Off-road log trailer build

[Crusarius]

the pipe is a good idea. weld a threaded piece of pipe on and then put a cap over it. otherwise I bet you will fold it over on top of the zerk.

[Ed_K]

 My forestry trailer has a 3"x3" x2" solid block with a 1" hole thru it welded to the end of the pole. The hay type hitch has a 1" bolt thru the end and welded that goes thru the steel block and a nut screwed on to the block. The pole has a hole torched opening for the nut to go up into the pole to hold it all together. There's a zerk on the side to grease the bolt. On the grease fitting for the axle shaft mine is straight out and get plugged with dirt once in a while.

[Iwawoodwork]

What about a large threaded bolt or all thread with double nuts welded to the trailer tongue and a flat plate on the outer end of the bolt that could have different types of hitches bolted to the plate. in the late 1990's I rebuilt my motorcycle tow trailer like that but used a Heim joint, the threads swiveled in the nuts and so did the ball in the joint, worked great, went to Sturgis and back from C.G. Oregon.

[mike_belben]

Curt 48530

[mjeselskis]

Curt 48530

Man, that's a beast of a hitch

[Walnut Beast]

Several different ways to do it

[Walnut Beast]

Flat plate with big bolt. Heavy wall pipe with heavy pipe on inside with plate welded on end to have various hitches. On the outside pipe grease fittings. Then welded to your square tubing trailer tongue that's adjustable in length with slightly smaller diameter square tubing that is pinned to adjust for various length or easier hooking up 😂

[mjeselskis]

Flat plate with big bolt. Heavy wall pipe with heavy pipe on inside with plate welded on end to have various hitches. On the outside pipe grease fittings. Then welded to your square tubing trailer tongue that's adjustable in length with slightly smaller diameter square tubing that is pinned to adjust for various length or easier hooking up 😂

Yeah, lots of options. Hoping to make due from my scrap pile, but it's running low. Looks like I'll have to spend some money on it.

[mike_belben]

Ooh i HATE that. 

[Walnut Beast]

 Think of it this way. You really saved a bunch of money already and you have something built pretty nice so don't cut any corners 

[Walnut Beast]

 

 

 

 

 

[mjeselskis]

 

 

 

 

That's a good setup. I hadn't seen a pivot built into the tractor/vehicle end

[mike_belben]

Nice.  

Have you got a part number for that rotator backing plate?  I cant quite make it out. 

[John Mc]

 

 

 

That looks a lot like the pivoting pintle hitch on my 1951 M37 Korean War pickup

[John Mc]

Well, I don't think it will be a pintle since I want to be able to haul it on the drawbar. So either just a hay trailer style with a pin or I'll do a 2 5/16" ball and throw a ball on the drawbar.

There is a problem with a pin style hitch if you are driving over rough terrain, through ditches, etc: It does not allow much up and down flex. My forwarding trailer came with a pivoting pin hitch, so left and right movement was fine (around the pin), and twist was OK due to the pivoting hitch. Up and down flex was a problem, so I added an gizmo between the trailer and the tractor. By twisting the trailer's pin hitch 90˚, so the pin is oriented sideways, it allows for and up & down pivot. The insert has another hole at 90˚ to the first, which connects to the tractor's drawbar, allowing for the normal left/right flex.

Unlike with the normal pin hitch set-up, the pins here are sized to just fit in the holes. (I use a bushing in the tractor draw-bar hole to get a good fit, since it's larger than some of my other tow vehicles.)



 



These pictures are not of mine. They are from the design I copied from a guy who shared the idea with me on a tractor forum. It's been working out well so far.

[Walnut Beast]

 

 

 

That looks a lot like the pivoting pintle hitch on my 1951 M37 Korean War pickup

Just seen everything here that's exactly what it is. I was in the shop and thought I would give you a few ideas to fabricate 

[Walnut Beast]

Well, I don't think it will be a pintle since I want to be able to haul it on the drawbar. So either just a hay trailer style with a pin or I'll do a 2 5/16" ball and throw a ball on the drawbar.

There is a problem with a pin style hitch if you are driving over rough terrain, through ditches, etc: It does not allow much up and down flex. My forwarding trailer came with a pivoting pin hitch, so left and right movement was fine (around the pin), and twist was OK due to the pivoting hitch. Up and down flex was a problem, so I added an gizmo between the trailer and the tractor. By twisting the trailer's pin hitch 90˚, so the pin is oriented sideways, it allows for and up & down pivot. The insert has another hole at 90˚ to the first, which connects to the tractor's drawbar, allowing for the normal left/right flex.

Unlike with the normal pin hitch set-up, the pins here are sized to just fit in the holes. (I use a bushing in the tractor draw-bar hole to get a good fit, since it's larger than some of my other tow vehicles.)



 



These pictures are not of mine. They are from the design I copied from a guy who shared the idea with me on a tractor forum. It's been working out well so far.

