Range Road ATV trailer

[JBLONDON]

I know it is a Chinese product and have seen a couple youtube videos showing that a person needs to clean up the burrs on the axles when assembling, clear the grease fittings etc. , but no info about actual use.  Does anyone have first hand experience with one?  The price is pretty good.  The 2000 lb rating dubious, but I'm not going to wear out my ATV with loads approaching --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/kDFEx5f.jpg[/img]

[JBLONDON]

--Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/kDFEx5f[/img]
Uh, help with photos?  I hosted it in Imgur.  No worries, I'll sort through the board instructions for pics and get back with a photo of the trailer.

[JBLONDON]

[beenthere]

What do you plan to do with this? How many logs might you load on it, and do you plan to pull a "load" of logs out through the woods? 
What will you use to load the logs? 
Know those are not questions you asked, but answers would help to respond to the question about "actual use". Carrying sticks or brush around the yard is one thing, but a log or two out of the woods is another. 
If that is your trailer in the pic, it looks good but on the weak side of sturdy for logs. 

[JBLONDON]

Well, aside from firewood hauling my intention is to do some light logging but would rather trailer my logs to where I'm setting up my mill than skid them.  Some white spruce and balsam, but mostly aspen, typically 10' to 16' logs perhaps 12" at the small end.  I might trailer 2 six-hundred pound logs but don't mind doing just one at a time.  I'll get the logs to the trail and loaded onto the trailer with a gasoline capstan winch

[barbender]

 Have you considered a log arch? It would be a lot faster I would think. You could use two to keep the logs off the ground.

[JBLONDON]

Yes, I had considered arches.  My little cabin is atv access only so my thinking was that it would be handier having this trailer with its walking axles to smooth out the bumps and would be much better than my present 4' steel tub ATV trailer for moving timbers around after milling, or hauling in other building supplies.  This thing is about $1500 CDN (or fifty bucks American?)  which is ballpark what a pair of arches would cost unless I were to go Princess Auto quality - think Harbor Freight.
Yeah, kidding about the currency conversion. 

[barbender]

 Well, I would expect the Chinese walking beam trailer to be Princess Auto quality as well as it probably comes out of the same factory that a lot of their merchandise does. Doesn't mean it will be unusable, but?

[Jeff]

Good luck with that contraption.

[JBLONDON]

Good luck with that contraption.

yeah.  that's what I'm worried about.  No offence taken at all.

[GAB]

Concerning the photo in #2 I wish there were more pictures taken at different angles.
However based on what I'm seeing/percieving:
I question if the unit is properly assembled, because as I see it if you place boards inside the restraints the wheels will be holding the lumber up.  So the walking beam will not work as intended.
The idea isn't  bad the material specs are not good for the intended application in my opinion.
If it was mine I'd put it up for sale as I question whether it would last one good day of use.
GAB

[hacknchop]

Use what you got ,i was always told to load it light and tight and go like hell. Avoid over loading it and make an extra trip or two,i would be happy to have it behind my old 4 wheeler. Work safe and have fun.

[John Mc]

I'm not familiar with the Range Road trailer. Have you considered the Multilander ATV trailer sold by Woodland Mills? It's convertible between a dump trailer and a log trailer. It can load over the end , or via parbuckling over the side (and includes the rails used as ramps for parbuckling.) The dump and the parbuckling ctions are powered by a hand-crank winch. It's a bit slow for handling heavy logs, but then you are not talking high-volume operations anyway, if you are using an ATV as your main pulling vehicle. The dump trailer function makes it useful for things other than long logs. The video of their construction and use on their website gives more detail.

https://woodlandmills.com/multilander-trailer/

I have not seen this particular trailer in person, but have seen the previous generation of trailers they sold (the Woodland Trailer and the T-Rex Trailer). I did not end up buying one of those, because they were a bit light duty for use behind my tractor, but would have considered one of them for use behind an ATV.

[Big_eddy]

My biggest concern with anything like that is weight and braking. I have one flat spot on my 75 acres, and the Atv or trailer would fit on it, but not both. With any trailer with two or three logs on it, I'm going to have an exciting ride down every hill. With a log arch, the end on the ground provides braking. 
Depending on your terrain, that might not be an issue for you, but do think about it. A couple of good size logs will easily outweigh the ATV with you on it, and then you're going wherever they want to go, regardless of your own plans.

