Brush trailers

Tree-Taylor

Tree-Taylor

Branched out member
Location
Canada
Hey folks,

I've sort of found a niche market in pruning over the last couple of years and do most of my work with a utility trailer, contracting a chipper if the job warrants one.

This year I'm looking at making a few mods to my current utility trailer and am looking for some ideas on raising the sides, tricks for dumping the brush, etc. Any pictures or descriptions of your trailer setup would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris
 
The best trick that I have for dumping brush is to stack it on a rope, when dumping cinch a running bowline around it and pull with a piece of equipment or locked off on a porta wrap and the pull the trailer out from under the brush. The porta wrap allows you to introduce slack into the rope to untie the knot.

As far as raising the sides, however you choose to do so, keep the structural supports on the outside. my biggest complaint with my chip box is the internal supports that allow wood to hang up when dumping.
 
Jehinten said:
The best trick that I have for dumping brush is to stack it on a rope, when dumping cinch a running bowline around it and pull with a piece of equipment or locked off on a porta wrap and the pull the trailer out from under the brush. The porta wrap allows you to introduce slack into the rope to untie the knot.
Click to expand...
This all day long.
Also cinch it right and tie it off and it puts a little tie down system in place to keep shit from blowing out when you’re driving down the road.
 
On the first day of doing tree work in ‘66, I was 12, my neighbor had his son and he groundies. He had a side job doing tree work. We dragged the brush to the curb, used bow saws to limb things up and stacked on the trailer. Marv gave us instructions for stacking brush.

-Start with a long limbs trimmed to leave a fan of branches as the base
-Put 3-4 on the bottom, layering them, with one in each corner of the trailer
-Build up layers by putting more branches
-Stack in four piles and entwine each branch as we built up
-Get up on top to stomp down the pile.
-NEVER let the top of the pile get round, always flat

To this day no one has ever shown me a better method of stacking

When I got my clam truck I followed to same procedure
 
Tom Dunlap said:
On the first day of doing tree work in ‘66, I was 12, my neighbor had his son and he groundies. He had a side job doing tree work. We dragged the brush to the curb, used bow saws to limb things up and stacked on the trailer. Marv gave us instructions for stacking brush.

-Start with a long limbs trimmed to leave a fan of branches as the base
-Put 3-4 on the bottom, layering them, with one in each corner of the trailer
-Build up layers by putting more branches
-Stack in four piles and entwine each branch as we built up
-Get up on top to stomp down the pile.
-NEVER let the top of the pile get round, always flat

To this day no one has ever shown me a better method of stacking

When I got my clam truck I followed to same procedure
Click to expand...

Great description Tom. I always stacked my trailer butts facing the rear thinking it would pull out easier. I'll have to give that technique a go.

I used to tie the brush off to pull it off at the dump. It was perfect because they have these huge steel barricades surrounding the brush pile area. Turns out there's a camera pointing in that direction...I was politely asked to never do that again. Such a shame.
 
Bottom layer pretty much full length of trailer with butts forward. Makes a great "platform" to put cinching rope under to pull whole load at one time.

I always cut out the woody parts of the brush to put on top of the load. Any straight pieces four to six feet long and three inches in dia or so are great for stuffing upright along the sides after you have filled the trailer half way. That way you can have say three foot sides that are reasonable for loading small loads but then stab down in your limb wood along the sides every couple of feet to turn it into six or seven foot sides when needed. Between that, cutting down the load to compact it, and piling it so I could load four feet beyond a tailgate I would overload a 3/4 pickup pretty easily with brush.

I have used several methods to dump without hyd and to pull loads out. It seems the guys at the dump 35 years ago were related to your guys at the dump - no imagination. Or,.....maybe too much imagination. What could go wrong??? :)
Therianclimber, what is the most workable dump method you have so far?
 
