Buying Advice anybody own one of these???

[namesray]

come across one of these log trailers with grapple loader. wondering if any one out there has any experience with this model and can offer any tips/advice and so on. i am interested in one, thinking of the smaller one with highway package and boom winch.



Timber Talon Log Trailers - Wallenstein

 

[Piston]

I think those are extremely useful for us that do a lot of hobby logging. I would really like one for the mill as I don't like to drag the logs through the dirt, it dulls the blades much quicker.

Have you priced them yet? They are very expensive.


About 10 years ago I visited a friend of mine at his father's house. His dad sold firewood as a side business, and had a log trailer like that, he towed it behind his ATV. He would load it up with small to medium sized logs and bring them to his "splitting station". He would unload the log from the trailer, keeping it in the grapple, and swing it out to the side, then cut the log into rounds with it hanging from the grapple, after that it was split and piled. It really cut down on how many times he handled the firewood.

 

[oosik]

Have a friend up north with a Wallenstein log trailer. He started out in the firewood business and now is in the tamerac rough cut lumber business. Lots more money selling specialty cut lumber to the rich folk having their oversized houses custom built. He's used his over ten years and done nothing but routine maintenance. It looks like its been drug sideways down a gravel road but still works great and HAULS the logs.

 

[namesray]

thanks for the replies. i quick priced them and the smaller one is around $20K and the larger at $25K. dealer said they could do better. i was planning on using it simular to how piston mentioned earlier as to help save my back during the blocking up process and less handeling. also my wood plots are getting further away and i thought the trailer would cut down on trips to the plots and just simplifty things. i do over 200 face cord firewood a year. any one know about how many face cord in logs the trailers can haul? how well do the atv's handle them on hills in the woods cause i got hills. gotta be more people out there that have some experience with these or simular ones. thanks again.

 

[Piston]

The fellow I mentioned that owned one, used his behind his ATV with no problems, but his land was very flat. I wouldn't use it behind an ATV on hilly land, although perhaps they have surge brakes on the trailer?

Using it behind the tractor is probably a much better match with any sort of hills. Of course, it just depends on how much you load it up, and how heavy the trailer is to begin with. I venture a guess that the trailer alone is probably close to the max you should pull with an ATV on hilly land.

I think the reason more people don't own these, is due to the price. It is a very "job specific" tool and demands a high price, it's not very useful for anything other than hauling logs, so it's tough to justify for the homeowner or small business owner. It would really need to increase production quite a bit to make it pay for itself over time.

The cost is the only reason I don't already own one. I've often thought of building one, but they're not cheap to build either!

I think an excellent alternative is to buy, or build, a log trailer. Then purchase, if you don't have already, a FEL grapple for your tractor, load the trailer with the tractor and unload it the same way, or possibly incorporate a dump feature. It wouldn't be as "good" as a dedicated log trailer, but it's a whole lot more useful for many other things. What is 200 face cord equal to? I guess around 60 or so cord per year? If you could increase your production, or decrease the time it may take, and make it work from a cost benefit standpoint, it may be worth it???

 

[oosik]

Hi Piston -
Say, what is a "face cord?" I've never heard this term used and my dictionaries do not list it. Boy, I'm sure familiar with a cord - 4'x8'x4'.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Hi Piston -
Say, what is a "face cord?" I've never heard this term used and my dictionaries do not list it. Boy, I'm sure familiar with a cord - 4'x8'x4'.

A face cord is 4'x8'x16', or 1/3 full cord

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[oosik]

Thanks Adirondak,
I think you hit the wrong key there on the 16?? It must be 4'x8'x16". Anyhow, we burned wood (Ponderosa pine) here when we first moved here. That was thirty two years ago and when I was a lot younger and was up to handling the big pine trees. Now its electric heat and sell off the trees to loggers.

 

[Piston]

A "face cord" is a very regional term, most of the time I hear it it's from someone from NY state, or nearby. Most people in my area don't know what a face cord is either, and have never heard of it, even though we're not far from places that it is very common.

The term is so popular in some areas that when people say they cut 4 cords of wood the other day, they're actually referring to face cords and not 'real' cords.

 

[oosik]

Thanks Piston,
We originally burned firewood when we first moved down here. Pine is cheap heat but creates a lot of ash and can be a problem with creosote.