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.

 

[BeatCJ]

That's a lot more wood than I move. I have a dozen full totes. Is that the big or small tractor in your first photo?

Sounds like you need to build your trailer just big enough for 2 totes, with the extra room to load and unload, but some inch high brackets to control side to side movement. I would guess some 1"x1" steel angle would work. Bolt them down to the bed, into some sort of rivnut/ nutsert/ flange nut on the underside of the deck, with positions in the right place for either one or two totes, to make it easy to move them with only a wrench. I would probably use something with the same size head as a bar nut, so I could use the bar wrench to move them.

 

[Jules083]

That's a lot more wood than I move. I have a dozen full totes. Is that the big or small tractor in your first photo?

Sounds like you need to build your trailer just big enough for 2 totes, with the extra room to load and unload, but some inch high brackets to control side to side movement. I would guess some 1"x1" steel angle would work. Bolt them down to the bed, into some sort of rivnut/ nutsert/ flange nut on the underside of the deck, with positions in the right place for either one or two totes, to make it easy to move them with only a wrench. I would probably use something with the same size head as a bar nut, so I could use the bar wrench to move them.

This is my big one. Should have specified.

That's not a bad idea with the angle. Maybe to simplify things I could weld the sides on but make them 8" too wide and use a 4x4 to locate the tote centered. I'm just trying to simplify things and make the process as painless as possible. I can get by with ratchet straps but I hate messing with them when it's cold and they end up wet and stiff.

I'm still torn on making it for 1 tote or 2. I keep thinking that 1 might be easier because then if I just have a small down tree or top or something I can throw the tote on the trailer and use my atv to just run out and grab the wood real quick without as much messing around, and if it's a small solo trailer I can use the atv instead of the tractor for moving empties. It seems like I always have a few empties in places I don't need them and it's somewhat annoying spending a few hours driving the tractor around carrying empty totes.

 

[JRM]

I'd build it for 2. Then if you need to haul only one mark the trailer so that you know where to set a single and have it balanced on the trailer with the correct amount of tongue weight for whatever tow vehicle you are using.

 

[jblnut]

I’d build the trailer to hold two totes and like others have said you can always just put one on if you’re using your little tractor.

I put skid steer quick attach adapter on the back of my 2038r and carry as much weight at the thing will lift and haven’t had any issues yet. I mostly use it with an extra bucket I have to put large chunks in and carry a tote up front but have also put my skiddy forks on the rear and carried totes around. It won’t lift a full tote front or rear but that’s okay for what I do with it.

That 4 series will easily handle the weight of a tote in front and rear if you’re comfortable with it. Keep the weight low and you’ll be more stable than just the tractor alone.


The weight out back makes it much more stable when lifting things close to capacity with the loader.

 

[Todd727]

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.

Make it for two totes like everyone is saying.

Build the it so the wheels are below the deck. For the sides, they don't have to be full length. I'd make short sides that are probably six to twelve inches high, just enough to secure the totes but leave gaps for the forks so it will be easy to load and unload.

You could do the same but with wagon running gear. Since you have forks, turning the empty wagon around shouldn't be that difficult. You can lift an end of the wagon and slide it around if needed. There were much smaller wagons in that thread than the big one at the end of the thread.

 

[Todd727]

Good friend came over today . He was done in about an hour . My BX couldn’t move some of the boulders
I already laid the pipe and wire and started to backfill .

Did you post in the wrong thread?

 

[SS396driver]

Crap wrong thread …..