Drying/firewood processing

[Ashful]

Just be gentle with the poly tub under 40 degrees. The poly gets stiff and cracks/shatters easily in my experience if splits or logs are tossed into it. Sharp corners or protrusions are the culprits. Adding a 1/16-1/8" alum. liner/plates makes it much less sensitive to concentrated impact points.

I've had this happen with poly tubs before, but not this one. Mine sees probably more abuse than most (I will move 10 - 15 cords of wood per winter... usually twice), and I also moved about 80 yards of mulch in it, before I got my front-end loader. It's a solid cart, with a very strong tub.

My two year old and wife enjoyed the rides in it too.

Once a year I clean mine out and fill it with straw for hay rides. Good enough for young kids... a little too tight for adults, tho.

Thanks for all the advice here. I settled on cutting the logs to 4 foot length then I'll haul them out and cut them up to 16' on a sawbuck and split and stack. I cut about a cord of wood on the weekend. It's all in 4 foot lengths waiting for the ATV to get in and haul it out. Getting my firewood is going to become much easier now.

One weakness of all these poly tub carts is that the sloped rear wall (designed for dumping) does tend to flex when you put a lot of longer heavy wood leaning on what would be the 'tailgate'. Solution is simple, place a few shorter rounds or splits down in the bottom of the tub, then the longer stuff on top. I put stake sides in mine, and I'll load over a third cord of wood at a time:

 

[JRHAWK9]

FWIW, use a Can-Am Outlander Max XT 1000 and a Polar HD1500 trailer that someone posted above, although I opted for the single axle version as I didn't see a need for the two axles. I also added the optional side rails which dramatically increase capacity.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200135074_200135074

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200338905_200338905

 

[Ashful]

Dual axles on a poly tub = marketing gimmick. My single axle is rated at 1200 lb., way beyond the capacity of the average poly tub. Will you ever put 2000+ lb. in a poly tub?

 

[maple1]

Single axles are at a distinct disadvantage in rough terrain compared to a walking beam setup no matter what kind of body is on the trailer, or if you are hauling 1200 or 2000 pounds. It's not about load capacity but rather getting over the ground easier & with way less chance of a tipover.

Smooth ground, it likely doesn't matter. But if you're moving stuff over humps/hummocks/holes/rocks/stumps, nothing beats a walking beam trailer and I wouldn't be in the woods without one.

Not a marketing gimmick.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Dual axles on a poly tub = marketing gimmick. My single axle is rated at 1200 lb., way beyond the capacity of the average poly tub. Will you ever put 2000+ lb. in a poly tub?

Yep, all marketing and that's why I didn't go for it. It's not even a true dual axle either. It's the same single axle but with two tires attached to an arm which then attaches to the same point where the single tire would. The way it's setup is that all your doing by adding the additional two tires is putting half the load on the other two tires, the actual axle is still seeing the full load.

 

[greythorn3]

but look at all the extra tires you gotta maintain. what a benefit!

 

[JRHAWK9]

Single axles are at a distinct disadvantage in rough terrain compared to a walking beam setup no matter what kind of body is on the trailer, or if you are hauling 1200 or 2000 pounds. It's not about load capacity but rather getting over the ground easier & with way less chance of a tipover.

Smooth ground, it likely doesn't matter. But if you're moving stuff over humps/hummocks/holes/rocks/stumps, nothing beats a walking beam trailer and I wouldn't be in the woods without one.

Not a marketing gimmick.

I can see that, but I'm not pulling mine through rough terrain.

 

[TradEddie]

But I still feel 18-23% mc isn't too terrible.

My experience is that there is a world of difference between 23% and 18%. Setting aside the various measurement errors mentioned previously, I think that most regular burners here have experienced the sudden improvement in burning quality that happens somewhere around 20%. What that magic number is may vary by species, temperature, meter or stove. For me, oak at 23% on my MM is miserable to burn, but oak at 18% means I need to open windows even on the coldest days. There is more at work than simply the energy lost to boiling off the extra water, there appears to be a tipping point where the reactions that drive secondary combustion are no longer inhibited.

TE

 

[Ashful]

Smooth ground, it likely doesn't matter. But if you're moving stuff over humps/hummocks/holes/rocks/stumps, nothing beats a walking beam trailer and I wouldn't be in the woods without one.

Good point. I suspect very few people are taking trailers like this into deep woods, but for someone who is, the walking beam might be an advantage. I take a tractor into the woods with a 3-point drawbar and chain chokers, and skid the logs out to a clear landing, much like the guys with the two-team horse and ox skidders. My poly tub wagon is only used on fairly good terrain (eg. lawn, processing area, etc.), where it's not likely to get stuck on a rock or root.

