Wood Hauling Vehicle

[precaud]

1990 Ford Ranger, extended cab, 208,000+ miles, 3.0L 6 cyl... We figure we get about 1/4 of a cord per load... I see others estimate 1/3 cord per load in their Ranger, hard to say. Rangers come with several different bed lengths.

I think your estimate is pretty good. My Ranger has a 7 ft bed and extra payload package, and I can stack the logs up pretty high if I want to. But the weight is the real limitation. Having broken a rear axle before from overloading, I do stop at about 1/3 cord per load.

BTW, I'm 6'5" and fit in the regular cab fine with the seat back all the way.

We joke about getting a dump truck, sometimes we make 3 trips in one day to a wood source. We get 20+ MPG with our truck, and are trying to avoid the 4WDs for the next purchase since their mileage is so much lower than the 2WDs.

Boy I can relate to that... I'm keeping an eye out for a basic trailer. If I could get another 1/4 cord per trip that would be very worthwhile.

 

[kd460]

1997 Dodge 3/4 ton (with tow package), 8 ft bed Cummins Turbo Diesel. 152,000 miles, and just getting broken in. A big azz truck and gets 20 mpgs. That thing will pull a house, and has the factory overload springs. Just a 2 wheel drive, but the factory posi (real posi-traction) helps. Makes allot of noise, but to me, it's the sound of power.

I am almost done building a a little trailer for my ATV similiar to Quads, for getting in and out of the woods. Hey Quads, if your still out there, I have a question for you about your little trailer. Mainly the tongue length. How long is it? Do you find the lenth OK? Longer, shorter?

If you don't mind, either respond here or PM me (don't want to hijack thread). Thanks, KD

 

[quads]

I am almost done building a a little trailer for my ATV similiar to Quads, for getting in and out of the woods. Hey Quads, if your still out there, I have a question for you about your little trailer. Mainly the tongue length. How long is it? Do you find the lenth OK? Longer, shorter?

It's this trailer from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42708
Tongue length seems perfect. If you jack-knife it while backing up (which is easy to do with an ATV/short trailer combo!), the back tire of the ATV hits the tongue before the trailer bed can come in contact with anything. Harbor Freight doesn't list tongue length, so I ran out and measured it. 29 1/2 inches from the center of the ball to the leading edge of the bed.

 

[kd460]

I am almost done building a a little trailer for my ATV similiar to Quads, for getting in and out of the woods. Hey Quads, if your still out there, I have a question for you about your little trailer. Mainly the tongue length. How long is it? Do you find the lenth OK? Longer, shorter?

It's this trailer from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42708
Tongue length seems perfect. If you jack-knife it while backing up (which is easy to do with an ATV/short trailer combo!), the back tire of the ATV hits the tongue before the trailer bed can come in contact with anything. Harbor Freight doesn't list tongue length, so I ran out and measured it. 29 1/2 inches from the center of the ball to the leading edge of the bed.

Quads, thanks a million. Just finished welding the brackets on the axle and the trailer for the tongue to attatch to. Left the tongue long untill I heard from you. 29 1/2 inches it will be. The jack knife info is exactly what I was looking for. I am building it so the tongue removes, and the deck (and frame as one unit) removes from the axle. So now I have 3 separate pieces, an axle with wheels, a deck, and a tongue. Takes 5 minutes to assemble and take apart.

While I don't plan on transporting it much, I wanted to make it so I could take it apart aand pack it along with the ATV in the back of my pick up or my utility trailer. The little ATV trailer that I am building is not what I would consider highway legal. While the axle was at one time a boat trailer axle (solid 1 1/2 inch steel), it is now very small and I eliminated the suspension. It's now a rigid, designed for hauling say 6 foot lengths out of the woods and to my truck.

Thanks again for the info. KD