Best tractor cart for hauling wood

[gibson]

Hey folks,
Bought a yard tractor/ mower last week on the Massachusetts 0% tax weekend. Pretty happy about it because I got a good deal and I love new toys! Obviously, my next thought was to never have to wheelbarrow another load of wood through 6" of snow ever again. That being said, I am just a suburban dork, with a half acre lot. I will be using the cart to move around the 3-1/2 cords of wood that I burn every year, along with the yearly mulch and occasional yard mess. It will be stored in my ever shrinking garage.
Do I go metal or plastic? What size? Any specific brands? Does it even matter?

Thanks for your input.

 

[thinkxingu]

John, look on Craigslist--my brother, friend, and I all bought ours there because people tend to buy them for one or two projects and then they just sit. None of us paid more than $50 for them. At that price, it doesn't matter what the material is just the size.

S

 

[savageactor7]

I'm a minimalist and advise that you stay with the wheel barrow. But since you're bound and determined to spend money then stay with something metal so it won't crack in the cold.

 

['bert]

I have posted this several times, but really like this cart so here it is again. It's made by Otter Products. No metal rattle, and DOES NOT crack in the cold! I also have a sled that I pull behind my quad (or snowmobile) during the winter. Trust me, it can get cold here in northern Alberta.

I dump dirt into this cart from the bucket of my tractor and load as much green wet wood into it as I can and have never had an issue in the 5 (or so) years that I have had it.

'bert

 

[PapaDave]

I'm with 'bert on this one.
The one I got is poly-something or other, and it gets used every winter. No cracking. I'm not always real nice to it, either.
Got it at the depot. 17 cu. ft.. If I stack it nice, I can get 1/9 cord in it.

 

[thewoodlands]

Hey folks,
Bought a yard tractor/ mower last week on the Massachusetts 0% tax weekend. Pretty happy about it because I got a good deal and I love new toys! Obviously, my next thought was to never have to wheelbarrow another load of wood through 6" of snow ever again. That being said, I am just a suburban dork, with a half acre lot. I will be using the cart to move around the 3-1/2 cords of wood that I burn every year, along with the yearly mulch and occasional yard mess. It will be stored in my ever shrinking garage.
Do I go metal or plastic? What size? Any specific brands? Does it even matter?

Thanks for your input.

I use this in the summer and winter, you can also buy ski's for it. It has a release in the front so you can tilt it back and a drain in the back on the inside for the water.

http://www.rescraft.com/trailers.html#trailers

zap

 

[zzr7ky]

I've had a couple smaller metal ones. I like the one 'Bert showed, but I find the wheel barrow most effective/efficient running wood around our acre of paradise with the 4 cords of stored sunshine we require in the Winter.

I would get something off Craig's list. It you like it, modify it or get a nicer one. If the wheel barrow stays dust free you've got your answer.

PS - My teenagers moving out may make a better transport a higher priority in the furure.

 

[Flatbedford]

I got tired of waiting for one to come up on Craigs List and bought the Sears 12 ft³ cart.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...reOpenDayInd;=&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
For $150 you get a pretty well built steel cart. It is definitely kinda light duty, but has held up OK so far. I can heap a pretty good pile of wood in it. I don't think it would hold up very well if you used it to carry gravel all day with it, but for stacked firewood it should be fine.

 

[ironpony]

I got tired of waiting for one to come up on Craigs List and bought the Sears 12 ft³ cart.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...reOpenDayInd;=&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
For $150 you get a pretty well built steel cart. It is definitely kinda light duty, but has held up OK so far. I can heap a pretty good pile of wood in it. I don't think it would hold up very well if you used it to carry gravel all day with it, but for stacked firewood it should be fine.

the color clashes with the tractor

 

[Flatbedford]

It could be worse! Imagine if the trailer were red or green Tractor guys sure are funny about their colors. A matching yellow one would have been about 2xs the price and probably from the same factory in China anyway.

