Tractors and Trailers

[upsnake]

Went over to the neighbors to cut up a tree that blew over in the storm the other day. It was on the other side of their property from the driveway. So hooked the trailer up the garden tractor.



Might have overfilled the trailer a little bit, front tires kept wanting to lift up. Then did one pretty good wheelie going over up a ditch, but made it home.
The trailer is 5 * 8. I wish I had the big toys that some of you guys have but for now this is working out for me. I split the rounds throw them back into the trailer then drive that over to the pile to stack.

 

[Cheesecutter]

Someone once told me it not the size of the toy that matters, it's how efficiently you play with it. Why don't you just split by the stack pile and save a step handling it?

 

[dave_376]

Its all perspective! I wish I had your Garden Tractor. It would make many of my chores much more manageable. Next time mount some counter weight on the front, Snow plow or snowblower to help keep those tires on the ground.

 

[upsnake]

Cheese, - Ya that would be prop smarter haha. The stacks are only 20 feet or so from the rounds and splitter. I have found that it is quicker to split it and just toss into the trailer and when that is full just drive it right next to the stack, rather than split a piece stop splitting to stack the piece then split the next.

Dave - Thanks, makes me feel better about the equipment i do have. haha. I have a snow blower for the tractor, just don't normally keep it on in the summer. That was the first trailer load that made the front tires lift up. It prob wasn't very good on the trailer either. I was just trying to not having to make two trips. haha

 

[JeffHK454]

Good lookin older tractor... Ariens? I always loved the moon caps !

 

[philoshop]

Looks like ya got it workin' just fine! Nice score

 

[Iska3]

That's one nice load on that trailer. I agree with Cheesecutter.... "Someone once told me it not the size of the toy that matters, it's how efficiently you play with it." I used my mower to pull many loads from the woods. Later we got the 800 so I could pull bigger loads and not long after that we picked up the 500 to pull the log splitter... Kind'a funny but my loads are not much bigger. The key is to ballance the load on the trailer, put chains on the garden tractor and enjoy your day in the woods.

 

[upsnake]

Jeff- Yup Ariens GT 17. It is 31 years old.

Bought it a few years back for the mower and snowblower (48" 2 stage blower), but the gearbox on the deck was shot. So ended getting zero turn.
Then welded the receiver tube on the draw bar so i could pull the log splitter and trailer and lawn roller around.

At some point I want to get a NH Boomer 30 with backhoe size tractor, but in the mean time the ole Ariens is doing a good job pulling things around.

 

[OhioGregg]

I have used garden tractors and ATV's for haulin wood in the woods. Both will work well, depending on the footing you have. They work very well on hard dry level ground etc. But, soft or uneven ground in the woods it seems a little larger tractor works a whole lot better. While the old 8n Ford doesn't have much more power than a modern garden tractor, it does have the advantage of a little more weight and gearing when it comes to traction. While it is a little bigger than most garden tractors, it is quite nimble in the woods. No problems pulling any kind of weight I put on the trailer while cutting wood.

Gregg,

 

[zogger]

You can do a lot of work with a *real* compact garden tractor.

 

[Fred Wright]

Good deal... nice to know I'm not alone in using a garden tractor to haul rounds. It was free, an older Murray Widebody GT. We pulled the mower deck and fixed it up for hauling.

Just an observation - the transaxles in these tractors aren't really designed for that much tongue weight. My BIL wrecked the rear in his years ago doing this, thinkin' he would get more traction. He'd have been better served with wheel weights.

Balance the trailer load by checking tongue weight while loading it. If you can lift the drawbar with one hand, it's good. If you need better traction, tire chains, wheel weights or AG tires (or a combination thereof) will do the trick.

 

[svk]

Gregg,

My father in law has one very similar to this with a mower. He stores it outside on a piece of property he owns and rarely uses it. I keep trying to convince him that he should store it at my place in my garage instead. No luck yet.

 

[GVS]

I have used garden tractors and ATV's for haulin wood in the woods. Both will work well, depending on the footing you have. They work very well on hard dry level ground etc. But, soft or uneven ground in the woods it seems a little larger tractor works a whole lot better. While the old 8n Ford doesn't have much more power than a modern garden tractor, it does have the advantage of a little more weight and gearing when it comes to traction. While it is a little bigger than most garden tractors, it is quite nimble in the woods. No problems pulling any kind of weight I put on the trailer while cutting wood.

Gregg,

Thats a very handy combination right there!

 

[flotek]

I use a 66" ford garden tractor .mine has ag tires and a trusty Koehler engine
Its heavy duty at over 900 pounds and has pulled a pickup f150 truck out of a ditch . The old tractors of the 60"s aren't like today's sheet metal mtd junk

 

[upsnake]

Greg, nice trailer. I wish the one I have had wider tires, but it was free (parents trailer haha)

 

[artbaldoni]

Just watch the downhills with the light tractor and the heavy trailer. Tried that setup here on my mountain and engaged pucker factor braking a couple times! I now use a smaller cart instead of the trailer with my IH Cub. I find it wiggles through the woods better as well as actually slowing down going down hill.

 

[OhioGregg]

My father in law has one very similar to this with a mower. He stores it outside on a piece of property he owns and rarely uses it. I keep trying to convince him that he should store it at my place in my garage instead. No luck yet.

I bought my 1950 8N in 1998, with the intention of doing a restore on it. Well, its 2013, soon to be 2014 and I havn't got around to doing it yet. But it gets used a lot!! I would be lost without it.

Gregg,

 

[Jim Timber]

I still need a tractor. In the mean time, I just work my ATV like it's a mule.

 

[Speed]

What size would you like?

 

[philoshop]

Speed, yer killin' me man! Tractor and trailer envy, all in one post.