# Lets see those trailers!



## Evanrude (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi, I'm starting to realize I'm going to need a trailer to haul the firewood, I dont want to destroy my daily driver, besides, its just a Dakota. I've been down to the TSC and all they have is a light duty 6x10 er so landscape trailer, I dont think that'll cut it. I want something with a little bit heavier axle and brakes. Now weather or not I build it myself or end up breaking down to buy one, I'd like to get some ideas of what y'all use. So, post up some pics.


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## Haywire Haywood (Jun 18, 2008)

heres mine. 5x8, 25" tall sides, 3500lb axle w/ electric brakes. I wish I had a 5x12 tandem axle. It fills up pretty quickly unless you take the time to stack it, but if you do, you'll max out the axle before you fill it if you're cutting green oak or hickory. I like 5x trailers because they aren't wider than the truck. --Ian







If I had the skill to build one, I'd make it like this, so you'd have 7' of bed width above the fenders and still have a relatively narrow trailer.


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## sdaly (Jun 18, 2008)

My trailer is a Big Tex 5x8 with a single 3000lb axle. No brakes, but it has the flanges to accept brake backings if I want to add them. If I really pack down both my truck bed and this little trailer, I can carry just about 1 cord. I didn't originally buy the trailer for firewood, it's just what I already had. If I were buying one for firewood though, I'd get something bigger like a double axle 6x14 or 6x16 that could carry a full cord easily.






For me, and with the way fuel prices are these days, bringing back a load of firewood any less than a full cord just isn't worthwhile.


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## kevin j (Jun 18, 2008)

basic cut up 3/4 or 1 ton pickup, rear frame and box and axle. bought for $50 almost 20 years back. Rewired all the lights with new rubber cord, added a jack and extended th tongue.
Free garage sale aluminum topper on it to keep the bed from rot and keeps wood dry if I don't get it unloaded
neighbor broke the frame when he had (weighed) 6600 lbs of dirt in it, but other than that.....


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## Evanrude (Jun 18, 2008)

kevin j said:


> basic cut up 3/4 or 1 ton pickup, rear frame and box and axle. bought for $50 almost 20 years back. Rewired all the lights with new rubber cord, added a jack and extended th tongue.
> Free garage sale aluminum topper on it to keep the bed from rot and keeps wood dry if I don't get it unloaded
> neighbor broke the frame when he had (weighed) 6600 lbs of dirt in it, but other than that.....



I was thinking about keeping an eye out for an old truck to do this with. Probably the cheapest way to get a good trailer.


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## country boy (Jun 18, 2008)

Heres my lil pickup bed trailer works nice out in the timber small and bounces inbetween the tress nicely. I also have a 16' stock trailer that i use behind my big truck if it is easily accesable to get to.


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## husky455rancher (Jun 19, 2008)

what would be the best way to doa pickup bed trailer? say if i went to the junk yard and cut the bed off a truck. do i just get some steel to make the angled pieced that connect to the trailer hitch? does anyone have any close up pics of their pickup trailer so i can see how their made?


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## deeker (Jun 19, 2008)

This is our log hauler, on a very steep hillside.

<a href="http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/deeker79/?action=view&current=039-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/deeker79/039-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Our smaller log hauler with doug fir going to our mill.

<a href="http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/deeker79/?action=view&current=002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r301/deeker79/002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


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## kevin j (Jun 19, 2008)

Most common, use the entire pickup frame and everything. the frame rails are cutoff just by firewalls, notched and bent into a V, just ahead of box. add a crossmember at that bent point. Add a tongue, hitch, jack, chains. Mine has an extendable 3x3 square tube (with 3/4 inch bolts that bolt the toungue rigidly to the channel, not pins in holes.) that has the hitch coupler on it. It stretches out 6 feet, for original used it as a canoe hauling trailer. I leave it stretched about 2 feet out, backs up much better and less jacknifing. Cut off the axles just inside the hub ends, or remove diff or R&P, it pulls much better.

Pic i have at work is too big to load. I will take some better ones the weekend. 

