Tandem utility trailer with log loader

[Ashful]

I've been toying with the idea of picking up my own tandem axle trailer for a few uses:

1. Moving 10 cords of wood per year from the location where I cut to my house (10 miles over country roads).
2. Transporting my Deere 855 and Deere 757 to odd jobs (eg. my cutting site or my church) and taking it to the dealer for service.
3. Hauling mulch, gravel, etc.

The wood hauling would be 90% of the utilization, so I was hoping to find something with a winch and gantry type loader on it, but it seems the only loaders offered on new trailers (without customization) is the grapple type. Any recommendations? I do have the capability to fab on my own... but not the time. I do want something with a solid floor, preferably wood.

Budget < $3500, but it seems most tandem trailers at 7000 lb. are closer to $2500, so there's room for some loader expense.

 

[mustash29]

I picked up a 16' Load Trail a couple years ago for 3200, new would have been about 5K. It's an '09, only had about 2000 miles on it, 14K capacity, 2550 empty.

 

[Ashful]

Good deal! However, a 14k trailer is a wee bit beyond what I want to pull with my Dodge 1500. I'm thinking 7k or 9k GVW is probably the sweet spot between having enough capacity to keep my trip count down, and being something I don't mind storing and pulling.

 

[Jags]

I sold my 18ft super wide tandem 7000 pound capacity for $2500 with a 10,000 pound winch on the front (about 5 years ago). With that winch, adding a gantry type crane would have been a cinch.

I found the trailer to be too big for my application. I also found that I was hauling a lot more of other peoples stuff than my own. Sold it to a guy that lets me borrow it if I need to. Win-Win.

 

[Ashful]

I hear you, Jags. In fact, I posted this, but am simultaneously debating an entirely different method of bringing wood home. I have realized I need to up my wood production by nearly 2x, as I could easily put 10+ cords thru my two stoves every year, if I could just keep up with supplying wood. I get maybe a half dozen full days per year to process wood, so efficiency is everything.

Plan 'B' involves getting full log length delivered, 7 - 10 cords at a time, but I'll post a separate thread about that.

 

[mustash29]

Getting a log load is not a bad idea. Around here good hardwoods (mostly oak) go for about 100 - 125 / cord green. When you factor in storing a trailer, any maintenance issues, registration, taxes, wear & tear on truck, trailer, the manual labor involved, etc, the log price becomes very reasonable.

 

[Ashful]

Getting a log load is not a bad idea. Around here good hardwoods (mostly oak) go for about 100 - 125 / cord green. When you factor in storing a trailer, any maintenance issues, registration, taxes, wear & tear on truck, trailer, the manual labor involved, etc, the log price becomes very reasonable.

Yep... but (and here I go de-railing my own thread), it would mean getting a capable log arch to move them quickly from the dump location across my lawn to my wood processing area. No chance in getting a full log truck with grapple down there most of the year, and I wouldn't want to let them sit at the possible drop-off location very long. Seems most decent log arches cost almost the same as a tandem-axle trailer!

 

[kevin j]

Can you cut split or at least cut at drop site then haul smaller chunks via pickup to stack
Lot of handling though

 

[Ashful]

Can you cut split or at least cut at drop site then haul smaller chunks via pickup to stack
Lot of handling though

That's what I'm doing today. However, my schedule makes processing 15+ cords per year (10 to burn + 5 to get ahead) very difficult, so I'm looking for ways to cut down processing / handling time. If I lived in an area where log trucks and timber were more common, I'd get log length delivered, but most firewood around here comes from arborists. These guys are generally bucking on site and loading into small dump trucks. I bought 3 cords in the round from one of them last year, but was very disappointed with the quality (all crotches and elbows).

A complicating factor is that all the wood I cut myself comes from the property of an older co-worker, who's been a great mentor to me over the years. I'm helping him out by cutting on his property, since he has over 30 acres of woods surrounding his house, and I'm taking down a lot of stuff that's either storm or insect damage. So, hauling logs out of his property beats rolling rounds onto a trailer, given the volume I'm looking to process.