hauling wood with garden tractor?

[Tjcole50]

Oops deleted double post

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

A 4wd ATV at a minimum, 6wd better.

4wd compact tractor, something in the 25-35hp area. 2wd medium sized tractor, with chains or 4wd. Something 45-60hp area.

Off the Sears floor the mowers aren't pulling much. Toss a few hundred $$ into better tires, weights, etc and it will maybe pull A 10ft log, maybe 20 ft if the ground is nice... still rough on the machine.

the tread is asking if a yard tractor would work.. just my thoughts.

All depends on the area and what your idea of being productive is. I'm not even thinking as a Logger here. I'd rather not spend all day fighting with a too small tractor, or moving short little logs... BUT maybe dragging a 4ft log at a time is just fine for soneone else. And yes I realize a 150k skidder "might" be overkill for a few people... probably the same people that think owning 2 chainsaws is 1 too many hehaha!

I guess don't have dreams that a 20hp Cub Cadet is going to become a skidder haha.

so just what would you recommend???
small lawn tractors can pull a lot more than most people think...
this is just an example that's around 2500-3000 lbs

 

[zogger]

A 4wd ATV at a minimum, 6wd better.

4wd compact tractor, something in the 25-35hp area. 2wd medium sized tractor, with chains or 4wd. Something 45-60hp area.

Off the Sears floor the mowers aren't pulling much. Toss a few hundred $$ into better tires, weights, etc and it will maybe pull A 10ft log, maybe 20 ft if the ground is nice... still rough on the machine.

the tread is asking if a yard tractor would work.. just my thoughts.

All depends on the area and what your idea of being productive is. I'm not even thinking as a Logger here. I'd rather not spend all day fighting with a too small tractor, or moving short little logs... BUT maybe dragging a 4ft log at a time is just fine for soneone else. And yes I realize a 150k skidder "might" be overkill for a few people... probably the same people that think owning 2 chainsaws is 1 too many hehaha!

I guess don't have dreams that a 20hp Cub Cadet is going to become a skidder haha.

A lot is nomenclature. There's a big difference between a riding lawnmower shaped like a baby tractor, and a real garden tractor. Very similar in size, quite different in useful capabilities for the small scale homesteader and wood scrounger.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

True, the old iron was a lot tougher than most of the tin framed models built in the last 20 years.
I have a Sears garden tractor, 1998 year model. I had to put ATV tires all around, liquid fill them and about 350 lbs of weight for it to be worth a hoot to push a 4ft snowblower. Even still a stockish compact tractor would eat it for breakfast. I couldn't imagine skidding logs with it.
I use it to move around firewood with a yard cart but that's across my lawn... the ZTR mower does that too.

Another decent piece of equiptment, perhaps more useful that a CUT is a skid steer. I pulled easily 30 cords of tree length out with a TR270 this fall. Impressive little machine. The S250 I own works real nice too. Near unstoppable with tracks over the tires.

 

[zogger]

True, the old iron was a lot tougher than most of the tin framed models built in the last 20 years.
I have a Sears garden tractor, 1998 year model. I had to put ATV tires all around, liquid fill them and about 350 lbs of weight for it to be worth a hoot to push a 4ft snowblower. Even still a stockish compact tractor would eat it for breakfast. I couldn't imagine skidding logs with it.
I use it to move around firewood with a yard cart but that's across my lawn... the ZTR mower does that too.

Another decent piece of equiptment, perhaps more useful that a CUT is a skid steer. I pulled easily 30 cords of tree length out with a TR270 this fall. Impressive little machine. The S250 I own works real nice too. Near unstoppable with tracks over the tires.

Expensive, but anything with tracks sure do work. My boss has a little baby crawler, a Dresser, with wide tracks, geez loweez, down in the mud, hauled out a near full stuck litter spreader like nuthin. We had two big wheeled tractors first chained together, zip, truck stayed stuck. Little crawler, no probs.

 

[Chris-PA]

I find a good garden tractor and a cart is great for a home firewood gatherer. Sometimes I use my 30hp Kioti LK3054 and loader, but it's got filled industrial tread tires and makes a mess. It's too big to get into many places in the woods too. I almost never skid logs anymore either, as it chews things up and embeds too much junk into the wood. As for skid steers and other major equipment - I suppose some folks have the money or have access to the equipment in connection to a business, but otherwise I could heat my house with fossil fuels or electricity for quite a while for the price of that stuff.

Here's the tractor in all it's rusty glory (I don't haul much with the blades on of course). It's ugly but runs like a top.

 

[Jetterbug]

I find a good garden tractor and a cart is great for a home firewood gatherer. Sometimes I use my 30hp Kioti LK3054 and loader, but it's got filled industrial tread tires and makes a mess. It's too big to get into many places in the woods too. I almost never skid logs anymore either, as it chews things up and embeds too much junk into the wood. As for skid steers and other major equipment - I suppose some folks have the money or have access to the equipment in connection to a business, but otherwise I could heat my house with fossil fuels or electricity for quite a while for the price of that stuff.

Here's the tractor in all it's rusty glory (I don't haul much with the blades on of course). It's ugly but runs like a top.

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Well said! Same here!

 

[Whitespider]

I couldn't imagine a small yard tractor to pull much in the woods.

 

[Jetterbug]

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Nice ! Cool place as well. How far from Highlandville are ya? Trout fish up there

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Once mine was set up "right",

It will pull a pretty good load,

I'll have to get a pict. of it in action some time...