You shoudl see any numnber of these home made deals locally. Very commonly done.

k


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## husky455rancher (Jun 19, 2008)

sounds cool, looking forward to the pics!


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## TJ-Bill (Jun 19, 2008)

Here's mine, Still going to make some different sides for it hauling wood.. Just pikced up a 1/4 toyota truck that I'll be using to make a trailer for around the property.


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## jerry wayne (Jun 19, 2008)

*7x12 dump*

only way to move this stuff around ,and save time . Also......dont tell friends you own one or youll be helping 
"them"move crap all the time,Just got done doing so,and its friggin 10p.m. Holds a solid cord tossed ,and customers are impressed when the see her in action:jawdrop:


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## Evanrude (Jun 19, 2008)

jerry wayne said:


> only way to move this stuff around ,and save time . Also......dont tell friends you own one or youll be helping
> "them"move crap all the time,Just got done doing so,and its friggin 10p.m. Holds a solid cord tossed ,and customers are impressed when the see her in action:jawdrop:



Very nice, looks expensive tho.


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## Dadatwins (Jun 19, 2008)

I agree with the dump trailer as a hauler, once you have one and used it everything else seems inadequate. My 5x10 tandem axle holds 5k. Total on the unit is 7k. I built up the sides 4' height and it will hold 5 yards of mulch without a problem. I would guess I could get almost 1.5 cords of wood in stacked tight. Best thing I ever bought so far.


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## zanderson (Jun 20, 2008)

We use a 1 ton ford and a 14 dump trailer. with the added sides we can put about 3 cords in. Gotta go with dump trailer - can't imagine doing firewood without it.


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## Haywire Haywood (Jun 20, 2008)

That is real nice if you have the truck to pull it. I've wished almost from the day that I got it home that my F150 had the 5.4L instead of the 4.6L. When you buy used you take what is available though. I thought about finding a totaled 04 truck and swapping engines out. I'd get better mileage (rumor) and more grunt too.

Ian


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## Austin1 (Jun 20, 2008)

This is a pic of my little trailer. Going to replace the 13'' wheels with 15''ones to get better ground clearance.It's 7'x5'x3' really just 33'' high, since the pic I made the hinges for the lid out of pipe, a pipe in a pipe makes the best hinge for stuff like this especially tail gates. In that pic it still has door hinges on the lid. But tail gate has a pipe in a pipe hinge.


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## Austin1 (Jun 20, 2008)

Haywire Haywood said:


> That is real nice if you have the truck to pull it. I've wished almost from the day that I got it home that my F150 had the 5.4L instead of the 4.6L. When you buy used you take what is available though. I thought about finding a totaled 04 truck and swapping engines out. I'd get better mileage (rumor) and more grunt too.
> 
> Ian


I have herd that also about the 5.4 getting better mileage? I know a 5.2 dodge gets better mileage than a 5.9 as far as gas engines go. 
But I have to feed a 502 big block Chev and a 460 ford and a 440 dodge so I guess it is relative lol


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## RAS323 (Jun 20, 2008)

This is a Bri-Mar 6'x10' dump trailer.


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## Wirenut2266 (Jun 20, 2008)

I do like the tandam axle style with breaks. mine is a 7x14 nice size, but wider then the truck. so driving in heavy snow, I have to plow through snow with truck tires, and also drag tandam trailer next. that is a negative, but shouldn't be out in that deep of snow anyway, bruce


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## wkpoor (Jun 20, 2008)

I have a variety of stuff for moving firewood around.


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## huskystihl (Jun 20, 2008)

Being from michigan and i'm from ohio, look for a livestock trailer. there triple axle and built as strong as ever and with a sawz-all and a few bucks you can cobble a rig that will haul as much as you ever wanna pull. I make it outside i'll take some pics of my $500 beauty.


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## Evanrude (Jun 20, 2008)

RAS323 said:


> This is a Bri-Mar 6'x10' dump trailer.



Looks like the Tacoma handles the load pretty well. Nice!


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## Vangellis (Jun 20, 2008)

Posted this before. Hauling, homeowner style.

Date night.





Coming uphill in the woods.





Going out to the field.








