Putting together a cheap log loader trailer

[bigblue12v]

Haven't posted in a while, some of you may recall my post about the mini skidder I built last summer/fall. Today I'm picking up a log loader minus grapple and rotator. Guess that makes it a crane? Going to put it on front of my gooseneck trailer which is 16' flat, 2.5' dove. Trailer was tri-axle when I got it (6k axles) I removed front axle due to not needing all 3 at the time. I foresee myself putting that one back in now as I add bunks for logs. The loader has a blown 11hp engine which I plan to replace with a 18hp twin I have laying around. Watching videos of these types of loaders the engines are ran at high throttle and bog a bit with loader movement, and loaders tend to be jerky in movement at times. With the large engine I can throttle down to adjust the sensitivity of the hydraulics, lower the noise, and still have plenty of power. If it weren't for having a tapered generator shaft I have an even nicer engine, an Onan twin cylinder with electric choke and all. Would like to use that one but haven't found a way to convert the tapered crankshaft inexpensively.
I'll add pictures as I go but wanted to get you all warmed up to it lol I'm doing this on the cheap, I'll probably list some expenses here as we go. Primarily this will be used for hauling firewood logs, largely personal use firewood so I'm not able to invest a fortune into this project. Going to build a manual grapple without a rotator and see how we get along with that. Loader will be front mount on the trailer. I won't have time to work on it much for a while as I already manage two jobs besides firewood, but I'll get to it.
Stay tuned!

[barbender]

Sounds like a neat project. After going through all the trouble of this build, don't stop short of building or buying a rotator ;)

[bigblue12v]

Have you priced those things?! Holy cow... I'd love to but I'm not made of money lol

[Puffergas]

Bigblue12, are you still planning on going full time? Or maybe I have the wrong person..

[BargeMonkey]

 Do you know someone with a decent lathe and drill press ? I assume your hooking this engine up with a love-joy type coupling ? A sleeve to adapt the shaft, or threading your shaft and adding the correct end isn't a huge thing if you've got access to the tools. Just a thought, we tend to re-purpose alot of stuff also.

[lopet]

Something else to consider might be, if you haul logs with this trailer for personal use only , you 'll be dragging this third axle and that loader around for the rest of the year.  Just a though.

[bigblue12v]

I can't go into it full time right now.. But I was researching the possibilities at one point so you may have the right guy in mind.

I have a drill press and just sold a mini lathe and mini mill. They were too small for the application. I'll just use the Briggs 18hp I have, it'll work fine. The Onan Generator is a complete working unit no need to part that out, I just don't need a generator really and that engine would be a really nice unit to have here.

I sell firewood when I can, I split about 20 cords last year, sold over half of it. None of it comes from my property as I don't own any timber so it all needs hauled in. This will really make things a lot faster and easier. The crane will take up almost 4' of the 16' flat on this trailer so there isn't enough length left to haul vehicles and just enough to haul my mini skidder. I rarely use it for much else that's really the only thing I have it for, so a third axle isn't an issue. That much more stability, load capacity and safety in the event of a blow out or such when loaded heavy with logs. There's no flat/straight roads here to speak of so I'll take all the added safety I can get.

This thing is soooo beefy! Oh and it has electric solenoid valves!


Ugh why does this forum have to have such a terrible pain in the rear process for pictures?! Geez there are much better ways of doing things in this day and age.

[Puffergas]

I used a 6hp with a 2 stage pump. Got slow when it grunted but it was handy. You'll be good with your engine.

[ahlkey]

Hard to tell from the pictures but what type of axles are under that GN trailer? If the rating is 6K they are probably trailer home axles?   Did a similar conversion in the past with those axles and it was nearly impossible to make it safe or street legal. 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Did a similar conversion in the past with those axles and it was nearly impossible to make it safe or street legal.

