# ATV in the Woodlot.



## NoDipNoMore (Feb 2, 2006)

I thinking of buying a Honda Rancher (350cc) to get around my property (800'x800') to haul firewood and push snow.. 
Do they have the capability of pulling a 4x5 trailer up and down hills with a load of wood? What about tongue weight rating? 
Should I consider something bigger, Recon (650cc) ??? 
Please don't recommend a tractor or a skid steer, this piece of property is very undulated. 
Thanks


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## DDM (Feb 2, 2006)

I have a honda 300 that i use on a regular basis connected to a 4X6 trailer to haul wood out on jobs i cant take the bobcat on. Mine is 2WD and it works fine!


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## CaseyForrest (Feb 3, 2006)

Not sure if the one you are looking at has a high and low range. I would suggest one that has low and high, using low while pulling a load will be easier on the clutch.


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## Gologit (Feb 3, 2006)

W have two Honda Ranchers on our place,both about three years old. We use them for everything. Ours have the push buttom shift and the lower gears give good pulling power for mini-skidding or pulling small trailers. I bring firewood up to the inlaws place in a five by four trailer peaked out with diry oak and I've never had a problem. I'd have to look up rated tongue weights and such but we just usually load it 'til it looks right. Trouble free machine,we've given it a lot of hard use in lots of mud and slash and all we've ever done is normal preventive maintenance.


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## IndyIan (Feb 3, 2006)

I think if you look up the specs for the mid-size motor and larger motor atv's they all weigh about the same so the towing capacity is about the same as well. Make sure you get a winch too as its nice to pull the atv and the trailer out of a soft spot with out having to take some of the load out of the trailer.
I think real gears are the way to go as well, good for engine braking and no wet belt slippage.
Some sort of front diferential locking is nice too. I've got a 2001 suzuki kingquad with this feature and it makes backing up a hill with the trailer on no problem.
I bought the kingquad specifically for working in the woods because of the drivetrain. It has a 3 range transfer case with 2wd, 4wd, and 4wd with the front dif locked. It also has reverse in all 3 ranges, most machines only have 1 speed of reverse. You might want to look for a used one as they don't make them anymore and they will be a lot less than a new honda.
Ian


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## ASD (Feb 3, 2006)

if you got the room and $ (theair about 9k) look a a yamaha rhino room for 2 has a small dump bed and will go most places a atv will.and tow alot more


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## TimberPig (Feb 4, 2006)

A friend of mine has the same setup. Works good except for the steep hills. He's had to winch it up a few, or lighten the load on the trailer. It works good, but he does say it would be better for pulling with more power.


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## Gypo Logger (Feb 4, 2006)

ATV weight vs. load capacity seems to be a very subjective thing.
In other words, tractive effort is a big thing as well as tongue weight and trailer type. I would imagine a tandem azle bogie trailer with a ujoint in the draw bar would pull more than a conventional trailer.
Lets face it, any ATV could pull 10X it's weight depending on how the weight was distributed, how many wheels were locked, how good the tires were and what surface we were pulling on.
But to answer your question, you wouldn't want to be pulling much more than the ATV weighs due to safety issues and the limiting factors that technical situations can put us in, however, rules were made to be broken
John


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## Ed K (Feb 5, 2006)

For a long time I used a yamaha 350 bigbear and a 20 cf trailer. It did the job, I then added 110 lbs of dumbell weights to the front just below the winch and added tire chain to the back. It still wouldn't haul more without getting in trouble going down hill. So where do you go from here?
60 hp 4x4 trac w/forestry trailer.
Ed


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## ROLLACOSTA (Feb 5, 2006)

A freind had a Honda atv it had to go back three times because the chassis split,he used the machine for large scale slug pellet spreading [fields of rape seed and sugerbeet ],i'm guessing he had a spreader mounted on the back of the atv.

He now has a Polaris and loves it.I would still personally go for a Honda.


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## ROLLACOSTA (Feb 5, 2006)

If money was no object i'd get a Toolcat made by Bobcat www.toolcat.com


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## Redbull (Feb 5, 2006)

I use a Polaris Magnum 325 4x4. The only thing I don't like about it is the auto transmission. Next time around it will be a manual. If it's on a trailer or on wheels, the only limiting factor is traction and braking. I love my ATV!


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## buck futter (Feb 7, 2006)

Last year I carted out about three cords of hard wood with an old honda big red and a medium utility trailer made for garden tractors. It worked very well for the most part it is a 3 wheeler which was a huge help because of its short turning radius. I had my choice of a 3,4 or 6 wheeler but the 3 wheeler was picked for this reason. The weekend I was working it rained the whole weekend and I did run into problems pulling a load up a steep hill between the leaves, loose soil and uneven terrain the wheels would just spin, so I had to load light to get up the hill. I will say what was lost in total pulling power was more than made up for in its manueverability, treading lightly and most of all I doubt I used a quart of gas. 
my neighbor bought a yamaha 350 4x4 I can't think of the name, to plow his driveway and it seems to work very well even though we get alot of snow.

overall a four wheeler is hard to beat and I think it quickly becomes overkill after 300-400 cc's, My brother in law has a grizzly 660 and although it sounds great I can't see where having that much more power really helps him out.

