(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/METAVIC-LOG-TRAILER-HYDRAULIC-LIFT-9HP-HONDA_W0QQitemZ260456425852QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Trailers?hash=item3ca469a97c&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245)
Check out this wood hauler on Ebay
- Thread starter Flatbedford
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How would you use it? Remove the grapple and mount it on the Ford? Thinkin those nice looking wood sides of yours wouldn't last long if I was running the grapple.
SolarAndWood said:
If I had the money to buy that thing, I would just turn up the thermostat and forget about firewood!
Flatbedford said:
I'm too stubborn to pay the propane guy. For that matter, I'm too stubborn to pay the firewood guy. Come to think of it, paying $1.50 for a tomato is why I put the garden in.
Don't know who put in the opening bid, but the price doesn't seem that unreasonable - I have seen other similar setups discussed here, and IIRC they were in the 10-15K range for new, so 5K doesn't seem that bad for a used unit... (It is sweet, but not something I can use personally...)
Gooserider
Gooserider
Gooserider said:
I don't see the purpose at all. You can skid more than that with a logging winch on a moderate sized tractor. There was a guy local here who mounted a grapple on a 14K equipment trailer. I could almost see that, but why not just buck it and throw it in a dump trailer.
SolarAndWood said:
Don't know, I'd suspect that this would have the advantage of allowing you to get a lot of smaller logs, plus it would keep them out of the mud... Plus I wonder how many small tractors could really skid about 4 tons of logs in a single trip (rated capacity 3500kg, = 7700lbs = 3.8 tons, and figure the usual optimistic overload...) I suspect that the minimum vehicle to move that trailer fully loaded is less than what you'd need to move the same weight / volume as a skid load... Would seem to me that this would be something that could be moved by a gutsy ATV or small tractor that wouldn't be able to do the skidding easily...
OTOH, I could see someone having a setup w/ a splitter and so forth (or even a processor) and rather than bucking on site, haul the logs to the processing area and deal with them under ideal conditions... Seems to me a bit of a luxury for someone just doing home wood processing, but then I suspect that argument could be made about a lot of the "toys" I see folks talking about here... If I had a big property with a wood lot, I'd be tempted.
Gooserider
Gooserider said:
That's a good point. I prefer to skid everything when the ground is frozen. My tractor weighs maybe 2 tons with the loader and the 3 pt can lift almost 2 ton. It has no problem with full size trees on frozen reasonably level ground. I skid the trees to a place I can easily get my truck and trailer where I buck the tree. I only split adjacent to the woodshed after trucking the wood back to my house. My goal is to have as few pieces to handle as long as possible.
The biggest reason I see no point in a small rig like this is that you need the winch to get the tree out of the woods in the first place. Other than the mud, why stop and load it on a trailer that can't go over the road anyway. Maybe if you pulled the trailer up to the processor and directly loaded the deck.
SolarAndWood said:
Depends on how you define small I guess... Yes it isn't as big as the road rigs, but it seems like a size that one could pretty much drive up to the tree and grab it... A 12 foot long bed could presumably handle a 16-18' long log, and at 6' wide it wouldn't be too bad to get it through the trees, while the 32" tong capacity should let you pick up almost any tree you are likely to get in the New England woods...
I have seen some rigs along this idea that didn't appeal because they were maybe half this size, but this one looks reasonable - big enough to move some serious wood, small enough to get to it...
Me, I don't particularly like working in the cold, so the notion of skidding in the snow and ice doesn't appeal - I'd rather have something I can go in with in decent weather - but tastes differ...
Purely theoretical in any case - I don't have a setup that could use any sort of skidder, or a rig like this, so it's kind of a moot point... I either get log length delivered to my processing area, or if I drop any trees on our 1 acre suburban lot, I buck them where they fall so that I can move a few rounds at a time in my little red wagon - if I'm lucky it's a spot where I can get the lawn tractor to it and pull them out with that, if not I get to play draft horse...
Gooserider
I think that something like this makes a little more sense for hauling logs to be milled, than logs for firewood. You could keep them long and clean which I think would be better for milling. As a plus you do less damage to the ground if the logs are up on nice big tires, and not dragging behind you.
I'd buy that. However, I am more than happy to let the loggers do that for me after I mark the trees I want them to take. That is a tough business. Our logger skids everything when the ground is frozen out to a landing that he can get a triple axle truck to.
My father in law put a Prentice loader on an International single axle truck. It works pretty well for moving logs around but it doesn't take long to get to its 26K rating and years of going over that have taken its toll on the truck. His goal was to stay under CDL.
For firewood, I find it simplest to winch a tree out to the tractor and then just skid it to the woodshed or a landing if I am going to truck it somewhere. Once you get the front of the log off the ground, it slides relatively easily.
My father in law put a Prentice loader on an International single axle truck. It works pretty well for moving logs around but it doesn't take long to get to its 26K rating and years of going over that have taken its toll on the truck. His goal was to stay under CDL.
For firewood, I find it simplest to winch a tree out to the tractor and then just skid it to the woodshed or a landing if I am going to truck it somewhere. Once you get the front of the log off the ground, it slides relatively easily.
I've drooled over these in the inside back cover of the Bailey's catalog for a while. The wood I cut is 4 miles from my house and it would be nice to move it in log lengths to the house then work it up there. The closer you work it up to the point of burning the less you have to handle it.
OTOH, it doesn't look like a road worthy trailer and I don't see anything about brakes so I'd be leary of pulling that much weight behind my truck with no brakes, even if it is only 4 miles...
OTOH, it doesn't look like a road worthy trailer and I don't see anything about brakes so I'd be leary of pulling that much weight behind my truck with no brakes, even if it is only 4 miles...
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