got me a new wood hauler today

[husky455rancher]

well my dad lets me deforest his land for firewood which is great. the problem was i had to carry or wheel barrow the logs outta the woods cuse i couldnt get my ram back there. its a hell of a ways too from where the trees im cutting are at by the time i get to where i throw the pile im wasted.
so i was thinking if i got a old lawn tractor with some chains i could use my trailer to carry the logs out of the woods. well i got a old crapsman tractor today for $140 its pretty sad lookin but it seems to run ok. i do think it needs a little carb tuning. it starts right up its a 12.5hp briggs vertical shaft. no mower deck which is fine and some of the hood seems to be home made lol. it has what looks to be new tire chains on it now and it came with a plow if it runs well ill fab up a new hood for her and sand it down and repaint it. tomorrow if the weather holds out ill get some pics of it. i havent really looked it over really well i bought it at the end of the day it was actually dark when i unloaded it. ill do a little maintence for sure to give it a good start.

sorry for the long post but if this works out man the work its gonna save me will be insane and the amount of wood i can do in a day will probably be what i was doing in a month easy, Mike

 

[Bruce Hopf]

I built myself a dump trailer to pull behind my MF Garden tractor. I built the box 3' wide 7' long and 16" high all a round with a slide out tail gate. I used the rear tires off an old lawn tractor that I scraped. I used 2" x " square tubing for the tongue, and built my axle to mount my wheels. I built the trailer as a beck over the wheels. I built the hinge for the trailer at the very back of the box so I can have the trailer wheels close to the rear of it. I fabricated 2 bumper jacks stacked on top of one another as my hoist to dump the loads. If you pile the wood in, man what a load you will get on it. I used it for years until I moved back home on the family farm. Now I use a tractor wit an old manure spreader with no beaters. The apron works as a walking floor for unloading. Hope this helps.
Bruce.

 

[husky455rancher]

my trialer is a dump one too, just a crapsman lawn tractor one. its rated for 1k lbs. ive had it overflowing with green wood and never a problem. i do wish it was bigger though. i like the bumper jack idea for the dump. how did you make one? that would be a big help, thanks, Mike

oh i have access to all kindas for metal and i have a welder too so it can be made lol.

 

[mimilkman1]

I built myself a dump trailer to pull behind my MF Garden tractor. I built the box 3' wide 7' long and 16" high all a round with a slide out tail gate. I used the rear tires off an old lawn tractor that I scraped. I used 2" x " square tubing for the tongue, and built my axle to mount my wheels. I built the trailer as a beck over the wheels. I built the hinge for the trailer at the very back of the box so I can have the trailer wheels close to the rear of it. I fabricated 2 bumper jacks stacked on top of one another as my hoist to dump the loads. If you pile the wood in, man what a load you will get on it. I used it for years until I moved back home on the family farm. Now I use a tractor wit an old manure spreader with no beaters. The apron works as a walking floor for unloading. Hope this helps.
Bruce.

I use one of those too. It's a tandem axle New Idea that the floor was rotting out of. It had the apron chain removed when we started using it for that. Have you had trouble with overloading the apron chain and snapping it? That was my biggest concern thinking the way we heap the loads on that thing.

Kyle

 

[gink595]

I use one of those too. It's a tandem axle New Idea that the floor was rotting out of. It had the apron chain removed when we started using it for that. Have you had trouble with overloading the apron chain and snapping it? That was my biggest concern thinking the way we heap the loads on that thing.

Kyle

Manure has to be a bit on the heavy side also, I would imagine it could handle the weight, It has to have a rating of it's capacity. We used to use old silage wagons to bail hay with, Kick bail them in and open rear gate and put the track in reverse and dump on the ground. Worked awesome, I never thought of doing that with wood.....hmmmm

 

[mga]

my trialer is a dump one too, just a crapsman lawn tractor one. its rated for 1k lbs. ive had it overflowing with green wood and never a problem. i do wish it was bigger though. i like the bumper jack idea for the dump. how did you make one? that would be a big help, thanks, Mike

oh i have access to all kindas for metal and i have a welder too so it can be made lol.

did almost the same, except i used a long cement mixing tub someone gave me, built the frame out of an old weight lifting machine and made it so that it dumps.....it can hold about one face cord.. if i push it.

i'm using a 2" ball hitch on it which i also put on the back of the tractor.