Buck


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## ghitch75 (Feb 9, 2006)

l have an old 86 suzki 300 2wd with a lawn trailer and it hold about 400 pounds of wood and i can get out of about any haller aroud here on it(2000 pound winch helps too!)


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## Tree Trimmer (Feb 9, 2006)

I've got a Kawasaki Mule 660 that is a dream for back yards. You can load the bed full with 1000lb of wood and it'll haul it out no problem. A buddy of mine had the rhino, and said he prefered the mule. The box is bigger and the gearing is much lower on the mule. It also has a 1 1/4 reese hitch for putting different hitches in. 

Many times we'll take the Bandit 90xp (3500 lb)to the brush and blow chips into the woods instead of having to drag the tree around the house and ruin the yard. One went on ebay recently for $3500. It wasn't 4wd like mine, but was much newer.

TT


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## 12guns (Feb 9, 2006)

Tree Trimmer said:


> I've got a Kawasaki Mule 660 that is a dream for back yards. You can load the bed full with 1000lb of wood and it'll haul it out no problem. A buddy of mine had the rhino, and said he prefered the mule. The box is bigger and the gearing is much lower on the mule. It also has a 1 1/4 reese hitch for putting different hitches in.
> 
> Many times we'll take the Bandit 90xp (3500 lb)to the brush and blow chips into the woods instead of having to drag the tree around the house and ruin the yard. One went on ebay recently for $3500. It wasn't 4wd like mine, but was much newer.
> 
> TT



Mules are great for solid ground...but the experience I had was not a good one. I trapped bowl weevil's for a summer in central arkansas...needless to say the 4x4 500cc mule that we were issued was horrible in the muddy cotton and bean fields. I realize they are not made for that kind of abuse, but we constantly had major issues w/ trannys throwing belts, brakes locking up and so forth. The problem in the mud was ground clearence. The short squaty tires did not help. Having said that, I would love to have one of these new Polaris rangers, or something similar...They would be great for farm-work and such. -brings back bad memories of that summer in Woodruff County...


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## ontario026 (Feb 9, 2006)

The Kawasaki Mules I think may be better suited to more yard/sooth terrain bush work/utility work. I have done some reading on the Yamaha Rhino, and they seem like they would be a better mix of true All terrain/Utility/Work/Play
The Rhino has almost ATV manuverability and ground clearance, can still haul a pretty good load as well and would still be a blast for pure play.... 

A regular 4 wheeler can be very handy as well. I have a Honda 450ES 4x4 and it can pull a pretty decent load. My 1 utility trailer is approx 5x8 with 2ft sides, my quad pulls it pretty easily with the trailer full of firewood with a nice rounded heap to it, even down the road at 35 MPH, I don't like doing that much though, too much weight behind if I ever had to try to stop fast I'm sure the trailer would try to keep on going........ For little garden tractor trailers, Mine is one of the larger 17 CuFt models, and I can heap that up and not even know it's there.... 

Here's a pic of my ATV

As far as dragging logs, a logging arch would be the cat's meow.... Dragging logs behind does not work very good if they can dig in etc... I have heard peaple recommend putting the butt of the log on an old car hood which would probably work quite well... Last winter/spring a friend's uncle got a contract to do some road clearing for a new subdivision, he cut and skid out the wood he wanted and burnt the brush. he gave us permission to take what we wanted of the left over wood, lots were logs which must have been forgotten under the snow when he was there because most was anywhere from approx 12-18" in diameter and lots of them were anywhere from 10-16 feet long. Between my buddy and I we ended up with 15 or 16 FULL pickup loads full of firewood to split... We skidded all logs anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so to the trucks then blocked and loaded it there using my atv, the "skidder trail" even went through a couple really soft/wet areas, but the atv did a pretty good job thanks to my aggressive tires.... Once we had a log ready to skid, we would prop the butt end of it up off the ground some, then back the bike up to it, using a heavy 2" rachet strap i'd attach one end to one of the rear rack supports, then sling the other end to the other rear rack support. using another 2" rachet strap I would double it around the log and "rack sling" then back to itself... then I'd rachet up the 'rack sling rachet strap' to make sure the butt of the log was up and off the ground and then it was good to go....

With some of the larger logs the front end got a little light, and when turning I would have to stand up and lean forward some, but it did a good job skidding.... I wish I had taken some pics...


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## Pasquali (Feb 9, 2006)

NoDipNoMore said:


> I thinking of buying a Honda Rancher (350cc) to get around my property (800'x800') to haul firewood and push snow..
> Do they have the capability of pulling a 4x5 trailer up and down hills with a load of wood? What about tongue weight rating?
> Should I consider something bigger, Recon (650cc) ???
> Please don't recommend a tractor or a skid steer, this piece of property is very undulated.
> Thanks



I guess it depends on How undulated. Have you ever seen an Italian articulated tractor 4wd diesel in action? They are around a ton, and Some also accomodate pto-driven trailers, giving them 6wd.
But then you can't go as fast as an atv when you're out of the woods.
....Pasquali, Ontario


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## ROLLACOSTA (Feb 10, 2006)

Pasquali said:


> I guess it depends on How undulated. Have you ever seen an Italian articulated tractor 4wd diesel in action? They are around a ton, and Some also accomodate pto-driven trailers, giving them 6wd.
> But then you can't go as fast as an atv when you're out of the woods.
> ....Pasquali, Ontario



Ha funny you should mention Italian articulated tractors ,I was over at the Goldoni's sole UK dealership yesterday they stock Goldoni tractors of all shapes and sizes ,if my next business venture takes off i'll probably buy one..There a much better purchase than a quad imo..

There quad size but have a 3 point linkage and pto plus there diesel powered


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## Ed K (Feb 10, 2006)

The Goldoni dealer here has one made into a forwarder it also has a 3way dump box to go on the back. They are well built but slow moving.


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## wradman (Feb 10, 2006)

*atv*

i've got a couple of honda atv's they've been to hell and back ,if your going to work them hard no you don't need a low range,stick to a gear drive tansmission and stay away from the belt drives they heat up easy and they really don't like to get in the water.


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## IndyIan (Feb 14, 2006)

*Log Arch*

I just borrowed my neighbours home made log arch this weekend. Does it ever work well behind the atv! Its set up so that the pick up point is about 4' back from the front of the log so for my 11' logs they have hardly any weight dragging on the ground. I was in about a foot of snow so there was friction but from just the tires rolling but I moved a 20" spruce 11' long which I wouldn't be able to skid normally uphill in those conditions. On flat ground the motor was hardly working. 
Ian


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## matt9923 (Dec 22, 2008)

I have a Yamaha Grizzly 700 and i can pull a ton of wood up a hill and threw snow, even with the stock tires. Its a great quad and onley had a cv boot rip and regular oil change and front breaks every 6 months and 1 year on back breaks. I never need all that power for work never go over 1/4 throtle when working but for fun and getting to the work spot without trailer i use most of it. I can get thew things cant even walk threw with this macine. 
Matt


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## Zackman1801 (Dec 22, 2008)

some people use those articulating vehicles, i cant think of the name right now but someone who used to be on this site, or mabey another who lives up here in maine used to use one, and he had good success. i saw a picture of him hauling a big pine about 2' in diameter with it. looked cool. I would like to try to log with an ATV but for the price its hard to justify, for a decent new or used one im looking at 5Gs and i could get an old skidder for 8-9 and have a night and day difference in productivity and performance. Btw i wonder how well one of those 6x6 or 8x8 things would work with an arch attached to the back and a good winch, could use them all year round since they have tracks. anyone ever used one for logging.


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## Nuzzy (Dec 23, 2008)

Holy thread resurrection Batman!


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## bowtechmadman (Dec 23, 2008)

No complaints w/ my Arctic Cat 650 TRV...the extra 8" of wheelbase keeps it from wanting to get tippy w/ a good load on the trailer.
I do a little of everything w/ it as seen in the pictures...haul wood, haul my saws, plow snow, trail rides w/ my youngsters, wife liked it so much she got herself a 400 TRV.


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## maplemeister (Dec 23, 2008)

NoDipNoMore said:


> I thinking of buying a Honda Rancher (350cc) to get around my property (800'x800') to haul firewood and push snow..
> Do they have the capability of pulling a 4x5 trailer up and down hills with a load of wood? What about tongue weight rating?
> Should I consider something bigger, Recon (650cc) ???
> Please don't recommend a tractor or a skid steer, this piece of property is very undulated.
> Thanks



Hello Nodipnomore:
I have a 350 Honda Rancher with the electronic shift and used it to pull out around 12 cord of hardwood blocks from a local woodlot this past fall. I cut the trees and blocked them on the spot and then took them down to a nearby road via a 10cf tow behind trailer, where I put them on my larger road trailer for the trip home. Terrain was rolling but not particularly steep. The Honda had more than enough power and traction for the job but I also had good dry conditions most of the time I was in the woods. I plan on cutting again off this same lot in the spring and want to try a larger trailer behind the Honda. I am thinking at least a 4'x5' to cut down on my trips to my road trailer. As I mentioned, I did not get this combination into any real steep terrain but I would caution you to experiment cautiously with your load limit behind the ATV. Don't get your trailer heavier than your ATV on a steep grade or you will probably be taking an unpleasant if not dangerous ride down the hill. Green hardwood weighs up very fast and caution is definitely in
order here. If you are on flatter ground all the time, you can get away with a lot more weight in the trailer. In a nutshell, it's not power you'll be lacking, it's stopping ability. 