SR

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Maybe I misread the posts, but I thought he was looking for something to SKID logs, not cart firewood? Carting firewood is much easier than dragging logs.

I understand the homeonwer isn't worried about pulling 5+ cords of logs in a "twitch" like I am, but with the yard tractors I've run, then pretty much get stuck on wet leaves while cutting the lawn, never mind while dragging a heavy log.

I use my Cub Cadel ZTR for toting firewood in a cart about the same as in that pic. It DID fine till I put too much weight on the tongue and bent the rear ends so the tires now do / \

Sure a yard tractor can be setup to sort of do the job, and if works for you, then great. For "real" work, the suggestions I made would work better IMO.

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[zogger]

Maybe I misread the posts, but I thought he was looking for something to SKID logs, not cart firewood? Carting firewood is much easier than dragging logs.

I understand the homeonwer isn't worried about pulling 5+ cords of logs in a "twitch" like I am, but with the yard tractors I've run, then pretty much get stuck on wet leaves while cutting the lawn, never mind while dragging a heavy log.

I use my Cub Cadel ZTR for toting firewood in a cart about the same as in that pic. It DID fine till I put too much weight on the tongue and bent the rear ends so the tires now do / \

Sure a yard tractor can be setup to sort of do the job, and if works for you, then great. For "real" work, the suggestions I made would work better IMO.

I've pulled single pines and sweetgums out with my wheelhorse, around 6-8 inch diameter, 15-20 feet long. That's how we built our first garden here, log/raised beds. And I used that because it could snake into the woods much easier than either of the full size tractors I use here.

But ya, as you go up in size and specialty with equipment, you can do more work. No one is arguing that at all, just you can do "enough" with a real garden tractor to make it useful. Skidding or small log arch or trailer. Then there's all the other attachments to make it useful.

Yep, not a monster skidder, but they can drag *some* logs.

 

[nathon918]

Maybe I misread the posts, but I thought he was looking for something to SKID logs, not cart firewood?

you should re read the original post then... even the post is labeled "hauling wood with a garden tractor"
a properly setup garden tractor(NOT a lawn mower) will out pull any 4x4 ATV, they just don't have the weight to get enough traction or transmission to handle extra weight + a load
heres a tractor skidding with only wheel weights...more weigh and chains and he could pull more

 

[Sawyer Rob]

you should re read the original post then... even the post is labeled "hauling wood with a garden tractor"
a properly setup garden tractor(NOT a lawn mower) will out pull any 4x4 ATV, they just don't have the weight to get enough traction or transmission to handle extra weight + a load
heres a tractor skidding with only wheel weights...more weigh and chains and he could pull more

Well, I have both, REAL garden tractors and ATV's... I have a hard time believing that a garden tractor will out pull my Yamaha Grizzly... Keep in mind, I can add weight to my Grizzly too...

I've skidded with both, I'm betting my Grizz will out skid a garden tractor...

SR

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I cut a small property last summer that had a good 20%+ grade from the road down to a lake (like hard to walk it steep in some spots). We used a 6x6 Polaris ATV. I was damn impressed, had minimal trouble skidding 20"+ round tree length logs as long as then didn't dig into the dirt (didn't have a log arch). Some we cut in 1/2 so we could make it between the turns on the skid road we had going.

I can't load the video (my internet isn't fast enough) but I know for sure a yard tractor wouldn't have done even 1/2 the work the ATV did.

 

[nathon918]

Well, I have both, REAL garden tractors and ATV's... I have a hard time believing that a garden tractor will out pull my Yamaha Grizzly... Keep in mind, I can add weight to my Grizzly too...

I've skidded with both, I'm betting my Grizz will out skid a garden tractor...

SR

yeah until you eat through/ break the torque converter belt... its the weakest part of the transmission basically like slipping a clutch to move slow...if you do it too long you will wear it out
or you sit there and spin the tires with the torque converter "locked up" and dig your self a hole or burn your tires off... neither sound effective or reliable to me...

 

[treeslayer2003]

hmm, lets see......i am a logger, full time for over 25 years. what do you think i get wood up to the house with?
it will easily out pull my big bear 4x4. it has a hydrostat the size of a small skidsteer, it is not a lawn mower.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

yeah until you eat through/ break the torque converter belt... its the weakest part of the transmission basically like slipping a clutch to move slow...if you do it too long you will wear it out
or you sit there and spin the tires with the torque converter "locked up" and dig your self a hole or burn your tires off... neither sound effective or reliable to me...

You obviously know nothing about a Yamaha Grizzly torque converter/tranny/clutch system, OR how it works...

SR

 

[treeslayer2003]

by the way, for you guys wanting to rebuild your kohler, this has the ebay cheap kit in it for 4 years very hard use.

 

[nathon918]

You obviously know nothing about a Yamaha Grizzly torque converter/tranny/clutch system, OR how it works...

SR

what that with a CVT like that you not only have a belt to wear out, you also get a centrifugal clutch to wear out....more/ more expensive parts replaced less frequent, or 1 cheap part replaced more frequently...take your pick (they both suck)

without a "positive" type reduction all the way to the axles (see manual transmission) there will always be something slipping/wearing out at slow speeds with drive systems like that...ATV's aren't made for slow speeds, yeah they can go slow, but not without slipping/wearing the drive system