 

[ironpony]

and if it were green
you would need a second mortgage
that green paint is expensive

 

[velvetfoot]

I haven't used it for wood, or hardly for towing behind a lawn tractor yet, but I moved probably 30 tons of crusher run this summer for the driveway shoulder project. I used a Brinly, as purchased on HomeDepot.com , as a wheelbarrow - much easier than my conventional wheelbarrow. When towed, it's hard to dump all the material out, and for me, hard to back it up.

 

[gibson]

Thanks to all. I would see them all the time on CL, when I wasn't looking to buy one, including some great homemade ones.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Has anyone seen one of the MUTS trailers. Looks pretty wild in that it has a winch built into into it for moving logs, etc. Looks expensive too, but I have never seen all this in a ATV Trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELJsgLA-Ftg

 

['bert]

I think if I needed all those attachments to a ATV trailer, I would just get a small utility size tractor with a FEL. Most likely less expensive too. But some cool idea's just the same.

 

[thewoodlands]

Has anyone seen one of the MUTS trailers. Looks pretty wild in that it has a winch built into into it for moving logs, etc. Looks expensive too, but I have never seen all this in a ATV Trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELJsgLA-Ftg

http://www.muts.ca/

There website and prices.

zap

 

[SolarAndWood]

http://www.muts.ca/

That is pretty cool. Would you put 3000 lbs in a trailer and pull it with an ATV through the woods, down grades, etc?

The limitations of the small tractor with the loader is you get maybe 15 cu ft of wood in a 5 ft bucket. The tractor's advantage is pulling. With a 2 ton lift capacity in the 3 pt arms, I can skid many times as much as I can put in the loader. Even then, I only skid to somewhere accessible and then buck it and pull it in the 140 cu ft dump trailer. It is faster over any kind of distance and keeps the wood clean.

 

[Flatbedford]

That Muts rig is pretty cool. I could use something like that maybe once a year. I'll put it on the "when I win the lottery" list.

I'd like something like that, but larger and set up for highway use. It would have been handy to get my White Oak logs home for milling.

 

[Flatbedford]

I got tired of waiting for one to come up on Craigs List and bought the Sears 12 ft³ cart.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...reOpenDayInd;=&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
For $150 you get a pretty well built steel cart. It is definitely kinda light duty, but has held up OK so far. I can heap a pretty good pile of wood in it. I don't think it would hold up very well if you used it to carry gravel all day with it, but for stacked firewood it should be fine.

the color clashes with the tractor

I fixed the color problem.

I won it on Ebay. $68.56 and 4 hours of driving and it is mine now. It is the same cart as the craftsman one, but with better, bigger tires, better hardware, correct color, and those cute wood side boards. I'll put the Craftsman on Craig's List and hopefully get my $68.56 back. Never mind the $60 in fuel to go get it.

 

[Shipper50]

Good to have matching colors on ones equipment. I have red chaps that go with my Dolmars.

Your lab looks like he or she needs some loving. ;-)

Shipper

 

[Backwoods Savage]

 

[Flatbedford]

Your lab looks like he or she needs some loving. ;-)

Shipper

That's just an act. He didn't like being so far away from me for the picture. He gets more loving than anybody else in the family.

 

[spur0701]

I've got one of these, or an older model actually, I bought it from a guy down the street about 10 years ago....not sure how old it was when I got it from him but it was a lttle beat up then. I've lined it with treated plywood twice, repainted once, and replaced tires and it's still going strong....even used it to haul about 5 yards of gravel from a dump site to where I put it under my deck.

I got tired of waiting for one to come up on Craigs List and bought the Sears 12 ft³ cart.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...reOpenDayInd;=&prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
For $150 you get a pretty well built steel cart. It is definitely kinda light duty, but has held up OK so far. I can heap a pretty good pile of wood in it. I don't think it would hold up very well if you used it to carry gravel all day with it, but for stacked firewood it should be fine.