 

[husky455rancher]

i tried it out sunday it was a little wet out but not bad. there was a bit of a trick to it as i found out. first load both tires on the trailer lost the beads. so i put em back on and filled em up again. i think the trailer was crooked so the tractor was pulling it and turning it at the start so the tires lost the air. after that i made sure the trailer was straight with the tractor and all went well. all i did was clear any branches off the ground and it did fine. the chain are definatly a must though, i dont see it doing it without the chains on there.


i would like a bigger trailer if possible but what would be the cheapest way to get or make an axel. i can get steel at work no problem if anyone has any ideas, thanks, Mike

 

[Vangellis]

A lawn tractor and pull behind cart is the way I'm doing it. I just got this 17 cu.ft. Brinly Hardy trailer that works well.
The Simplicity pulls it rather easily.

Kevin

 

[mga]

A lawn tractor and pull behind cart is the way I'm doing it. I just got this 17 cu.ft. Brinly Hardy trailer that works well.
The Simplicity pulls it rather easily.





Kevin

nice little tractor, vangellis. i'm sure it's hydraulic drive. how much weight can it actually handle before it puts a strain on the hydro drive? reason i'm asking is because i have a 26hp poulan that i use to haul my wood and i often wondered what the limit would be on them.

 

[Vangellis]

nice little tractor, vangellis. i'm sure it's hydraulic drive. how much weight can it actually handle before it puts a strain on the hydro drive? reason i'm asking is because i have a 26hp poulan that i use to haul my wood and i often wondered what the limit would be on them.

Hi MGA.
It's a 20 HP. Thats not what should be worried about. It's the kind of tranny you have. Mine has a k66 tuff torq with a diff lock and pulls a full cart with no problem. I'm not sure what a full load weighs, but the cart is rated for 800 lbs? This was a test run with some stuff I had split. The cart has slots on the side that I can extend the height of the sides and front. Think I'll have to do that.


[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v411/vangellis/?action=view&current=LogLoad.flv] [/URL]



Kevin

 

[Stihl051master]

i would like a bigger trailer if possible but what would be the cheapest way to get or make an axel. i can get steel at work no problem if anyone has any ideas, thanks, Mike[/QUOTE]

Here are a couple of pics of a wood trailer I scabbed together last weeknd from some scrap I had lying around. I used a Dexter mobile home axle (6000lbs) which you can pick up for next to nothing. I narrowed it up and cut slots for the frame rails of the trailer to fit into, then welded it all together and threw a quick coat of paint on. It hauls a face cord of wood no problem. I
built fender wells on the inside which takes away a little capacity, but I needed it narrow to go through some narrow trails in the woods.

 

[gink595]

i would like a bigger trailer if possible but what would be the cheapest way to get or make an axel. i can get steel at work no problem if anyone has any ideas, thanks, Mike

Here are a couple of pics of a wood trailer I scabbed together last weeknd from some scrap I had lying around. I used a Dexter mobile home axle (6000lbs) which you can pick up for next to nothing. I narrowed it up and cut slots for the frame rails of the trailer to fit into, then welded it all together and threw a quick coat of paint on. It hauls a face cord of wood no problem. I
built fender wells on the inside which takes away a little capacity, but I needed it narrow to go through some narrow trails in the woods.

[/QUOTE]



You can laugh but find an old dana 60 and cut the pig out and splice the axle tubes back together or leave the diff. there. Make a oil hole with plug and fill with axle lube. Now you have a tough axle that has oil feed bearings. And if you want the springs they are an option. You used to find those axles for cheap at bone yards or local news traders.

After thought: You also have 8 lug rims with common 16" tires and rims.

 

[Bruce Hopf]

I use one of those too. It's a tandem axle New Idea that the floor was rotting out of. It had the apron chain removed when we started using it for that. Have you had trouble with overloading the apron chain and snapping it? That was my biggest concern thinking the way we heap the loads on that thing.

