I got all fired up about getting one of these until I saw the price. TreeStuff - Notch Pro-Grade Log Dolly I have a number of trees that are off my trail and I will not always have an ATV and trailer or my John Deere Gator able to get in there. Having a dolly like that could be great. My back kills me when I work firewood! Long-term chronic lower back pain. Anyone know of any alternative? This seems SO expensive, or do you think it's 'worth it?' I am sure it is a high quality tool but geez!
The treestuff site shows that thing being rolled over a brick walkway. I'm not sure how well it would perform loaded up and rolling over the forest floor. Would you be able to use a series of block and tackles with rope tied to your ATV, pulling logs to your trail for handling?
I use a regular hand truck quite a bit for moving rounds. I get tire punctures all the time, going over sharp sticks, sapling stumps and whatnot. Replacement wheels are $6 or so at Harbour Freight. I bet the Log Dolly's tires are more expensive to replace.
OUCH $500, no thanks. Its probably a quality tool and designed for heavy duty use, but i wouldnt pay over $100 personally, of course im CHEEEEEP. I would cut my rounds and half then carry them out. Will a standard hand truck with the rounds cut to fireplace length work better for you like Midwinter does it? A bungee or two holding it in place. One round a lot less on your back Do you wear a back brace Yawner ? I hurt my back in January and turned out to be herniated disc. Good friend of mine gave me his extra back brace which i wear religiously now when making firewood. So much so, i went out late yesterday to split some, forgot to put it on, walked back to the house to get it. After several months its an automatic for me I feel naked without it and wont make firewood without it.
Good idea about the back brace. As for hand truck, yeah, beats $500. I saw one at Harbor Freight with big wheels, I think it was less than $100. I wonder if there are any with puncture-proof tires! Or maybe you could buy puncture-proof tires for a retrofit. Then again, I don't envision getting flats a lot in my woods but I could be wrong.
Well, instead of $500 for that log dolly, I could get one of these below for $105 (Amazon) to $160 (U-line), including shipping, not including tax. The U-line version has a solid nose plate; it does not fold, so, it should be sturdier. I think both have puncture-proof tires. Wondering if a non-folding plate is necessary for wood rounds. The Milwaukee at Amazon has a small (regular size) nose plate, is rated at a hefty 800 lbs. I wonder if a round would stack/load on that size nose plate? But the Milwaukee also has a nose plate extension. Although, with the extension, it is rated at (only) 200 lbs. According to that, you could only put one round on when using the nose plate extension. That might not be so bad, just would be more efficient if you could load two rounds. When using the Milwaukee without the extension, or the U-line version (rated at 500 lbs), you could load two rounds. Another advantage of the U-line model is that it is aluminum and weighs only 28 lbs. The Milwaukee weighs 38 lbs. Either one of these look better to you? Milwaukee: U-line: (I can't link to the image for some reason.) Uline Loop Handle Aluminum Hand Truck with Extra-Large Nose Plate and Solid Wheels H-3199 - Uline
Buck it and split it where you find it? Use a firewood cart with bigger wheels? Bigger wheels work good offroad
TurboDiesel has the cart that would work best in the woods. Yes, those larger diameter wheels make a huge difference. But if you insist on just the regular 2 wheeled dolly, you can easily make your own extension using something like a couple of 1 x 4 or 1 x 6. Of course to make it stronger you can go with 2" stock. You have one of those backs too, eh, Yawner? I will show you 2 tools that are just about worth their weight in gold especially for those with bad backs. A pickeroon and log tongs. The log tongs from Husqvarna are much better than others you see on the market but they are not cheap; still well worth the price. They will stop a lot of your bending and also will make your load seem much lighter. Even if you cut some small trees; say 6" or 8" or thereabouts. You can cut those into maybe 8' lengths and grab them with the log tongs and pull them out like a horse and believe me, it is much, much easier than lifting one end of a log and trying to drag it. Of course, you could even get 2 pair and use both hands but one set will do wonders for you. The pickeroon speaks for itself. Here is another idea. I built a small dray for hauling logs out of the woods with atv. It is cheap to build and you can vary the size too. I think the first one I built cost me around $10 but I used mostly stuff that I had around the barn. If you care to build one, I can send you directions on how I build these things. It is an easy job that does not take long at all. Also, I've never had one of these have a flat tire.
