Build an All-Purpose Straddle-Wheeled Log Hauler

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on September 1, 1985
1 / 3

Click here for a downloadable enlargement of this illustration.
Click here for a downloadable enlargement of this illustration.
2 / 3

Long, heavy loads are a cinch for the tubular steel trundle.
Long, heavy loads are a cinch for the tubular steel trundle.
3 / 3

Even loads like this can be moved easily.
Even loads like this can be moved easily.

Some heavy loads should be carried rather than dragged . . . and this carrier suits them to a tee.

To the staffers at MOTHER EARTH NEWS Eco-Village, the contraption pictured here is a log hauler . . . and with thousands of linear feet of timber under its belt, so to speak, it would be difficult to contradict that name. But if you don’t have occasion to move logs, don’t write this simple straddle-wheeler off, because it can come in handy hauling anything from pipe to engine blocks.

Building the Straddle-Wheeled Log Hauler

As you can see from the photos and drawing, the frame is nothing more than a skeleton made from lengths of 1-1/4 inch Schedule 40 iron pipe and 1-1/2 inch and 2 inch square tubular steel with 1/8 inch walls (11 gauge). Two spindle assemblies cut from the front end of a junked car serve as convenient axles for the wheels (which, together with the brake hubs, were mates to those spindles), and a hand-operated cable winch fastened to the top of the frame eases the chore of lifting heavy loads.

Check out a downloadable enlargement of the log hauler construction illustration.

Once the cargo is hoisted well off the ground, belly chains at the front and rear of the steel spine secure the load to the carriage . . . and the entire assembly can be pulled (by hand) or towed to its destination.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368