Forwarding trailer for cable skidder do they work good?

[snowstorm]

I cant see how it would be faster then cutting and yarding w/ just the skidder. an average hitch for me is 5-8 trees from 20-40" dia. tree length. there is no way you could get the same volume of wood on a trailer that you can have on the landing each hitch. the saw work will always take the same amount of time. the idea is to get the wood to the landing. it would take two trips to get it all out on a forwarder which means more fuel. I don't buy the cleaner piles deal either cuz it just aint so. if more guys piled their wood before bucking it their piles would be much neater then pushing up pre bucked misc. length logs/pulp. ide skip the trailer. my 2 cents

big difference between a trailer and a fowarder. most 6wheel fowarders will be rated around 12 ton. so with 8' wood you can get over 4 cd on.bigger  machine larger load. i was talking to someone that ran a big machine. they cut there wood 20'. 2 loads would load a trailer. 7+cd per trip.

[David-L]

Hi Logman 81,
Away from the computer over the weekend. I will take some pics of the mono-beam which in my opinion is excellent.I will take some pic's and shoot them off today as I will be using the trailer. I can hold 1.75 cords of 12 foot wood on my trailer and that seems to be a good load for my tractor which with loaded tires in the rear weighs 11k. the mono beam allows me to move the bogie type axle back and forth to get the weight of the wood pretty much on the axle not the drawbar. some weight is needed there but not all of it. Thats why I went for the mono beam. It will hold 2cords if I add to the side stakes. I have farm plates here in mass and run mine over the road as a vehicle of husbandry when attached to my tractor or farm plate 1ton truck. I am cutting mostly cordwood and it is great at the landing to to sort with and has many other uses than forestry. I cut a 275 gal oil tank in half and place it in the trailer to pick up rocks ,dirt, debris from storm clean-up, etc. My trailer is rated at 20k, the grapple weighs2,500lbs, the trailer 2000lbs. heavy sidewall tires is where I would not cheap out, they see some abuse. You might consider some auxilary steering as mine has if I add a piston kit to the front draw beam as it is set up to articulate and steer even better tracking the same as the iplement pulling it.
                                                                          David l




 
                                      David l

[MEloggah]

I cant see how it would be faster then cutting and yarding w/ just the skidder. an average hitch for me is 5-8 trees from 20-40" dia. tree length. there is no way you could get the same volume of wood on a trailer that you can have on the landing each hitch. the saw work will always take the same amount of time. the idea is to get the wood to the landing. it would take two trips to get it all out on a forwarder which means more fuel. I don't buy the cleaner piles deal either cuz it just aint so. if more guys piled their wood before bucking it their piles would be much neater then pushing up pre bucked misc. length logs/pulp. ide skip the trailer. my 2 cents

big difference between a trailer and a fowarder. most 6wheel fowarders will be rated around 12 ton. so with 8' wood you can get over 4 cd on.bigger  machine larger load. i was talking to someone that ran a big machine. they cut there wood 20'. 2 loads would load a trailer. 7+cd per trip.

I agree! there is a huge diff between a forwarder and a trailer behind a skidder. I should have been more specific with which my opinion was aimed for.

[ahlkey]

No questions you can bring so much more wood out to the landing by skidding.  However, I also use the forwarding trailer just as much in tight locations and when ground conditions are soft or muddy. It has articulating wheels so it can snake along in the woods in narrow places and it works well with a tractor.   I also have a custom log trailer I use at the landing that I put together that serves well for deliveries as well at times.  It's primary use though is for use around my sawmill and for picking up selective sawlogs.   

  

 

[logman81]

All good points! I'm thinking about building the trailer for not so much as production but to be able to keep the wood cleaner and have neater sorted out piles. And to do nicer cleaner jobs and to have less ground disturbance on softer ground. I also have a lot of other uses for it besides log handling.

[jd540b]

Guess I'll chime in again, too.  I cut production logging with my skidder/forwarder set up for quite a few years.  Don't think for a seconds it is going to reduce ground disturbance on soft ground.  Wood comes out cleaner, yes-but dragging that trailer behind the skidder in soft ground does two things 1) skidder WILL spin and chew pulling that 5000+lbs of dead weight, and 2) those trailer tires WILL make ruts fast.  What skidding does in wet conditions is smoothe out the trail behind the twitch-you don't get that with a forwaring trailer-each pass goes deeper and deeper.  And it won't be like a cut to length set up where the forwarder spends most of it's time on slash from the processor.  If you spend alot of time on slash with the trailer you WILL take out hoses, etc...trust me!!  In the end, honestly, all I used mine for was a yard loader to sort and pile wood.  You can do great work in the woods with them, no question BUT unless you are being paid to do it-production suffers when you are stump cutting (picking up every tree where it falls).  Again, the only way to get good production I found was to skid to the trailer-either in the woods or on the landing.  All for now...

[logman81]

You are probably right, maybe it's not such a good idea after all. To build the forwarding trailer. Maybe I'll just build a loader instead and mount it on a road trailer to sort logs on the landing. Plus I could use it to pick up logs from tree jobs maybe that would be a better fit. I have wanting one for some time now.

[MEloggah]

JD540 hit the nail on the head. I saved a very exact response at th4e cost of sounding argumentative

[Stephen Alford]

    Generally speaking the trailer stops where the stumps start. Priced up a power pack about 2500 for new 13hp honda with an 8 gal/min pump.  I guess you will have to give consideration to the size of loader and decide about rear or front mount. For me at least , I like to be able to load a tractor trailer if the need arises and work off the back. Trailer works great in urban applications. It has its place for sure. As an example ,right now it gets the wood from the landing to the road. Every day have to make a new path in the receding snow so not to mess up the farmers field.


 

Were it really shines for me is when I can get to the landing with the truck and load as I haul out, makes for a neat landing only about 40' by 80'.


 

[logman81]

I already have a 13hp engine siting waiting to power something, I need to put it to use. I would prefer to have the loader mounted to the front of the trailer we don't have any log trailers in my area. I would like to have around a 17' reach and have a lift capacity around 1200 at full extension.

[logman81]

Ok quick question about pump size, would I be better to get a pump that is a little over what I actually need for gpm and run the engine at a lower rpm or do I get a pump that has the gmp required at full throttle of the engine? I personally think over size would be better it would most likely make the pump and engine last longer. Also I could always speed up the engine if I needed more speed or pressure.

[240b]

just find the running gear off an old forage box, the bigger ones have bogies in the rear. than you'll have everything, wheels, hubs, bogie already built. just build center bracket for beam to slide into. 

[logman81]

Where is the fun in building it then!

[Kodiakmac]

When I had my JD440 I mounted a removable pintle hitch right on to the apron so I could tow my friend's forwarding trailer.  It worked like a charm.  Like anything else, you just have to use your head.