I’m planning to upgrade my forestry setup and could use some advice from people with experience running timber trailers.
The trailer will be pulled by a 100hp four-wheel-drive tractor, and most of the work will involve getting into fairly tight areas, so manoeuvrability is important. At the same time, I don’t want to end up with something that feels too small or underpowered when handling larger timber.
I’m currently looking at trailers around the 8–11 tonne range. Is there a noticeable difference in day-to-day use, or would the larger option become more of a disadvantage when working in confined spaces

I was in a very similar situation when choosing a timber trailer for my tractor. At first, I was leaning towards the bigger option because I thought more capacity would automatically be better. However, after thinking about the type of forestry work I actually do, I realised that manoeuvrability and crane reach were just as important as the trailer's overall capacity.
For tighter woodland access, I’d personally rather have a trailer that is easier to position and a decent crane with enough reach than a larger trailer that becomes awkward to manoeuvre. Of course, if you regularly handle large volumes of timber, the 11t could make more sense, but for smaller sites and mixed forestry work, an 8t setup might actually be the more practical choice.
I found this article while trying to make my own decision, and it helped me look at the whole setup rather than just comparing trailer capacity: https://automobilly.com/en/forestry-machinery-i... . It explains why factors such as terrain, manoeuvrability, crane reach, tractor integration and overall operating efficiency can be just as important as raw carrying capacity.