Vehicle Setup for Scrounging

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richg

Minister of Fire
Nov 20, 2005
888
Gang,

Hope you are well. I recently installed a quad 2100 and have caught the wood scrounging bug. I have a 2007 V8 Ford Explorer that can tow 7400 lbs, and a tandem-axel utility trailer that can handle 7000 lbs. The terrain in northern nj is pretty heavily wooded. To complicate things, behind my house is a vast tract of hardwoods, and a short walk this weekend revealed a stunning amount of recenlty-fallen ash ok and maple. I am toying with buying an ATV. I guess my question is, can yuou scrounge with an SUV and trailer or do you need an off-road vehicle? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks,
 
doesnt take much to pull a 17 cu.ft dump trailer I pull mine with a J.D lawn tractor
 
I am looking for a truck now, but for the past three years I've made do with a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with the 4.7L and a 40x48 trailer that's been modified to something more like 40"x60" (has a capacity of 1,000lbs) I can get a decent amount of wood on there, but I do have access to my dad's bigger trailers and have used his 3,0000lb trailer before. My Jeep is rated to tow 6500lbs with 750 tongue weight. If you read through fine print it's something more like 2000lbs and 350 tongue unless you use weight distribution equipment. I'd be willing to bet yours is similar.

With the 1,000lb trailer loaded I barely feel it unless I'm stopping.

I had dad's 3,000lb trailer over loaded and I felt safe driving about 40mph. I blew out a tire on the trailer while it was overloaded and so I changed the hitch to a lower drop, hoping to put more weight on the jeep. I'm sure I was over my maxes. no weight distribution, 1000+ on the tongue, an easy 4,000 in tow. I call that an exercise in measuring the jeeps limits. I'd never tow quite like that again.

If I had a tandem wheeled trailer i think that it would have been a much nicer ride, and the jeep could have handled it beatifully EXCEPT for stopping. I think if you have brakes on that trailer then you are good to go, although I just don't know how well it will tow that fully loaded. You don't need a truck unless you absolutely want one. I've driven dads bigger 8x15 trailer around with my john deere mower, it was the tonque weight that I had to watch if I actually wanted to steer.
 
If you're ok with tools and basic upkeep, a $1000 old 4X4 (or even 4X2) pickup can be a good investment, figure the cost of a small trailer but easier to park. You can use it for dump runs, wood, helping buddies move, and other fun activies. Doesn't have to be a daily driver, so the MPG isn't as big a concern, and if it gets dented who cares? We always have one of those around to use for the farm, dump, firewood, etc. Great for the Jersey turnpike, it would stand out from all the Lexuses and Mercs.
 
If your trailer doesn't have sides, throw some 2 ft sides around it and you are good to go for scrounging.

As for the woods behind your house, are there established roads? Access is everything when you are trying to move that much material. I prefer a small 4wd tractor but there are many atv fans here. An atv with a winch is probably appropriate from my experience mountain biking in NNJ. Pretty rugged terrain.
 
I borrow my neighbor's trailer shown in my avatar and pull it with my lawn tractor. It can carry about a face cord at a time.
 
How far into the woods do you need to go for the trees?

I'll be the first to say, I don't need much of a "justification" for getting a toy; I have an ATV myself. If you had already planned on getting one, go for it. If this is your only reason and only use for it, it may not pay off in the long run. Plus, NJ isn't the most ATV friendly state out there. Living in CT, I know the feeling. That's why my ATV now resides at our weekend place in Vermont.
 
As long as I burn wood, and as long as I collect it myself I will never be without a full sized 3/4 ton (or better) truck. I suppose you can get by with any number of jenky set ups but why?
 
Bigg_Redd said:
As long as I burn wood, and as long as I collect it myself I will never be without a full sized 3/4 ton (or better) truck. I suppose you can get by with any number of jenky set ups but why?
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+1
 
you can scrounge with what ever you have. On some of my trips it requires the quads to drag sections of trees to the truck and trailer, other times the wood is right there. sometimes its dragging full tree (60ft or so, 18" diam) with the truck/winch and snatch blocks. Got some good rear 1/4 damage and 1 broken front drive shaft on my 2500 dodge on one trip. it is all dictated by your cash flow and needs. i could make it happen with a dodge caravan, others on here do! and sometimes more equipment is just more work.
 
