In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

★★★★★ Wallenstein Log Grapple and Trailer

Discussion in 'Everything Else' started by LodgedTree, Sep 1, 2016.

  1. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    One of the reasons I have not posted much about my new Wallenstein Trailer is that I don't have pictures of it; I am too busy using it. What a handy rig! It is ideal for the small homestead, BUT the high price ($18,000 dollars) kind of stops people from buying it. I have run it a lot, got some numbers figured out, and got the powerpack unit for it, which intensifies its usefulness 10 fold. For those that do not know, the Wallenstein is a Log Trailer with a boom and grapple attached to it. the log stakes can be removed and a dump body put in its place. And it can also be used as a post hole driller.

    Log Trailer:
    I was a little disappointed at this, I was hoping for some higher numbers as the machine can handle 5000 pounds (1 cord) but only has stakes for 1/2 a cord. I am going to extend the stakes a bit higher so that I can at least get 3/4 of a cord on it, that way I save a few trips out to the wood yard. With it however I can get 4 cords out per day cut at 8 feet. I get $80 a cord for my 8 foot pulpwood making for a decent work day pay off. As for fuel, I consume about 2 gallons of fuel doing so as everything is run at an idle. In that respect it is a very efficient mover of wood and I have pulled out 20 cords with it so far. Normally I pull tree length out at 1/4 cord per turn, in 5th gear in 4 wheel drive. With the trailer I can do so at 1/2 cord, in 7th gear (out of 8) and in 2 wheel drive.

    I have also pulled out 12' spruce logs, many large in diameter at about 500 bf per twitch. It has done really well at this and the log loader, though small handles the big logs easily. Clean logs, making 3 trips to the yard per day instead of 10...what is not to love?

    Backhoe:
    This it surprisingly excels at. I have put in two culverts with it, and done some minor digging here and there. This machine can dig. Its a bit awkward because you can't dig straight on because your dump body is behind you, but it has such reach and depth that it is very forgiving, (unlike a tractor backhoes that can only dig in a 170 degree arc, this has 270 degrees. And it easily digs in tough digging, filling the bucket every time. Having the ability to dump the backhoe into the its dumb body is also nice.

    Dump Body:
    Filling the 1 yard dump body is slow, but filling it with the tractors bucket is fast. 4 passes and its filled. I used this to make a road into my woodlot where it was very wet. It really worked fast and well. I also moved gravel around from my pit 1/4 mile away to do some driveway work. Really fast.

    Moving Big Round Bales:
    This thing is super fast at it. Just pick the bale up with its grapple, toss it on the log trailer, grab the second one and you are off. Having the ability to pick the bale up and set it exactly where you want it by twisting, turning and rotating it makes it NICE.

    Building Rock Walls:
    What a dream. I used mine to pick up some big rocks and with its grapple, set them right in place with little effort.

    Auger:
    Sorry, no report I have yet to try it out yet.

    The Powerpack:
    This is what makes it nice. Everything I just described I can do on anything with a hitch. Since the little gas engines drives its hydraulics, it is not dependent upon a tractor. I can put it on my bulldozer, SUV, my car, even an ATV or tractor. Need to run a few logs to a buddies house? Just load them on the trailer and haul them over with your SUV, same thing with a load of manure, gravel or even big round bales. The powerpack was a $1600 dollar option, but boy was it worth it!

    Future Attachments:
    I plan to custom make the following attachments for it to make it even more useful. First a wood splitter. They make an upside down wood splitter for mini-excavators and for a reason. With a woodsplitter on the boom of my Wallenstein I can grab blocks of firewood without having to bend over and pick them up, and then swing it over my dump body and split the wood. After my dump body is full, I can drive over to where I store my wood and dump it in place. All this can be done without getting off the machine!

    The second will be a boom mounted bush Hog or sickle bar mower. In this way I can use the boom to reach out around and over fences, ditches of roads, etc and cut brush that I can't drive my tractor into like a typical bush hog being dragged behind.

    My only complaint is that this loader is the smaller version. I would go with the bigger model, but because the dealership had a guy order this one, then change his mind, then sat on it for two years, I got it at their cost. It is what it is, but with my dozer I could haul out even more with the bigger log trailer.
     
  2. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    Since my last post on the Wallenstein Log Trailer was done I have installed the post hole drill and tried that, and dug 300 feet of waterline out to my barn with the backhoe attachment. This update reflects those two uses.

    Post Hole Driller:
    As I kind of expected, the post hole drill was a let down. We are 11 inches under what our rainfall should be so it was very hard ground I was trying to auger through, but the post hole drill struggled something fierce. We have gravelly loam to a depth of 60 inches here so it is tough to dig through, but those rocks kept jamming the auger and the hydraulics just did not have the ponies to power through it. We have that issue with tractor PTO drills too so as I said, it was not completely unexpected. I won't say it is a complete loss. On my farm I prefer to pound fence posts rather then drill them anyway, and my bulldozer with its 6 way blade makes quick work of that. For gate posts that need to be driven deeper then 2 feet I will just use the backhoe attachment.

    Water Line with Backhoe
    I was pretty impressed with this. 300 feet of water line, four feet down with a foot bucket equates to about 60 yards of soil. This was tough digging with the same gravelly loam and never excavated before. I won't say it is fast, as that would be a lie, but I think its this little machines ability to always fill the bucket...and I mean always fill it...that makes it productive. Every time it comes out of the trench it is heaped up with soil and that is where it really is effective at digging. Its not an excavator, and its not going to dig a foundation for a house, but it SURE BEATS A SHOVEL. Total time was about ten hours which seems rather obnoxious, until you factor in the costs too do so. I used 3 gallons of gas to pull this off, so at $2.09 a gallon, it cost me $6.27. That is pretty good because it was a job that you would be hard pressed to find a contractor to do (too small) and they would inevitably charge more then $6.27 to do it.

    The key to digging I found out was in using the outriggers at just the right time. By keeping one or the other at maximum extension, you can really roll the trailer over so you can either dig deeper into the ground, or deeper under the hitch so you don't have to move as often. (see pictures) The best angle of attack is 90 degrees to the trailer/towing rig. I should note that I have spare hydraulics so it would be easy enough to build a hydraulic thumb for this, but with the grapple it has, and a 15 time span to change out the backhoe or grapple, there may not be a need too.

    Tow Rig:
    I found most of the time I actually use my Ford Explorer as a tow rig as it it just plain faster then my farm tractor or bulldozer.

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    Last edited: Oct 16, 2016
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  3. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    I have had this machine for about a year now and have beat the ever living crap out of it, so I have found its weak points.

    It is not a big issue, but I cannot seem to keep the hydraulic motor that turns the loader from coming loose. I have tightened the bolts three times now. The bearings on the tires are also starting to show signs of wear. This may not be the machines fault however; the trailer is rated for 5000 pounds and I put 6000 on it quite a few times. I also have hauled it down the road quite a few times, so it may not be its fault. I also bent the hitch, but again this is not the machines fault per se. I use this trailer on my bulldozer and as it pitches forward and aft, it binds on the hitch. A tractor does not do this so much because it has a suspension, where as a bulldozer pivots quickly and sharply at the hitch point.

    As for working the machine...I am getting a lot faster with it. I am not sure what I would get production wise, but probably 5 cord per day; felled, limbed, bucked, hauled and stacked roadside 8 feet.

    I also would NEVER be without it. It just far too much work. Just pulling heavy components off my bulldozer has made it worthwhile. A 30 second job that would have taken me an hour to do in a different way!

    I was also able to build the upside down woodsplitter, but have yet to pound cords of wood through it, so I will update that after I have churned some firewood out.
     
  4. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    A year later the Wallenstein continues to be something I use everyday. Equally I seem to be using its chassis to build additional implements to get things done around the farm. In this case I was able to build a grader blade that bolted to the hitch. By bolting a 6 foot section into the hitch as needed, this gives me a VERY long length that makes roads very smooth in plane. With the trailers walking beam suspension, it also means anytime a rock gets kicked up by the blade, the wheels roll up and over it yet the blade remains flat. I have found 1-2 passes are all that is required to smooth my roads.

    So this is just another use it has around the farm.

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  5. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    This machine has already paid for itself.

    Being a farm, we got a grant from the USDA-NRCS to stop some major erosion that was occurring in one of our fields. This included building an access road, constructing swales, and seeding down a field. Using its dump body, grapple, backhoe, grader blade, and other modifications we used this for every aspect of that work, including moving 350 cubic yards from our gravel pit 1/2 mile away. Since I could do everything with this log trailer, we got the entire amount of the grant money without having to use contractors.

    Here it is modified as a seed spreader for sowing down our field.

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  6. Woodslave

    Woodslave

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    LodgedTree, great review on a very handy piece of equipment. I hope you post more pictures, really enjoyed reading this and of course the pictures
     
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