ATV's? What vehicle for this work?

[Stargazer]

This has nothing to do with Dwelling but I am at a total loss and welcome any suggestions!

The Situation:  a few acres of land, hilly, rocky, trees and scrub, with a rough trail about six feet wide that leads to several areas of "storage".  Call them junk piles.no vehicle that I know of will fit or make it down that trail to haul all this stuff out.  A regular tractor wouldn't fit nor would even a small pickup.  Most of the stuff is small but heavy (thousands of bottles, jars, old tools and small equipment beyond repair).  

Would an ATV with a small open bed trailer be a good option for hauling this stuff out? And it would be uphill, when loaded, not too steep but a hill for sure.  

The trail was made by a Bobcat when a water line was replaced.  There are ruts up to 6-8 inches deep. Some rocks but those could be moved with a big pry bar.

Is there a work vehicle that could handle this?  An ATV comes to mind but when I look online at those, it says 200cc, 500cc, and that doesn't sound like much power.

Any thoughts?  This is in a very rural area and I've thought of hiring the job out but who would want to do this?  Yes, there is a dump within 15 miles.

Which brings to mind, after it gets hauled up to the driveway/road, then what?  Reload it into a pickup? Which I also don't have. I could rent a dumpster but the driveway is very steep and narrow. 

Help! I've never had to deal with anything like this before and my ignorance is showing!

 

[MrNoodly]

You could take the money you'd spend on an ATV and use it to pay a bunch of kids to haul all the stuff out by hand.

 

[bullfrog]

A vehicle would be a very expensive purchase for just this one job. A lot of selecting one would depend on the location; soil types, grade, distance, trees water table and weather. Also what the area and vehicle will be used for afterwards. It might be cheaper to build a driveway or road. Much more information is needed.

 

[highdesertranger]

well if a Bobcat made the road then it could do it. it could also make the road passable for a truck. but Bobcats are expensive even to rent.

if you were to use ATV's I would use ones like I have. Suzuki King Quad 300. they are small, maneuverable in tight spaces, they have real transmissions with real gears, speaking of gears they have 15 forward gears in two wheel drive(2WD), 15 in four wheel drive(4WD) and 5 with the differential locked. this gives the smallish engine plenty of pulling power. also they get excellent fuel economy about 45mpg. I have 2 of them. I thought they were out of production but I guess not here they are straight from the Suzuki web site,

http://www.suzukimotorcycles.com.au/range/atv/farm-atv/kingquad-300-4x4/features

you can pick up a used one for about 1k if you look around. you can pick up trailer pretty cheap at any of the farm supply places.

where is this property? instead of hauling all this to the dump I would try to scrap it. any metal is worth something and copper and brass is worth more money. enough scrap will pay for a used ATV.

highdesertranger

 

[Stargazer]

Mr N: I would gladly hire a bunch of anybodies to do this IF there were people around.

I love remote areas, until something like this comes up!

Bullfrog: Yeah, I know but it's really hard to describe. Think mountain hideaway.

HDR: it's located in Western Colorado, about 7,000' elevation. Two acres, heavily wooded, aspens, spruce, scrub oak and a big whitewater creek bisecting it. Hundreds of acres behind. This place has been in my family for over 50 years and everybody has left their share of stuff behind (have had two junk cars hauled out).

If I bought an ATV/trailer (or something else?), it could be used in the future for plowing driveway (with a blade attachment?) in winter and other heavy projects. Also, I could sell it and maybe get part of my $$$ back?

And finding people to work here is very difficult! They are not reliable, don't show up, do as little as possible, change prices halfway through the job. Or at least that's been my experience so far.

I'll check into that ATV. Thanks!

 

[bullfrog]

I have a 1987 Suzuki Samurai with some Mongrel tires that is amazingly good off road. It is enclosed and legally licensed and insured for Utah. Top speed is around 50 MPH. It might be worth looking at as prices for ATV's are high and year round access might be handy as well as being able to take public roads to the dump. If you have the funds you might also look at the new Ronan which are diesel, based on the old World War Two Jeep, cheaper than most UTV's and about as close to the performance to the new Samurai which we can not buy in the USA now.

 

[Stargazer]

Bullfrog,

Thank you! I didn't "think" I would need road worthy/legal but you have me thinking about that.

Down the hill is mostly farms/orchards/ cattle so there are sometimes used farm machines or equipment used in a farm for sale. Lots of fishing and camping UP the hill in summers and I often see some off-road vehicles being trailered around (not all bright and shiny but like they've been out having lots of fun).

What I know about this kind of machines is 0! Y'all are giving me good places to start! Thanks much!

 

[highdesertranger]

if you come to the RTR I will give you some pointers, answer any questions, and let you ride one around. kinda like a lesson. I know RTR is like 8months away but the offer is good. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

If you are close to Moab Utah there are rental places for just about every kind of vehicle that might meet your needs if you just want to try one for a day. If you get over by Hite on Lake Powell They have ATV and UTV rentals as well as guides. Besure to contact them before traveling there. If you want a ride in a Samurai and get down to Bullfrog just PM me.