Why? Most mobile home axles are regular dexter axles with brakes. Nothing "unsafe" or "un-street legal" about them. Most have 2 piece 14.5" wheels with locking wedges. If you want to stay with them then just find 14.5" DOT approved low-boy tires. Or if you want regular wheels with a 6 or 8 bolt wheel pattern and regular 15" or 16" tires then change out the brake drum/hubs and be on your way.

[WmFritz]

I agree. My experience with mobile home axles is if you take care of them, they'll last forever. I bought a two axle from my FIL about 25 years ago that he built close to 50 years ago. Since I've owned it, I've gone through it twice; new spring bushings, seals  and such, but the axle bearings are still original. Probably due another going over though.

[starmac]

Years go when dad and I built a gooseneck, mobile home tires were 12 ply, later they changed to 4 ply. Huge edifference in the load capacity. You can get 12, 14 and I belive 16 ply lowboy tires, then the wheel and wedges become the week link. You can also buy the heavier lowboy wheels, but is is probably cheaper in the long run to change the hubs. All mobile home axles are not created equal though, Some have smaller bearings than others, the large bearing spindles are a direct changeover to the 8 bolt hubs.

Is there a reason that loader can't be mounted on the neck, freeing up your deck space??

[bigblue12v]

Yes they are the mobile home style axles which were used for equipment trailers also. They're not just for mobile homes and there's nothing wrong with them. Yes you can easily convert them to different style hubs if you want.
I was hoping to put it on the tongue and after some measuring yesterday I determined it would go perfect on the tongue. Last night was also coming up with some good ideas for a cheap homemade grapple rotator. Just to get it going and working this summer I'm gonna run a manual grapple for now. I still gotta lot to do to get this thing going but I'm very anxious about it! Gotta get other work cleared out of the shop first.

[ahlkey]

I put together a cheap tri-axle log trailer & loader.  It had mobile home axles and it routinely hauled heavy log loads.  Never felt safe with the trailer tires (even though not MH tires) or brakes overall so did a little homework after-the-fact to convince me a better option was possible.   Suggest you speak with Dexter, trailer manufacturers, your DOT in your State, logging companies, and even your insurance company.  The last thing you want to have happen is you get into a accident and you thought you had all the answers but find out your in a huge lawsuit or worse yet someone is injured.  For what it is worth on Dexter's website they say "The Dexter MH (mobile home) type axle is designed for limited usage in the delivery of manufactured homes and has a one-time limit use. The axle has steel forged spindles that are not precision ground. The brake assembly is welded onto the beam and not intended to be field replaced. Additionally, the bearing package is smaller than the more expensive service type axle. Most MH axles are also equipped with a single leaf spring suspension for very heavy loads.

I still have my tri-axle trailer which has brakes on each axle but I no longer would consider the risk of carrying any logs with it.

Even if they are legal in your state by getting it inspected and registered do you really want to try to make the trailer work beyond it's original design?  These trailers are cheap and available for a reason. As the old saying goes "If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong.

Hope it works out for you.

[bigblue12v]

That's pretty surprising to hear, these are commonly used by farmers and excavation companies alike here to haul some of the heaviest loads I see on the roads. I'm not saying they're any better than normal service axles. And I would prefer normal service axles. But I've seen this setup take a lot of overloading many many times. At this time I still haven't won the lottery so for now I will have to make do with what I have. It's a firewood trailer I don't make a living cutting wood so I don't really have the funds available to dump into it right now. When I can, I'd like to convert it. The trailer itself is heavy duty. It's not mobile home frame either. I've seen the single leaf spring setup you speak of, although this trailer has standard multiple leaf packs.

I'd love to see some pics of your trailer and more info on it.
Thanks

[ahlkey]

You can check out my current highway trailer below:   

 

The farm exemption helps but you may still be subject to some of the same highway laws when trucking firewood logs as others.   This includes weights, bunks, chains, licenses, etc... If you stop at your local weigh stations they might be helpful to you.   

At the end of the day I did not want to be in the position of having something go wrong on the highway and then having to defend my "custom" made log trailer & grapple.  Second, the actual load after I deducted the trailer & loader/grapple was just so small it really wasn't worth the hassle. Cheap is seldom the best option. 

