At Home In The Woods

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#3,661  
dstig1 said:
Oh yeah they are handy as heck. Loading anything from a gas grill to a wheelbarrow is a breeze without having to worry about stepping up over the top of a protruding ramp to get it going. Much more stable, safer and easier to use. I even use them to load and unload my 400+lb splitter into the back of my truck. Again, a little hill goes a long way there....

edit - I've got the 2x8 version, but they also have a 2x12 one. Wider would be nice, but they would get heavier to handle. I doubled-up my 2x8's too, so they are pretty heavy for what they are. I need to do that for heavier loads, so going to doubled 2x12's would be rather beastly.
Yes, I noticed they have 2x12 versions. I was wondering if the 2x12 versions would be a little stronger than the 2x8s in addition to the advantage of being wider. When I loaded my riding mower into my truck using 2x8 boards, I put concrete blocks below the boards at the mid-point to make sure the boards did not break.
 
   / At Home In The Woods #3,662  
I have started looking at Craigslist for trailers. I'm considering a 5x8 tilt trailer. I seem to think I would like a tilt trailer better than a rear gate-ramp trailer. I curious if any of you guys have any experience with the pros/cons of each.



You will have to be real careful with a tilt trailer, my wife was loading a lawn mower on a small tilt trailer and I couldn't get there in time to lock the trailer from tilting and she decided to walk off the back and well the lawn mower almost ran over her because the trailer decided to tilt. I will go with ramps or a "tail gate" on a trailer any time
 
   / At Home In The Woods #3,663  
Yes, I noticed they have 2x12 versions. I was wondering if the 2x12 versions would be a little stronger than the 2x8s in addition to the advantage of being wider. When I loaded my riding mower into my truck using 2x8 boards, I put concrete blocks below the boards at the mid-point to make sure the boards did not break.
Obed - don't EVER do that. I know it feels like it's safer as it is cutting the span in half, but the problem is what can go wrong. Here's a story of a friend of mine. He was loading a small tractor into the back of a truck or trailer way back when he was a teenager. His Dad was helping. These are pretty experienced people around heavy equipment as his Dad was in construction and actually a degreed engineer too.

Well the inadequate ramps they had were not up to the task, so his Dad did exactly what you did - mid span supports with some blocks or bricks. My friend drove the unit up the ramps and all was fine until he got past the mid span supports. Once the load was in the upper section, it deflected the ramps enough that the bottoms lifted off the ground. Then the forward motion of the tires created the opposite reaction in the ramps, and caused the ramps to slip backwards off the vehicle platform as the mid-blocks had no lateral strength (loose blocks) to stop it (whereas the ground is solid and can resist that back sliding) ...and everything came crashing down, and I believe the tractor rolled to one side and threw him. This is one of those situations where he could have easily been killed.

But it seems logical - so what went wrong? The flaw was that the mid supports are loose (relying on gravity only) and not attached to the ramps. If you built a mid support that was sturdy and fully secured to the ramp, then you could get away with this, but people do just what you did - stack some blocks under there and go.

You are better off making/buying sturdier ramps that are up to the task. That is a main reason I doubled up my 2x8's. If you wanted them even stronger, a thin piece of steel on the bottom would help enormously too. Or a 2x4 on edge to make a T, especially near the center section. There is nothing I can move up those ramps that is going to break them.

It's an easy mistake to make, but now you know...
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,664  
clemsonfor said:
Just curious Your a computer guy right? At least thats what i though you did for a living.

Im asking cause your setup looks like you were a contractor. You can sell that 12K trailer and buy 2 smaller ones. That tractor and all the implements that will fit will easily load onto a 7K trailer and then you can get a 4x8 for lawnmowers and wood and lumber. That trailer is really a hinderance like you have observed.
When people see my crew cab dually, they often ask if I'm a contractor (construction contractor). Yes, I am a computer guy. I did computer contract work for 10 years and bought the dually and 5th wheel camper to live in while we moved around. When we sold the camper after moving into our house, we kept the truck so we can transport the tractor to the shop as needed. I don't really need a dually but would rather keep this truck than get another one of the same age and mileage because I know the history of this truck.

Yes, it has occurred to me that I could get a shorter trailer to haul my tractor. If I had it to do over again, I would not have originally bought a trailer so long. Having the long trailer was handy during the house build because we used it as a construction debris trailer. If I only use the trailer to occasionally transport the tractor, then I can deal with the size of the trailer on those rare occasions. Let's face it, loading the tractor on the tractor is a big enough endeavor that the extra length of the trailer is only a minor annoyance. However, using the large trailer to transport a lawnmower just doesn't make much sense.

Obed
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,665  
clemsonfor said:
Do you have a ditch or a bank you can back to? I though i saw one in one of your pics somewhere, like a cut bank. You either back your rear set of tires into a ditch or upto a ditch or bank use 6-7 boards to load/unload the lawnmower. I have done it a bunch back into the small and i mean small ditch infront of my house and put the boards on and its almost straight into the bed. THis is a ditch you can mow with a rider and not feel close to tipping. I also have an old square body chevy 4x4 with a few inches of lift and 33" tires, my point in this is my tailgate on level ground is near my waist/hips and im 6'2". Or if you have a cut bank in your yard that you can back to just back to it and then drive the mower around onto the hill then load it.

