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That is basically #3 is it not?
ATV, UTV, Lawn Tractor, or Sub Compact trailer choices
- Thread starter AxleHub
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Holy smokes, Axle, you did well! I looked up Polar Trailers here in Canada, and was looking for the heavy duty industrial 1500, and it was almost $1450 Canadian with tax.
I bought the Woodland Mills "TRex", from Port Perry here in Ontario.
woodlandmills.ca
I has tandem axles, big fat ATV tires, and it carries a ton, with of one cubic yard capacity.
It has a lovely mechanism for manually cranking up the dump box as high as 60°, and has some other nice features such as racks that you can use for carrying logs up to 12 feet long.
However, it cost me almost $2000 Canadian, which will be about $1500 to $1600 US at current exchange rates.
I bought the Woodland Mills "TRex", from Port Perry here in Ontario.
woodlandmills.ca
I has tandem axles, big fat ATV tires, and it carries a ton, with of one cubic yard capacity.
It has a lovely mechanism for manually cranking up the dump box as high as 60°, and has some other nice features such as racks that you can use for carrying logs up to 12 feet long.
However, it cost me almost $2000 Canadian, which will be about $1500 to $1600 US at current exchange rates.
joecoin
Gold Member
Well I wasn't sure. He might have meant putting a complete log splitter (wheels/trailer and all) as mentioned in his option #2 and leaving that in the trailer while operating it.
I wanted to know if I could bolt or weld a splitter I beam and ram assembly, along with their associated hydraulic components, onto the trailer.
4570Man
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I don't know why you would. It wouldn't be much more work to build a trailer from scratch and it would be a lot better.
trihounds
Silver Member
Great idea for a thread. I've looked at the Polar but not taken the plunge, yet. I pine and pine and pine on these types of things because I'm not sure I'd get the value out of them at $1000+. But I LOVE to window shop!! The MUTS in Canada are pretty impressive but they are at an entirely different price point from what you are talking about and a little big for a lawn tractor. http://www.muts.ca/
OP
AxleHub
Elite Member
Just to clarify some points.
In my opening post I showed the specs on the Polar HD1500 2 wheel unit is 127 pounds in total product weight and 1500 lbs of carrying weight. While carrying 700 pounds of wood splitter is certainly possible (depending on width and length) . . it's an entirely different concept to operate that 700 pound unit in the trailer. My experience with gas powered wood splitters is they have wheels and frame and get big chunks of 28 inch long full log slices thrown on them and then hydraulic pressure is engaged and you want a solid stable surface that can take a pounding much like a 500 or 700 pound 5 x 10 trailer with 2x 8 decking. As I previously mentioned. . the pole trailer is not that.
Regarding pricing I can't speak for Canadian pricing. . but polar trailers retail for a 2 wheel HD 1500 for less than $500 US and the Tandem axle hd1500 version is less than $850 US. Given they are widely sold by numerous big box store environments you can often find them on sale at considerable discounts to full retail prices. By the way. . . I believe they are made in MN.
The weight carrying is the same for single axle limit as it is for tandem axle. A benefit of the tandem is it is self standing.
While this product is great for atv and utv . . . It works really well using a lawn mower because it takes a lot of brush or mulch compared to the smaller metal carts; making it a roomy hauler with smaller equipment but It serves as a heavier hauler with my SCUT because I can load it with my bucket as well as manually.
Now this thread didn't get started to talk only about Polar product. I recognize there are many options other than the small metal or plastic carts sold for lawn mowers. I wanted bigger size and bigger capacity . . and for my needs I neither had the space or money for something fancy. 1000 to 1500 pounds is a great size with turf tires benefits for lawns and trails. And for less than $400 with bargain hunting it works well for a 2 wheel version. Sometimes I might want the tandem for going over trail logs, bigger rocks etc. or for self standing convenience. But this is a nice steel frame and heavy plastic bed combinationforonly127 poundsofweight . . but welding and bolting heavy items to it is for other units in most cases. I didn't buy a water proof water tight cart to put holes in it.
What are other people choosing and using beyond those little metal carts?
In my opening post I showed the specs on the Polar HD1500 2 wheel unit is 127 pounds in total product weight and 1500 lbs of carrying weight. While carrying 700 pounds of wood splitter is certainly possible (depending on width and length) . . it's an entirely different concept to operate that 700 pound unit in the trailer. My experience with gas powered wood splitters is they have wheels and frame and get big chunks of 28 inch long full log slices thrown on them and then hydraulic pressure is engaged and you want a solid stable surface that can take a pounding much like a 500 or 700 pound 5 x 10 trailer with 2x 8 decking. As I previously mentioned. . the pole trailer is not that.