Looks nice but I would definitely do a heavy duty pintle for that reason. That's why the use them on military vehicles and heavy duty trailers 

[mudfarmer]

My M101A trailer has the reverse of what Walnut Beast showed and John has on his truck. Basically the same thing as Curt lunette eye shown earlier. Pintle ring or lunette eye whatever they are called, has threaded shaft with castle nut and cotter pin. Maybe it is rusted together? Doesn't pivot but probably should. That thing has been seriously twisted up behind rock crawler and tractor with the pintle hitch even without the eye pivoting.

[thecfarm]

John, I know not your pictures, but if I put those hooks in like that, brush would send them things a flying. 
I use that type to keep my 3 pt winch on the arms, but there is some metal around each one. I can just about get them in there and snapped in place.

[Walnut Beast]

My M101A trailer has the reverse of what Walnut Beast showed and John has on his truck. Basically the same thing as Curt lunette eye shown earlier. Pintle ring or lunette eye whatever they are called, has threaded shaft with castle nut and cotter pin. Maybe it is rusted together? Doesn't pivot but probably should. That thing has been seriously twisted up behind rock crawler and tractor with the pintle hitch even without the eye pivoting.

I'm not for sure either but I had one of those trailers and it was solid also. Nice trailer

[mike_belben]

John, I know not your pictures, but if I put those hooks in like that, brush would send them things a flying.

Safety wiring the loops to the shanks works great. 

[John Mc]

John, I know not your pictures, but if I put those hooks in like that, brush would send them things a flying.
I use that type to keep my 3 pt winch on the arms, but there is some metal around each one. I can just about get them in there and snapped in place.

I haven't had a problem with them yet. I've been using the same style clips on the pins in my lower 3 pt hitch arms, and those have been in there for 20 years now without a problem. (In fact, I've wondered what is different about my set up, since I've heard others have had that issue.) 

If I know I'm going to be running in a brushy area, I'll put the pin on the tractor side in from the bottom up, so the clip rides on top. However, most of the time I don't bother, since it's easier to drop it in from above.

I suppose I could safety wire or zip-tie the loops to the shank as Mike suggests. I have not tried that yet.

[John Mc]

Well, I don't think it will be a pintle since I want to be able to haul it on the drawbar. So either just a hay trailer style with a pin or I'll do a 2 5/16" ball and throw a ball on the drawbar.

There is a problem with a pin style hitch if you are driving over rough terrain, through ditches, etc: It does not allow much up and down flex. My forwarding trailer came with a pivoting pin hitch, so left and right movement was fine (around the pin), and twist was OK due to the pivoting hitch. Up and down flex was a problem, so I added an gizmo between the trailer and the tractor. By twisting the trailer's pin hitch 90˚, so the pin is oriented sideways, it allows for and up & down pivot. The insert has another hole at 90˚ to the first, which connects to the tractor's drawbar, allowing for the normal left/right flex.

Unlike with the normal pin hitch set-up, the pins here are sized to just fit in the holes. (I use a bushing in the tractor draw-bar hole to get a good fit, since it's larger than some of my other tow vehicles.)



 



These pictures are not of mine. They are from the design I copied from a guy who shared the idea with me on a tractor forum. It's been working out well so far.

Looks nice but I would definitely do a heavy duty pintle for that reason. That's why the use them on military vehicles and heavy duty trailers

The problem is that the only vehicle I have with a pintle hitch is my old '51 M37 pickup. That is one of 4 vehicles which tows the trailer (and I've already added a receiver hitch to that truck - while keeping the pintle hitch as well). All of my other trailers are either ball hitches or pin hitches. I wanted this trailer to be towable by any of them and by any other vehicle I may end up using, including friends' tractors. The pin hitch will work with anything with a draw bar, and it just requires putting in insert in a receiver hitch without a ball on it.

[John Mc]

My M101A trailer has the reverse of what Walnut Beast showed and John has on his truck. Basically the same thing as Curt lunette eye shown earlier. Pintle ring or lunette eye whatever they are called, has threaded shaft with castle nut and cotter pin. Maybe it is rusted together? Doesn't pivot but probably should. That thing has been seriously twisted up behind rock crawler and tractor with the pintle hitch even without the eye pivoting.

What's on the trailer is called a lunette ring. The Pintle hitch is the part on the tow vehicle. The M37 and other old military trucks had a pivoting pintle hitch, so it was not necessary for the lunette ring to pivot also.

[mjeselskis]

I decided to go with the pintle hitch and just bought the Curt 48530 3" swivel lunette that Mike shared earlier. I'll mount it to a plate that will accept other hitch styles if I want to switch in the future. 

I also bent up some uprights out of some of the tubing that came with this thing.





It's getting closer to being useable. I still need to pick up some 15" tires, but finding used 15" truck tires is no easy task these days.