Kevin


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## p575 (Jun 22, 2008)

wkpoor said:


> I have a variety of stuff for moving firewood around.




what kind of wood is that in the red trailer, white around the outside ring, and a deep purple color in the heartwood...i've cut some before, but i've got no idea what it is.


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## huskystihl (Jun 22, 2008)

Looks like ash.


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## Evanrude (Jun 22, 2008)

Looks like walnut to me.


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## bama (Jun 22, 2008)

wkpoor said:


> I have a variety of stuff for moving firewood around.



Is that a Cub pulling the trailer? Nice little tractor. I have used the Cub and and an A for mowing. I have a 140 right now at the farm.


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## wkpoor (Jun 22, 2008)

> Is that a Cub pulling the trailer?



Sure is. Cubs is kinda a hobby for me. Neat little tractors. Actually that load was a little much for the Cub. It did alright on flat ground but hills wouldn't be too good for it. I've got a real nice Allis CA that does better for pullin the wagons or trailers full of wood. Since I got the grapple I prefer to bring the logs home whole and process them during the summer months at my leisure.



> what kind of wood is that in the red trailer, white around the outside ring, and a deep purple color in the heartwood...i've cut some before, but i've got no idea what it is.



Walnut! Heartwood turns dark whilethe sapwood is light. Very common around here.
The dump trailer was a recent load and that was a 34" maple log. I got about 4 pieces out of the but that size. Even though it came out of a yard it must have been growing when it was in a woods as it was nice and straight up like a woods tree. Owner said it was there when they came in 52 and it was big then. When I quartered it up I found a fence right in the middle. Owner said they never had a fence on that tree. Must have been there many a moon ago.


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## yetty734 (Jun 22, 2008)

you guys make me jealous....i cant post pics but i haul my wood around with a 15hp john deere lt 150 gear shift and a 4x7 home built 1 ton truck axle wood trailer....I guess ive got a few years a head of me to get the nice stuff.....it is kinda hard to own a niuce trailer without a truck. i got until july 10th to fix that!!!!!!guess who's turning 16 and driving....look out on the roads :jawdrop: :censored: :monkey:


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## wkpoor (Jun 22, 2008)

> i got until july 10th to fix that!!!!!!guess who's turning 16 and driving....look out on the roads



Be safe and remember...Speed kills! We were all 16 once and couldn't wait to get behind the wheel. And we all probably did something we shouldn't have and got lucky. Save fast for chainsaws and keep your mind on the road. Maybe we will see you at a GTG in the future.


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## yetty734 (Jun 23, 2008)

rookie here...wat is a gtg


im not as wild as i sound...my wildness comes out weekly when i split wood....easily the best work out out there.


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## myzamboni (Jun 23, 2008)

gtg= get together


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## yetty734 (Jun 23, 2008)

i bet if it wasnt so late i might have gotten that. i feel a little special right now.

i leave tomorrow for a 10 hour drive to my gma's old house in NY. I get to cut wood on vacation!!!!lol...so much for rest. Figure ill get about 2 cords split while im there for next winter....already have this years wood.

tty all sometime next weekend. for those who are special...tty=talk to you:monkey:


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## cabinman (Jun 23, 2008)

*cub*



wkpoor said:


> I have a variety of stuff for moving firewood around.



your cub humbles me,......Eric


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## Stihl051master (Jun 24, 2008)

Here are some pics of the trailer I built over winter, maybe you can get some ideas from it. I used 8" I-beams from an old trailer house, and 3" channel for the crossmembers. It's decked with 2x10 treated lumber. It's 21' long (18'+3' tail). Some features I added that I've been happy with are 2 1/2" pockets with a 2 1/4" -1/4" thick tie down rail on the whole outside, a 2" receiver on the front for an attachment point for winching up dead vehicles, and backup lights on the fenders. I also got some 15k lb. d-rings at TSC and welded them on the corners. 


I used 2 6000lb axles (one w/brakes), and I built 2' tall sides for hauling wood. You can fit 2 full cords in it pretty easily, I was hauling 4 facecords in the pic b/c I didn't want to overwork the truck too badly. 