Maplemeister:


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## matt9923 (Jan 3, 2009)

hers my rig. sometimes with a spliter but this is my 1/2 home made trailer. was a flat bed landscape trailer i got from my freind he used on his nursery. Then i welded tube steel on and made the sides out of 2x3s and OSB. Also have other sides for full loggs. This thing can hold alot of wood and the 700cc grizzly pulls it like nothing.
This 4 wheel steering traior has advantages over a regular one. It fallows your exact tracks so its good in tight woods and their is no load on the atvs irs.
Matt


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## bowtechmadman (Jan 4, 2009)

Nice rig Matt


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## matt9923 (Jan 4, 2009)

bowtechmadman said:


> Nice rig Matt



Thanks


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## ASEMASTER (Jan 4, 2009)

*500tbx*

this thing is unbelevable for doing small time woods work with the tire upgrade you go most anywhere you want.


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## matt9923 (Jan 4, 2009)

Nice but iv also had pretty bad luck with arctic cat also,
maybe i am just to hard on stuff..... How did you build the skidded? you should make some plans for it.


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## matt9923 (Jan 4, 2009)

How do you get the pics to show up without clicking on them???


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## ASEMASTER (Jan 4, 2009)

matt9923 said:


> How do you get the pics to show up without clicking on them???



can't remember had just enought luck to get them posted!
the arch is someting I just threw together.


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## spankrz (Jan 4, 2009)

i have a 1994 honda fourtrax 300 4x4.
it has a 5 speed transmission ( L,1,2,3,4+R)
the tongue weight is rated pretty low, i think below 50.
however, i have pulled tailors with a tongue weight much higher.
on several occasions, i have pulled a 8x6 loaded up to the two-foot rails with oak. it does fine, and always has enough torque to get it up the hills.
to answer your question, the 350 ranchers arent as solid as the 300 fourtraxes were, but one would do everything you described easily.


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## IPLUMB (Jan 4, 2009)

Here's my rig. And I usually haul a 3x5 trailer behind it. It has a 4000lbs winch on it.


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## matt9923 (Jan 4, 2009)

IPLUMB said:


> Here's my rig. And I usually haul a 3x5 trailer behind it. It has a 4000lbs winch on it.



WHat is it rihno? and what kind of bridge is that? looks really nice!
Matt


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## IPLUMB (Jan 4, 2009)

matt9923 said:


> WHat is it rihno? and what kind of bridge is that? looks really nice!
> Matt


Yep its a 660 Yamaha Rhino. Thanks I just got done building that bridge in My wood lot. Its made from used bar joists remove from a mall remodle. The where for the 2nd floor in a wharehouse.

I mixed and poured 6500lbs of concrete (BAGS:jawdrop for footings. The decking is 2x8s


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## matt9923 (Jan 4, 2009)

IPLUMB said:


> Yep its a 660 Yamaha Rhino. Thanks I just got done building that bridge in My wood lot. Its made from used bar joists remove from a mall remodle. The where for the 2nd floor in a wharehouse.
> 
> I mixed and poured 6500lbs of concrete (BAGS:jawdrop for footings. The decking is 2x8s



Oh joy mixing concrete LOL i used to do that but my freind owns a masonary buisness and he lends me his portable mixer he has about 8 of them and 4 cement trucks. Also a local place rents trailers an dyou pay fo rteh concrete and you traile rit hom epower it and bring it back no mixing on your part but u onley have 30 min
Matt


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## IPLUMB (Jan 4, 2009)

matt9923 said:


> Oh joy mixing concrete LOL i used to do that but my freind owns a masonary buisness and he lends me his portable mixer he has about 8 of them and 4 cement trucks. Also a local place rents trailers an dyou pay fo rteh concrete and you traile rit hom epower it and bring it back no mixing on your part but u onley have 30 min
> Matt


Don't get me wrong, I had a electric mixer that would only hold one bag at a time. But it is still alot of work. I'm a Plumber and have broken up my far share of concrete for basement baths and remodels.


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## bowtechmadman (Jan 4, 2009)

Nice log arch and love the Cat. I have a 650TRV that I switch btw. the box and a seat for a passenger. I would like the solid rear axle for pulling but can't be the IRS for the ride when out on trails. I haven't done a tire upgrade and haven't found much that will stop it. Pretty rare I even need to lock up the front diff.
Great bridge by the way!


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