Vermeer Mini skid steer

[Windwalker]

Improvise, adapt, overcome!

Great tips guys.

I have a log arch and a 12k winch on my trailer. Takes a few steps but it works very well. I’ve loaded some pretty big logs with it.

I hear ya about the saw mill. But unfortunately I have firewooded more than a few nice saw logs to get the wood out. The tree service comes first, the sawmill just feeds off of that.

 

[Bigfoottreeservice]

I have been running minis for about 6 or so years now. My choice has always been ditch witch but the Vermeer units are side by side. I never cared for boxer or bobcat and never saw a toro. I ran BMG from the begging and its awesome. We started by hand and within 6 months bought a sk755 and a dump trailer with high sides. Now in 2018 we currently have 2 minis are original sk755 with 6000 plus hours and an sk850. The units are a game changer in tree industry. I would admit this unit is what made us what we are today.

 

[Windwalker]

Concerning plywood for turning and runways. Are you guys leaving the sheets full length? Was thinking to make then 4'x4' to make then easier to handle. Also trying to come up with a way to haul them with the mini. Maybe put some rope loops on the plywood and hang them from the grapple to carry to distribute. Any suggestions?

I've already used this thing on three jobs since it arrived last Thursday. I picked up three storm damage jobs last night and two will have use for the mini and one will require plywood. The next 4 days could be a wash out so I will probably run and pick up some plywood and get that ready.

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

Get yourself a set of pallet forks. They are only a couple hundred buck. Marks Suppy I think is close to you out there?
We left our plywood at 7’10” x 3’10” only to make it easier to get on out pick up (self explanatory if you saw our situation). You don’t need heavy ply for the mini so it’s not bad managing 1/2”

Our mats we built a steel rack that sits crosswise our dump trailer. It can be lifted traditionally or from the end.
I can do 20 mats from the side and 10 from the end.
We got 20 new trak mats last week and haven’t figured our strategy for this yet.


Oh handles in the plywood are awesome, but the break out easily so they are a trade off.

 

[Windwalker]

So 1/2” holds up. I was originally thinking 3/4” but then kinda settled on 5/8” as a happy medium

I have a set of forks for my tractor, the vermeer salesman said I can get an adapter to go from universal skid steer to mini skid steer quick attach. I haven’t looked into it yet, but a new set of forks may be cheaper.

 

[southsoundtree]

What about pinching in the grapple?

I can put plywood on top of my machine, lengthwise, with the grapple extended. Rests entirely on strong steel. One sheet can be used to carry a ton of stuff on top, on level ground (saws, ropes, handtools, spura, rigging).

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

So 1/2” holds up. I was originally thinking 3/4” but then kinda settled on 5/8” as a happy medium

I have a set of forks for my tractor, the vermeer salesman said I can get an adapter to go from universal skid steer to mini skid steer quick attach. I haven’t looked into it yet, but a new set of forks may be cheaper.

1/2 has been working for our ditch witch (3200#). They do loose there rigidity but I found that kinda helps a little. They still spread the load quite well and as long as they aren’t all broken up (turning and catching a corner in the tracks does it every time).

You could try the adapter but remember that adapter is going to add distance between your lift pins and the load. Not a huge deal but capacity may suffer slightly.

What about pinching in the grapple?

I can put plywood on top of my machine, lengthwise, with the grapple extended. Rests entirely on strong steel. One sheet can be used to carry a ton of stuff on top, on level ground (saws, ropes, handtools, spura, rigging).

Grabbing with the grapple (BMG or root) works great for 3’ mats (as long as you can have them up off the ground to pick them up) but I wouldn’t do plywood. The power needed to grip and hold is too much to apply without busting the wood up.
We don’t like piling it on the machine either. Too much handling = time/wasted energy = less productivity. And it scratches my pretty paint .
With the forks 2 guys can unload (with our setup) and lay out 20 sheets in 10-15 minutes. Our new mats (because we haven’t got a system yet) took us almost half hour Monday to unload by hand and lay out. I expect 10-15 minutes when we get our new rack built.
Also it’s really nice to have the forks with you. Tuesday we did a 36”+ Pine and the BMG wouldn’t hold the pieces. Threw the forks on and it went right onto the trailer, no issues.

