear for a $100 and pull it with a farmall 130. The only problem with the kubota is that its hydro drive and I do not want to burn up the trans trying to pull the log trailer with it.

I did not get a price on this but its another log trailer http://embmfg.com/Forestry/Trailers/ They also have some three point log grapples.

Billy


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## mysawmyrules (Mar 12, 2009)

This is the unit I just built and just started collecting parts to put a hydraulic boom lift on it.

<a href="http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff56/jonw_04/?action=view&current=IMG_0309.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff56/jonw_04/IMG_0309.jpg" border="0" alt="log wagon"></a>

I pull it with a 660 rhino and it so far seems to handle it fine.


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## nickblaze466 (Mar 13, 2009)

I just bought one of those cab-overs last week, i'm goin to pick it up tonight after i get out of work. from what i've heard, they are very impressive trucks. when i test drove mine, i was very impressed with how it handled for such a big truck, had plenty of power and seemed very comfortable. hopefully it'll be a good truck.


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## windthrown (Mar 13, 2009)

Cowboy Billy said:


> Windthrown A+ on the kubota and a grapple bucket. My dad is buying a M9000 kubota 90hp 4x4 cab heat and air for 27,000 hope to have it in a week or two.



That should be sweet. I never had an enclosed cab tractor. Nice photos of your logging with the B series. I would LOVE to have had a backhoe.  I never got photos as I never had a good digital camera when I was doing that stuff. That is about what I used, minus the trailer. The ex has the 4WD hydrodrives. I liked them. We used chains and fork-lift bar bucket set-up. Never screwed up the tranny dragging logs with chains. Only problem that we ever had was she blew the head once on the L series brush hogging the pastures and she let the radiator fill with dust, and it overheated. Looking at the temp gauge was too much to ask. 



Cowboy Billy said:


> I did not get a price on this but its another log trailer http://embmfg.com/Forestry/Trailers/ They also have some three point log grapples.
> 
> Billy



Wow, that 3-point grapple looks sweet. I have seen some of their chippers, but compared to my Bandit 90 or 95, they are rinkey dink. The hoist/trailer looks interesting. I cannot find a price on them either. Its call and get a quote stuff. Not that I need one. But you look like you are doing well there with Kubota tractor logging.


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## Cowboy Billy (Mar 14, 2009)

Thanks Windthrown

I wanted to get a 50-60hp tractor with out a cab. But my brother wanted a bigger tractor that we can farm with too. I am worried about breaking a window in the woods. I'll just have to be carefull with it. The only tractor I had with a hydro trans other than the B21 was a bolans. And once those trans are worn out they are Very Very expensive to repair! Also my B21 is only 21hp so trying to pull logs with it is very hard on it even on the trailer. The old farmall 130 gets the wood out a lot faster!






I like using the trailer as it keeps the dirt and mud off of the wood. And after I get log racks built on it I can really haul a lot of wood at one time. And makes a big difference when I get to hauling over a 1/2 mile one way.

Here's the 2156 with the wood I have been hauling. I would really like to get a set of 6' forks for the loader!






I am going to build my own bucket grapple and rear grapple for the M9000. I am lucky my younger brother runs a lazer patter cutter that can cut up to 1/2 steel plate all I have to do is draw out the parts. I haven't found a front grapple I really like. But I do have one pretty much built in my head. I want to be able to grab logs or brush. But I also want to be able to grab logs from the but end with the grapple and load it on the trailer for working in tight spots and I think I have it figured out. On the rear grapple I have seen one that has another cylinder that moves the boom from side to side so you don't have to worry about backing directly over the log. I also want to make something on the log trailer that I can grab the tongue with the rear grapple and pull the trailer with is so I do not have to get out of the tractor and try to hook and unhook the trailer.

Billy


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