I still need to do some work on finishing the ramps. They work well and flip over nicely, but I want to build a "wedge" on the top so when I flip them up I have a full 21' of flat deck which is why I haven't painted them yet. I also may swap out the non-brake axle for one with brakes, and also get a bigger truck. 

For you tractor guys out there the tractor is a 1964 Ford 4000 that was bought new by my grandfather. I restored it for my dad last summer and was going to get a disk to run over a food plot. My wood hauling helper is standing in the foreground of one of the pics also. 

Overall it pulls and works well, I would have done some things differently, but I was on a strict budget and did the best with what I had available.


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## deerlakejens (Jun 24, 2008)

There are some truly enviable trailers here, especially the 21 footer. The only "upgrade" I would add would be a heavy triangular plate welded in front of each fender to the frame, to protect the fenders when cutting a corner. I recently did just that, catching a short brick "pillar" that was hidden by some bushes and ended up bending the axle, fender and a rim! Expensive lesson! I've noticed since that most commercially built trailers all have the protective wedge that would push it sideways instead of catching the fender.


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## Ekka (Jun 24, 2008)

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## belgian (Jun 24, 2008)

my little trailer :


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## Stihl051master (Jun 25, 2008)

That's a good idea on the triangular guards in front of the fenders - I may have to add some. They would double as a nice step also.


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## Haywire Haywood (Jun 25, 2008)

Now that's something you probably won't see very often here... a Volvo pulling a trailer load of firewood. hehe

Ian


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## Hummer (Jun 25, 2008)

Here's my fruit & fruitwood hauler, a custom made trailer with 6000 lb. axle, 10,000 lb. hitch, 5x10 bed, 16" M&S trailer tires, and 2 ft. sideboards. With these sideboards, it will haul one cord. It also transports four 1000 lb. bins of apples with ease, and I can quickly transfer the trailer from the tractor to my Tundra pickup. This trailer is tougher than an old buffalo!

The tractor is a 50 horse John Deere 2240 with a wide array of implements including a hydraulic stump puller. The tractor-trailer combo works perfectly through the aisles in the orchard for picking up firewood, fruit boxes and bins. I'm thinking of making some taller sideboards for it to haul larger loads of apple wood over the Continental Divide to the Front Range market.

I'll never sell this trailer but I have been craving a dump trailer, like the 6x10 that RAS323 has pictured. I'd put sideboards on it to haul gravel, dirt, wood and wood chips.

Hummer


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## RAS323 (Jun 28, 2008)

Evanrude said:


> Looks like the Tacoma handles the load pretty well. Nice!



Yeah it does pretty well. Reverse sure could be lower, backing up with the trailer on (empty) is a low range deal.


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## Austin1 (Jul 10, 2008)

More trailer pics. This was before I put brakes on my trailer the truck is also full of wood, poplar but heck it was free. Wet wood is very heavy even though the rounds are small the big ones weigh 80lbs according to the bathroom scale. I cut all the wood with a poulan 2550 zips right through soft poplar.


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## KMB (Jul 10, 2008)

Stihl051master said:


> Here are some pics of the trailer I built over winter, maybe you can get some ideas from it. I used 8" I-beams from an old trailer house, and 3" channel for the crossmembers. It's decked with 2x10 treated lumber. It's 21' long (18'+3' tail). Some features I added that I've been happy with are 2 1/2" pockets with a 2 1/4" -1/4" thick tie down rail on the whole outside, a 2" receiver on the front for an attachment point for winching up dead vehicles, and backup lights on the fenders. I also got some 15k lb. d-rings at TSC and welded them on the corners.
> 
> 
> I used 2 6000lb axles (one w/brakes), and I built 2' tall sides for hauling wood. You can fit 2 full cords in it pretty easily, I was hauling 4 facecords in the pic b/c I didn't want to overwork the truck too badly.
> ...



I'm getting caught up on this thread. Nice job on the trailer! Well done! The sides you have on there look good!  

Kevin


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## twofer (Jul 10, 2008)

Here is a shot of my little wood hauler. She's not the biggest but her small size helps weasel down the tight logging trails on our property and the high sides help keep it all in.


