# Hauling wood with ATV Question



## Arc_Dad (Mar 10, 2011)

How do you haul wood/trees out of the woods with your ATV? I have a small cart/trailer that is going to hold much wood at all.  Is there a good way to drag trees behind the ATV?


----------



## firefighterjake (Mar 10, 2011)

I started out by using one of those $99 carts you can get at Home Depot or Lowes . . . it worked OK, but it really isn't built to haul as much firewood as I do . . . and it is limited in the amount. I have since replaced it with a larger trailer that my cousin altered and beefed up that is working out very well.

I guess the question is how do you haul out your wood . . . if you buck it up in the woods as I do it makes sense to have a trailer . . . if you prefer to buck up the wood once you get it out of the woods you may want to build a different style of trailer, use a logging arch or sledge.


----------



## quads (Mar 10, 2011)

Here is how I do it.

Winter:







Summer:


----------



## Arc_Dad (Mar 10, 2011)

Nice Quads your Sportsman earns its keep just like mine except mine is working to plow snow.  I have an old 2-up snowmobile trailer.  I may just have to build some sides on it.  It's about 8' wide though and is going to limit where I can go in the woods.  I kind of like the idea of the arch to haul full trees out of the woods.  I figure this year I'll get input from you guys and learn on my own.  Next year I'll come up with what I really like and go for it.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Mar 10, 2011)

Here are 2 ways we haul wood out. The first with a dray. The first picture with a couple logs on and then one with just the dray so you can see what it is.












Most times we cut right in the woods and haul out with the trailer. The first picture I've unloaded a load and only the tools are in it. The second shows a load.


----------



## Cascade Failure (Mar 10, 2011)

I have a low quality trailer similar in appearance to BWS's trailer.  My biggest problem is a long, steep, bumpy hill I have to follow to come home. I really need to build a trailer with brakes. Sometimes I just skid the log downhill and then cut it up and bring it home it the trailer.


----------



## thewoodlands (Mar 10, 2011)

Arc_Dad said:
			
		

> How do you haul wood/trees out of the woods with your ATV? I have a small cart/trailer that is going to hold much wood at all.  Is there a good way to drag trees behind the ATV?





We have two wagons, the wooden one hauls plenty of wood in the summer and the plastic trailer I use both in the summer and most of the winter when hauling out wood.



Zao


----------



## firefighterjake (Mar 10, 2011)

Arc_Dad said:
			
		

> Nice Quads your Sportsman earns its keep just like mine except mine is working to plow snow.  I have an old 2-up snowmobile trailer.  I may just have to build some sides on it.  It's about 8' wide though and is going to limit where I can go in the woods.  I kind of like the idea of the arch to haul full trees out of the woods.  I figure this year I'll get input from you guys and learn on my own.  Next year I'll come up with what I really like and go for it.



I think you'll find two problems with the old sled trailer . . . 1) you will have a lot more space (assuming you add sides to it) than weight capacity (in other words if you load it right up you may easily overload it since most are not built overly stout) and 2) as mentioned . . . 8 feet wide and 8-12 feet long makes for a poor woods trailer unless you have woods roads built like I-95.


----------



## WhitePine (Mar 10, 2011)

I have this one. It will haul 1,000 lbs. It's designed for garden tractors, but I pull it with a small utility tractor. I don't see why an ATV couldn't pull it. It's 7' x 38" and will go over some pretty rugged terrain. It's also easy to back up in tight situations with the long tongue and all the wheels in one area. 

Zap appears to have the farm wagon version. They aren't so easy to back up, especially in the woods.   :lol: 

http://countrymfg.com/images/trailer7500b.jpg

They also make a slightly smaller version specifically for ATVs.  These things are rugged. I haven't been able to break mine yet, and I'm good at that sort of thing.    ;-P 

http://countrymfg.com/farmers_wagon.htm


----------



## thewoodlands (Mar 10, 2011)

WhitePine said:
			
		

> I have this one. It will haul 1,000 lbs. It's designed for garden tractors, but I pull it with a small utility tractor. I don't see why an ATV couldn't pull it. It's 7' x 38" and will go over some pretty rugged terrain. It's also easy to back up in tight situations with the long tongue and all the wheels in one area.
> 
> Zap appears to have the farm wagon version. They aren't so easy to back up, especially in the woods.   :lol:
> 
> ...