If your scared you can always walk it up, either by pushing it or like a 4 wheeler i just sometimes put in gear and press the gas while walking beside it. A hydro stat mower works the same way just bump it fwd. If you get your tires in a ditch the boards will bout be flat.
I don't know of a spot off of the top of my head where I can place my truck without getting stuck. However, with the hilly lot we have, I could probably find a spot if I look hard enough. A bank would definitely help.
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,666  
brin said:
Obed, I bought a 5'X8' Landscape trailer with a fold down mesh gate from Craig's list for $350.00 with 15 " tires...I would advise you to be sure to make it 5' wide to accommodate any width mower deck on any lawnmower you may have or buy later..I like the fold down mesh gate as opposed to the tilt...I never felt comfortable with the tilt....I was always afraid the catch would not hold or would break...You will find many uses for the trailer...you can use it around your property too behind your tractor or even lawn mower..
Bob,
That's a good point. I was wondering if a 4' trailer would be too narrow. You've answered my question.
Thanks,
Obed
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,667  
tony Cecil said:
I would guess that all those years of living in the trailer would make a person really want alot of stuff :) I hope you don`t end up with alot of thing parked outside, as after a while you get tired of the look..

As you are headed that way, you might want to locate where a good sized shed or mini barn could go that would be convenient to the house and where the garden is going to go....Believe me you will really want that in the near future....Tony
Tony,
The point you make is exactly why we haven't bought a small utility trailer before now. I wasn't thrilled about having another trailer sitting around the place. I would love to have a shed. The hard part is figuring out where to put it. Building a shed would very likely involve cutting down trees and doing some excavation work to make a level spot.

For now, I can park the big trailer and little trailer in the trees where they are now terribly obvious. I've already found a spot like that for the big trailer that works fairly well.

Obed
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,668  
boner58 said:
You will have to be real careful with a tilt trailer, my wife was loading a lawn mower on a small tilt trailer and I couldn't get there in time to lock the trailer from tilting and she decided to walk off the back and well the lawn mower almost ran over her because the trailer decided to tilt. I will go with ramps or a "tail gate" on a trailer any time
I could see that scenario as being something to consider. Thanks for the input.
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#3,669  
dstig1 said:
Obed - don't EVER do that. I know it feels like it's safer as it is cutting the span in half, but the problem is what can go wrong. Here's a story of a friend of mine. He was loading a small tractor into the back of a truck or trailer way back when he was a teenager. His Dad was helping. These are pretty experienced people around heavy equipment as his Dad was in construction and actually a degreed engineer too.

Well the inadequate ramps they had were not up to the task, so his Dad did exactly what you did - mid span supports with some blocks or bricks. My friend drove the unit up the ramps and all was fine until he got past the mid span supports. Once the load was in the upper section, it deflected the ramps enough that the bottoms lifted off the ground. Then the forward motion of the tires created the opposite reaction in the ramps, and caused the ramps to slip backwards off the vehicle platform as the mid-blocks had no lateral strength (loose blocks) to stop it (whereas the ground is solid and can resist that back sliding) ...and everything came crashing down, and I believe the tractor rolled to one side and threw him. This is one of those situations where he could have easily been killed.

But it seems logical - so what went wrong? The flaw was that the mid supports are loose (relying on gravity only) and not attached to the ramps. If you built a mid support that was sturdy and fully secured to the ramp, then you could get away with this, but people do just what you did - stack some blocks under there and go.

You are better off making/buying sturdier ramps that are up to the task. That is a main reason I doubled up my 2x8's. If you wanted them even stronger, a thin piece of steel on the bottom would help enormously too. Or a 2x4 on edge to make a T, especially near the center section. There is nothing I can move up those ramps that is going to break them.

It's an easy mistake to make, but now you know...
Dave,
That makes complete sense. Fortunately that didn't happen to me ... that time. I just remember that it was scary enough that time that I decided to use my big trailer this time instead. When I used the boards, I had someone stand on the end of the boards that met the ground. I think that helped the boards stay in place. Otherwise, I didn't have much confidence that the boards would not do the same thing you mentioned.
Obed
 
   / At Home In The Woods #3,670  
Obed,

I would guess you could find a location to build an earthen loading dock to assist loading into your truck. A few railroad ties or landscape timbers, a few yards of dirt, a few buckets of gravel. Plant grass and instant earthen loading dock. If you spend a bit of time placing the landscape timbers, I think it would look nice and blend into the scenery.

The ties or timbers would work better with wing walls extending at an angle towards the truck side, working the height back down to grade. The ties would form the bulkhead to hold the soil. Top of the ties would be the height of the bed of your truck.

Your wife could plant flowers along the wing walls, etc to dress things up.

Just an idea. BTW, love the place. Looks great!!

Dean
 
 
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