5 Foot Wide Utility Trailer?

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I know what my new Avatar and moniker will be.

Tongue and groove close up pic and Resident Nerd... With a semicolon worked in there, somewhere.
 
Burnham said:
Peter, you haven't been paying attention to the current fad...you have to use a T&G felling cut to keep the tree on the stump.
:D

Sorry, Sean...I'm being a bit of an azz :D.
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Haha! If you look real close, the hinge is holding. ;)

That's how I'm able to get the cart under it. :)
 
Tree09 said:
Most smaller (made for pickup trucks) utility trailers use the sides as a beam for strength/cheapness of materials. By having a 2' angle iron or square tube, or expanded metal side they have created a beam that is stronger than those materials alone. A true flatbed will be more expensive because they need to use bigger materials to achieve this strength. I repeat, for the last time, if you have a thousand or more to drop on a trailer, don't buy those lightweight brand new mower trailers. You will completely destroy them, or you will work so gingerly around them you lose any advantage of using them in the first place. If you want to make money doing tree removals, you need to buy a used trailer that is on the upper limit of what your truck can pull. Dump is ideal, lacking that, get one that is even bigger, and preferably a flatbed for ease of unloading. If you don't want to do that yet, rent a trailer, they rent cheap. I rent a 12k dump trailer all the time. Just figure it into the bid. Doing that you will be way ahead of using a mower trailer you bought for 1k+
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Kyle, thanks for the insights and information!
I will factor all this in.
But at this point (in my life) I'm not trying to make a lot of money in a heavy duty, fast paced business.
I'm "ok" with the fact that I'm slowing down some and taking my time with things.
 
SeanKroll said:
1' sides are too short.

If you're buying new, they can make it any way you want.

My flatbed didn't have 'stake pockets', nor chain hooks. My welder bought a piece of 2x4 tube steel, and cut the pockets.

If you are going to have 4' stationary sides, just buy a metal sided trailer. It will look better, be more sturdy, and you won't be spending time and money futzing around.



Again, this is just another tool in the toolbox. I use this as a labor saver, ONLY when its is a labor saver. I know that this doesn't look fancy, but I don't like hauling brush farther, especially steeply uphill, than need be. That load is still sitting in my trailer, waiting for a convenient time for an employee to take it to the dump. I have 4 trailers. One tiny 4x8x2', one tandem HD, one 5 lug, and one 6 lug.

The 6 lug has 4' stationary wood sides that I use as a 5 yard chip box moved by the mini-loader., which also hauls the mini-loader, stump grinder, mulch, soil, brush, etc. Last time I used it that way was about a year ago. Moved the chipper and then the trailer to within 15' of the tree. My chip truck would have been a 100'+ drag. I can move the trailer to make many small dump piles on a property where people will use the mulch, rather than one big pile in the driveway, where they won't want it, so it will have to go offsite.

Also, for me, I can drop that trailer off in a tight spot for a friend to unload mulch when they can get to it.

My point is that may tools in the toolbox help you work different situations different ways. Multi-purpose gear is great. Figure out how to make things work for YOU. You have to find a niche, or you're competing against everyone, and they are better equipped and have more man-power.

The more you can be good at the technical stuff, and make a mess for the homeowner to clean up, the better off You'll be, IMO. You're not in shape, or age for hard physical labor. It will make you strong, if you don't get an acute injury in the process, but the wear and tear will catch up to you. Mick, Marc-Antoine, and I all have sore shoulders at the moment. I'm only 44. Strong for my age. My shoulders are very strong. Strength doesn't prevent inflammation.

Niches! Another niche I exploit in my market is making habitat snags. The taller the snag, the less wood for me to handle, plus a value-added service (IF I'm using that term correctly). That tree hugger thing separates me from many places in town that are just removal services.

$0.02
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Sean, there is too much good info and advice here for me to do it justice in the time I have to read right now.
You make a lot of good points.... the age thing, stregth/exersize --- the niches! --- habitat snags! (haha, the tree hugger thing).

Actually on the trailer I was referring to your removable 4x8 plywood sheets which seems like a great idea for hauling brush.

So much experienced advice here. Thanks!
 