Kyle

Kyle.
You have to remember that solid manure is a lot heavier than fire wood. We used our old spreader even to pick stones off the field. We never loaded it more than half of a load of stones. Backed up to ruts in the bush lane way, put the spreader in gear and pull ahead little by little at a time. Went back later to level out the stones. Did a real good job unloading. Never once did we have a problem with the apron chain breaking. I have a little big single axle spreader that I took the beaters out of and put extra high racks on my old spreader that I use for hauling wood now. I can get 3 Bush Cordes on it. I use my loader tractor to load it. Does a great job for that. I just tightened up the apron chain and took out most of the slack so it won't catch in the bush. Hope this helps.
Bruce.

 

[Marc]

Kyle.
You have to remember that solid manure is a lot heavier than fire wood. We used our old spreader even to pick stones off the field. We never loaded it more than half of a load of stones. Backed up to ruts in the bush lane way, put the spreader in gear and pull ahead little by little at a time. Went back later to level out the stones. Did a real good job unloading. Never once did we have a problem with the apron chain breaking. I have a little big single axle spreader that I took the beaters out of and put extra high racks on my old spreader that I use for hauling wood now. I can get 3 Bush Cordes on it. I use my loader tractor to load it. Does a great job for that. I just tightened up the apron chain and took out most of the slack so it won't catch in the bush. Hope this helps.
Bruce.

I've got an old manure spreader converted for wood use too... we took off the beaters and the rest of the hardware and redecked it with pressure treated 2 x 6's... but everything about that was built heavy. The size of the iron used for the tounge is amazing.. but there's a very high water content in manure and it is very heavy, so they definitely needed to be made that way.

 

[ken45]

ATV limits

I see all these neat pictures of loaded trailers behind ATVs, which I've done too for years.

However, in going through the manual for my Yamaha Kodiak (400cc), I note the following load limits for the trailer hitch:

Pulling weight (trailer and load) 1102 punds
Tongue weight 33 pounds

Our Honda 450 has slighly lower limits.

33 pounds isn't much weight (less than four gallons of water).

Just a word of warning. I know they hold up better than that, but still, I'd hate to see someone destroy the rear end housing. You need to keep the load well balanced.

Ken

 

[Stihl051master]

Ken's right, and it also helps to be using a $300 quad that you don't really care about. http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Bruce Hopf]

I've got an old manure spreader converted for wood use too... we took off the beaters and the rest of the hardware and redneck it with pressure treated 2 x 6's... but everything about that was built heavy. The size of the iron used for the tongue is amazing.. but there's a very high water content in manure and it is very heavy, so they definitely needed to be made that way.

Marc.
If you get another manure spreader, leave the apron in. All I do is stand at the back of the beater less manure spreader, and throw the wood off, until I can't reach the wood no more. I put the apron in gear, and let it bring the wood to me. and when the wood gets to the back of the spreader, I just turn off the apron. Throw the wood off until I can no longer reach it again, and repeat the process. Standing on the ground and having the wood come to you, with a working apron is a lot easier on the back, instead of climbing into the spreader and throwing it off, and bending over to get the wood off the floor of the spreader. It works real slick.
Bruce.

 

[Bruce Hopf]

Here are a couple of pics of a wood trailer I scabbed together last weeknd from some scrap I had lying around. I used a Dexter mobile home axle (6000lbs) which you can pick up for next to nothing. I narrowed it up and cut slots for the frame rails of the trailer to fit into, then welded it all together and threw a quick coat of paint on. It hauls a face cord of wood no problem. I
built fender wells on the inside which takes away a little capacity, but I needed it narrow to go through some narrow trails in the woods.

You can laugh but find an old dana 60 and cut the pig out and splice the axle tubes back together or leave the diff. there. Make a oil hole with plug and fill with axle lube. Now you have a tough axle that has oil feed bearings. And if you want the springs they are an option. You used to find those axles for cheap at bone yards or local news traders.

After thought: You also have 8 lug rims with common 16" tires and rims.[/QUOTE]
Hey, what ever gets the job done. Sure beats carring it out by the arm load.
Bruce.