Sounds like are set on your decision and as long as you have ironed everything out then that's all anyone can ask. 

Best of luck to you and be safe.

[Josh3760]

I agree. My experience with mobile home axles is if you take care of them, they'll last forever. I bought a two axle from my FIL about 25 years ago that he built close to 50 years ago. Since I've owned it, I've gone through it twice; new spring bushings, seals  and such, but the axle bearings are still original. Probably due another going over though.

I have seen many trailers running around with mobile home axels. I have also seen two red tagged by the dot for having mh axels. They are illegal in Michigan to run on anything but the transport of mobile homes. In my own opinion for good reason! Im not telling you this to scare ya or to start an argument but just informing you to check your state laws. Ignorance is no excuse for the law at least that's what the cop is going to say when u get pulled over.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I have seen many trailers running around with mobile home axels. I have also seen two red tagged by the dot for having mh axels. They are illegal in Michigan to run on anything but the transport of mobile homes. In my own opinion for good reason! Im not telling you this to scare ya or to start an argument but just informing you to check your state laws. Ignorance is no excuse for the law at least that's what the cop is going to say when u get pulled over.

Curious to know how the DOT would know they were mobile home axles? I've had probably a dozen trailers with different MH axles over the years and not a single one said mobile home anywhere on it. The tags on the axles just say Dexter and their load rating. The tires are marked "mobile home use only" on them, but once switched out its a none issue.

I've searched high and low through the Michigan MCL database and can find no reference to Mobile home axles, just the tires.

[kiko]

I with you BigBlue12v,  making necessary task  more productive  with as little expense as possible is in my wheelhouse as well.  If it's anything like that skidder you created I am looking forward to your progress post.  I suppose a processor build is being designed in your head. 

[OH logger]

You can check out my current highway trailer below:   

 

The farm exemption helps but you may still be subject to some of the same highway laws when trucking firewood logs as others.   This includes weights, bunks, chains, licenses, etc... If you stop at your local weigh stations they might be helpful to you.   

At the end of the day I did not want to be in the position of having something go wrong on the highway and then having to defend my "custom" made log trailer & grapple.  Second, the actual load after I deducted the trailer & loader/grapple was just so small it really wasn't worth the hassle. Cheap is seldom the best option. 

Sounds like are set on your decision and as long as you have ironed everything out then that's all anyone can ask. 

Best of luck to you and be safe.

what size truck is that?? 350, or 450 or 550? what species of logs are those? and I assume its a diesel and how did it handle that load of logs on it?? sorry for all the questions but curious as I'm waitin on my dodge ton truck to get here and dreamin of all the logs I can haul with it ;D. that's impressive to say the least. ;)

[ahlkey]

The Truck is a 4500 Ram 4 X 4 diesel with the 4.88 axle ratio for the highest pulling capacity.  I only haul Harwoods primarily Sugar Maple, White Ash, Oak, etc... Trailer holds about 2,000 board feet and the 4500 with the larger brakes plus the exhaust brake performs well.

Hope your truck works out well for you.

[Dave Shepard]

The GCVWR on the new 3, 4, and 5 series trucks has sky rocketed the last couple of years. Some people might actually be hauling legal loads. :D

[OH logger]

mine is a 3500 with 3.73 gears. hopefully it will pull good and be easy on fuel.

[bigblue12v]

Sorry been away from the forum for a while guys. Got busy with life. Still haven't gotten the loader mounted but I'm getting motivation to get busy on it. Got a week and a half of shut down at work coming up at the end of July and I'd love to get some wood hauled in that time. Question, with the crane on the neck of the trailer does anyone think the boom is too long for trailer? Trailer is 16' on the flat, and crane is 12'+8' booms. Seems like it should be OK?

[redprospector]

20' of reach? Yeah, that would be nice.
What are you using for down riggers?

Here is a pic of mine.