5hp Off-road redneck firewood hauler thoughts with background, would it really work FOR ME?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
S

Sophie_Soapstone

Member
Jun 26, 2021
9
25508
Hey guys/girls. I have been working with firewood all my life because I have to. I'm either a poor bloke, or just tight with my money, (haven't figured it out yet). Let's go with "I'm low on cash". I cut my wood in a very gnarly location a couple miles from where my stove is located, but its open country free to cut what I want. (I'm an heir to the property). My problem is transportation. Over the years erosion and traffic has turned this area into something like what you would see if you U-tube "insane hillclimb" or "bounty hole" or "hold my beer and watch this". A good standard 4x4 road truck used to work pretty good. Over time only atv's could pass. There just isn't much room to put firewood on a 300honda fourtrax and a cheap Lowe's trailer but even then the road got worse and started to become impassable. ( I started breaking trailer tongues and wiping out my swimg-arm bushings way more than I liked). I ran across an insane build on youtube of a home-made wood hauler powered by a 6.5 predator engine from Harbor Freight.

I know this idea works using an insane gear ratio to increase torque which basically means "its gonna be slowww". That is fine with me. I have a welder and can source the axles, steering gear, transmission and transfer case without much hassle. My question is this:

Using something a little more powerful such as a motorcycle engine, a larger 22hp lawnmower engine, etc and using a gear ratio that would give me 5mph top speed in overdrive 2wd um, High Gear, (im guessing 1/16 a mph in 4-low) do you think it would still have enough torque to move 4 full chords of split wood through some gnarly areas if the chassis was designed correctly? It basically has to be a rock-crawler with a huge cargo bay powered by a lawnmower engine, motorcycle, etc. What is your take on a build like this?
 
Sounds like a lot of work if you want to haul 4 cords on it.
Look around for a small skidder,it will retain it's value whenever you are done cutting wood where it's required.Selling the unit you are thinking of building may be tough.
Post some pic's of what you are thinking of.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GadDummit
A cord of green wood will weigh in at up to 5000 pounds depending on species. Potentially 20000 pounds for 4 cords. That is waaaay outside of the scope of a small motor trying to do any kind of terrain. MAYBE 1/4 of that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Osage, Ashful and bholler
Jags said:
A cord of green wood will weigh in at up to 5000 pounds depending on species. Potentially 20000 pounds for 4 cords. That is waaaay outside of the scope of a small motor trying to do any kind of terrain. MAYBE 1/4 of that.
Click to expand...
Even a single cord on rough terrain is a stretch for a small motor. Possibly with enough gear reduction but I would expect broken axles etc often
 
Something like this? Not a small motor.....Certainly no where near 4 cords in 1 trip, but maybe 6-10 trips.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
1. Can you fix the road to allow easier travel?
2. Is it equally impossible in all seasons?
3. Would a winch and a sled work? If you are able to fabricate a rock crawler, you could rig an old car or truck engine to pull a cable.
 
I'm with Limestone, I'd be fixing the road. Of course, that usually a tractor with box blade (or at least rear plow), which may be a bridge to far.

I used skid all of my logs out of deep woods using a Ford 3000 and a choker chain, dragging the logs 1/4 to 3/4 mile up a rocky (and in places, steep) creek bed. It's amazing the places that old tractor would go without breaking, given it's age and relatively minute stature.

Of course, single logs are usually only 1/4 to 1/3 cord, maybe 1000 - 1500 lb. I'd not be trying to pull full cords over very rough terrain with anything that small.
 
What you're looking for is well outside the scope of what an average backyard welder/mechanic can handle.

Here is a machine that will do what you ask, it's called a Nodwell 110, payload of 23,000lbs, 260hp cummins diesel, 4.3 psi ground pressure at max GVW. We use them around here all the time, pretty cool where they will go, actually were invented for use in the Muskeg in my area.

Budget will be an issue though.

[Hearth.com] 5hp Off-road redneck firewood hauler thoughts with background, would it really work FOR ME?
 
I was thinking something like:
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
-or-
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
or just go on youtube and search "predator engine powered".

Yes it would be a gnarly build. I have thought about improving the road but I actually like how impassable it is but may have to as this is my only source of wood. 20,000 pounds is actually what my payload goal would be and I'm confident I can build the chassis, and its all downhill when loaded. My only worry is the 15% grade on the last home stretch to the stove with 20,000 lbs of wet wood. (at this point 2 chords a load would feel like success). I may tinker with the welder some when it warms up. I might have enough gopher wood growing around the house to do me a season, if not then I might have to just pay the electric company. I hate having some prime oak/hickory/beech free for the taking and not being able to get it out. As a side note: only way to move wood currently is 1. Hand dolly. 2. Wheel barrow. 3. my hands/back 4. small front wheel drive car. :-)
 
For the last few years I have hauled all my wood with our Gator. I cut within a 1/2 mile of house. It can haul maybe a rick but if I do this several times a week I can get ahead of my needs. Currently I have about 3 yrs supply which is about 8 cords. I actually have more wood now than I had at the beginning of the season.
 