Couple years back I got a Big Foot dolly from Harbor Fright. Used it a long while over rough ground and it worked pretty well. Then one of the wheels started wobbling. The wheels seem to be the downfall. Heavy loads and rough ground throw a lot of side loads on the wheels and the thin web of the wheel developed fatigue cracks and started to tear. I made some reinforcement webs of 10 G steel and welded them in. No problems now. I could just as easily bought heavier wheels. The OP Log Dolly looks like a nice unit and is rated 1000 lb. but, like you say, too expensive. The Bigfoot is rated 600 lb. I believe, and is only a bit more than marginally up to the task with the original tires. The Haul Master may work fine with upgraded tires!
Those little hard tires are gonna be hell in the woods. You have an atv. Why not use it? Are you scrounging on property where it’s not suitable to bring? That’s understandable. Buy a decent handtruck with pneumatic tires. Wide tires. If it’s your property cut trails or invest in a long rope LOL Blew out my back at 18. Once again at 36 leaving me partially paralyzed in the left leg. Did 40 years of masonry. I know all about it.
The HF bigfoot hand-truck is rated for 700lbs. With coupons, I picked it up for less than $50 two years ago. I have put 400lbs of oak on it in the backyard, but physically couldn't move much more that 150lbs in the woods. My woods are hilly and full of rocks/boulders. The bigfoot has 13" pneumatic tires. The extra height is good for clearing roots and rocks. Moving rounds via hand truck is still very much grunt work. If you are trying to avoid hard labor I would go another route.
Can you rig a snatch block and cable/rope such that you can drag a log up to your trail with your Gator?
I've tried moving large rounds with a regular dolly through the woods. Heck, just across the yard is a PITA. The wheels are not spaced far enough apart and the whole package gets tippy taking very little to end up on its side. You really need a landscaper's dolly with a much wider stance and some have 4 wheels instead of two. Going any distance gets old quick. For that you need a motorized cart. Or a tractor or bobcat with forks/bucket. Even more
You guys are awesome with all the comments and suggestions. I am still very physically active but 65 yrs is starting to show, I suppose. No doubt, my core muscles are just not strong enough. Anytime I start doing wood, it seems it's always after a long absence and I get real sore. Bending down with a chainsaw a lot and also lifting big wood... does a number on my back. I try to do right but age and just not in as good a shape as my mind thinks, lol. As for the ATV and the Gator, yes, it's my land I do use them but sometimes, they are not there, they are at my house, which is 5 miles from my woodlot. I do have a pickaroon and it's great. I will look into the Husky log tongs. I have lusted for those before, lol. Also other things mentioned in this thread. My ATV (2007 Honda 500 Foreman, I think it is) has a winch on front and I have used it before and it was a big help. The Gator can pull real good. The dray mentioned above is a good idea. I also have a small homemade trailer that could work well. It's 4x8, all metal and bought lumber for some frames. Today, I had to be in the big city and went by Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot and Sams. Whew! I looked at hand truck dollys at each place. I found an interesting one at Home Depot. Was kind of a hybrid unit with a big capacity rating and also an extendable nose plate. Pretty impressive, will consider it. Also, the wide one somebody mentioned in this thread, but I don't know how much any of that matters... might be that just a regular dolly nose is fine for hauling rounds? I get the value of large tires. And pneumatic. Puncture-free is nice but I understand the value of large pneumatic tires, especially in the woods. Kind of a toss up there, because a flat is a pain. One thing worth mentioning is I prefer to not disturb any saplings I don't have to harm. I am researching how to make my woods as awesome as I envision and am hesitant to harm the little guys until I figure out what I can whack and what not to hurt. I have cleared all my trails by hand. Well, a machete, a chainsaw and brush cutter. I have some awesome woods... hardwood. That's rare around here! Part of future activity may be thinning, which means a LOT of trees being cut for one man to handle. I enjoy being out there but would prefer a helper, but at this time, it's just me. A helper is great but costs. I will hire for some of it but most of it is probably me, alone.
Haul Master (Harbor Freight) Wide Hand Truck. That is interesting, it is 26x18 inches nose plate. Which is big. I guess the whole thing is wide.
That yellow Harbor Freight one is actually pretty decent, I bought one this past Spring. I was moving 4 or 5 bucked Ash logs of 16 or 18" diameter at a time...slowly. Before buying that one I had the blue heavy duty one from Harbor Freight which was like $40 and I've abused that thing for a few years now, and still no issue with the tires at all. I'm really surprised neither have gone flat. Always use a 20% off coupon there too - if you don't have a paper one just search "harbor freight coupons" on google and there is always one there, they can scan it from your phone at the store. The issue with the no flat tires is it's just harder to move heavy loads around since the wheels dig into the ground more.
