Quad Bike Recommendation

[doobin]

A very sensible suggestion but for 2 acres?

codlasher

 

Well yeah, why not? They cost about the same to buy. Quad can't tow as much, can't run implements, runs on expensive petrol, and is ripe for thieving. It's advantage is low ground pressure (which of course means it can't tow as much) and speed. Which you don't need on 2 acres

 

It beats me why people buy huge 800cc quads for 'woodland work' when a 4wd compact tractor will piss all over them. Quads are designed to get a man and a few tools across difficult terrain, which they excel at. They're not the best tool for moving timber, despite what the glossy brochures say.

 

With a tractor you can load the timber mechanically with rear forks, and then the weight is on the machine aiding traction.

 

Adding a trailer full of timber to a low ground pressure quad is counter-intuitive to the original design of the vehicle.

 

If it's solely to move timber, a 4WD site dumper can be had cheap also?

[Hamburglar]

Great advice Doobin. Think I'll hire a 4wd dumper in the first instance and see how I get on. Quite keen to avoid ripping up the soil.

 

Many thanks

 

Rob

[wrsni]

Quite keen to avoid ripping up the soil.

 

Forget the dumper then, any that I've ever used have been good at going through clabber but also good at creating it in the first place.

 

For low impact on a small scale, 4wd compact tractor with grass tyres takes a lot of beating.

[shavey]

the artic cat diesel quad is strong and economical weve had ours for two years and with the low range and winch as standard very good machine

[doobin]

Great advice Doobin. Think I'll hire a 4wd dumper in the first instance and see how I get on. Quite keen to avoid ripping up the soil.

 

Many thanks

 

Rob

 

I picked up an old Kubota 2 ton tracked dumper for 2k. Will get through anything and leave hardly a mark. Nice flat load deck for stacking timber on, tip to unload.

 

Are you near Sussex at all? Welcome to have a play with it it you are.

[CallumA]

You want a quad with a high and low gearbox and if you are going to be towing a trailer you want a quad with a fixed back axle so the tongue weight of the trailer goes directly on to the axle and will provide more grip. If you get one with independent suspension the trailer tongue weight will go on to the chassis and make it handle like a pig.

[Andy Collins]

I've seen a woodland where a dumper was used for extraction, looked like the Somme. I've used a quad (Honda 500) and logging arch and it's very efficient at moving timber to ride side. It depends on the application, I've worked woodland sites that are too wet for heavier tractor machinery, quads just float over the surface, and if they bog in you just winch them out to save surface damage. A quad can also turn very much tighter than bigger tractors, weaving between trees can be very handy.

[Philip Anderson]

Great advice Doobin. Think I'll hire a 4wd dumper in the first instance and see how I get on. Quite keen to avoid ripping up the soil.

 

Many thanks

 

Rob

 

Steer clear of the dumper ,you only have to look at a constuction site to see the compaction and damage!! We've got a Honda 350 4wd very reliable small and nimble and very little ground impact .

I agree about farm machines generally thrashed so bought a new one 6 years ago no problems.Try and avoid gimmicks like electric shift etc as expensive when they go wrong.

[Andy Collins]

Agree with above, the Electric shift was diabolical, would fail so many times, and a known fault apparently. I changed several in the life of my bike, before I finally got sick if it and got a manual shift again.

[codlasher]

I've seen a woodland where a dumper was used for extraction, looked like the Somme. I've used a quad (Honda 500) and logging arch and it's very efficient at moving timber to ride side. It depends on the application, I've worked woodland sites that are too wet for heavier tractor machinery, quads just float over the surface, and if they bog in you just winch them out to save surface damage. A quad can also turn very much tighter than bigger tractors, weaving between trees can be very handy.

 

Absolutely. I'm still with the quad. We had a David Brown fitted with a set of hydra tongs in the 1970's. We were using it for extracting spruce poles (very early thinning of 1960's stock). Great, we got the job done, but my goodness what a mess!

A little quad would do this with little fuss and certainly not the mess.

codlasher