Regarding pricing I can't speak for Canadian pricing. . but polar trailers retail for a 2 wheel HD 1500 for less than $500 US and the Tandem axle hd1500 version is less than $850 US. Given they are widely sold by numerous big box store environments you can often find them on sale at considerable discounts to full retail prices. By the way. . . I believe they are made in MN.
The weight carrying is the same for single axle limit as it is for tandem axle. A benefit of the tandem is it is self standing.
While this product is great for atv and utv . . . It works really well using a lawn mower because it takes a lot of brush or mulch compared to the smaller metal carts; making it a roomy hauler with smaller equipment but It serves as a heavier hauler with my SCUT because I can load it with my bucket as well as manually.
Now this thread didn't get started to talk only about Polar product. I recognize there are many options other than the small metal or plastic carts sold for lawn mowers. I wanted bigger size and bigger capacity . . and for my needs I neither had the space or money for something fancy. 1000 to 1500 pounds is a great size with turf tires benefits for lawns and trails. And for less than $400 with bargain hunting it works well for a 2 wheel version. Sometimes I might want the tandem for going over trail logs, bigger rocks etc. or for self standing convenience. But this is a nice steel frame and heavy plastic bed combinationforonly127 poundsofweight . . but welding and bolting heavy items to it is for other units in most cases. I didn't buy a water proof water tight cart to put holes in it.
What are other people choosing and using beyond those little metal carts?
Last edited:
RyeThomas
Gold Member
I'm interested as well, my JD Steel cart is beat to heck and I need to upgrade to something heavier. Issue is I don't want to spend a fortune. I am currently leaning towards one of the Bannon units sold by Northern tool but IDK?
I have no idea how to post a link but here's a try, may have to cut and paste.
Bannon | Lawn + Garden | Northern Tool + Equipment
I'm looking at the $699 version with 2 axles and 2 chainsaw scabbards. But I wonder how 2 axles are going to fair cutting tight turns loaded in my yard (well how my grass is going to fare?).
I have no idea how to post a link but here's a try, may have to cut and paste.
Bannon | Lawn + Garden | Northern Tool + Equipment
I'm looking at the $699 version with 2 axles and 2 chainsaw scabbards. But I wonder how 2 axles are going to fair cutting tight turns loaded in my yard (well how my grass is going to fare?).
OP
AxleHub
Elite Member
Rhythomas,
The Bannon products must be new as northern didn't offer them in 2015. An unusual concept with the dual tires. Some pluses and minuses with that. But creative.
The Bannon products must be new as northern didn't offer them in 2015. An unusual concept with the dual tires. Some pluses and minuses with that. But creative.
John_Mc
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AxleHub - The tandem axle is not "self standing". It pivots exactly the same way that the 2 wheel trailer does. It's what is known as a "walking arm" suspension. The two wheels on one side are mounted on a yoke. The center of that yoke has a hole which mounts to the same axle stub as your single tire does (in fact, it's the same size stub, so it's very easy to convert from the walking arm suspension to the single axle type: just take off the yoke, remove one tire from it, and mount that tire on the stub where the yoke was. No tools required.) You can see how it pivots until the tongue hits the ground in this picture of my tandem axle Polar Trailer.
(loaded with freshly cut and split Red Oak from a tree I just took down that was crowding one of my trails.)
The advantage of the walking arm is on rough/uneven terrain: it absorbs a good bit of the roughness without the cart itself getting jostled around. Since the yokes on left and right sides operate independently of each other, it does a good job of absorbing variation on uneven terrain. I could not find a good video of this in a quick search, but you can see a small example of this starting just past the 2:00 mark in this Polar Trailer video.
John_Mc
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They describe the front axle as fixed with the rear pivoting, but from the video, it looks as though it operates as a standard Walking Arm suspension: both tires on a side are moving up and down as it goes over bumps.
It does look like an interesting design. It won't dump (like the Polar Trailer), but the tailgate as loading ramp could be useful for getting heavy items in, and the ability to remove the sides could come in handy.
The 10 MPH limit on both this and the Polar trailers is not a problem when pulling in the woods, but a bit of an inconvenience when pulling any distance down a smooth road or trail.