Lift a splitter or chipper onto a trailer

Howdy FHC friends,
I got a 5' x 8' bed dump trailer so that I could transport my County Line log splitter and DK Power tow-behind chipper over highways and longer distances, as they are rated for towing only up to 40 mpt.

The splitter is a heavy bugger and pushing up my trifold ramps into the trailer is a tough task without help, and I often work alone. So I'm thinking of a winch with a remote to hook to the front of the trailer to pull it up the ramps. Was wondering if theres some sort of rolling power lift or hand pumped hydraulic lift with a platform or clip-on Tommy gate that any of you use for loading heavy rolling stock like a splitter or chipper onto a relatively small trailer.

The bed on my dump trailer, even when raised fully, is about 18 inches off the ground.

Thanks for any ideas or products you might suggest.

 

If you have a garden tractor, you could use that to get it on the trailer. That is what I have used when moving my splitter.

 

Thinking I have the same dilemma. I have a slightly larger than 4X8 trailer that I would like to haul my splitter in. I have a small crane on the trailer that I load huge rounds with. I will try that first. If it doesn't work well I will weld an eye for a snatch block to the inside of the trailer and use the crane winch to yard the splitter up a ramp into the trailer similar to what you describe. A member recently posted that he has a trailer ball welded inside in front of his trailer to hook his splitter on to secure the front of it. Maybe I will fab a receiver into the front wall so I can have a trailer ball, hook, pad eye or anything I want. Could be a fun little project!

 

Got thinking of a worm gear winch mounted on the top edge of the front wall of my trailer. $38 bucks at Harbor Freight. Drive it with a cordless drill and pull the bugger up the ramps. Anyone tried this? Other ideas greatly appreciated.

 

And winch it up.

https://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-trailer-dolly-60533.html

 

What kind of crane do you have in your trailer? Got a picture. I have a hitch receiver mounted crane that I use to lift heavy rounds on to my pick-up, but would like something to do the same onto my trailer. As I was thinking before, I could drag rounds up ramps with the worm gear winch and drill to drive it. But for lifting heavy stuff and dropping it gently onto the trailer bed, a crane or lift might be desirable.

My trailer is a CargoPro 5x8 dump. Plenty of thinkness on front wall to support a winch and pulling force.

 

Got that exact trailer dolly. Retrofitted it with larger wheels. Good value.

 

For occasional use a few bucks in a small block and tackle works surprisingly well. Pretty small with today's rope, dependable, easy to store in a bag.
For frequent use I'd put a winch on the trailer.

 

Love seeing properly weighted trailers.

 

This is my home made (35 years ago) trailer. Has a heavy "C" iron frame. I mounted a Harbor Freight pickup truck crane to it and added a 3500 Lb winch in instead of the hand crank it came with. I run a deep cycle battery total loss. It will load the trailer 3 times and only be 30-40% down. The only problem that I see is that a splitter is not so compact as a firewood round and may pose some problems with clearances. I guess the only way to find out is to try it. The picture is slightly distorted by the camera.

 

I’ve seen one here locally like that. Homemade trailer with a homemade vertical splitter on the front half. I could see it being quite useful in some situations. Don’t know if he still has it, been quite a few years since I seen it.

 

Since you're wanting to load splitter and chipper on trailer, you could mount a large ATV winch on the trailer, use it to pull dolly with splitter attached up ramps.

 

Yup...here ya go.
The big kid has new toys
(Looks like the OP hasn't been around in a couple years)

 

Well, just out of curiosity, I tried to pick the splitter with the crane. The splitter came right off the ground about 6 inches and part of the cable broke and unraveled just above the hook. No damage done but the cable and, admittedly, there was a worn spot there. I will repair after removing any worn cable. My splitter weight is right at the max lift for that amount of boom extension. I'm going to call this a dead end and move to the ramp and snatch block idea. I don't like the idea of pushing capacities to the max any way! Moving a rolling load is a lot more forgiving on equipment and safer all the way around.

 

Yup, filed right in my grey matter! (I wish! )
Google Fu works better than FHC fu...

 

Theres always this. Then you could load logs too and do the splitting at home.




This pic was just getting it home. Honestly don’t remember why I used the trailer to pick it up, could have just towed it.
The winch is not mounted to the bed. I welded a frame in front to hold it. The bed would buckle from the logs.
You want to get rid of the ramps too? When I bring my atv somewhere I raise the bed until the tail gate is just about touching the ground, toss the rope over and pull the atv up onto the raised bed, no ramps needed. It’s not something I would recommend doing often.
If the winch were mounted to the front bed you wouldn’t be fraying the rope going up and over but you lose strength of mount. A set of wheels could be mounted on the bed rail for those occasions.