Woods trailer

[Bigsnowdog]

I have used a flatbed farm wagon in my reforestation project to haul brush and wood. The wagon has stake holes in it; I put branches in the holes to raise uprights to hold the brush on the trailer. By the time the load is complete, it is somewhat interwoven and tangled, by choice, to increase the amount hauled and to hold it in place.

The problem with that is that it is a lot of work to unload. I am thinking about building a trailer for this purpose, and wonder if you have ever seen a trailer that was well suited to this purpose. Or, do you have any ideas regarding this matter?

I have considered sides that latch in some way, permitting the unlatching of them so they lay flat to pull of the load. I am just casting about for ideas.

I think the width would be 5-6 feet, and the length would be 8-10 feet.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

I built a small 5 x 8 utility trailer for pretty much the same thing. I made solid 4 ft. sides and a ramp gate. This trailer has been an ongoing project for the past 16 mos. or so. I recently upgraded to a heavier axle and some tool boxs to accomodate my saws and climbing gear. I think I have all the bugs worked out of this. This trailer is only for hauling my gear around and small amounts of brush and wood.

 

[Newfie]

Build the chipper and the trailer will be a moot point.

 

[Bigsnowdog]

I would but I don't have the time right now.

 

[Newfie]

ahh, don't mind me, I'm PMS'ing tonight.

 

[Ax-man]

Would a parabuckle work for what your doing??

 

[Bigsnowdog]

What is a parabuckle?

 

[Ax-man]

Rope(s) under object or load, anchor rope down in some way, put rope over top of object or load, then pull in desired direction, in your case you would have to use a vehicle or tractor to unload your wagon.

I move somewhat heavy wood in this matter by myself. Get rope under and over the top of the log ( preferable round/ no large crotches ) stand on rope to anchor, then pull toward myself. Saves running to get a peavey if it isn't handy, sometimes is faster and easier than peavey on the right wood.

Do a search here it has been mentioned, I think Tree Spyder has a pic of it too, somewhere on the site.

 

[Reed]

It's not too farfetched to consider building a hinged flat bed and mounting a hydraulic ram to the front box bottom.

Pump mount on fan belt array and single throw hose fished back under the frame, one way control on bumper next to quick-connect. The weight of the box will bring it back down, douple swung tail gates or no gates at all - open rear.

Cost? Around $400.00 with ingenuity. Cheaper version is exhaust-powered inflatable bag-lift but patience with dumping.

 

[Ax-man]

I was going to suggest the same thing Oakwilt. There are hayracks and small grain wagons with the dump feature, hard to find, but they are around. Snowdog didn't mention what he was pulling the wagon with. A tractor with the proper hydraulic set-up and a dump wagon would be ideal for what he is doing.

One of our neighbors has one those dumping wagons. I've tried to sweet talk him out of it for years, but he just won't let go of it.

With Snowdog being from E. Iowa, I wouldn't think it would be hard to find one of those dumping wagons, they do show up at farm sales but usually they are so rusted out it isn't worth the effort to fix em.

 

[buckwheat]

lay some planks on the bed of the wagon that have some squares of plywood attached to the front end, appearing like an inverted hoe. when you want to unload, pull the planks off the back and the brush comes along with it. another option would be to lay a tarp on the wagon bed and just pull on that to roll the brush off. it probably all depends on the "mass" of the brush, but i'm sure there is some simple arrangement that will make the job easier.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Take a rope, chain or strap and place it on the trailer BEFORE you start to load it. Place you're stuff on top of the rope and when you have enough for a full load tie the rope on itself like a band but leave a long tail on the "band" that way you can tie it off on a tree or stump and then drive off to unload it. To get your rope back just untie the knot and tie one end to the trailer and drive off to pull the rope out from under the pile.

 

[Reed]

The nice thing about older dump wagons is the hydraulic ram rod is protected by being "retracted" from rust and things. I had an ancient non-used offered to me and after replacing the quick-connect it "inned and outted" like a Swiss watch.

I also liked the simplicity of Buckwheat's idea. A "trailer hoe". Seems like it would also be easy to pull it back out from under the load on the ground. However I'm a packer...learned from the Dutch elm days that the load has to be absolutely efficient for the 30-plus mile drive to the official disposal site. No one could've pulled it out but hydraulics combined with gravity. A whole tree = one whole load (if possible).

Now I'm dreaming about less back pain. So hard to even get outta bed this morning. Had to in and out of a skid steer yesterday and manually load 55 piles of deadfall into the grapple bucket (John Deere's grapple is add-on to the bucket, no rake bottom and bucket sides won't allow driving into the piles). I hurt today. If we don't use our lower backs every day we're in for some hurt when we do.