Lots of turn around trails cleared instead of backing our wagon up.  :coolsmile: 


Zap


----------



## twitch (Mar 10, 2011)

I've been thinking about getting something like one of these:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200356854_200356854

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200325611_200325611


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Mar 10, 2011)

Twitch, those can be handy....but costly. Look at the simple dray I put together. I can haul several logs in each load. My total cost for the dray was less than $20. You do not need snow or ice when using a dray. I've skidded many logs over bare ground with no problem. So which is better? Spend $400 or more, or build for much less? Depends upon what you want.

btw, with the dray, you can use chains and a binder or you can simply use the strap binders. Very low cost but effective. We've skidded probably 20 cord of wood with this dray this winter.


----------



## Arc_Dad (Mar 13, 2011)

Wow, the dray works yearround. I need to do this cheaply, I'll have to try a dray. That nce trailer would be great, maybe next year.


----------



## Woody Stover (Mar 13, 2011)

zapny said:
			
		

> We have two wagons, the wooden one hauls plenty of wood in the summer and the plastic trailer I use both in the summer and most of the winter when hauling out wood.


Zap, what would you say are the pros and cons of 4-wheel vs. 2-wheel trailers? I'd think one would be that a 2-wheeler would be more maneuverable when backing...






			
				Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> You do not need snow or ice when using a dray. I've skidded many logs over bare ground with no problem.


I have a lot of branches, etc. littering the way. I'd think the dray would tend to get hung up unless I modified the fronts of the rails to ride up over that trash...
I'd like to tear up my woods as little as possible. I guess a trailer would be better in that regard, with less power needed when going up an incline...


----------



## chvymn99 (Mar 13, 2011)

Backwoods, I like your sled that you built.  Simple but very effective.  Good Job


----------



## WhitePine (Mar 13, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> We have two wagons, the wooden one hauls plenty of wood in the summer and the plastic trailer I use both in the summer and most of the winter when hauling out wood.


Zap, what would you say are the pros and cons of 4-wheel vs. 2-wheel trailers? I'd think one would be that a 2-wheeler would be more maneuverable when backing...




[/quote]

Since Zap hasn't checked in yet, I'll ask. Are you talking about four wheels on the corners, or four wheels near the center? The latter are generally considered dual axle trailers, while the former are generally called wagons. On a wagon, the front axle steers. Backing a wagon is a real art, virtually any pressure on the tongue causes the front wheels of the wagon to try and turn. It takes a lot of skill and working room to back a wagon up.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Mar 13, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> zapny said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That need not happen! You just cut the front of the skids at a 45 degree angle and it rides right up over the trash. If needed, you can use bigger skids too. I just used some old landscape timbers that were not the best and just laying around. Something a bit bigger might work best for others but this was an experiment. We used to cut 10' logs (maybe 8" diameter) at the mill and take a slab off two sides. Those became the top and bottom of the skids. Then using the chain saw we'd just cut a 45 at the front. We could tow those drays over some pretty big stuff with no problem.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Mar 13, 2011)

Arc_Dad said:
			
		

> Wow, the dray works yearround. I need to do this cheaply, I'll have to try a dray. That nce trailer would be great, maybe next year.



That sounds like a good plan Arc. If you need any help, let me know.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Mar 13, 2011)

chvymn99 said:
			
		

> Backwoods, I like your sled that you built.  Simple but very effective.  Good Job



Thanks chvymn99. I had planned on making one for some time but just never seemed to find the time to do it. Then as I was throwing this thing together the old saw came to me:  "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without." Those landscape timbers actually came from a neighbor who threw them away and the 2 x 6's were some short pieces that I had kept after sawing them off while doing another job. I hate to throw much away unless it really can't be used somehow.


----------