When I use to haul wood with a site trailer the weak link in all the trailers were the tires. Eventually made a trailer using the front axle and 14" tires of a van and Holy cow...success. Now we could haul threw wet areas without getting stuck because of the larger foot print. When it was dry we could load the wagon with 3x's the wood we use to with the old trailer. That trailer wasn't that much larger than the one it replaced but had 40" sides...pulled that with a 10 or 12 hp cub cadet.

rich if your scrounging not too far off the side of the road sometime a simple wheelbarrow can be your best friend.
 
Folks,

thanks for the replies. I took another long walk through the woods behind the house yesterday. While there is a vast amount of timber and plenty of trails to get at it, I am going to refrain from buying an ATV, at least for the time being. The purpose of the thing would theoretically be to save money by scrounding instead of purchasing firewood. It would take eons to recoup that investment and I don't want another gasoline engine to maintain. My trailer has high sides on it and the trailer/Explorer combo will have do for now. If anything, a bigger chainsaw might make more sense. I have a Jonsered 2149 Turbo which is fine for bucking and small trees, but it can't handle larger stuff, especially red oak. Wait, that's anotehr gas engine to maintain.
 
richg said:
If anything, a bigger chainsaw might make more sense. I have a Jonsered 2149 Turbo which is fine for bucking and small trees, but it can't handle larger stuff, especially red oak. Wait, that's anotehr gas engine to maintain.
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I didn't even start a saw for the 10 cord I scored over the summer, just tossed it in the trailer. You might miss out on some big stuff that you can't lift and all those drop the 100 yo tree between the houses opportunities, but you are probably better off passing on them anyway.

I run a 20" full chisel on my 2152 and while not my first choice for bucking a semi load of logs, I don't hesitate to use it to cut a cord here or there.
 
Widen out a central trail into your woods that is big and smooth enough to get your current truck/trailer into. You might need to grind some stumps or whatever. From this central haul road you can manually move wood from either side. The next step might be some sort of winch (can be cheap) to drag logs to the haul road.

Maintain your forest. The trees will be stronger and straighter.
 
By scrounging, I thought you meant going out into the surrounding area to get wood that other people want to get rid of. Unless you have a very well maintained road through your woods, your truck and trailer are way too new/nice to be back there. With all of the rock in your area, I wouldn't do it without an ATV or a tractor unless there is a pre-existing road.
 
rich I am going to refrain from buying an ATV, at least for the time being. The purpose of the thing would theoretically be to save money by scrounding instead of purchasing firewood. It would take eons to recoup that investment...

I agree with your reasoning cause that's how we proceeded in the beginning too. Keep in mind that it only saved money when it's in a dedicated untouchable account in the bank. That's what you buy your wood cutting toys from ...after awhile you'll be doubling up your mortgage payments.
 
I am a hypocrite, obsessive compulsive and have no willpower. Today I am picking up a used Honda Foreman 400 which cost $2000. Over the weekend I dropped a large ash tree that had nasty vine growth in the top braches. After cutting the trunk I tried dragging the branches by hand, and the vine entanglement was so thick that it was impossible. That, combined with a very rugged property of over 3 acres and I said screw it, take the plunge. OK, now I need an ATV trail cart. There goes another $400.00. Can't wait to start saving by heating with wood ;-)
 
richg said:
Can't wait to start saving by heating with wood ;-)
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"But honey, I can plow the driveway and mow the lawn with it too"
 
richg said:
I am a hypocrite, obsessive compulsive and have no willpower.
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Admitting you have a problem is the first step. I am pretty sure the second step is to embrace your problems, and learn to enjoy them. Hope the ATV and trailer work out. Even if you aren't saving money collecting wood, sounds like you'll have fun doing it.
 
dragging with an atv is slow but sometimes a must. I like to back up to it cut it with my stihl 460 and load my ranger till the bumper almost drags. Dragging is very time consuming unless its just here and there. I had to drag 1/2 my wood for this year. Its nice to have an atv to cruise around on and burning wood does warrant having some toys.
 

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