Will my BX25 be able to do this?

[Tractor Factor]

Worked great until I got on a slope...the rear wheels broke free and no amount of brake would help.

Sounds like a good way to ruin a lawn...and who knows what else. Incredible deck, btw, and that's coming from a pro builder (at least I'm told I am). Yes, that would be a lot of carrying...pressure treated lumber is soooo heavvvy.

 

[KeithInSpace]

Ummmm...ya. That was as close to 'having an accident' in every sense of the term as I care to ever come. Very unfortunate.

The lawn was wet and I was carrying not the skid trailer you see, but a green metal Costco lanscape cart thingy with some 480# of bagged Quickcrete on-board. Neighbor had a fence at the bottom of the slope that I almost ran straight into.

No joke about the lumber. Pick up a 16' 6x6 pressure treated post by yourself sometime. The way I had things, I could slide the wood from the racks at the yard onto my cart, slide from the cart to the trailer, slide from the trailer to the carrier, then slide from the carrier to the ground or my project surface. Worked pretty well.

What was best was that I had about $3,000 in lumber on that project. I had two different guys quote the finished product within a few bucks of $18,000. There were a great many heavilly custom items on there that were very time consuming...note that each and every ballaster is custom routed between two 2x4's, even on the stairs. And each post is 6x6. And the 2x12 skirting. Made me feel pretty good about myself.

ANYWAY, to the OP: 4WD on slopes. It's a must.

 

[Riptide23]

The BH is so easy to take off, that for what you are doing, that's it's a no-brainer. Besides, in the woods, you'll appreciate the extra nimbleness of the tractor. The TPH is pretty easy to put on, once you first rig it up...

Do yourself a favor, and order the Pat's EZ Change system. Do it now. These things should be factory standard

Then order a TPH tow bar - I have one from Redlandhill.

Now you have a versatile towing solution that can quickly lower the trailer if it starts getting squirrely or pushy.

Now KeithInSpace, are you saying you have a weight distributing hitch on your tractor? If so, can you provide more details?

Pat

 

[KeithInSpace]

...a weight distributing hitch on your tractor?

A WD hitch assembly consists of a huge head on a solid 2" shank...the whole thing goes for a solid 40# or more. Basically, this is the same as the shank you'd normally slip into your normal receiver, it is just bigger, heavier, and accomodates the trunnion/spring arms.

The spring arms attach to the hitch head and then by chains to the A-frame assembly of the trailer.

So once you have the shank/head/trunnion/chain assembly set up to work together, it is as simple as any other hitch to install and use. So with the 2" receiver 3PH assembly I have, I just slide the shank in there and use it as I would on my truck. Not a problem!

I'll take pictures next time I put it all together, but it is a bist simpler than I'm making it sound, probably.

It worked pretty darn good...I lowered the 3PH to the point that the spring arms took up all the load and would not go down any further...by that I mean the spring bars bend and the tongue "hovers", being held up exculsively by the upward force imparted by the trunnion/spring bars. That meant that there was as much weight on the FRONT wheels by the trailer as the REAR wheels...pretty cool.

Does that make any sense at all?

 

[Tractor Factor]

Does that make any sense at all?

Some...the basics anyway. Some of the details are a little fuzzy, but it's my unfamiliarity, not your explanation that's at fault. Pictures would be great.

Is this also what's called a load-leveling hitch?

 

[radioman]

yup WD is load leveling hitch combo.

 

[BXinNH]

The other consideration in all this is how your trailer is balanced. I think 20% of the total trailer weight on the tongue is the typical recommendation. I would think though that if you do take the BH off (which I think is a good idea), additional tongue weight within reason would help you with traction and consequently braking.
Matt.

 

[Tom_H]

My greatest concern would be if you are on that 20% slope and there is wet clay sitting on rock. I'd leave FEL bucket really low ready to dig in. If there's a toothbar, I'd have that on. I also would go very slowly there, because coming to a quick stop with much speed under those conditions could result in fishtailing. Fishtailing on that slope could put the trailer into a roll, torquing the tongue of the trailer and the coupling to the hitch and all kinds of not pretty things could result.

