To build a trailer.

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Here are a couple facts to consider on this ATV and trailer . A 260 cc engine equals about 8 hp most lawn tractors have twice the hp. and are geared for pulling . That ATV will weigh about 300#. The trailer you hope to build will weigh 10 times the ATV when loaded. Imagine a 5,000# truck trying to pull a 50,000# load. ATV tires are not much more than heavy duty inner tubes with treads with a weight rating of about a couple hundred pounds each.

I have a very light weight 4x6 trailer with 16" sides and a 4WD ATV. I have buried all 4 tires trying to pull some loads.
 
freemind said:
Look, I cannot afford to buy a honda, polaris, ect. Talon sells these utility 2x4 ATV's at a price I can afford. The only problems the Talon's are having is wiring issues. I am able to fix wiring. No biggie.

USED ATV's are running alot more that a NEW talon. Sure, I would love to have a mini truck, 4x4 ATV, or even a UTV. I don't have 5k plus to spend.

It WILL be the talon, unless something comes along in the 2k price range.

So, with that said, I need a trailer for it. The idea of the axle from a FWD car sounds good. I have a scrap yard not too far away. I am pretty sure I can get one reasonable from them.

Wish I could get steel reasonable, but there is no local place to buy from that doesn't have prices marked way up.
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I dont mean to step on your toes either, but have had first hand experience with the Talon quads.
My riding buddy bought one and it has spent half of its life in my shop being repaired.Parts are hard to come by,expensive, and the quality is poor.I have welded his frame three times in a year, all in different places.
On top of that, the towing rating is only 400lbs.Your trailer is going to weigh half of that, leaving you a measly 200lbs of payload.Not a lot when it comes to green wood.
With a two wheel drive quad, you are going to spend a lot of time wrassling the thing around unless you weigh the tongue down real good.Rear tongue capacity on the Talon is 50 pounds.
After listening to me gripe for hours on end, my buddy did some searching around and found a nice Honda Foreman 4x4,three years old.Nice machine,runs good, and all I have done to it is give it a good tune up and change the fluid and replaced one boot on it.He paid 1700 bucks for the thing off of craigslist.
 
Our family is big into ATVs. Not trying to brag, but we have several.

I'm just here to offer my wisdom.

A 260cc won't have a ton of pulling power as mentioned above. You best bet is actually one of those 10cuft lawn carts. I use one my self.

It won't hold much wood but at the same time it won't overload your ATV.

In addition to the 2 lawn carts I have, I also use a 4x6 highway trailor. My ATV is a 660 Grizzly and when I pile the 4x6 trailor full with wood, even the 660cc you can definitely feel the weight of the cart. I've been in situations of snow/mud where I got stuck in 4x4 and had to disconnect the trailor.

We have a 250 Honda Recon and a 250 Suzuki Ozark. The tow ratings on each is in the 400lb range. Any trailor bigger than a 10-15 cuft lawn cart full of wood is going to really tax your clutch/engine.

Both those 250's above have autoclutches and you can slip and burn the clutch if you are in the wrong gear going up a steep hill, at a slow speed. It would be the same if pulling a big cart of wood.

I'm not sure if your Kymco is an auto clutch or full automatic, but you can stress your belts or cluth by pulling a very heay trailor.

If I could offer any advice, I'd go with a lawn cart. Ive even seen some that were 15cuft at TSC before. Other than that, I'd suggest looking for a bigger used ATV, even if it means going out of state to purchase.

The lawn carts may not haul alot of wood but at least you will be saving your ATV and your back from major damage.
 
Soby1 said:
Try an auto junk yard. Find a rear axle off of a front wheel drive car there easy to shorten and you will have the rims tires all ready to go.
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HorseShoeInFork said:
Go to a salvage yard an buy the rear axle out of a front wheel drive car. Cheap cheap cheap. Can cut to narrow down or whatever and tires are cheap cheap cheap. I threw one away a few years back. Sorry.
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Whoa! That's scary. Just re-read this thread today and saw your post!
 
freemind said:
This doesn't sound like a bad idea. Are those axles pretty heavy? I don't want the trailer to weight a thousand pounds when I am done.

It will have a metal frame, plywood floor, and wooden sides.
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No, the ones I have used have been half round tubing. Very light weight but strong enough for what you are wanting.
 
I do not know what you want to spend on a trailer. But this one looks good for what you want to do and has high flotation tires.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200377292_200377292

If all you are going to use the atv for is hauling wood. I have seen some nice pulling tractors made from old garden tractors that look sharp. If you are not hauling far an old farmall cub tractor will out pull my 400 yamaha Kodiac 4x4 atv and use less than half the gas to do it.

T2.JPG




Billy
 
goof008 said:
Good luck...and remember the limiting factor on the towing abilities of a quad are the brakes and the hitch. I've towed a 4x7ft trailer full of wood up hill with mine...way over the rated towing capacity, but gravity stopped me and I had it loaded heavy in the back to take some weight off the hitch.
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From my experience...weight (traction) is the limiting factor for me. I live in hill country though. I have an 800 sportsman and the things low end power is scary, i just usually cant transfer enough of it to the ground. Id be leery of the 260 chinese quad...at least dont buy one expecting it to work miracles. Quads are not the best pulling machines. When i haul wood with mine i use a big (5x3 maybe) plastic lawn cart. If i have it overloaded even with my 800 i cant get moving starting on an uphill grade very well. Usually have all 4 wheels throwing turf until shes rolling.