 

[Windwalker]

What about pinching in the grapple?

I can put plywood on top of my machine, lengthwise, with the grapple extended. Rests entirely on strong steel. One sheet can be used to carry a ton of stuff on top, on level ground (saws, ropes, handtools, spura, rigging).

My hydraulic fittings and hoses stick up above the boom arms.

1/2 has been working for our ditch witch (3200#). They do loose there rigidity but I found that kinda helps a little. They still spread the load quite well and as long as they aren’t all broken up (turning and catching a corner in the tracks does it every time).

You could try the adapter but remember that adapter is going to add distance between your lift pins and the load. Not a huge deal but capacity may suffer slightly.



Grabbing with the grapple (BMG or root) works great for 3’ mats (as long as you can have them up off the ground to pick them up) but I wouldn’t do plywood. The power needed to grip and hold is too much to apply without busting the wood up.
We don’t like piling it on the machine either. Too much handling = time/wasted energy = less productivity. And it scratches my pretty paint .
With the forks 2 guys can unload (with our setup) and lay out 20 sheets in 10-15 minutes. Our new mats (because we haven’t got a system yet) took us almost half hour Monday to unload by hand and lay out. I expect 10-15 minutes when we get our new rack built.
Also it’s really nice to have the forks with you. Tuesday we did a 36”+ Pine and the BMG wouldn’t hold the pieces. Threw the forks on and it went right onto the trailer, no issues.

 

[Windwalker]

I think the forks would be handy. I use them on my tractor and agree the forks and grapple both have strongpoints.

I ended up getting some 5/8” plywood and cut them in half, so I have 4’x4’ sheets . My wife is my groundie and I wanted her to be able to carry and move them. I only made 4 for now since it’s all kind of an experiment. I put a radius on all 4 corners and rounded over all edges hoping that will help them last.


Today’s job is in a borough park between two pavilions so it’s all gravel, won’t need the mats. But I have a 40” willow that blew over from the storm that I’ll be getting next week and plan to use the plywood mats only at direction changes. It uprooted and I have to remove the root ball, grind what’s left and fill in with dirt. It’ll be interesting to see if the mini will handle the root ball.

 

[climbhightree]

I just use 3/8" plywood for my mini (vermeer 650tx).It is plenty to spin on and keep out any ruts or track marks. Obviously though not enough to bridge gaps etc unless doubled or tripled.

My petite wife can lift and load a 4x8 sheet into our truck storage rack. Plus they are $ cheap.

If I need to more a full stack of plywood with the mini and bmg, I just slide them between the bmg and skid arms (on top of the connection plate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[southsoundtree]

Forks would be a useful investment and better than pinching. Just thought it might work, and allow it to be grabbed from an 'on-edge' storage location.

My hoses are on top of my boom, but have steel that sticks up just enough, in the right configuration.

I very rarely make a roadway, mostly the occasional turning platform. If you're after a roadway, look at the best way.


I'm dropping down to 3/8". I got 5/8" and it sucks. Luckily there is a plywood manufacturer in town that sells "no sorting, utility grade" cheap. 5/8" cdx for $15, IIRC. I've got it for when its needed.


I've wondered about attaching some 'ladder rungs' for a steep, wet slope. maybe 1/4" strips screwed with washer/ glued.

 

[Windwalker]

I just use 3/8" plywood for my mini (vermeer 650tx).It is plenty to spin on and keep out any ruts or track marks. Obviously though not enough to bridge gaps etc unless doubled or tripled.

My petite wife can lift and load a 4x8 sheet into our truck storage rack. Plus they are $ cheap.

If I need to more a full stack of plywood with the mini and bmg, I just slide them between the bmg and skid arms (on top of the connection plate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Yeah I did the 180 test when I demo'd the unit in my yard. I knew right away it would require some precautionary effort. Its good to know 3/8" plywood will work.

 

[Windwalker]

This thing showed up a week ago and has already been on three jobs and going out again tomorrow if the rain holds off. This thing is a game changer, so glad I went this way instead of a grapple trailer. Work just got a whole lot easier.

