Size Quad Tow DHT Splitter Up Long Steep Hill

[mopar969]

Hi All!

I acquired some property but to get to its a very steep and long hill. I have my suzuki 280cc quadrunner 4x4 quad but it isnt enough power to get the heavy 25 ton dirty hand tools log splitter back up the hill.

I am curious if anybody out there has a similar situation with a steep hill and tried to tow their splitter with a bigger quad??

I am a little bit nervous to get a bigger quad for fear of flipping it and because the path is very rough and slippery. I can get up the hill with just me on the quad but I am spinning wheels alot when in 4x4. The quad does have a locking diff but that doesn't seem to make a difference. So what do you guys do for a steep hill and big trees at the bottom. Maybe a bigger quad isn't going to make a difference?

Thanks for any and all input. Will try post some pics later today.

 

[c5rulz]

I don't have a good solution. Steep hills, and pulling things up and down with ATV's make for a dangerous situation.

 

[rarefish383]

I agree, I pull mine with a John Deere 265, 17 horse Kawasaki. I have a steep hill going down to my splitting area. I had a small load on my JD dump trailer this morning and hit a little patch of leaves. There was just enough ice in them to loose traction, and the ground was solid as a rock, so the tires wouldn't dig in. Chains probably would have done it. I had to back down the hill REAL slow, then zig zag across the hill down to my neighbors dive, and run around the neighborhood on pavement back to my house. I worry as much if not more going down hill. I had the trailer start pushing the tractor faster than it would go, so it jack knifed and pushed me all the way down the hill sideways. The dump trailer with a light load probably weighs about as much as the splitter. I have a 7 inch lift hitch on the splitter so it's almost level when towing. So, where the trailer just jacked into the rear tire and pushed me, the splitter tongue would come over the fender and squash me. Since I just got my knee replaced 7 weeks ago, I think about these things. I had a Vermeer 630A stump grinder, much heavier than our size splitters. If I had to go up a steep hill, I had a dolly with a ball that the hitch dropped on. I'd put a snatch block on a tree at the top of the hill and then pulled it with the tractor going down hill. If the splitting area is going to be a permanent place, I'd cut some switch backs so I could go across the hills at an angle instead of straight up.

 

[sirbuildalot]

How steep is this hill? I have a section of my woods trail that rises about 50 feet over the course of about 200 feet. Ive pulled a 5x9 trailer with 7 adults and 3 kids aboard during a Halloween hayride. The tow vehicle was a 2wd Case 448 garden tractor. I’ve also pulled a 4x7 trailer loaded with 1/3rd of a cord of firewood up the same hill with that tractor. If you are having trouble with a few hundred lb splitter, I’d get a bigger tow vehicle.

 

[panolo]

I have an older big bear 350 and it works well. I do have tire chains for the hill down to the lake. They make a heck of a difference. If that is one of the old quad runners with granny gear it should pull it. Used to repair clutches all the times from farmers pulling hay wagons for years.

 

[JeffHK454]

I’m guessing you’re talking about a LT 300 King Quad ? If so then I’d think it should be able to handle that splitter assuming it has good aggressive tires and the trail isn’t ridiculous. My buddy has a 93 LT 300 and it has locking front diff and some damn low transmission gearing and he uses it around a farm pulling some big stuff as long as the traction is there?

Sounds like you have a traction problem not a lack of power.

 

[greenskeeper]

counter-weight on the front of the quad? proper hitch height for weight distribution?

 

[rancher2]

That's not a huge quad but should handle that splitter. Back when I had smaller quads I used to always run chains on the back this time of the year and when I had four wheel drive like you do I would chain all four some times.

 

[NSMaple1]

You said not enough power. But did it spin out? Or just stop moving without any wheel spinning?

I would have guessed it spun out. From being too light or traction loss. Chains can help a lot with traction loss but if it feels like the splitter is having its way with you like pushing it out or overpowering the brakes you might need a bigger and heavier one.

 

[4seasons]

Not all Quads are the same. Some are lightweight, big engine machines, designed to go fast. Some are big heavy and slow and even though they may not have the power, they are more capable of towing. I have a Kawasaki 300 Bayou that weights 500 lbs. It is more on the utility end of things than the sport side. While it is great to get into tight spaces that the deer died in to haul it out, I wouldn't want to tow a 1000 lbs splitter especially trying to stop it downhill.
I would much rather have a 1000 lbs tractor to move a splitter around. With a 5000 lbs tractor or truck you won't even noticed the splitter back there.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[mopar969]

Hi guys here is the pic of the quad and splitter. The quad is a suzuki lt-4wd and has a 280cc sticker on it. I had to winch it up the last time I took it down and I have done that 3 times now. Which takes forever. It depends on the day and weather that dictates wether the tires slip or not. However the quad seems under powered cause in the morning when the ground is hard and frozen and there was no snow it would get 1/4 way up the hill and then just sit there and bogg. it wouldnt spin tires or anything. I will try to post pics of the hill later to se4e if a bigger quad will be best for me. Thanks for all advice fellas!!

Also please keep in mind this is an old work quad. She aint no beauty queen.