 

[Bigsnowdog]

Originally posted by Ryan Willock
Take a rope, chain or strap and place it on the trailer BEFORE you start to load it. Place you're stuff on top of the rope and when you have enough for a full load tie the rope on itself like a band but leave a long tail on the "band" that way you can tie it off on a tree or stump and then drive off to unload it. To get your rope back just untie the knot and tie one end to the trailer and drive off to pull the rope out from under the pile.

This is one of those ideas where a guy wants to say, "I wish I'd have thought of that."

That is an excellent idea, and so simple I feel dumb for not having thought of it.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

BSD,

Reed and I got our start at about the same time doing DED removals back in the early '70s. The method he described is the same as we used. For a cheap [free] method, it can't be beat. Still use the branch side stakes. When it is time to drive out from under your load, cut off the stakes to remove the snagging and allow the load to relax a little. If you unload in the same area you could set up a block in a tree to get your pick point up in the air. Another thing you could do is mount a manual or mechanical winch and pull the load off. Using a double whip tackle is an easy way to double the pull.

Last year I was considering making a dump trailer. I went to this site:

http://talk.agriculture.com/default.sph/agTopTalk.class?FNC=goToGroupMain__Atoptalkindex_html___265

and asked if anyone had an old farm wagon for sale. There was a guy in nw Iowa who had a couple for sale. Seems like he was only asking $75 or so. Be careful of old hydraulics. If the cylinder needs a rebuild it could get spendy. Most cylinders use normal o-rings but you could run into an odd ball. You'd have to come up with a power unit but that is pretty easy. A hydro pump and a small gas motor would work. Since dump time isn't a real issue, what's the difference between 15 seconds and 45 seconds? A vertical shaft lawn mower engine would work. You could even go with a manual pump too. It just takes Armstrong Power to run it.

Tom

 

[Reed]

Keep in mind the road rating of steerable farm wagons - tires could atomize over 40mph. I was thinking BSD is working his own land.

Tom, those cylinders I got were simple and the heads were bolted on allowing quick-change of the piston seals. Many of the selection I see the Northern Tool Company catalogue are not worth rebuilding but the prices are pretty low. If one has stock metal (junk laying around) a quick welded fulcrum or sissor-jack set-up allows a less-expensive smaller-throw ram to be used and on those a hand-pump power unit is possible. Porta-power rig. I love messing about with stuff, hopefully will translate that to a free or cheap leaky boat hull again some day.

Is the DED dump still down near Shakopee or has that town become tourist/B&B central? I would think by now (if removals are still massive) that pelletizing the wood and burning as fuel would be the norm.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Ryans onto it, another method you can use is to have instead of high sides is to have some forks (but more of them) like on a logging truck. You then use rachet tie downs that go all the way underneath the trailer, This way you can load up, rachet down, load more on and then rachet that down with a second pair of tie downs. Then you can retreive the first tie down and repeat.

You can also make an anchor which you put in first before the debris with a cable that sticks out the rear. Have some sort of anchor such as a tree to tie to and secure the cable to it. Then slowly drive off, its best if the point you secure the cable to is higher as that helps it not drags so much as its pulled off the trailer.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Reed,

Shakopee has grown quite a bit. With the 169 bridge across the MN River it opened up the sw to development. The site is still there but not used like in the bad ol' days. I always took my stuff out to Maple Grove where they had an open burn. Pretty cool to see a fire going that was as big as three houses. The fire would be so hot that green wood would burn and there wouldn't be any flames to speak of. Just HEAT! A buddy of mine had a sawmill set up there to mill logs into pallets and skids. Things were just beginning to turn over to graded lumber when he got hurt. Then the whole thing shut down.

Now, there is an energy plant in downtown St. Paul that burns woody and construction debris. They have collection sites around the metro. Then it is transported on end-dump trailers to be processed. I think they tub grind and screen before burning.

Tom

 

[Reed]

Cool Tom, sorry about Shakopee getting developed, suppose Chaska did too - used to go to the banks of the MN river to plink with my dad and our .22's then main street for a bowl of chili. It was completely rural and distant from the T.C.'s then.

At least glad some wood is processed as fuel. I still find it interesting that Mpls seems to come-out with progressive ideas about recycling and green legislation yet St. Paul (always the "lessor of the two") just quietly does them, ahead of the rest.

My trips up there for the last 20 years have been too short, under stress of clinic visits, or time committed to dire family situations and haven't been given the opportunity to get a feel for the area that helped make me. Maybe next time. It will be sad to see what you're describing but somehow in this land the attitude that "grow or die" has taken precedent over "remain and be". Can only expand so much until the bubble bursts and I definately hear the stress leaks hissing.

Got off the trailer thread huh?

Sorry. Good luck Snowdog, kind of wish I was there with torch and a pile of junk to challenge this project with you. I'm growing tired of dying oaks.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I don't think the wood to energy was a St. Paul project as much as an Excel, formerly NSP. Minneapolis has the garbage burner two blocks away from the Timberwolves arena. that has always amused me in an odd way.

Tom