 

[Shane Collins]

I'm planning on eventually making trails throughout my woods which is where I'll park the atv and trailer. Obviously I'll park it closer to the felled tree if possible. Then I'll just cut it to 4' lengths and load them into the trailer and haul it to my processing area. I did have a look at the walking beam trailers. They look great but I think I'll be fine without. My wife said and I agree that if this trailer turns out to not be good enough we can always buy the more expensive one in the future.

Got the quad today. Really happy with it. Couldn't take it out much as I don't have the trails yet but I drove it around the lawn and up and down the driveway a few times. It's going to make life much easier (and funner).

 

[Cascade Failure]

Good thread!

A question for those of you using quad/trailer combos...is anyone else having a problem on hills? I have a King Quad 450 and a 10 cu ft trailer (probably loaded to 15 cu ft). I routinely have a problem when going down a steep hill where the loaded trailer will try to jackknife the quad if I apply any brake at any speed (usually 1-3 mph). How do I fix this? Trailer brakes? Lighter loads? Bigger quad? Don't brake and "enjoy" the ride?

 

[Ashful]

On your "bigger quad" question... I'm using a Deere 855, and I routinely go down a fairly big hill with my trailer loaded 5 - 6 feet high with green oak splits (see photos in post #51, I'll try to re-link below), so I'm really pushing the weight capacity. I have no such trouble with jack-knifing, although I do always put the tractor in 4wd when doing this. The tractor weighs about 2500 lb. with the loader installed, although 500 lb. of that is in the worst possible place, forward of the front axle.

 

[maple1]

Good thread!

A question for those of you using quad/trailer combos...is anyone else having a problem on hills? I have a King Quad 450 and a 10 cu ft trailer (probably loaded to 15 cu ft). I routinely have a problem when going down a steep hill where the loaded trailer will try to jackknife the quad if I apply any brake at any speed (usually 1-3 mph). How do I fix this? Trailer brakes? Lighter loads? Bigger quad? Don't brake and "enjoy" the ride?

Load for the conditions.

Does the KQ have a low range? And I assume you're in 4wd?

I have an older Arctic Cat 454. The trailer I use is 8' long by about 2.5' wide in the bed, and piled likely 2' high. I don't have any issues going down hills with it. I have spun out going up hill.

Maybe load more weight on the front of the trailer to put more weight on the back wheels of the ATV? If it's loaded to the back, it will take weight off the back ATV wheels and a skidding you may go. You could try chains on all 4 wheels, maybe, too.

 

[firefighterjake]

Always liked using my ATV and a cart for hauling out wood . . . kept the branches in the woods . . . less mess to clean up. Also with a smaller wheelbase the "trails" I made in the woods made for less of a "foot print" when I got done cutting in an area. I always took the time to cut up the wood to stove length though . . . figured I was right there in the woods . . . also lighter to pick up.

 

[maple1]

Always liked using my ATV and a cart for hauling out wood . . . kept the branches in the woods . . . less mess to clean up. Also with a smaller wheelbase the "trails" I made in the woods made for less of a "foot print" when I got done cutting in an area. I always took the time to cut up the wood to stove length though . . . figured I was right there in the woods . . . also lighter to pick up.

True that - I find I can get into a lot more places than I could with a tractor, and leave much less damage behind. Last couple years I've been picking away and cleaning up an area of windfall spruce just down over a hill from where some 'real' cutting was done a few years ago. I'm kind of combining trail making with wood scrounging - I'm almost down onto an old road that will connect me to all kinds of other stuff and make a nice sled trail in the winter. I hope one of this weekends projects will be welding a receiver onto my trailer so I can hook up my splitter to the wood train - really a bonus when you can run the splitter right into where the tree falls & throw into the trailer off the splitter which is right where the wood lands when cut.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Here's my newly purchased ATV I'm using for wood hauling. I got a two-up so the GF and I can trail ride with it as well. Just got 'er all cleaned up after riding last weekend on the muddy trails.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Looks bad ass to me.....enjoy......

 

[dp03]

i use a 25 year old craftsman dump lawn mower trailer behind my 4wheeler. it even has the original tires. did add tubes though. i live on a mounain and i have hauled cord after cord up and down the hollers with it through rough stuff and somehow it keeps on goin. of course you gotta watch it if you stack it tall because it will feel a little tippy. been lucky so far though.