The Vermont Cabane De Sucre project is very much a start from scratch sort of thing. Well not totally, as we have 17 acres of sugar maples. That is significant. Everything else needed to turn the resource of 17 acres of sugar maples into maple syrup, must be figured out. I have learned that most projects, of any significance, are not easy, but there is always a way. And so, Charla and I have approached this project with that mantra. The entertainment value of this post might be limited to most readers, but some might be curious, although, my limited video editing capabilities do shine through. This is what equipment we have accumulated so far:
2021 Can-Am Outlander XT ATV 650
Add-on back cargo holder and seat, and gas can holder.
Add-on front cargo holder (Can-Am New OEM Outlander LINQ 6” Rack Extension)
Add-on SawGrip to hold chainsaw
Add-on Iron Baltic rear winch mounting kit with TYT 12V 4500 lbs. Electric Winch Wireless Remotes (Rear Winch)
Trailer Hitch, Nylon Logging Rope, Logging Chain, Log Skidding Plate
8000 Watt Briggs and Stratton Generator (Charge Batteries for Building Sugarhouse, and to run Vacuum system, and pumps in sugarhouse).
Husqvarna 455 Rancher 20-in 55.5-cc 2-Cycle Gas Chainsaw
Metabo Framing Nailer Cordless and Metabo Finish Nailer Cordless for building sugarhouse.
Oregon 30-Ton Horizontal / Vertical Gas Log Splitter w/ Briggs & Stratton 250cc Engine.
Car Trailer (Phoenix 5’ x 10’) for trips back and forth to various stores for a multitude of things. I had my SUV wired for it.
It is our intent to use the ATV for a large part of our effort to cut log poles and drag them to the building site. In addition, we will be rebuilding an old trailer to pull behind the ATV to haul firewood to the sugarhouse. Over a couple of days when we were at the Vermont homestead, Charla and I installed the rear cargo holder. You can see Charla and I attach the cargo racks and SawGrip with this YouTube video link. The cargo holder has surprisingly ample room for logging chains, tools, and a one-gallon gas can for the chainsaw. The cargo holder also has a nice seat for a passenger on the ATV. Although a footrest will be needed. It is awkward to ride as a passenger as your feet are dangling without support. We also installed a Can-Am Outlander front cargo holder with the LINQ system. This allowed for quick installation. We installed a chainsaw mounting system from SawGrip. I was able to purchase a SawGrip model specifically for the Can-Am Outlander. It mounted easily on, and around the front cargo extension.
The Can-Am Outlander has a 2” receiver hitch that is used to tow a trailer and I was going to use the trailer hitch to attach a rear winch; however, after reading forums where this has been tried, a weakness of the Outlander trailer hitch was pointed out. The trailer receiver hitch is attached to the rear transfer case and with heavy use the transfer case cracks. With this knowledge, I was able to find a manufacturer of a winch mounting bracket that hooks directly to the upper frame of the ATV. The full YouTube video of Larry attaching the rear winch to the ATV can be watched here. This should eliminate undue torque on the transfer case a winch would cause. I still have concern about how the receiver hitch attached to the rear transfer case will hold up with a trailer full of wood attached to it. The idea is that I can use the rear winch and pull a log to the back of the ATV where I can hook it to the Rigid Log Chain hook.
After a couple of days of getting the ATV ready, it was time to see how things were going to work. We loaded the cargo hold with logging chains, gas can, and chainsaw and headed to the woods. We settled on a location where we will need to cut down trees for an ATV road where maple sap tubing will be installed as a good place to test our equipment. You can see the test in the woods with this YouTube video The chainsaw started up easily and I picked out a tall slender cedar tree as a test tree. I did find the 455 Rancher chainsaw a little heavy. I’ve hovered in the doughboy category for many years, and I can see I will need to take it slow when we start cutting poles in earnest this spring. The saw itself is great, the weak link is the operator. The winch pulls out a little slow, but I will get used to it. See a previous sentence (two actually) where I will need to take it slow. I was happy with the strength of the winch. When it started pulling at an angle, the ATV’s center of gravity was altered such that we will need to be careful as the winch will be able to pull more than the ATV’s weight will be able to manage.
Once the slender logs were winched to the ATV, I moved them to the Rigid hitch. I was able to easily drag them to the building site. I’m sure it will be more difficult when dragging on bare earth vs snow, but for now, I feel confident with a successful test under our belt.
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