ATV Logging suggestion

[DDW_OR]

I use my Honda rancher 2wd as a tool cart and explorer.
i added a 2 inch receiver hitch to the solid axle

the only thing i have changed since these photos is i put the right side stuff on the left side.

  

 

[sprucebunny]

  One of the main reasons I bought tracks is because many parts of my land are soft. Some trails have been rutted by trespassing trucks.
They were called '4 season' tracks back then but they have sliders in them. Newer tracks have small wheels replacing the sliders and are truly 4 season. If I had newer tracks, I would run them year round for the added traction and rut mashing ability.  ;D

The tracks add friction and I rarely use my brakes. Even towing a big log or bundle of logs in the arch I don't need brakes much. If I know there is a steep section, I can set the log further back in the arch so it drags more.
Skidding cone can be a great addition to the arch in rough terrain where you Really don't want the front of the log/hitch to snag.

I have a seperate 3x6 trailer for short stuff but usually just drag big stuff back to my landing.



 


 

[John Mc]

Nice-looking set-up, Sprucebunny!

[livemusic]

Enjoying this info, as I have been wondering the same thing as the OP, as I recently bought land and will be buying some more.

You guys who skid/carry logs out of the forest, what are you doing with them?

[DDW_OR]

.......You guys who skid/carry logs out of the forest, what are you doing with them?

sawmill or firewood.

I have 166 here and fortunately many logging trails and skidder trails i can drive the tractor and pull a trailer on.

procedure = cut tree, skid tree to central area, load logs onto flatbed trailer, then to the TK sawmill or Multitek firewood processor.

next project is to weld a 2 inch trailer hitch receiver to the Farmi winch

[thecfarm]

sawmill or firewood too.

[samandothers]

I have experienced a 'jack knifing' of my 4 wheeler with a load on the utility trailer behind it.  I was able to pull the load but did not have enough weight to keep the trailer from pushing it down the hill.  No damage or issues but did teach me a lesson!

[deerguy]

Johndoesti,
I see you mentioned an Argo and I had to chime in here. Look long and hard before you go that route. We use an 8 wheeler with tracks mostly in the winter hauling ice huts etc. Their steering system is a brake system, so on a straight pull they have a lot of pulling strength. The second you try and steer, you lose a lot of power as you lock one side but engine still trying to turn it. The end result is you would not be happy skidding anything on a winding or twisted trail where a lot of turning is required. They are also the roughest little buggy on Earth and drive train is fairly high maintenance !!!! The 6 wheeler option is a great one. The 570? Polaris with power steering is tough, decently agile and pulls quite well. It has replaced the Argo on most of our excursions except where deep snow will be an issue. Sounds like the perfect lot for a 200 series Timberjack .......

JMHO....Deerguy

[roger 4400]

I use a Honda foreman 400 cc and my wife use a foreman 500 cc. Our lot is hilly and going up with a load is sometime very painful. With our log splitter (500 pounds ) attached to an ATV when the hill is wet I have some traction problem, the atv are not heavy enough and I have traction problems .The hills are steep and long ( 300 ft ) when we carry a 700 to 800 pounds of heating wood and go down the hill, the load really pushes us a lot, the use of the brakes and compression are not enough and we finish the hill going real fast (on  4 th or 5fh gear ). The use of a solid axel is almost a must so the tire hold the load.
All depends on the length of your hills and how steep they are. On a flat land you can pull a pick-up with an ATV but not if there is an incline.

[gspren]

  Yesterday at a sportsman show I saw a Hustler MDV, which is a UTV with a bed that lowers or dumps and I thought of this thread. I have no experience with this brand, just saw it at a show.

[johndoesti]

Thank you all for your comments, very helpful and so many options!
My topography is 550' of elevation gain over 0.7mi of distance (again no gravel roads, perhaps a remnant of a skidder road here and there).
Right now I'm trying to determine if a 6 x 6 with good offroad tires or a 4 x 4 with tracks year round is better in terms of traction and safety (I am assuming the tracks will help a lot going down with a good load even if the ATV is lighter?) Is it much more maintenance having tracks in the summer also?
Thoughts?

[gump]

For smaller wood and thinning operations I use a Honda Foreman 450 with a home made trailer. I have brought out a fair amount of wood with this system. I use it mainly for small diameter wood. With the larger diameter wood I usually just skid it out with a choker which is attached to the back of my bike. I thought I had a better picture of my trailer than the one attached, but can't find it!? This is a bogey axel system with 12" trailer tires. I also have a plastic tub ( reused paddle boat bottom) which I use when I want to junk up firewood at "the stump". The winch although I have used it, I no longer do, as usually I can back right up to those larger trees and hook them up to the bike directly. I like the low impact and aesthetics of the job pulling wood this way. Full disclosure here that I also own a TJ 230 to haul my larger wood and when I clear cut patches on my woodlot.  I get much better production with the skidder.


 

[John Mc]

  Yesterday at a sportsman show I saw a Hustler MDV, which is a UTV with a bed that lowers or dumps and I thought of this thread. I have no experience with this brand, just saw it at a show.

Not a lot of detail out there about this, other than the lift-bed/dump-bed, which seems like an interesting idea.

Any info on payload capacity or towing capacity?

[John Mc]

Gump -

I'd love to see more information on your trailer. I've been debating making something like that myself (I'm about to start an evening welding class, since my skills are not up to the task in that area).  I looked at the T-Rex / Woodland Trailer I linked to above. They are a great idea. I also like that it can convert from a dump trailer to a log trailer. However, I need something rated for a bit more weight than just 2000#. I can comfortably pull 4000# with my compact tractor (have not tried more than that, since that's all I can fit in my existing homemade utility trailer).