Skwerl2 said:
Robert,
To sum up what Sean is saying, you have to outsmart the log. Many (most) people try to out muscle the log. I think you began this journey with the idea that you could out muscle the log. Hopefully you are beginning to see that is not a very fruitful method of doing this work long term. Poor people out muscle the log. The guy with money has figured out how to outsmart the log.
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sawman said:
Great post Brain
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Raj said:
Good post Brian!!
My method of saving some energy.

<<< removed image to save space >>>
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Succinct words of wisdom! Thanks Brian.

(and sawman, and Raj for seconding)

One way so far I have been outsmarting the log is with a peavy (cant hook)... and using inclined plane (2x12 planks) to roll rounds into my truck bed.

Raj, I have been looking at those things in case I start seeing they would profit me.
 
BOTS said:
Yep, dump trailer or get and older F350/ F450 with dump bed...you will thank us later ;)

That trailer your looking at is not a good choice...anything that dumps is king
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dstimber said:
Dump trailers are hard to beat. I'd really like to move towards a chip truck and chipper soon. If it all pans out like I hope it will. And if dreams really do come true. A tracked lift and mini skid. But for now it's me the tundra and my homemade dump trailer.
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SeanKroll said:
Gravity and friction NEVER get tired, EVER.


It was painful for me to watch my friend unload logs off my trailer this morning at his house. I gifted him a bunch of 8-13' doug-fir logs, small diameter, some dry, some green, some in the middle. 12"(-) diameter.

He was telling me that his body hurt from carpentry/ sports.

It was painful to watch because he was doing 3-4 times the work I'd have done if I were doing it. Efficiency, and machines (preferably self-powered machines).


I used to build granite retaining walls on trails in the backcountry. Sierra granite is about 175-200#/ Cu.Ft. Efficiency of action is crucial. The stone never ever got tired. We used to move big stones, only though efficient teamwork, and big levers, and a grip-hoist. You can't be sloppy when dealing with those masses. Have to be smart and strong.
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Thanks Scott, and Denver ........ more good info to factor in..... "a word to the wise...", right :)

>>> Gravity and friction NEVER get tired, EVER.

Thanks again Sean.
 
Material handling carts are super useful, especially if the truck is downhill from the tree. If uphill, add some power to the pull.
 
Get one or make one that better fits your location. Or both!! I love my AT. When I don't have to go through narrow spaces, I'd love a wider cart. Maybe one with 3 or 4 wheels, that can be winched up hill. Downhill is great.
 
I plan on building a heaver duty one, but the one I have, at 22" wide, fits far more places than anything wider, flowers, shrubs, etc etc, sure narrow down the path for me here. Mind you I will pull brush well over 15ft long with it with ease. Added bonus, if it fits easy into the cart, it's ready to be fed into the wood chipper.
 
If you can't weld, def get an arbor trolley. I weld for money, and I still bought one. It is way better than anything I would have built, you might say it is the perfect brush cart. It can tip large rounds on it, carry wood, and carry more brush than you can imagine. I tweaked my back one day lifting a log onto it, so that weekend I made a log arch. With both of them, there is very little wood (around here) that I can't move efficiently. On a larger removal, you will tire dragging it around, so I'm thinking of using a winch or maybe even a garden tractor to pull it for me till I break down and get some hydraulics. I have a backhoe, but it's too big to use in yards that I work in
 
The arbor trolley has such a great design. So simple but so thought out. Reg claims it took very little time to design but years of experience had to help him out.
 
Cough cough just buy one cough. Especially if it's your only log/brush moving thing you got
 
I'll have to see what I can build one for. I wanna build one just haven't had the time. I'd really like to build one and have it to where it could be powered by a saw or a small motor of some sort without making it to heavy and to hard to move around by hand .
 
On TB there was a guy who did that. Its battery powered and radio control, IIRC. $3500ish in parts. http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/electric-log-and-brushcart-treegoat.36158/


No wages or worker's comp. Much lighter than a mini.


The AT is great at what it does. You will do less work if your cart is wider, where wider fits. There are places for both, and log arches.





Are you familiar with the capstans and augers run by chainsaws? Seems like a similar concept could be modified.
 
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