KiwiBro
Mill 'em, nails be damned.
Tractor will have FEL and I have the forks +log grab already from my old tractor. The idea of the loader on the trailer was because some of the harvesting is on small trails on the sides of steep hills. Sometimes there's not enough room to land logs let alone process them. It's quite good to be able to reach over the sides a little and clear the chute (Which is half the reason I'm after a knuckleboom that's robust). Tractor FEL's are sometimes not much fun with logs when room is tight. Secondly, loading trucks with a tractor wouldn't be as much fun or as productive as with the knuckleboom.
I have in the past use a tilt ag trailer that I fixed log bunks to and loaded with the tractor FEL. It was fast unloading at the log staging area, if the area is big or being cleared often enough. Just back up, dump the lot, and be gone. Hmmm, a tilt-bed log trailer with solid loader could be an interesting combo. It might on occasion save having to unload the trailer with the loader.
I agree, there's probably not enough room to get the loader and bunks on that aforementioned arrangement and still keep the load balanced. It's quite a juggling act at times, getting around tight corners and through farm gates themselves on tight corners. Two of the more common log lengths if milling myself will be 2m and 5m (about 6 1/2' and 16'). There will be times it won't be possible to get the 5m logs out because the value isn't enough to justify pulling gate posts or cutting wider corners. Unless the gates are close to the mill and I can drop logs one side and ferry into mill with FEL - lifting the log over the posts as travel through the gates.
I know this all sounds mickey-mouse but farm woodlots the big boys are too smart to touch are what I'm targeting and farmers either haven't thought about how they will get logs out, or they have and decided to find a mug who will do it instead. It's also been by experience that occasionally the first such few small, ugly jobs on such farms are a test. Pass that with a can-do attitude and you are told about the really good patch they have been keeping silent about.
I have in the past use a tilt ag trailer that I fixed log bunks to and loaded with the tractor FEL. It was fast unloading at the log staging area, if the area is big or being cleared often enough. Just back up, dump the lot, and be gone. Hmmm, a tilt-bed log trailer with solid loader could be an interesting combo. It might on occasion save having to unload the trailer with the loader.
I agree, there's probably not enough room to get the loader and bunks on that aforementioned arrangement and still keep the load balanced. It's quite a juggling act at times, getting around tight corners and through farm gates themselves on tight corners. Two of the more common log lengths if milling myself will be 2m and 5m (about 6 1/2' and 16'). There will be times it won't be possible to get the 5m logs out because the value isn't enough to justify pulling gate posts or cutting wider corners. Unless the gates are close to the mill and I can drop logs one side and ferry into mill with FEL - lifting the log over the posts as travel through the gates.
I know this all sounds mickey-mouse but farm woodlots the big boys are too smart to touch are what I'm targeting and farmers either haven't thought about how they will get logs out, or they have and decided to find a mug who will do it instead. It's also been by experience that occasionally the first such few small, ugly jobs on such farms are a test. Pass that with a can-do attitude and you are told about the really good patch they have been keeping silent about.