[mike dee]

https://horstwagons.com/wagons/running/145.php

under CDN$2400 and you can haul 8 tons

[Dom]

Woody in Quebec makes a nice one.
The woodmills is made in China as well. Woodmills are assembled in Canada and seem Ok. 
Nothing wrong with the China gear if it's sporadic usage in my opinion. I was cautious, but bought a flail mower and stump grinder and quite happy with them. I couldnt get local dealers to respond to me, so made my decision easier. I can find parts just as easy, and they are so cheap I don't care to weld directly on them. 😂 Not that I had to yet. 

If you buy a North American product, the resale would be better.

[JBLONDON]

Thanks for the input, everyone.  A lot of food for thought.  I did see the Woodland mills trailer.  Seemed to me that all that sheet metal would be banging around pretty noisily, maybe not when brand new but after some hard use.  I'm a few months from needing to make a decision.  
Best regards,
John

[mike_belben]

Getting a 16ft sawlog up on a flimsy trailer without the back of the quad lifting off the ground or that spine tube bending at the walking beam intersect tube will be unlikely.  I have some experience, and id rather just drag the log and then peel the bark off as its less work.  And no, peeling bark isnt easy either.  

Im confident youre in for disappointment with that unit outside of picking up firewood limbs.  I built a much heavier unit then that with a swinging crane an 8k winch and a swing down tailgate ramp to do exactly what youre wanting.  It didnt take long to bend the neck fetching palletlogs.  Those long ones on bottom wont stay on without the pile ontop.  If you need to move 16ft sawlogs with an atv or garden tractor you need an arch or 2.  

[mike_belben]

Also a capstan requires you be on the rope.  Itll be a 2-3 person job. One to work the slack and one + to muscle the log.  I could barely load these myself with a keyfob and auto brake winch holding up most of it. 

This style of trailer i pictured does have merit but the frame needs to be a 6" single beam or 3-4 inch channel in A frame configuration.  And the power unit needs a serious alternator, cables and anderson connectors or youll eat up remote contactors. 

Lots of people say deadheaders are the way to go but in a tight woods trail there isnt always room to orient right to reach for logs 90* off the side.  A deadheader always loads from the back.  A swinging  crane like mine always loads from the side.  This is the only vid i have and my battery is almost totally dead.  The 10amp 1970s generator needs to get swapped to a 120amp delco one of these days.

https://youtu.be/Yo8wKUqojhE?si=6003Pu0cOiVOqnlL




This is my kid pulling an entire maple tree that blew over into the road with an atv winch routed through a utility dump trailer i made.  You can skid plenty with a 4wd quad if you can keep the load from raising the steers.

https://youtu.be/vxKOcyeygNs?si=qxaoDy-FuPr5IMuG

[Kodiakmac]

https://horstwagons.com/wagons/running/145.php

under CDN$2400 and you can haul 8 tons

Indeed. I bought a used 8-ton JD running gear for $350 and spent another $700 on steel, welding rods, and bolts and built a logging trailer.  Photos are in my gallery.  With any kind of load it would be too heavy for an ATV, but there are lighter capacity running gears out there that could be rigged similarly.  And they'd be a lot more rugged than that walking beam pictured.  And, the tongue weight won't be turning the ATV into a teeter-totter.

[Dom]

Anybody looking for a smaller 4 wheel wagon, Creekbank Welding makes some nice units. They build full size wagons for bales etc, and the small ones have the same design. If I remember correctly,could be had with different type of tires, and even 4ws. I looked at one to pull behind a chipper,nice units. They also make small dump trailers.

[JBLONDON]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experience.  Seems that an arch or two is going to be my best option rather than that trailer.  I ordered my winch and accessories today including a plastic skidding cone.  I had concerns about the winch concept as I am doing this solo but the one I found has a centrifugal clutch that pulls only when there is tension on the operator end of the rope and then will hold the load steady whenever you stop.  It is the GX50 model from The Portable Winch Co.  

[John Mc]

Portable Winch Co makes some good equipment. 

[John Mc]

@JBLONDON - I'm curious what you ended up with, and how it's working out for you. How about filling us in and sharing some pictures if your rig in action?

I've got a friend who is looking at using his ATV for light logging/firewood, purely for personal use. He's debating between a LogRite arch, a Woodland Mills Multilander trailer or perhaps making something himself. His initial focus is on getting firewood back to the house from his woods, but knowing him, those needs will expand in the future.