Is an ATV going to be enough?

[Lazarus]

Last year I ran about 20 taps in my yard near the house and hauled 5 gallon buckets by hand. This year I'm going to be tapping probably 100 or more, and they are all back in the woods. To get there by foot is about a 10 minute walk, and the paths are very narrow. The land is pretty flat, but there are some dips, as the path I'm going to be following to get from tree to tree is essentially an old washout / dry creek basin. No way anything bigger than a small lawn tractor is going to fit back there, especially though this small gate I need to pass through that doesn't belong to me.

I would try to use my 2WD mower, but it could get stuck in the mud if it's wet, and if there is snow I wouldn't have enough clearance. So, I've been looking at older ATVs, like mostly 1990's ones as they are about all I can afford. I have never owned an ATV, but I was thinking I could pull my 17 cu ft yard cart with one and haul sap back with that.

Will an 4WD ATV be strong enough to pull a 17 cu yard cart filled with buckets of sap? I don't mind making a few trips a day. Any advice?

-Lazarus

2010 20 taps
2011 100+ taps
Mason 2x3 evaporator (for sale soon!) to be upsized
Thomas Ireland Smith Farms
Morrow, Ohio

[talahi maple products]

Yea ,If you get a old honda It should pull that w/ease. My brother in law has used a 1985 big red 3 wheeler for the same set up since 1985.

[jcb]

I have pulled 55gal water tank with mine. It has low range and I always use low when pulling. I would look for one with that opption.

[mapleack]

About the only draw back could be the tires on your cart. If they're narrow and the ground is soft (it will be!) you'll sink. Might need flotation tires on the cart. Otherwise, go for it.

[bix]

i used a 2 wheel drive 4 wheeler you will want low range and tire chains a 55 gal drum works good but top heavy the wider tire the better

[foursapssyrup]

we used our 4 wheeler last year for 100 taps and had no problem. our farthest tap is about 1/4-1/2 mile from the shack. we use a 24 cu. ft. trailer and old 10 gal. milk jugs for sap transportation. if you can find 30 gal. plastic barrels they are great for transporting in the trailer, not top heavy and you can fit 3 or 4 in the trailer.

definately get a 4 wheel drive, with a low range. once you get the trailer, try to find some wider tires for it (ours are 4" wide, would be nice to have 6" wide, less sinkage.)

[Brent]

While you're planning the hauler, keep this in mind. If you have one larger tank the sap will slosh from side to side and when a wheel hits a low soft spot the sap will flow to the low side putting even more pressure on the low wheel.

We collect in a gator and use more than one tank so the load can't shift very much on us. More smaller tanks help keep the load where you put it. If you have travel across a slope the balance issue can give rise to more excitement than you wanted.

[Ausable]

Would not be without my ATV - I use it like a small tractor and usually have it in low range 4WD - have a 2 inch ball to connect the trailer and like that better than a pin. If the snow is deep - more than 6 inches and pulling a load I can sometimes get in a little trouble - but I have a winch in front which bails me out. Normally - when we have snow - I take just the ATV and break trails and that works good -- we are in a hilly area and that plus the snow can sometime be a little problem. --- Mike

[Mike in NY]

w/ my big red 3 wheeler I hauled a wagon I made w/ 2 55 gallon plastic drum plumbed together. as long as ground was hard we did good. when ground got mucky we were screwed

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the confirmation on this! Any particular size I should keep to?

Is a 200 cc 4WD with a low range OK, or does it need to have more hp?

[Bucket Head]

Yes, one that size would work, but one with a little more "under the hood" would be a better choice. Remember, it takes some power to get everything going, and it takes a "heavy enough" hauler with good brakes to stop it. A gallon of sap weighs 8 pounds, so keep that in mind and gage your sap hauler and trailer/tank accordingly. I've seen guys with both lawn tractors and wheelers piled up at the bottoms of snowy and/or muddy inclines. Invest in tire chains. Well worth the money.

Steve

[lpakiz]

I would DEFINEATELY recommend you put the tank(s) ON the 4 wheeler, not in a trailer behind. Then you already have the wide tires plus the weight is an advantage for traction, not a liability being towed behind. I made plywood boxes front and rear. I could put 4 5 gallon pails in front and 5 in the rear. you will need covers. I cut off every other tab on the covers to make it easiwer to remove and re-cover the pails before moving.
I have a 1988 230 CC Suzuki with high range, low range and super low range. Also, I can select 2 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive lock, which makes all 4 tires drive. Very hard to steer in this mode, but in real poor going, you won't know. Unbelievable what they will go thru, except snow over a foot deep--then it hangs up and spins. FORGET the lawn tractor--not even in the same class.

[tyrod2]

I took a old craftman mower frame with 12 inch tires and cut the frame down from where the motor sat put a ball hitch toung on the frount and a small wooden bed on it and a 35 gal. tank.I made it a free rooling axel and With them wide tires and low to the ground it rooles across mud and snow.I put another 35 gal tank on my atv. That gives me good traction . 70 gals. to the SH at a time. This workes good for me . Good Luck

[randomseeker]

This is my third year collecting and the first without my son to haul, who is now at college (hurray!). I plan to use my ATV and my bush is about a 20 minute walk back and I want to protect my trails, so I put tracks on my 500cc Traxter ATV. I figure they should be much gentler on the trails when it is muddy and it will go through any snow. Harder to turn though, so I have to cut some turning trails, which will help collection anyway. I was thinking about pulling my utility trailer which has very wide, balloon tires, but I like the idea of building the plywood boxes for the front and rear. Grateful for the input about the advantages of multiple tanks, versus the one I was going to look for!