This is my wood hauler
There are no roads in my wood lot
i get 1/2 a cord of dry wood on it,it's a little over a mile from home.
2 hours i can have it filled by myself and be home.
Now i don't see a real advantage of taking a toyota then removing the engine and putting a tiny engine in it.

[Hearth.com] 5hp Off-road redneck firewood hauler thoughts with background, would it really work FOR ME?
 
  • Like
Reactions: DonTee, sloeffle and duramaxman05
I really don't understand why you would want to haul it all at once. If it were me I would do some work on the road and just haul 1/2 to a full cord at once. A cheap beater truck should easily be able to do that.

To me I don't see the benifit of making a vehicle specifically to haul all of your wood over rough terrain that is only going to get worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson and Ashful
No way either of those two rigs are gonna haul 20000 pounds over any terrain. Or I'll eat my electric fillet knife.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson, sloeffle, Osage and 1 other person
I also don't get why you would go to the trouble of using such a small motor and all the gear reduction nessecary when you can get a small block Chevy or Ford with trans and transfer case for $500 or so. Hell I just bought a running f150 with a bad frame for $500 just for the trans and axles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson and Ashful
because I'm low on cash... $500 is $500 and I got metal and old axles out the ying-yang... No.. none of those rigs would haul even a chord.... those are to show that its possible to us a small engine to move heavy objects. No I don't want to haul all my wood at once, but would like to haul as much as possible at a time since the area is so rugged, ... and no a beater truck won't do it.. I used to use a 4x4 s-10 but making 4 trips a day through that mess I call a road takes a toll on ya plus wears out your rig. This was my last gasp for air looking for a way to get some wood piled up. Its just not meant for EVERYONE to be able to haul wood in this life.
 
Sophie_Soapstone said:
because I'm low on cash... $500 is $500 and I got metal and old axles out the ying-yang... No.. none of those rigs would haul even a chord.... those are to show that its possible to us a small engine to move heavy objects. No I don't want to haul all my wood at once, but would like to haul as much as possible at a time since the area is so rugged, ... and no a beater truck won't do it.. I used to use a 4x4 s-10 but making 4 trips a day through that mess I call a road takes a toll on ya plus wears out your rig. This was my last gasp for air looking for a way to get some wood piled up. Its just not meant for EVERYONE to be able to haul wood in this life.
Click to expand...
Fix the road first. It'sonly going to get worse
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson
I'm still not understanding the desire, or even the efficiency, in trying to haul large amounts of wood in one shot. Heck, I have money to do this hobby any way I damn well please, including the buying of that Nodwell ABMax posted above, if I felt like doing something really stupid with it. But I still don't see much point in dragging wood out of the forrest more than a log or two at a time, when I'm a one-man processing operation.

Are you imagining you're going to fell, buck, process, and load 4 cords in a morning, to haul it out that afternoon? What is the thought process, here?

I'd buy an old Ford tractor, which can be had for less than anything you're proposing to do, if you're buying without loader or implements. Put a drawbar on the lower links, and buy a choker chain. Fell a tree, buck it to ~1000 lb. logs, and skid them out. Do your processing after you've drug the log out of the woods and into your wood-stacking area. Done.

Along with that tractor, you can keep an eye on Craigslist or Marketplace for a cheap old used rear blade, or even a box blade. That will allow you to improve and maintain your logging road.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DonTee, Isaac Carlson and sloeffle
I could gear a weedeater motor that would pull a semi truck. I am considering the rig as a whole. The power plant is only 1 part of many to consider. I can build damn near anything but I dont see an application here that warrants such a massive beast. A cord cut,loaded and unloaded is all I care to do in a day. You are one tough cookie if 4 cords per day is your goal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson and Ashful
Maybe the OP did not mean to cut, buck, split and load those four cords in one day... Just move all the wood cut, bucked, and split in previous days in one day to the stacking area.

(Still seems like the geared down small engine might not be the best approach - and that's nothing to do with tough cookies or not, it's just asking for mechanical trouble imo.)
 
Considering you will have to use 5-ton axles at a minimum this turns into a big build
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson
Jags said:
Considering you will have to use 5-ton axles at a minimum this turns into a big build
Click to expand...
And lots of gear reduction which can get expensive quickly
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson
Sophie_Soapstone said:
because I'm low on cash... $500 is $500 and I got metal and old axles out the ying-yang... No.. none of those rigs would haul even a chord.... those are to show that its possible to us a small engine to move heavy objects. No I don't want to haul all my wood at once, but would like to haul as much as possible at a time since the area is so rugged, ... and no a beater truck won't do it.. I used to use a 4x4 s-10 but making 4 trips a day through that mess I call a road takes a toll on ya plus wears out your rig. This was my last gasp for air looking for a way to get some wood piled up. Its just not meant for EVERYONE to be able to haul wood in this life.
Click to expand...
If a 4x4 S10 can not make the trip how is putting a small engin in the same frame going to help?
No money ? Where is the small engin and gear reduction coming from? Gear reduction stuff is very expensive to buy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isaac Carlson
Sophie_Soapstone said:
this with a 22hp briggs or kohler-----
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
Click to expand...

Just curious...
What are you smoking? I want some !!!
There was nothing powered by a briggs or kohler in the video unless it was sitting in the back of one of those russian units.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom