The Pterodactyl- the evolution

dan-l-b · January 23, 2003, 07:38:19 PM

First attempt at a pic. Made this trailer last winter from an old fertilizer buggy chasis and some drops at the local steel yard. Total cost with new tires under $1000. Correction I looked back at my receipts Under $750 with tires. What do you think?

RMay · January 23, 2003, 08:17:46 PM

Dan-l-b that is a good looking trailer . ;D

dail_h · January 23, 2003, 10:15:10 PM

WOW!!!!!
Neat looking trailer,now how do you load it?

Norm · January 24, 2003, 04:15:09 AM

Nice looking trailer, I use a running gear from an old grain wagon but don't have the side arms. Do you load that with your excavator?

dan-l-b · January 24, 2003, 06:47:49 AM

Thanks guys. The trailer was originally designed to be pulled by my tractor, thats how it got the name Pteradactyl, the hitch end looks like the head of one. The idea was to take the excavator with thumb into the woods, take the skid steer to the log landing and pull the trailer down in the woods and log. That was a lot of machinery moving any time I wanted to log. We do alot of TSI so alot of the timber I am harvesting is firewood. The skid steer with forks was a real pain unloading a mix of 4" to 20" non uniform firewood logs. The smaller stuff usually had a mind of its own. Thats when I realized I wanted to do things differently. ;) 8)

Noble_Ma · January 24, 2003, 06:54:54 AM

Nice looking rig Dan. I could use one of those among other things. I've been using my friends trailer and my brother-in-law's truck with hydraulic lift on it. Right now it works well because I mill all there stuff for free.

johnjbc · January 24, 2003, 09:04:29 AM

Nice looking trailer

dan-l-b · January 25, 2003, 08:33:30 PM

So I have a trailer I'm excited about but I bumming because it is so impractical to be moving three pieces of equipment around every time I want to log. At the time I built the trailer I also added a set of thumbs to my compact excavator (CE).

The CE would be the workhoarse of my little operation, so I had to figure a was to make this a one machine operation. Luckily I used a receiver type tube on the trailer so I could switch hitches

I originally tried to use the pin hitch by welding a plate to the front blade of the CE. The plate would be in the way when excavating and it was hard to line the pin holes up. Thats when I thought about putting a receiver hitch in the dozer blade.

I designed the hitch to be self latching so that I could stay on the machine and couple. The machine itself, with its 360 degree cab rotation is ideal for this sort of thing. As an operator I can face the trailer as I hook up to it. With a combination of blade movement and tracking I can track right up to the trailer, hook up, swing the cab 180 and head to the next destination. I incorporated a safety pin to make sure a load didn't jump out of the hitch and go.... :
o

The proceedure now is to take the Pteradactyl into the woods, cut my logs, unhitch from the trailer, move through the woods with the CE, pick the log and take it back to the trailer and load. Once I finish, I rehitch and head for the log yard.

I appreciate your time and hope you enjoyed the evolution of the Pteradactyl. Thanks Dan

Tom · January 25, 2003, 08:46:23 PM

That was a great show. I was highly entertained. Neat setup.

Tillaway · January 25, 2003, 10:22:25 PM

I have been thinking about that exact idea. Mine would have used a larger excavator with a long drawbar attached to the under carriage. My plan was to pull the trailer and load like a regular forwarder with the trailer attached. My plan was to use a processor head on the excavator first for the felling and bunching, then pull the trailer through after the felling was complete with a grapple attached instead of the processor head. My concern was how the excavator would handle (stability) a loaded trailer and the ablity of the excavator under carriage to hold up pulling a load.

woodmills1 · January 26, 2003, 05:10:35 AM

here is one good tip from my tractor/forwarder trailer experience. the metavic forwarder hitch allows for 360 degree rotation, so that in the event or a trailer roll over the tractor doesn't also get rolled. believe me it works

I flipped the trailer over on its side when one set of wheels hit a large rock and the tractor didn't even rock ;D no damage to any thing except my ego, and thank god the trailer was empty.

Norm · January 26, 2003, 05:39:01 AM

That's a neat looking setup Dan, have been curious to see your excavator. How much weight can your CE lift if it's extended about halfway out?

Hey woodmills1 do you have a pic of your hitch, sounds like a good idea. I may have twisted a hitch or two when no one was looking.

dan-l-b · January 26, 2003, 07:53:57 AM

Tillaway, I don't have any experience on the big boys but the thought crossed my mind too. Some of the drawbacks for the big guys may be that the draw bar and latch would need hydraulics so the operator could stay in the cab. They are great machines for this purpose, because in my mind they offer so much more..... road grading, culvert installation, emergency strongarm, not to mention the low impact on the forest floor.
Norm, It is hard to say how much wieght I can lift, if I have trouble with a log I will pull it closer to me at ground level before I attempt the lift. If it is really heavey I will use my blade as a stabilizer in between the log and the cab and lift. Most of the trees I am dealing with aren't much over 24"dbh so the longer the log, the carefuller I be

dail_h · January 26, 2003, 08:54:18 AM

WAY KOOL 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)Stuff like this could cause a guy to get jealous if he was"t careful.NOT EVER HAVING HAD MUCH TO WORK WITH,i'MGLAD FOR THOSE WHO DO.

Kevin_H. · January 26, 2003, 07:22:15 PM

that's a nice looking rig. How long is it?

dan-l-b · January 26, 2003, 07:38:14 PM

HeyKevin, the trailer is set up so a person could center a 14' log in betweeen the tandems. Bigger logs I make sure the butt end is to the tongue end. Receiver tube is about 4' plus the hitch. I'm thinking about a rotary grapple on the CE and shorten the tube so there wouldn't be as much hitching and unhitching. Then you could pick and go, weave and thread,...fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee :D :D The CE is about 6' wide and 8' long plus boom and dipper. Great versatile, forest friendly machines. 8)

Kevin_H. · January 26, 2003, 07:56:07 PM

Hey thanks dan
We are looking at buying a freightliner FL60, Something like that would be great to hook on behind it.

dan-l-b · January 27, 2003, 04:58:32 AM

Hey Kevin, is the frieghtliner a dump, flat, service type truck or log truck. I am going to add log conversions so I can convert a 14000# tandem trailer, and a 20000# trailers dual tandem (I'm in the excavating business). Using either box tubing or round I will insert pockets in and along the bed of each trailer so one can take the log posts in and out as needed. There is always something :D :D

woodmills1 · January 27, 2003, 02:35:12 PM

looked at my pictures and don't yet have a real good one of the hitch. it is a standard pin type but will freely spin all the way around. look at payeur.com there is one smaller picture of the trailer by itself.

Kevin_H. · January 31, 2003, 11:13:27 AM

hey dan-l-b,
Right now the frieghtliner is an ambulance...But it is do to be remounted and I have expressed interest in the chassis. My plan is to put a flat bed with removable log bunks on it...
It has an air dump on the rear axle that will lower the frame, dont know if I can use this to my advantage.

We do small excavating, back filling around new construction and some finish grading, on occasion we need bolth bobcats at the site and our plan is to put one on the back of the truck using ramps from the trailer floor up, and then place the other on the trailer.

I hate to say this on this forum, but we make more money with our bobcats than with the woodmizer.

dan-l-b · February 01, 2003, 03:55:22 PM

Yea Kevin, I make more excavating as well. But I love working in the wood and producing a product from raw material. The other thing is I see alot of timber pushed off to make way for "progress" and it is my hope to salvage more and more of that material. The other advantage of the WM is it is different. I am not sitting on a rig all day, and when it rains and snows, I am cutting wood. 8) 8) I have my truck and trailer set up the way your thinking. I will try to post a pic here in the next day or two.

Kevin_H. · February 02, 2003, 05:52:56 PM

I'm with ya dan,
I havn't bought logs in a couple of years, we are working on getting the mill under cover so we can work with it in bad weather.

You find alot of junk logs, but we saw these into pallet material and have a local user who will buy in small quanity.

Still looking for more excavating work, hopefully it will open up a little more this spring.

Looking forward to the picks of your truck.

Paul_H · February 02, 2003, 10:06:11 PM

Nice work dan-l-b.
There are some pretty good ideas coming out of this thread.When we permenently de-activate our logging roads,we pull up the culverts.Many we try to save for other roads,problem is packing them.You dig,pull the culvert and drag down the road a few hundred feet,put them down and start all over again.That works for 2 or 3,then they are loaded on a truck.

Having a bush trailer would allow the operator to keep working,and not have to wait for the truck to get back from dumping the last load.That can be two hours or more sometimes.

dan-l-b · February 03, 2003, 11:51:43 AM

Thanks Paul, After seeing a real forwarder on the forum, I realized the advantage of bunking the log with trailer in tow. That is the direction I am heading with the CE and trailer. But it is still the ability to use the CE as more than just the mover and loader, you can pull culverts, cut ditches, reinstal culverts, cut roads, stack brush...... ;D ;D a lot of built in versatility.
Hey Kevin, here is the pic, but not really what I wanted to show you.

It seems this weekend while the truck was at rest, something went kaput. :( :( Hopefully I will be back at work soon. Until then I wait by the phone, then I will go saw.. 8) 8)

Kevin_H. · February 03, 2003, 06:34:39 PM

Still a nice looking setup dan,
Now a dovetail and ramps on the truck, that's an idea.

Your are right Paul_H, lots of good idea's from this thread.
8)

OneWithWood · February 04, 2003, 05:45:51 AM

Dan,
How is that CE on slopes? What is the max grade you've been able to climb with the trailer attached?

dan-l-b · February 04, 2003, 06:43:09 AM

Hi OWW, On dedicated roads the CE will negotiate 12-15% grade with a load. Out in the forest in wet times I make sure I leave the trailer on the ridge and bring the logs to it. There has been a time or two when I wondered whether I would need to use the backhoe bucket to help with the pull. Most of the time it is a matter of weight distribution to optimize traction, the power is there. So I will reach out with the backhoe portion, in the direction I am going to help even out weight and increase traction.

The CE itself will climb a moutain. I always work with my blade downhill and on steep slopes will pic a log, swing 180 so I am facing uphill and using the log as my counterbalance, climb some incredible slopes. Two years ago I installed a septic field at grade to the contour on a 30% slope. It was tricky and the engineer who designed the system originally told the homeowner it couldn't be done,-too dangerous. Knock on wood, it was completed without incident. Except for the pimple in the center of the seat :D :D

OneWithWood · February 04, 2003, 07:03:25 AM

Thanks, Dan. What model is your CE? I think I will keep an eye out to see if one comes up at auction. What do you figure a good used one would bring?

dan-l-b · February 05, 2003, 04:58:12 PM

OWW, hard to say what you can get one for at auction. I seem to see alot of ads in the trade journals for machines in the 10-20,000 price range. Good Luck on your hunt

OneWithWood · February 06, 2003, 06:22:10 AM

Dan,
and the Model CE you have would be?
I would like to get some idea of the weight, horsepower, lifiting capacity etc. I went to the Bobcat website and discovered there is a wide variety to choose from. :P

dan-l-b · February 06, 2003, 10:11:33 AM

Sorry about that OwW, I have a TB145, 10,000# class machine. If I am comparing I usually use machine wieght as the common factor with which to start. Lifting capacities vary based on attachments. I have a Werk Brau quick disconnect on my machine. Supposedly lowers breakout and lift capacity but makes bucket changing a snap.

There are as many as 25 different makes of miniexcavators on the market, with almost as many different sizes per make.

I have owned Kubota and Taki, and rented bobcat, all are great machines. ;D

dan-l-b · February 06, 2003, 10:31:50 AM

Hey Mark, here is the pic with trailer and equipment

If we are not hauling alot of extras I will put the skid steer on the truck and backhoe on the trailer. Ramps lay down on the trailer and I can load truck with trailer in tow. :D

RMay · February 06, 2003, 06:10:52 PM

Hey dan-l-b did you get your truck bed idea from a fireplow truck . We used to have a lot of them like it in Arkansas .

dan-l-b · February 07, 2003, 07:24:05 AM

Actually came from a rock blaster in the area. He has crawler drill units and hauls them on a bed like that. All I did is add ramps for my particular application. How is sawing going on that new WM.? Red Cedar is becoming a mainstay of my operation.

RMay · February 07, 2003, 05:11:07 PM

dan-l-b it has slowed down . The cold weather has got all my customers saying when it warms up thay will get there logs out .firewood is doing good though ;) Hope it is a early spring 8)

dan-l-b · February 08, 2003, 07:38:15 AM

Sorry to hear that RMay, what's a face cord of wood go for down there? By the time I make wood for our house (wood heat is our primary heat) and my Dad, there isn't much left to sell :D :D