Homemade trailer opinions please

[Jules083]

I'm torn on something. This works but is a bit sketchy unless I strap them in.

Homebuilt trailer with sides about 3' high and a tailgate. About 4" wider and 4" longer than a tote, just enough to make it easy to load without too much fiddling. Long enough to haul either 1 or 2 totes with the axle farther back for more tongue weight on the tractor.

I can't decide between making it for 1 tote or 2. Been thinking about it for like 6 months. Lol.

1 tote could be towed by my sxs or my little tractor, obviously be easier to maneuver in the woods, but of course would require more trips.

2 totes full of green oak would weigh about 2k lbs and would be harder to load/unload because the fork frame is wider than the tote so the trailer would have to be wider and potentially allow the totes to slide around a bit and might be a pain in the ass? Plus would mean I'd have to use the bigger tractor. My little tractor i can take more places but it cant pick up a loaded tote.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Wagon would be more suitable. EzTrail and Kory make compact wagons or you can find a hay wagon running gear for relatively cheap and build to suit

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/compact-wagon-running-gear.303304/page-2#post-6768559

 

[Mad Professor]

Back half of a pickup frame is the way we used make them. Not great for loading a pallet on.

 

[Jules083]

Wagon would be more suitable. EzTrail and Kory make compact wagons or you can find a hay wagon running gear for relatively cheap and build to suit

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/compact-wagon-running-gear.303304/page-2#post-6768559

Would never work where I'm at. Too many hills and tight spots in the woods to get anything that big turned around

 

[CaseyForrest]

The smaller wagons are 48" wide. I have one that size I use behind the quad.

 

[CUCV]

Add pallet forks on the back of the tractor and skip the trailer.

 

[Jules083]

Add pallet forks on the back of the tractor and skip the trailer.

That was my first thought. It's different here though in the hills. I can put these forks on the front or the rear. Either way I can't come out of the woods with a loaded tote without potentially flipping the tractor unless I have the tote on the back of the tractor and back up the hills. A full tote on the back and going uphill will pull the front of the tractor off the ground.

I could put one on the front and one on the back to balance out I suppose, but I hate the thought of putting all that weight on the tractor and potentially breaking something. I'd rather let a trailer carry most of the weight. If the tractor was a bit bigger I wouldn't worry as much but it's just a 4 series.

 

[Lionsfan]

How much are you doing in a season?

 

[BeatCJ]

My tractor won't pick up a full tote either. So I till the tote half full, haul it to where it belongs and then fill that from a second half full tote. By the time it's ready to burn I can pick up a full tote. I don't have forks for the 3 point, two totes in one trip would be slick. I'll have to put those on my wish list.

 

[Jules083]

How much are you doing in a season?

I go through about 30 totes, including fire pit cooking in the summer. So 8 cords or so.

 

[Jules083]

My tractor won't pick up a full tote either. So I till the tote half full, haul it to where it belongs and then fill that from a second half full tote. By the time it's ready to burn I can pick up a full tote. I don't have forks for the 3 point, two totes in one trip would be slick. I'll have to put those on my wish list.

Yeah, I could do that. But I don't want to. I can pick up a full one and set it on a trailer. By the time I mess around and make 60 trips with half full totes I could have had the trailer built.