 

[Gr8ful]

I'd rent a Bobcat & get it done. If you pick it up on Sat at close you get the weekend for 1 day arpund here. I had a mint Samurai from Hawaii no rust, low miles put a lift kit & 7" wide tall tires. Itwas good but nothing was as good as my old Int Scouts. My sones learned to drive here on the farm with an old Samurai. When I put in the 2 air strips I plowed & disced it which brought up rocks so I got my sons & they complained the whole time picking up rocks. I took them to Greenfield Village & the Ford museum. As soon as we went to the old farm a lady asked the boys if they wanted to help pick up rock out of the garden & they couldn't wait.

 

[Stargazer]

Thank you HDR and Bullfrog. I will keep that in mind!

 

[wayne49]

HDR,
That Suzuki (.com.au) link is for Oz land down under. Does not mean that model is imported to the US of A.
The world wide web at work.

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Product Lines/ATVs.aspx

Shows the smallest is 400.

 

[highdesertranger]

duh, oops. that's too bad those are great ATV's. I wonder if they are available in Canada? highdesertranger

 

[Stargazer]

Hmmm... I'm sure there's a workhorse ATV somewhere in the US?  Your info has led my brain in the right direction -- gearing, etc., what to look for at least.

A funny story sort of related to this...  My brother and I are working on this together.  He's 65, I'm 68.  Both of us have always been DIYers, not afraid of hard work.  We were talking about this a few weeks ago and he said he could drag all that stuff up and I said so could I but it'll take lots longer than it would have five years ago.  CAN we do this by hand? Yes.  But the problem is, as we get older, we don't WANT to anymore.
Bleh!

The more I think about it, the better I like this idea.  Over the years, what our parents did (outbuildings, water lines running all over, etc) is falling down.  We want to get the place back in shape.  Those outbuildings are falling down and taking all that out is gonna be a real job because it's not very accessible without tearing out trees and big rocks.  We want to get it back to a more natural state.  My late husband used to say, "Every job is easier with the right tool."  Usually, that was when he was headed to a tool store, lol!

Thank you, again, gentlemen.

 

[Pleasant Travels]

A Samurai or a Geo Tracker would definitely be your most affordable bet. I've owned both and they are awesome little machines. Not great for highway speeds, although I was able to regularly commute at 70 mph in my 96' Tracker, primarily because it was the 16-valve and not the 8. The 1.6 liter fuel-injected 4-banger in the Tracker has lots more power and torque than the itty bitty carburated 1.3 in the Samurai, and handles altitude change better.

I used to haul my atv in a pick-up bed trailer with my Tracker (on flat ground), so it can handle pulling some weight.

The Tracker is, however, a little wider that the Samurai, by design. A stock Sammy is only 53 inches wide from hub to hub. The 1990-1998 Trackers are 64 inches.

 

[Pleasant Travels]

I also considered the 6x6 atvs,...Polaris Big Boss and Bombardier/CanAm Outlander Max.

These are cool machines because they can put good grip to the ground with that many wheels. They are less likely to sink in sand or muck when loaded down. Heck, even our own special forces dudes in Afghanistan liked using them for those narrow mule trails and such.

But they are MORE expensive than finding a Samurai or Tracker. They are also less common and hard to find. As well, they both use CVT transmissions, which are ill-suited to hauling anything in my opinion. If they used the older style geared and shifted transmissions like those which were common before 1999, then they might work well for your purpose,...but they aren't.

 

[RoamerRV428]

if you are keeping the land and DO want future access into the areas you described.....hire a person to create a fast road for ya. That way you can get back into there if needed. Wouldn't take long at all if the area is kinda shorter and not too distant and affordable if it is smaller situation.

but if you want junk gone and don't want a road into that area, atv would do ok. Any good solid atv will work and buy a small attachment trailer to go behind it. You can use this easily in the future for hauling firewood etc. and it is a useful item. Plus you can resale when needed/wanted.

My MIL is a hoarder. 2 barns, 8 acres, house slammed full of shit, barns slammed full of shit. We are thinking of taking a match to it all when she passes. Over the years we begged to help her cleanup and nope, she went batshit crazy not wanting anyone to touch her valuables.....yea valuables. She is wired wrong in her brain for sure, hoarder of JUNK to the max. So we will have a horrible situation coming to us in the nearer future now also and it won't be pretty. Disposing of crap from other's is rough/annoying/pain in the azz/can be expensive to us and all that jazz, lol...ugh

 

[Stargazer]

Thank you, Pleasant Travels.  I'll check those out.

Roamer,

Are you one of my siblings??  Because you're talking about my Mom, right?!

My parents bought this place in the mid '60's.  Then, it was two acres with a one room + bathroom cabin.  Over the years, they added onto the house, built a second house, had a cow, chickens, rabbits which required a small "barn", a "cool room" shed to store food, a greenhouse (quonset hut style, huge, which collapsed under snow weight ten years ago). Its a mess.

And the five of us will inherit as a group.  It's a tangled web, for sure!

 

[highdesertranger]

here's another idea. see if you can sell anything on Craig's list. I know a guy that just bought a greenhouse he had to go take it down. also anything made of wood you could burn on site, of course under the right conditions with a permit if required. highdesertranger