To what length will these logs be cut prior to loading the tractor? For long logs, there are 3ph devices especially designed to grapple and pull in a straight long line. Cutting long lengths, dragging them out and then recutting would be a PITR and I would surely think you are cutting into fireplace length prior to loading tractor. That probably being the case, have you thought about a carryall on the 3ph? This would avoid that hinge at the hitch and fishtail problem. You could even put firewood on a pallet, strap it, then back the carryall forks into the pallet. Similarly, putting forks on the front of the FEL would place the cargo in front of you on that slope. A pallet of firewood on forks out in front of the FEL would likely put the CG too far out in front and tip you forward unless you kept bh on as counterweight, but that makes the entire assembly so long and narrow and bouncy that it could go into a side skid on that wet slippery slope and end up in a roll. Putting forks on the FEL bucket with cross members extending only a short distance beyond the FEL front lip, then loading the firewood into the bucket and just past the front of the bucket and strapping it would keep the CG closer to the center of the tractor.

I would not use the trailer on that slope in any moist conditions. I'd just load the FEL or buy a carryall (they only cost ($99-$149) and get some cheap used pallets. You'd stack the firewood one single time on the pallet and unstack as needed for the fireplace. When you get to the house or barn, just drop the pallet with wood still on it and can easily move loaded pallets around as desired later if needed. You don't unload anything off a pallet until you are ready to take a few armloads into the house.

Actually, instead of strapping the wood on the pallet, you could buy a big roll of shrinkwrap and secure it really well. If you continue the shrinkwrap over the top of the stack of each pallet, you could even waterproof the entire load. I guess this would be best for trees that are dead-standing and have already seasoned/dried out. Wrapping green wood completely wouldn't let it dry very well and it'd likely get mold, fungus, and other decomposers started working a lot faster, so for that I'd leave the top not covered.

 

[BXpanded]

I offer a couple of cautions about trailering on a hill, up or down:

If you are going down the hill with a load on a trailer and the wheels start to slide, the tractor will almost always slide sideways and the trailer will continue to push until you have a jacknife situation. At that point, a tractor roll over is very common. Big tractor or small.

If you are pulling a trailer up a hill and you start to slip, you are now faced with trying to maintain traction as you gingerly try to back down the hill. That is difficult and exciting as you have very little weight on the front wheels and steering is difficult.

If you decide to pull a trailer, load it tongue heavy and use the trailer hitch mount on the tractor, NOT the 3pt. Remember, the 3pt hitch has no down pressure. If the trailer begins to push the tractor, the hitch will often come up. This drastically changes the push angle, lifts the rear wheels and tries to turn the tractor. If it goes sideways with the hitch pushed up, the trailer will almost certainly roll the tractor. If you decide to pull a heavy trailer on a slope with the 3pt hitch, absolutely chain the drawbar down so it cannot raise.

The safest and easiest way is to leave the backhoe on for ballast. Load the wood into the front bucket or on pallet forks. Drive forward up the hill, backward going down. The weight will keep the tractor relatively balanced. If you can drive up the hill empty, you'll almost certainly have no problem carrying a load. Backing down the hill eliminates any need to tie or secure the logs unless you've stacked them high enough to roll over the bucket. The load in the bucket also puts weight over the steering wheels. If you have any doubtful situations, just drop the front bucket.

Stay off sidehills with a loaded bucket.

 

[Tractor Factor]

That probably being the case, have you thought about a carryall on the 3ph? This would avoid that hinge at the hitch and fishtail problem. You could even put firewood on a pallet, strap it, then back the carryall forks into the pallet. Similarly, putting forks on the front of the FEL would place the cargo in front of you on that slope.
I would not use the trailer on that slope in any moist conditions. I'd just load the FEL or buy a carryall

The safest and easiest way is to leave the backhoe on for ballast. Load the wood into the front bucket or on pallet forks. Drive forward up the hill, backward going down.

These ideas, or some closely related variation on them, make the most sense to me. Hard to believe there is so much I never even considered about my original plan. But just one day of using the new tractor today really makes these ideas ring true. I can really feel the depth of experience in all the responses here, and I thank everybody for sharing what they know.

I've scrapped the trailer idea for good...just too many potential problems that I don't need. I'm not on a time clock doing this, so if it means more and smaller loads without a trailer, so be it.

Again, thank you everyone!