Little loader tractor for the woods/firewood moving and loading (lots of pics)

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Kingsley

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Okay folks, here is my idea.

I have found a reasonable loader for a Cub Cadet 125 in good shape and complete. (36" bucket)

I have also found a John Deere 312 that would make a good donor for a dedicated little loader tractor.

What do you think of putting the 2 together and making a very small, but very mobile loader tractor?

My idea also involves quite a bit of counterweight on the rear of the 312 for steering, lifting, and traction. I'm thinking of 200 to 300 lbs of ballast.

IMO it would make a very mobile and handy tractor. It would be about the only loader tractor that would "fit" in the woods.

What do you think?

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The loader is pretty straight forward, but with the tractor I would keep the deck and mule drive for my 300 and put the correct seat on it.
 
Your idea is good, but I don't think it would be the ideal machine for in the woods. My dad has a 16hp Ford hydrostatic garden tractor with a Johnson frontend loader. It will lift a couple hundred pound and he has a large weight box on the back. It doesn't steer real well when lifting a load and the light duty wheel bearings fail quite often. It doesn't have a very tight turning radius. If I were you, I'd install the frontend loader on the JD, paint it up good and sell it (everyone wants my dads Ford). Then I'd find an older small skidsteer. They can lift more and spin around on a dime. I just sold my Bobcat M600 (to buy a newer one) and it was great in the woods. Small, moved around great, lots of lifting and pushing power. Just my 2 cents.
 
Those small skidsteers are neat, but they lack a few things.

I can't "spin" around in the woods. The land I cut on is not mine and they all want me to get the wood out with little to no evidenace of me being there.

I can put this tractor together for less than half of what I could buy a beat up almost broken skidsteer for.

The ground clearance of the skidsteer worrys me for going over obstacles.

I could pull this tractor out of the woods with my other tractor if it broke down or got stuck.

This is why I'm where I'm at with thinking about this loader tractor project. It is great to hear from someone who has experience with something similar though. How much weight does your Dad have behind his for counter balast?
 
Was at a gravely show and a guy had a very similar set up on a rider tractor similar to the you show.

It was soooo cool looking, and the hit of the show

But in long discussion with the owner, he said it was a fun *toy* and really not much of a worker.

The empty loader itself is so heavy for such a small tractor that by the time you put enough ballast on the rear just to keep the rear wheels *on* the ground, the machine is waaaay tooo heavy already to move much with an empty bucket, and is anything but easy to move around on anything other than a paved surface

If you enjoy building it, have at it, but for cheap work, just put one of those 50 buck tilt carts on the back and tow it...even then have a good set of chains even for morning dew
 
Stint hit the nail on the head. They look cool but there not real practical. Everyone wants one when they see them. My dad has a weight box the width of the tractor about 16" high and about 16" long. He has it full of bricks. It has plenty of counter weight. It never feels light on the rear wheels. With the frontend loader on the tractor and ballist, it just adds to much weight to the tractor. It doesn't manuever very well. I think a trailer with a crane and winch on it would be more handy.
 
My concern would be that there would be too much weight on the mechanical components of the front end of the tractor.
 
That's not true, my old man's little Kubota L185DT and FEL fits pretty good in the woods. Handy, handy little piece of machinery, especially with a wood wagon on it.
 
That's not true, my old man's little Kubota L185DT and FEL fits pretty good in the woods. Handy, handy little piece of machinery, especially with a wood wagon on it.

Hi Marc

Not sure it would be really too helpful for Kingsley's question to compare your old man's "little" ?? L185DT with Factory supplied/fitted FEL to the really "little" tractor that Kingsley wants to custom make a totally different stranger design/manufacturer FEL to fit around it ?
 
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Hi Marc

Not sure it would be really too helpful for Kingsley's question to compare your old man's "little" ?? L185DT with Factory supplied/fitted FEL to the really "little" tractor that Kingsley wants to custom make a totally different stranger design/manufacturer FEL to fit around it ?

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. What I was saying wasn't true was in regards to Kingsley's statement that a tractor the size of his would be the only one that would fit in the woods.

18.5 hp tractor is still little in my book anyway :) Good torque though!
 
Alright, I read through but might have missed it. What are you going to use the tractor for in the woods?

The garden tractors with a loader are cute little things, but like others have said they do not do a lot of work. If you are concerned about ground clearance on a skid steer, then the garden tractor will pose the same issue.

Once you get the counterweight on it, you are already taking the running gear on a small tractor. If you plan to pull a trailer into the woods, then use the loader to load one large round at a time, then pull the trailer out that is one thing that might work. But if you plan to go in load the bucket and drive out, then you are going to get really tired fast. Other thing to consider is when you are turning if the front wheel hits a root it will yank the wheel out of your hand fast. Keep your thumbs on the outside of the wheel.

I have had a lot of tractors small and big. Best user was a ford 2000 industrial with a loader on it. The power steering made it nice to run. I also had a power king with a loader on it, nice toy, but couldn't lift a whole lot. Now I have an older John Deere skid steer. Nice and easy to maneuver, lifts a lot, and leaves its mark in the woods. They are my woods so it is not a big deal but I wouldn't use it where I wanted to keep it like I wasn't there.
 
Consider a log arch or good ATV trailer. Sounds like you could build either one. I have a Log Rite forwarding arch on a small Polaris 330 4x4 ATV and with a 26" butt, 12' log completely suspended, you have to look hard to find your trail back for the second load. It is not fast, but it is simple, and 1500-1700 lbs. a trip. Smaller logs can be grouped up. I also use a Thule 1600 t/a ATV trailer with the quad, which is actually quicker when bucking in the woods, but can still haul close to a face cord per trip with the same result of not leaving any tracks. The trailer has ATV tires, is shorter, and easier to get around in tight spots, can be backed up, plus with its electric dump does double duty for Fall clean up. For heavy loads you need 4x4. Crane
 
heres mine it gets alot of use around here...easy to manuver and can pick up a decent amout of weight....

rear tires are loaded



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heres mine it gets alot of use around here...easy to manuver and can pick up a decent amout of weight....

rear tires are loaded



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You have a nice looking machine, but since it is still much bigger than the Deere 312 King was contemplating modifying and adapting, and other assorted jury rigging Rube goldberging, It's performance really is not comparable, is it
 
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I didn't move quick enough on it and someone else gave the guy $100 more than he was asking. Oh well.
Thanks for the replies,
Marty

Me thinks *missing* that deal made you the real winner

Best to ya, King.

PS:
Even an old Ford 8 or 9N with the old wagner loader on front and a big 3 pt mounted box on rear woud seem a much better use of 1500 bucks and lots less 'Rube" building work

For another hundred or so at auction get used turf tires and tip toe trackless thru those woods
 
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