These are the tops of one of the two oaks we removed today, was about 36" DBH. The bottom 20' was so laced with nails up until a dust to dawn light at 20', they removed the light but the mount was half grown in the tree. This was all that was salvageable for saw logs, the mini made quick work of this and fit snuggly in between. I'm thinking to upgrade my trailer now to a deck over, the mini seems to have no trouble lifting these logs over the fender, so I'm thinking a deck over isn't much higher, but with a full 8' wide deck I'll get a few more logs on there with the mini.

 

[southsoundtree]

You can end-load way more weight, I believe. Get one end up on the deck, go around to the end on the ground, pick it up from the end, and shove it on. You can get the upper layer on there from the end, with a little bit of a track formed by the layer below to hold and slide the log down. You can let go, and push it the rest of the way on/ in. I usually load my chip body, occasionally a dump trailer.

$.02, fwiw.

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

You can end-load way more weight, I believe. Get one end up on the deck, go around to the end on the ground, pick it up from the end, and shove it on. You can get the upper layer on there from the end, with a little bit of a track formed by the layer below to hold and slide the log down. You can let go, and push it the rest of the way on/ in. I usually load my chip body, occasionally a dump trailer.

$.02, fwiw.

End loading a dump trailer is absolutely the way to go if you are in the mini/trailer stage. There is something to say about pushing a button to get the logs off. Get the mini back and you can sort/stack from there. (My yard is a little tight so we couldn’t use the tractor to get the logs off or move them much, your yard might have more options).
I love the picking one end trick. We did it with a large walnut log last week that made one wood worker very happy! I do recommend carrying a pair of heavy duty chock blocks though to place between the tandems on the trailer. This will save a ton of stress on the park gear in your trucks transmission.

 

[southsoundtree]

Using a stick to hold the brake pedal can help, or load in neutral with a driver holding the pedal.

 

[Jehinten]

You can end-load way more weight, I believe. Get one end up on the deck, go around to the end on the ground, pick it up from the end, and shove it on. You can get the upper layer on there from the end, with a little bit of a track formed by the layer below to hold and slide the log down. You can let go, and push it the rest of the way on/ in. I usually load my chip body, occasionally a dump trailer.

$.02, fwiw.

I was thinking about loading like this the other day, does anyone know how much % wise of a log you would have to pick up to load like this? Say if its a 1,000 lb log, one end is sitting on an arbor trolley and the other end is lifted by a mini, what capacity of a mini would you need to lift the opposite end into a trailer/ truck?

 

[Windwalker]

I ended up with 5/8" plywood and cut the sheets in half, so they are 4' square. I used them as turning stations and connected the dots. As wet as its been I was very impressed with how this all went down today. The mini will spin easily on the half sheet. When I would go into a pick on the log I would put a sheet right behind the mini. Back up, rotate and take a straight line to my next square, used three pads to get me to the truck. The yard looked great when I was done and its been wet.

I have a dump trailer now, but its a 6x10 over the wheels, so its kinda high. I agree its super nice to be able to dump. But with my tractor at base camp I used the forks and sorted saw logs, firewood logs and junk as I was off loading. I was considering replacing the dump trailer with a low profile one, maybe a 7x14, but I think I'm going to replace my equipment trailer with a deck over. Then I'll be able to haul my mini and my stump grinder at the same time. That would have saved me a trip today, as I went back to grind the stump and then I had to run back and pick up the mini. And if I have a deck over and the logs are too heavy for my tractor I can just roll them off.

So to recap for my first week with the mini. Used it on 4 jobs and only one would have been accessible with a grapple trailer. Very happy with it.

Thanks for all the input with getting this thing up and running. I also found out that the grapple works good for pulling up surface roots. ;-)

 

[southsoundtree]

I was thinking about loading like this the other day, does anyone know how much % wise of a log you would have to pick up to load like this? Say if its a 1,000 lb log, one end is sitting on an arbor trolley and the other end is lifted by a mini, what capacity of a mini would you need to lift the opposite end into a trailer/ truck?

Take the back end off the trolley. It's stable in the ground. You can torque those tires unnecessarily.


500 pounds.

 

[Jehinten]

And always remember side slopes are the devil.

I didn't realize how true this statement was until I removed a dead oak from a backyard this past month. A fairly steep hill that I had to go up halfway, turn and drive across the hill, then turn and finish driving up the hill. To add to the complications there were several washed out areas due to rain drainage down the hill and it had just rained the day before making the ground soft.