We stacked brush butts to 1 side on base for stiff lever, to roll flip across the short axis of heavy equipment trailer to flip off with another vehicle pulling to side.
.
Get base about 5 branches deep of flat 'fans', trim wheel well shapes out. Then build up from there and in this range can center cut down length of trailer, build,cut etc. Leaving base untouched lever fans, middle some give and cuts let sit down more. then saving some nice fans for top a few layers deep. Cross webbing straps in X on top so must tighten if starts to slide, not where strap in straight line down trailer and rolls off side with load... Tighten ratchet, hold purchase, pull slack thru ratchet and tighten again. Greater leverage of tightening when empty, not full. i even sweated/swigged 'em some.
.
At dump site, rope over top sideways bowline around base ends, to have other truck pull sideways of/flip off trailer. Sometimes right onto smoldering fire, lost a few tires to heat doing that when it flamed up.
.
Also tried preset, long rope to bottom of trailer, each end tied off to very end of a trailer side, slack of bight in trailer nose. Fill branches across again, about the same formulae, solid base and top, some cuts in sandwich in between to lay that section nicer. Fold slack bight/tongue over load, 1 strap tighten at end of trailer. At dumpsite , tie off to payloader, tree and pull forward hard. Or again have other truck pull off.
.
Flipping off short side was better full loaded/especially on longer trailer stacked with middle range cut and compressed, than long draw down center. But if alone, side pull need to unhook and stabilize trailer, and pull off sideways by self with own truck not as slick. but at couple of job sites even had stump with triangle out of side for setting trailer nose in to stabilize against side pull. Use chains to grip around stump, sometimes had to tie off rear so couldn't swing around. As was taught, to steady azz git'er done!
.
Sides, reduce access on and off trailer. Low boy trailers with bed almost on axle and small diameter tires requires less lifting force and duration, same man can also stack/reach higher.
 
Last edited:
Merle Nelson said:
Therianclimber, what is the most workable dump method you have so far?
Click to expand...

My trailer is fairly small so most loads are pretty easy to pull out by hand using the running bowline method, especially with my groundie. But I did come up for a system after I hurt my back trying to muscle a load out.

I essentially created a shelf that would pull out and tilt off the back of the trailer. I took a sheet of plywood and ran some 2x4s across the bottom, then sunk some casters in so the shelf would roll. I have it tied to the front of the trailer so it stops after tipping. Once the butts hit the ground they pretty much dig in and you can pull forward to dump the load.

I'm taking advantage of the down time to get some work done on the old trailer. I'm getting some removable gusset channels for adding 2x12 to the sides and some brackets for ladders, pruners and such. Should make life easier.
 
Youtube has some unique offerings. Lots of front mounted arches to lift a false bed. Lots of leaf guys winching a false front to push out.
 
Parbuckling round weight up ramps when can.
>>even rampish grade of solid logs.
2/1 rolling, w/o man on down ramp side.
.
Another advantage to sideless trailer is truck pull 90degrees to trailer to parbuckle 20' lengths / whatever.
Lock down rope per layer and pull from opposite side stacking layers. Kinda pyramiding overall. Logs bed better, interlaced so, and gives lower CoG more centered and better mirror view.
 
therianclimber said:
My trailer is fairly small so most loads are pretty easy to pull out by hand using the running bowline method, especially with my groundie. But I did come up for a system after I hurt my back trying to muscle a load out.

I essentially created a shelf that would pull out and tilt off the back of the trailer. I took a sheet of plywood and ran some 2x4s across the bottom, then sunk some casters in so the shelf would roll. I have it tied to the front of the trailer so it stops after tipping. Once the butts hit the ground they pretty much dig in and you can pull forward to dump the load.

I'm taking advantage of the down time to get some work done on the old trailer. I'm getting some removable gusset channels for adding 2x12 to the sides and some brackets for ladders, pruners and such. Should make life easier.
Click to expand...


I did that type of system for quite a while. In a pickup I started loading it way back heavy and going backwards steadily and hitting the brakes. It would unload quite handily. But those dump guys that had either no imagination - or too much....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom