roadhunter
Elite Member
Hello,
I am looking for opinions and options on how to move piles of tops, limbs, etc....
I live adjacent to some national forest as well as some private land made up up ponderosa pine. These areas are logged regularly and I am looking for options on how to move the piles of waste back to my place. This is primarily tops and branches with almost everything smaller than 6 inches and fairly light.
Some of this material is fairly close to the country roads but there are others where a few mile drive on a 2 track road is necessary. There are some spots that are a little steep but I do not plan to drive these roads when it is wet. Most of the summer things are dry and once the ground freezes in the winter its' not too bad.
I was originally planning to chip the material in the woods but that will require dragging the chipper and something to load the chipper with which seems like a lot of move between piles. I'm thinking I would be better off to keep the chipper and tractor at home and simply find a truck or trailer with a grapple loader to keep things simple.
I've looked around for trailers with grapple loaders and really have not found a whole lot. I have seen a few gooseneck trailers with grapples in the past but they were homemade rigs. Seems like that is not terribly popular.
That had brought me back to finding a grapple truck instead of a trailer. I like the idea of the weight being on the truck instead of behind in a trailer and I also like the idea of keeping my pickup out of the woods. I know some guys who use an old flatbed truck for hauling saw logs and it seems to work well. I'd like to keep it under CDL if possible.
Right now I'm needing to move about 100 ton per month to make enough wood chips for my operation but I would like the ability to haul more as I grow.
So any suggestions on how to go about this?
I am looking for opinions and options on how to move piles of tops, limbs, etc....
I live adjacent to some national forest as well as some private land made up up ponderosa pine. These areas are logged regularly and I am looking for options on how to move the piles of waste back to my place. This is primarily tops and branches with almost everything smaller than 6 inches and fairly light.
Some of this material is fairly close to the country roads but there are others where a few mile drive on a 2 track road is necessary. There are some spots that are a little steep but I do not plan to drive these roads when it is wet. Most of the summer things are dry and once the ground freezes in the winter its' not too bad.
I was originally planning to chip the material in the woods but that will require dragging the chipper and something to load the chipper with which seems like a lot of move between piles. I'm thinking I would be better off to keep the chipper and tractor at home and simply find a truck or trailer with a grapple loader to keep things simple.
I've looked around for trailers with grapple loaders and really have not found a whole lot. I have seen a few gooseneck trailers with grapples in the past but they were homemade rigs. Seems like that is not terribly popular.
That had brought me back to finding a grapple truck instead of a trailer. I like the idea of the weight being on the truck instead of behind in a trailer and I also like the idea of keeping my pickup out of the woods. I know some guys who use an old flatbed truck for hauling saw logs and it seems to work well. I'd like to keep it under CDL if possible.
Right now I'm needing to move about 100 ton per month to make enough wood chips for my operation but I would like the ability to haul more as I grow.
So any suggestions on how to go about this?