Tire chains will be your best bet if you go with a 2 wheel drive quad. Everyone here is giving you good advice...make sure your spending your money wisely.
 
Along the lines of Cowboy Billy,I bought a running/working Ford 8n for $1000 back on Halloween 09.It will out work any quad.
 
Much as I would ALSO like a small tractor (especially one with a loader and a 3 point) those out price even used quads. Unless you find a hunk of junk needing everything including an overhaul. Like I said, folks in my part of America are REAL proud of their stuff.

Points are well taken about the Talon quad. I really don't want the Talon, but what else am I going to do? Used quads sell high here. Even with people out of work, and the economy in the crapper, people are not making deals. I would happily give 2k for a good used 4x4 quad. (well, so long as I didn't need to drive more than an hour one way)

Quads are just really expensive. Unless you are buying a Honda 300ex. I won't have all the cash until tax time. Which is really close, but not close enough.
 
freemind said:
Much as I would ALSO like a small tractor (especially one with a loader and a 3 point) those out price even used quads. Unless you find a hunk of junk needing everything including an overhaul. Like I said, folks in my part of America are REAL proud of their stuff.
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Not that I doubted you or anything,but I went searching the Indiana Craigs list and well you're right,they are a proud bunch :dizzy: ,You could rethink the drive time and probably get something cheaper?

The tractor I bought was a RUNNING/WORKING piece,sure it wont win best of show or anything like that,but it works great,just like it's supposed to...They are out there and can be found.
 
This is a tough one. I'm fortunate and have a 650 Cat that I abuse pulling wood with. Patience might be your best recourse. The Talon are the ones they sell at TSC? My folks bought a side by side from TSC and they are really regretting it now.
Not to discourage you but keep a close eye on CL and you just may run into what your looking for.
I pull a 4x6 trailer (over loaded of course) and it's all it can handle...probably too much.
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Here is mine its not too big but its built tough to handle the beating. Its around 65 inches long and has a tailgate that folds up and down and can be used as a ramp to unload and load. I was also carefull not to go too big. Thats a whole different problem.
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freemind said:
Much as I would ALSO like a small tractor (especially one with a loader and a 3 point) those out price even used quads. Unless you find a hunk of junk needing everything including an overhaul. Like I said, folks in my part of America are REAL proud of their stuff.

Points are well taken about the Talon quad. I really don't want the Talon, but what else am I going to do? Used quads sell high here. Even with people out of work, and the economy in the crapper, people are not making deals. I would happily give 2k for a good used 4x4 quad. (well, so long as I didn't need to drive more than an hour one way)

Quads are just really expensive. Unless you are buying a Honda 300ex. I won't have all the cash until tax time. Which is really close, but not close enough.
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I wouldnt be to opposed to traveling if you can get a deal.If you plunk down
2K on a quad that either wont do what you need, or ends up costing you more in parts, that is 2K down the drain.Trust me, the resale value on that Talon is zilch.
If,on the other hand, you check around a 500 mile radius of your place, you might be money ahead.Not only that, use the guys on the boards here to help you out.I do believe that if you found one here within 100 miles of where I am at, I would drive over there and check it out for you and save you the drive.
Here are a few examples. The second listing is right here and I know the guy
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/1564732837.html
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/1564601805.html
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/1564404856.html this one is a steal
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/1564345077.html

You might spend a few bucks on gas,but I think you would be money ahead and have a more pleasant time hauling your wood with a rig that can handle the chore.
All the listings above are right around my area, and if you want I would be glad to check a couple of them out for you.Indiana aint that far from here, easy one day drive.
 
Well the problem with a drive over 100 miles:

I work 7 days a week. Thats right, I never got one day off last year, and I don't expect this year to be different.

I am off on the weekends after 11 AM and back on to feed steers at 4 PM.

That is a 5 hour window. Doubt I could get to KY in that time. :)

SO, it must be a local purchase. If ya'll think CL is listed high, stop in to one of the dealers local to me. You will get a new education on high priced used quads.

SO, a quad in the short term in a necessity. I can't wait a long time as I need to get about 40 more cords of wood cut and stacked. To get it out of the woods, I require a quad. I am far too lazy to spend my time walking rounds 100 yards to my trucks. I allready sold out of the samll bit of wood I had for sale. I want double to triple the amount of sale wood for next year. That and I want to try doing campfire bundles for the lakers.
 
freemind, I went to Tractor Supply and bought a 4' X 8' frame and running gear they were $279 at the time and they had one that was bent alittle and I got that one for $239 with alittle work you could make what ever size you needed out of it 4x8, 4x6. I made mine for the tractor but I have pulled it with a full load of wood with the ATV.
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