A different kind of arb setup

[Timmy]

Hi All.

 

I have recently started my own Arb business in New Zealand after working for big firms for around 10 years.

 

I have been thinking about alternatives to the conventional tipper truck and towable chipper. This is mainly motivated by the high cost of buying a pickup or tipper truck (no such thing as a cheap LDV or Transit here) and chipper.

 

I currently use a van (for storage of tools) and tow a trailer I built which carries my mini chipper. It works ok in the main as I often chip on site and only take away the logs, although it is a pain to shovel out mulch when I cant leave the chip.

 

The other problem with a trailer is backing in down difficult driveways and the combined length of the vehicle and a big trailer.

 

My idea (which is only at the concept stage at the moment) is to build a self contained box trailer which has a in-built tipper, chipper and lockers for chainsaw storage, fuel etc.

 

In order to resolve backing down difficult driveways I have been looking at electric caravan movers so you could un hitch the trailer then use a remote to drive in into the site.

It would ideally have a removable or foldable drawbar to reduce its overall length when its not being towed.

Finally I would want it to be able to tip when it isnt hitched to a vehicle so I am thinking It would need four legs to wind down on all corners to keep it stable whilst tipping.

 

The limitations as I see them are the size of the chipper (if it were 6inch that would suit my needs), the chip box capacity maybe limited because of the 3.5t overall weight limit.

 

However it solves the issue of limited storage in a tipper pickup truck, plus the large cost of a tipper truck and chipper combination. (This is assuming building this wont get really expensive). Plus finding a vehicle that can tow 3.5t is not too pricey here when compared with a tipper.

 

Hopefully I have explained this well enough, I know it is not the normal approach so what are your thoughts?

[wicklamulla]

I think your gonna need something with more than 3.5 ton capacity as yer gonna struggle to stay legal. Are the 'Feds' hot on legal towing weights and regs. down there ?

[Stephen Blair]

Caravan movers are brutally slow!

Out of all the combinations I have had, the only thing that ticks the box is a Mog and chipper.

No reversing hassles, you can have a much bigger chipper for a fraction of the cost.

Loading them with logs is a bit higher but if you are fit and have a good labourer then you just get on with it.

You could have a tracked chipper on a trailer, that works but again hitching, un hitching, double running logs then coming back for the chipper is a pain.

You could put the chipper on the back of a truck but this uses up timber space.

I mounted a tracked chipper on the rear of a 10 ton tipping Hiab lorry, that worked well but again had its drawbacks with side feeding the chipper off the pavement wasn't ideal.

[woody woodpecker]

Hi iT will not take you long to get the hang of reversing the trailer useing your mirrors if not you can always fit a front tow bar it is far easier pushing a trailer into a small space than trying to reverse.

cheers chris

[Vespasian]

I'd be tempted to start with the van first.. then carry on with the chipper you have till you can get a towed chipper..

 

I say tempted because I'm in the same predicament as you, would like to do more tree work but where to start, a bigger chipper, a tipper trailer or a combi system like you mentioned.. no matter how I think of it, theres always something another system seems to do better... at least with a bigger van/truck, you get more weight in it..

[64treefrog]

back in the 80s the was a trailer/ chipper combination (pro chip??) it had issues with nose weight.

with the chipper at the front, chipping into a box behind, it had too much nose weight when empty and chipper at rear had negative nose weight when empty.

I think you would need a movable (sliding) axle.

Put chipper on chassis of prime mover and chip into tipping trailer!

I tried this years ago but the feed to chipper was too high , on landrover!

[Timmy]

Interesting ideas, there is obviously no ideal setup for everyone. I like the idea of a Unimog but they start at around £30,000 ($60,000 NZD) so thats a no go.

 

No police here have weigh-bridges so being bang on the 3.5t limit isnt a problem as long as it is safeish!

 

I didnt think of the weight distribution but that could be quite a challenge. As Vespasian said improving my current setup almost requires a complete change. If I switch the van to a tipper truck I lose lockage storage.

 

If I buy a towable chipper then I need two trips to site, one for the trailer and then the chipper. At the moment I can mostly fit my chipper, woodchip and logs all in the trailer, with all my tools in the Van. The issues with the van are poor traction (rear wheel drive and no weight over the rear axles) and stinking it out with petrol fumes.

 

Backing up driveways are not so much limited by my skill (although I could always get better) but often they are quite steep with no ability to turn around by the property so backing up them is impossible as the rear wheels just spin out.

[Timmy]

Mercedes Unimog Passenger Truck | Trade Me

 

An example of the cost of Unimogs here, the other one on trade me is $110,000.

 

Even a 1980's japanese tipper with 400,000kms on the clock can go for $10,000

[atree]

Where in NZ are you?Your best off with a wee hansa and Jap truck.cheap for nz and does the job.Wasting your time with micro chippers unless your just doing camellias or hedges all the time.

Company i worked for had a mob which was ex defense.

[Fredward]

Timmy - I feel your pain. My 2001 Canter tipper was around 25k NZD.

 

I subcontract with my tipper and chipper to a few guys who are in a similar situations as you, starting up without big cash behind them, I charge them a reasonable rate so that they can still make a profit. Might be worth doing some networking in case there are any guys who you can sub in (at least on the bigger jobs).

 

I oringally looked at importing a Transit, but the agent couldn't give me a fixed price (was going to be between 23 and 28k). I'm glad I bought something a bit bigger as the 3.5T tippers are quite limiting, also we are able to drive larger vehicles with a cafr license here which is a big advantage.

 

I have seen some chip trailer set-ups online, and it would be workable, but you'll need a decent tow vehicle, especially for a 3t trailer - so you're looking at 15kNZD for a 4WD ute.

 

Then you need to find a trailerised 6inch chipper and dismount it and install onto the trailer? My 6 inch weighs 750kg, so I'd imagine without frame etc it would be 5-600kg which is a big chunk of payload. Tools etc add another 100kg probably. I wouldn't have thought you'd have much payload (legally) with high-sides and toolboxes etc on the trailer. I also remember looking at flat deck tipping trailers which ranged from 8-11k for a decent one.

 

I know its not what you want to hear but I'd buy a cheap tipper and modifiy it to have some tool storage and high sides, and a road towable chipper. Actually when I was looking for a chipper and a truck I wanted to spend around $30k for both, I saw a ready set-up tipper and 12inch vermeer for $40k but thought it was too pricey for me. I ended up spending more but for an inferior set-up. I bought a flat deck tipper with tool lockers but no chip bin (and was quoted 6-9k for a chip bin).

 

If you end up going for the trailer rig don't forget to post up a thread.

 

Where are you based?