Chipper or dump trailer?

[Oldtimer]

God-D-amn them hand biter whisper chippers to hell. I've chipped many a load of chips with them, and if I NEVER use one again, it'll be too soon.

But that's an OK deal, if it starts, runs, and chips like it should.

But, food for thought, there's a Morbark 12" self feed disc chipper in the local paper here for $3500. Good deals are out there.

Don't jump on the first one, or even the second one you see. Those whisper chippers are not hard to find for $2000..

A self feed disc chipper is to a whisper chipper what a Mini-Mac is to a 576XP Husky. 2 or 3 (or 4) men can drag an entire 12" hardwood up and feed the whole thing into it, and it'll eat it. Saves a lot of time.

 

[pdqdl]

Buy the biggest deck-over dump trailer you can afford, buy a gooseneck if you can. A gooseneck deck-over dump @ 12K pounds CGVW would be perfect.
I say deck-over, because most allow for the removal of the sides, making it a flatbed. Handy for wide loads, small sheds, etc. I say gooseneck because they are 3x as manuverable as a bumper pull, and they allow you to haul more payload. They tend to be cheaper, used, than a same sized bumper-pull.

I have a different opinion: I won't buy a goose-neck trailer because it deprives you of the use of the truck bed. If you are towing a 12k rated trailer, you need a 12K rated truck. Those goose-necks are for putting more load on a smaller truck than it should properly carry. The frame of a 12k goose-neck trailer is usually lighter and weaker than a similar capacity 12k pintle hitch trailer, due to the inherent differences in design. This also makes goose-neck trailers less expensive to purchase.

Regarding maneuverability: A goose-neck is NOT more maneuverable. It has a slower turn response while backing, although it does allow sharper turns when jackknifed. In general, a goose-neck requires more room to back into an area, and often cannot follow a narrow path because it won't turn quick enough. A conventional trailer takes a bit more operator skill to use.

If you really need to haul 12K, get a real truck and put a pintle hitch on it. Even a common one-ton truck with a dumping flatbed will haul a pintle hitch trailer with no problem.

Then you can use your trailer AND the truck bed to haul material or equipment.

 

[capetrees]

http://www.californiatreeequipment.com/

Is this place near you?

 

[TreeClimber57]

I don't know if it is in other provinces, but in Ontario, yes it is. Depending on your license. I have a DZ (basically allowed to operate any truck or motor vehicle combination exceeding 11,000 kg provided the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg. air brake endorsement as well). With a G license (Any car, van or small truck or combination of vehicle and towed vehicle up to 11,000 kg provided the towed vehicle is not over 4,600 kg.)

The max. length of the rig cannot exceed (I believe) 75feet.

When doing research on if it was allowed (with the license I had) I found it was kind of a grey area (double trailers), however 9 out of the 10 enforcement officers I spoke with said its ok. When I pointed out to the 1 guy who would question it, I informed him that a chipper (in Ontario) is considered "towable equipment" and therefore, not a trailer he said that its allowable. -go figure.

I imagine each state has it's own laws. From what I've read on other sites, some states allow it. Check your state, check for loopholes (towable equipment, etc.).

Correct re: chipper.

Re: tandam trailers.. just checked out myself. Legal if you have everything licensed as commercial vehicle (not legal for non-commercial vehicles).. MTO just told me that today and showed me where on their website to go and confirm -- which I did and they were correct.