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## redprospector (Jul 10, 2008)

Here's my little firewood hauler.











With sideboards.





Andy


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## Jkebxjunke (Jul 10, 2008)

I dont have an pics as of now.. but i have a 6x10 Bir-mar dump trailer and a haywagon... but the thing that gets the most use at hauling rounds is my Bobcat S160 with a grapple bucket... I dont have to go far for my wood... I have 40 acres of woods  The grapple is very nice for clearing the brush before felling and clearing up afterwards... and hauling large rounds up to the house for further bucking and splitting. For the smaller stuff that I have brought up ( under 12" ) I buck it up with a stihl electric chain saw.. I imagine I will get flack for that... but for working up by the house it works great.. its light weight and it doesnt wake a almost 2 yr olg cranky toddler.. which will incure the wrath of the little woman... and just remember we have to keep the wify happy .. RIGHT GUYS???


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## KMB (Jul 11, 2008)

redprospector said:


> Here's my little firewood hauler.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Little... . Nice setup. So what's the specs on that trailer? 

Kevin


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## KMB (Jul 11, 2008)

Jkebxjunke said:


> For the smaller stuff that I have brought up ( under 12" ) I buck it up with a stihl electric chain saw.. I imagine I will get flack for that... but for working up by the house it works great.. its light weight and it doesnt wake a almost 2 yr olg cranky toddler.. which will incure the wrath of the little woman... and just remember we have to keep the wify happy .. RIGHT GUYS???



I also have to be selective in when I run my saws near the house...the baby's room is at the back of the house where my woodpile is... . And I'll be starting to split early in the morning for a few days before work, to beat the heat, and the splitter isn't quiet...we'll have to work something out.

Kevin


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## Jkebxjunke (Jul 11, 2008)

the last line in my recent post " 
doesnt wake a almost 2 yr olg cranky toddler.. which will incure the wrath of the little woman..."

I should expound on it a bit and change the one line " the wrath of the little PREGO woman " ...... 
 <--that would be her if disturbed their naps....


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## KMB (Jul 11, 2008)

Jkebxjunke said:


> the last line in my recent post "
> doesnt wake a almost 2 yr olg cranky toddler.. which will incure the wrath of the little woman..."
> 
> I should expound on it a bit and change the one line " the wrath of the little PREGO woman " ......
> <--that would be her if disturbed their naps....



Yep, "pregnant" steps it up a notch for sure!

Kevin


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## husky455rancher (Jul 11, 2008)

lol yeah it does. got 2 kids myself 2 girls 3&6. i remember when the olders was first born. at night when the wife worked and the baby was sleeping i you woulda thought i was a spy the way i crept around my apartment. i sure as hell didnt wanna wake her up! man could she scream.


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## redprospector (Jul 11, 2008)

KMB said:


> Little... . Nice setup. So what's the specs on that trailer?
> 
> Kevin



Kevin,
It's a 14,000 lb trailer, 16' long x 8' wide. I can haul between 3 & 4 cords in log length (depending on the logs). The sideboards are 4' 6" high and decrese the inside measurement by a few inches, but just dumped in from the processor will hold about 3 cords, if I stack it it will hold about 4.
It's a Texas Pride brand trailer, but unless you like spending money and working on trailers I'd suguest trying a different brand. I had to replace both axles, and all 4 tires within the first 6 months of the trailers life (that's not to mention all the other stuff I had to do to it). The bright side is that the frame is built pretty well, so I have a decent trailer now.

Andy


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## KMB (Jul 11, 2008)

redprospector said:


> Kevin,
> It's a 14,000 lb trailer, 16' long x 8' wide. I can haul between 3 & 4 cords in log length (depending on the logs). The sideboards are 4' 6" high and decrese the inside measurement by a few inches, but just dumped in from the processor will hold about 3 cords, if I stack it it will hold about 4.
> It's a Texas Pride brand trailer, but unless you like spending money and working on trailers I'd suguest trying a different brand. I had to replace both axles, and all 4 tires within the first 6 months of the trailers life (that's not to mention all the other stuff I had to do to it). The bright side is that the frame is built pretty well, so I have a decent trailer now.
> 
> Andy



Thanks for the specs. It looks longer than the 16', maybe because of the gooseneck. That's more trailer than I'll probably ever need. I think a 7000lb. - 8000lb. GVWR trailer pulled by a diesel (or big gas engine) 3/4 ton would do me.

