Building a "Brush Hauler"

[SkunkWerX]

Forks on the bucket, that is a good way to do it.

Another would be to lay two pieces of chain, or strap on the ground.
Pile the brush on top of them, then cinch them around the pile and hook to a chain on your FEL.

Unless you have a 2nd tow vehicle, the problem with the trailer is having to unhook it from the tractor, then hook up again when it's time to roll.

You said Fence Line? How long is the fence line?

I picture using FEL forks, driving along the fence line, stopping to cut, piling on the forks, and continuing along. If you have a carry-all attachment for the 3Pt hitch, you can keep saws and pruners back there.

 

[have_blue]

You said Fence Line? How long is the fence line?

I picture using FEL forks, driving along the fence line, stopping to cut, piling on the forks, and continuing along. If you have a carry-all attachment for the 3Pt hitch, you can keep saws and pruners back there.

Yes, I get the picture too. I have about 1/2 mile of fence line. Sometimes it's a long way to the nearest brush pile, that's why I was thinking about something that would carry a big pile of brush. My bush hog was 6' wide and ~7' long, and I could carry a surprisingly big stack on it, but the frame and driveshaft got in the way. That's why I was thinking something just a couple of feet bigger would carry a huge pile, and be easy to load and unload. Something like a grapple would take forever, because I would spend all my time traveling. A huge fork could possibly get me a fair amount of brush per trip, and nothing could be easier to dump. Maybe take some 2" square tubing and angle the ends sharp. The forks would be even easier to store than the flat foldable wagon I had in mind. Now you guys have me thinking, and that can be dangerous.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bob,

I've been thinking about something to do the this too. My full sized, one yard FEL fills up too quckly and it's a workout climbing up and down it over and over again to pick up the branches that I want in the burn pile. I have a wagon that I pull behind the four wheeler, but that fills up too fast too.

I'm thinking about a dump trailer that I can build and haul around with either the four wheeler or my small tractor. I prefer the fourwheeler since I won't have to remove an implement in order to do clean up. That means an electric lift of some kind. Since this is still just in the dreaming stages of my mind, I'm thinking side dump.

If I build it based on a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood for the bottom and three fixed sides, the amount of lift to dump the load would be very minimal. With the load being sticks, I don't expect the load to be very significant either, so an electric lift should work real good.

Eddie

 

[patrick_g]

I have over 3 miles of fence and am still putting up more. I like to load brush onto my util trailer with the pallet forks on the tractor. I like to place a rope or chain or both on the bed before loading. leave plenty of slack up front and in back. Then when it is time to unload you tie the rope/chain to fixed object and drive away. Alternatively you can use the tractor to drag it off by the rope/chain. If you pull the trailer with the tractor it only takes one person to do it all.

Then if the brush isn't where you want it, use the tractor/pallet forks to move it the last bit. Be careful as it is not impossible to shove a stick through your radiator when shoving on brush, I did.

I now have a dump trailer too. I think that to use it I would have to cut up the debris so it will fit in the dump bed easier. The bed is 7x12x 2 feet deep. brush does not compact very easily and I don't want to have to cut it up like firewood so I haven't used the dump on brush yet but I may.

Pat

 

[rcrcomputing]

1977 gmc dually with a 12' flat dump bed. Works nice. I have way to much money in this old thing though.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

Hey Bob,

I like the dump trailor for this job...used it extensively on a land clearing project and after finishing the project, have found lots of other uses for it.


How's your pond and fish (Pacu) doing?

 

[Renze]

A squeezing clamp on a front loader would hold as much brush as my 6 meter hay wagon - Last month i finished the hay wagon, the brush clamp is planned for next winter.

 

[TDVT]

Sometimes we burn ours but usually haul it about 4 mi where there's a guy that grinds wood chips with a HUGE machine & he welcomes all sorts of brush, logs or untreated lumber scraps. The eternal brush pile I guess.

Anyway, I haul the stuff on my 5 X 10 landscape trailer. I will hold quite a bit & it has only foot high sides (railing) If I were to extend them like a stake body I'm sure it would hold quite a bit more. As someone already noted it's bulk not weight. I load it butt ends to the back & it's also much quicker to unload than you might think. Occasionally I'll pull the whole pile off at once with a chain but usually don't bother.

I was thinking of building another, a little narrower for the woods & without the PT deck. Just some cross rails & high stake sides.

 

[SkunkWerX]

The other answer is get a PTO Chipper and instead of hauling,
chip them in place as they are cut.

You could get a fair amount of chips into a 4x8 trailer (like Eddie was talking about) towed behind the chipper.


Otherwise, a flatbed trailer with open stakes [sticking up vertically] would probably do the trick, like they haul timber with on 18 wheelers.

Once it's full and ready to off-load, you could remove the stakes (uprights) and push the pile of brush off the flatbed with the FEL.


.

 

[workinallthetime]

something like this, modified w/ verticle risers to haul more brush
Country ATV, heavy duty ATV wagons for off-road use.

pretty cheep considering what it would take to build a small trailer, also craigs list around here has beat up old trailers everyday, they can be had from 100.00 to 3000.00. at least you could get your rolling hardware that way and modify as needed