[mike z]

Currently, I have an ATV with a Polar sled behind it. The sled will hold six 5 gal buckets with lids. I have a wood rack fitted to the wheeler that holds another four buckets. I have tried pulling a wheeled trailer but it was tooo difficult. When muddy, could hardly go empty. This year I am hoping to expand and get a bigger sled + more buckets. I would like to have a tank and do away with all the buckets but I go from the wheeler to the truck and drive another 2 Mi to the evaporator. Their must be an easier way?

[cvmaple]

If you can collect first thing in the morning you should. The trail will still be frozen and you can throw the ice off the top of the buckets. The atv may not always be able to get everywhere you want to go but it will always be fun!!!

[adk1]

I would suggest at least a 400cc 4WD

[ascutneymaple]

The question is: Yamaha Grizzly 600 or Honda Foreman 450? Which one hauls sap better, more reliable machine for the job?

[Farmboy]

The hondas are unstopable and you can't kill them but the yamaha has 150 CCs on it. Those grizzlys are pretty good. My uncle has one I've driven and it's got power. If it was me I would get the grizzly because it's got more under the hood ands I like to have fun on quads when not hauling sap.

[TexTheDog]

Ronnie,

Do you have a photo of what you did? This is my first year and I am having a tough time trying to find a way to carry the sap from the bush to sugar shack....I am going to do 200 buckets. Thanks Kenn

[Ecnerwal]

I was definitely younger then, but I collected 175 on snowshoes for several years. On slow days it was easy, on good days it was a bear to keep up with, but definitely do-able.

A shoulder yoke is handy to make carrying the buckets easier, but you will probably have to make that, though there do seem to be some available to buy (Lehman's has one, but the price seems a bit steep to me.)

Beats a gym membership for fitness...and much less capital investment and maintenance expense than machinery. From what you describe of the terrain, I think you'd find many foot trips faster than screwing around with wiggling the ATV through there.

If there's any possible way (you say pretty flat, but you also say you are following an old dry creek, which implies not all that flat - if water flowed, sap can too), I think your investment (if not this year) would be better put into pipeline.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

I have a Kawasaki Mule 30104x4 UTV. tank in the back and a 12volt pump for emptying the tanks in the woods. works good so far.

[seclark]

I use a 1992 yamaha 250 two wheel drive with a 25 gallon poly tank mounted to the back rack and if the conditions are right,that is frozen ground and hardly any snow then I also pull a cart with a 30 gallon barrel in that.I have had both tanks full and was able to haul with no issues.The cart has wide tires from an old lawn tractor and most times it is in first gear but as some one mentioned it is a fun way to work.I also use a 12 volt pump to empty my collection buckets into the tanks and have done that way for 6 years now.

[dschultz]

I use a grizzly,I built a trailer to follow the track's of the wheeler,It has a 200 gallon tank on it.I've been through creek's,up and down hill's mud hole's you name it I've just about been through it all.If the going is tuff we just take 100 gallon's at a time and have no problem's.

[mike z]

Can you post a pic of that trailer? I'd like to do something similar but can't imagine pulling even a 100 gal tank on a trailer behind our wheeler (Bombardier 650). Thanks -mz

[dschultz]

mike z
I'll get a pic of it in the next day or 2 and get it on here

[gcec]

I have a 2004 Yamaha Rhino 660 UTV with tracks . I have two 35 gal horizontal leg tanks plumbed together in the back works great.

[mike z]

dschultz - What kind of roads are you hauling on? Simple woods logging type roads, or are they improved at all with gravel etc.? We tap on top of a hill but the soil is pretty heavy and does not drain well. I'm thinking of putting down some Geo-grid with 5" of gravel on top. That's going to cut into the syrup money a little bit.

[dschultz]

mike z - here are the pictures of my sap trailer




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[mike z]

Thanks for the pics. Not much weight there with that frame design. I'll get the old man working on it right away. He's 82 so time is not on our side.

[adk1]

you get a nice 500 atv with 4wd and throw a track kit onto it you will b e able to go anywhere and haul anything

[Eric in Kinburn]

Ipakiz, do you have some pictures of the boxes you made for your ATV? I was thinking of doing something similar to use the weight to my advantage.

Many thanks,
Eric

[chevypower]

We used an atv for gathering the last two years. Around 700 buckets 2 seasons ago and around 940 buckets last season. Last season was extremely tough with all the snow we had and several times we had to hook 2 atvs together to pull the 125 gallon tank. With only 100 taps you should be fine with a 4wd atv, not so much with a lawn mower though.

[HungryBearFarms]

I did 180 taps last year. Most times just pulled it out with my Grizzly 660 and a trailer with a 55 Gal drum. Made many trips. Once I even had 2 55 drums on the trailer and 2 people, plus me driving. As long as I had traction, it pulled it. Like a monster. Weight balancing is key, and large tires. 4wd with diff lock helps greatly. And Make sure you have a winch just in case...

[slammer3364]

We have about 100 taps Use a 400 Rancher Honda 4 wd with a 65 gal tank strapped to it sometimes we make 2 trips but works great, used it the last three seasons