 

[JeffHK454]

Any hill that I’m spinning the tires like crazy on with a ATV would be off limits with any of the 4x4 tractors I’ve owned or driven....there’s no way a pickup truck or farm implement is gonna claw up a steep greasy hill like a quad.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

I think your leaving out other thoughts

my first thought is the DHT27 doesn't have great ground clearance , the suction line to the pump although better with the 90 on the bottom off the pump is still low and breaks when you snag it in a frozen rut , I broke mine before the 90* off the bottom of the pump.

but the issue isn't going up I would think up should be fine.

DOWN if the splitter out weighs the quad it gets real interesting.

I used to pull a 3 hauler snowmobile trailer around to transport brush it was fin until you were going down a hill then you just did your best to keep strait in front of the trailer so it didn't run you over slowing down any that you could .
it got scary and I found a smaller trailer to use and made more trips.

I think the real question is if your worried about getting a spiltter up and down how are you going to get the tons of wood down.

I might be thinking more along the lines of a portable winch to run things up and then back them down the hill

 

[NSMaple1]

You might have a clutch issue.

I have a 20 year old Arctic Cat 454. Suzuki drivetrain. It has no issues towing my Wallenstien almost anywhere. But you do need to be very careful in rough hills. It never runs out of power but it will spin out. Your splitter is 300 lbs heavier than mine (400 vs 700, I think). I also have a walking beam trailer that will hold 1/4 cord. Have to be extra careful with that.

Does it have hi & low range? If it was spinning out chains might help. But otherwise I think you might need something bigger.

 

[JeffHK454]

I think your leaving out other thoughts

my first thought is the DHT27 doesn't have great ground clearance , the suction line to the pump although better with the 90 on the bottom off the pump is still low and breaks when you snag it in a frozen rut , I broke mine before the 90* off the bottom of the pump.

but the issue isn't going up I would think up should be fine.

DOWN if the splitter out weighs the quad it gets real interesting.

I used to pull a 3 hauler snowmobile trailer around to transport brush it was fin until you were going down a hill then you just did your best to keep strait in front of the trailer so it didn't run you over slowing down any that you could .
it got scary and I found a smaller trailer to use and made more trips.

I think the real question is if your worried about getting a spiltter up and down how are you going to get the tons of wood down.

I might be thinking more along the lines of a portable winch to run things up and then back them down the hill

That’s the first thing I though also..if the splitter is shady hauling in and out how in the hell are you gonna move the wood!

Sometime you just have to wait till it’s dry out or maybe even frozen no matter how much that sucks.

 

[panolo]

I'm with NS here. That quad should be able to pull that splitter up a hill in 1st gear. Guessing the clutch pack is worn.

 

[kevin j]

I’d be scared of going down. Up, things stop. Down, things go faster and faster.
Had some scary times as a kid pulling loaded bale wagons with farm tractors. Lots of power, limited brakes.

 

[4seasons]

Any hill that I’m spinning the tires like crazy on with a ATV would be off limits with any of the 4x4 tractors I’ve owned or driven....there’s no way a pickup truck or farm implement is gonna claw up a steep greasy hill like a quad.

Of we were talking about just the vehicle I would tend to agree, but we are talking about towing a load up and down. We are talking torque to pull the load more than a limit of traction. I have had a Toyota truck with lockers in both ends that would pull hills that a quad would not though.

 

[JeffHK454]

Of we were talking about just the vehicle I would tend to agree, but we are talking about towing a load up and down. We are talking torque to pull the load more than a limit of traction. I have had a Toyota truck with lockers in both ends that would pull hills that a quad would not though.

When I commented before I was talking about a farm truck not a purpose built off-road truck with locking diffs and compound transfer-cases.

And if you out climbed a quad in pickup truck the guy on the ATV didn’t know how to ride.

 

[4seasons]

When I commented before I was talking about a farm truck not a purpose built off-road truck with locking diffs and compound transfer-cases.

And if you out climbed a quad in pickup truck the guy on the ATV didn’t know how to ride.

I don't want to derail this thread with a specific truck build vs a generic quad argument, so let's get back on topic.
A quad has a tendency to rare up when climbing a hill. I have hauled lots of wood with a quad and trailer, but coming down the hill can get sketchy. I would rather have a load of wood in the bed of a truck than behind a quad any day I have to go down hill.
Back to pulling a splitter up a hill assuming traction is not an issue, torque is what you need to pull. A huge quad is going to have less than 50 ft-lb of torque. Add the 700 lbs of splitter to the 500 lbs quad and 200 lbs rider and the 1400 lbs requires some pretty low gears to multiply the small amount of torque available. Most quads don't have the kind of low gears needed for this which is why the clutch is slipping and stalling out the quad. Tractors are by design low geared torque machines. They are much better suited to pull a load, although they can be tipsy on hillsides. If there is no danger of flipping, the tractor is the clear choice. The 4wd truck is a compromise between the two. It has more torque and lower gears than a quad, and is more stable than the tractor. Combine that with the safety of an enclosed cab and the ability to throw saws, axes, fuel cans, and even haul out the wood in the bed and it is the clear winner in most situations.

We can not see the specific hill that is being discussed so anything we suggest is just an educated guess anyway.