There seems to be a huge jump in price from the ATV trailers ($500-$2000 range) to the smaller log trailers for use behind a compact tractor ($7000, quickly going up to $15,000 or more).

At one point I gave up on the log trailer idea and figured I'd get a hydraulic dump trailer. Most of these are too wide for my needs, and not really suited for use in the woods. If I went this way, I'd love to find a dump trailer narrow enough to maneuver easily in the woods, but that could still be street legal. I had settled on the CAM Woodsman trailer (hydraulic dump, 4 ft x 8 ft bed with the wheels tucked under the bed, rated for 3500#), but it turns out they are no longer made.

[sprucebunny]

Yes, the tracks will help the situation going downhill because they add friction and weight down low and stability. You lose some speed and suspension with them.
I don't know how summer maintainance would be on the newer tracks. I think you'd want to wash heavy mud out of them before it set up  Too much wear on sliders to use them in dirt.

[DDW_OR]

What kind of ATV should I get and why? (I'll ask a trailer specific question once I'm done with my initial research).

• Purpose: Cut wood to build log cabin, sheds, fences, etc. + own firewood over the first 1-2y week-ends. Then sell some wood, again over the week-ends when I feel like it ;) I'm not looking for another full-time job.
• Land : 322 acres. I've attached a topo map below. Elevation in meters, so elevation gain on the land is approx. 550'. There's no forest roads as per say. The ATV needs to be able to climb with a good load.
• Wood : Mostly mature forest, 80 acres is old growth but I'll not touch these trees until they hit the ground.

Thanks all

please update your profile with general location.

Log cabin building = tractor or Skidsteer with a boom to add height and reach for lifting.
could use a ATV or UTV with an A-frame arch. or leave a tree in a key location and build a lifting boom (arm) that swings.

 
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[johndoesti]

It seems that only Honda are making solid rear axles nowadays (therefore no 6 x 6)?

[celliott]

I wouldn't get too hung up about not having a solid rear axle on the 6x6's. There is an extra axle there anyways.
I can't speak for tracks in the summer, we only use them in the wintertime, but I'd be afraid they wouldn't hold up long. They say they are all season, but to run them 100% of the time? More expensive than tires to replace...

If you ever need more traction, tire chains are an option too. We run chains on the rear two axles of our polaris 6x6's and they will go through a surprising amount of snow.

[livemusic]

  Yesterday at a sportsman show I saw a Hustler MDV, which is a UTV with a bed that lowers or dumps and I thought of this thread. I have no experience with this brand, just saw it at a show.

Thanks for the info about the Hustler Maximum Duty Vehicle. I could not find a video that showed the bed working, but I did see some static images. Even the main Hustler site does not have much of a promo video, it's just a teaser. It was announced in October 2016. The bed will lift up and back and down so that the bed is sitting on the ground. You could load something very heavy on it at ground level, such as a big red oak round. It appears that you can also dump the bed, even when it is extended halfway to the ground. Not sure what dumping in that position is for. Anyway, kudos to somebody with coming up with a good idea, hope it works well.

[livemusic]

...I also have a plastic tub ( reused paddle boat bottom) which I use when I want to junk up firewood at "the stump"...

Hello, could you expand on what this 'tub' is and how you use it? Is it just a totally open plastic tub, open like a washtub?

[DDW_OR]

as to the question as to which building to do first.
Outhouse, when you got to go, you got to go  :D
Pole barn, storage, dry work area, can live in
Log Cabin, comfortable

[gump]

Livemusic:
Yes, it just a "vessel" to carry junked up wood, like a washtub, except the shape is better. I was given and old paddle boat but found it to be more work than fun and never used it. So all I did was cut the top half off leaving me with a great container to haul behind the ATV with snow on the ground.

[Brandon1986]

I built a bed mount arch for my old sportsman 500 6x6.. I chain up all 4 rear tires and put a stack of cutting edges on the front axle for steering weight and shazam I have a fairly legit mini skidder.. I can skid about 1,000# with this set up it's VERY nimble and with an electric winch I can drop the turn at the bottom of a hill free spool the winch climb a hill with the unlaiden 6 wheeler then winch the turn back up too me.. What hasn't been mentioned about those 6 wheelers yet is no matter what you ALWAYS have 4 tires on the ground.  Case in point I take my wife out recreational riding once in a while.. I put her on the old 500 and I take my 700 4x4 (it is a little funner in the mud holes and the jumps) anytime we come up to a 16" shear face in the trail she (with much less experience than I) can idle up over it because there is always an axle on flat ground pushing or pulling whereas when I hit it with the 4x4 I have to work at it because there is a point when both axles are fighting up the ledge.. I have a picture of my set up but I can't seem to get it to post for whatever reason.. bummer..

[IndyIan]

What's your soil like?  If its not all rocks, I'd rather spend the money on a 4wd tractor than a new ATV of any type.  Then you can get a logging winch, make your trails, blow snow, maintain your driveway, lift stuff, drag, mow, etc, etc.... 
By all means get a 4wd regular ATV as well to zip out and fell some trees or cruise your trails for $2-3k, but for what a 6x6 or side by side UTV costs new, you might as well spend a little more and buy something that can pick up 2k+ lbs and load it on a wagon.
   

[sublime68charger]

to the OP what is your price range?

I'm a Honda ATV guy and have 2 Honda 450 Foreman's
Have had 1 since new in 2002 with 4,500 trouble free miles just change oil and I have redone front brakes wheel bearings 1 time and a Muffler replacement as well.

if your looking new I go with the New Honda Foreman 500 with Electric power steering and 4x4 with the diff lock. 

if used and price range in the $4000-7000 range get a Honda foreman 500.

if your really on a budget find a Honda foreman 450 can get them for $3000-4000ish.

the Honda's run forever and are pretty stout machines.

just my thoughts of things and good luck.