Kevin


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## abohac (Jul 11, 2008)

RAS323 said:


> This is a Bri-Mar 6'x10' dump trailer.



I want a dump trailer just like that. I have the Farmi and a little tractor (5320 JD). But I really would like a trailer like your. What did it set you back?


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## DPDISXR4Ti (Jul 12, 2008)

Not much, but as you can see, entirely hand-built, save for the rear suspension, salvaged from a Subaru Brat....


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## 046 (Jul 12, 2008)

can't find pic's ... but mine has Tandem 7k axles with brakes on both. runs 2.35x85R-16 10 ply truck tires. built like a tank... hauled 30k + lbs with no problems. 

97 12v cummins turbo diesel pulls the heaviest of loads with no problems... it's not what you can pull, but what you can stop!


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## danrclem (Jul 12, 2008)

I have two trailers I use the 5'x10' now and will use the 16' car hauler later on when I get some sides on it.

Danny

<a href="http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff93/danrclem/?action=view&current=IMG_0188-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff93/danrclem/IMG_0188-1.jpg" border="0" alt="WOODCUTTING TOOLS"></a>

<a href="http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff93/danrclem/?action=view&current=IMG_0192.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff93/danrclem/IMG_0192.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


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## Evanrude (Jul 20, 2008)

Been looking at some trailers new and used around here. I just couldnt afford one right now. So I ended up adding some sides to my lawnmower/quad hauler. It doesnt hold much weight, but it sure helps. I may upgrade the axle, leaf springs and tires so I can get a little more weight on it.

A couple pics from today. 











I finally got out and picked up some wood I cut back in Feb. Its been stacked up in the fence row since. Been waiting to borrow the splitter to bring it home and stack it. I waited to start the splitting operation until the splitter was shaded. It was pretty hot today. I've got a lot of stacking to do, I've got piles everywhere. That pile of Elm that the plywood (tailgate) is lying against is from last weekends tree job.


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## Toddppm (Jul 22, 2008)

Here's another vote for a dump trailer. I'd never seen the sense of having one until now. We can't store mulch or wood at the work property so we leave mulch in this until we need it. Now I love having it.
Traded in my equipment trailer bought 6 years ago and only lost $600 from what I paid for it then since the prices have gone up almost $1K. I bought the solid side extensions for it and the tarp kit just haven't had time to put them on yet. Will need to get it lettered too. It's 6x12 can just get the Bobcat on it and 10K GVW keeps from needing a CDL. Have had all Oak on it this high with no problems.


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## Ductape (Jul 26, 2008)

My 7000lb Bri-Mar. Its an 04 i bought in 06....... one of the best investments i've ever made. Yes...... those are pellets in the back, shame on me!


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## stihl sawing (Aug 9, 2008)

Here's my old trailer. Needs a new floor.


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## Wayne02 (Aug 9, 2008)

I just put some removable sideboards on my tiltbed car trailer. I don't know how it will work as I've not had a chance to try it yet. It only has 5300lb capacity and I suspect it has more volume capacity then weight capacity. I may cut the side boards down to 3 maybe 2 feet or so as they are pretty unwieldy to handle by myself at 4 feet tall.

The tiltbed is done with a floorjack built into the tongue and it works fine for loading/unloading my race car, but I kind of doubt that it will "dump" firewood like a real dump trailer does. I suspect the overhang behind the axles is too much for true dumping of material. Everything is a compromise and this trailer was designed for hauling vehicles, as such it has relatively low ground clearance and the beaver tail sloping down in the back doesn't help matters when trying to tow it through the fields and over rough ground.

I've really been wanting one of those dump trailers for around the place as I think it could be used for much more than hauling firewood.

Hmm, can't get my image to show up...


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