how to transport a large amount of free wood?

[woodlumn]

Hi there,

I've been offered "three trees" worth of free oak. The wood is cut up into rounds and has been sitting for a year or more. It's ready to load, ready to split.

My problem is that my truck is a little four banger and the wood is about an hour from my house (though only a half hour from work). I'm afraid that even if I rent a full-size pickup, this is going to be a whole lot of trips.

Any suggestions? Can you hire someone to drive out to the site, watch us load it, then haul it off to my house for us to unload?

Thanks!

John

 

[woodbooga]

Is time an issue? Has your benefactor said, "It's first come and I've already offered to a couple other guys?"

I have access to about 3 cords of hemlock about 45 mins from home. If I know I'm going to be in the general area, I budget a little extra time to gather a Ranger load.

 

[woodlumn]

hi woodbooga,

nope, there's no time limit, but I'm never up that way. it's about 15 miles from work, in the opposite direction of my home. so for each trip, it's 30 miles extra, which is a gallon of gas, 'bout $3.80 where I live. plus, I'm afraid that hauling all that wood every day is going to put a lot of wear and tear on my transmission and motor ('95 nissan 4 cyl).

might be worth it, but there might also be a more efficient/convenient way...

 

[046]

sorry... there's no easy way to transport wood...

no matter what you do... it's dead weight measured in thousands of lbs.

there's all sorts of cord to lbs calculators available.

the only affordable way is to purchase a trailer with dual 7k lbs axles w/brakes on both axles. then you need a HD truck like a cummins to pull it.

unless you've got a buddy that will loan out a trailer (unlikely) trailer rental places will charge $150+ per day... then you still need a truck to pull it...

 

[Wet1]

You might want to also look into renting a Ryder truck. Other than that, I'd say going after work with your truck might be the cheapest route.


Also, check to make sure the wood isn't rotting where its laying on the ground...

 

[woodbooga]

sorry... there's no easy way to transport wood...

no matter what you do... it's dead weight measured in thousands of lbs.

there's all sorts of cord to lbs calculators available.

the only affordable way is to purchase a trailer with dual 7k lbs axles w/brakes on both axles. then you need a HD truck like a cummins to pull it.

unless you've got a buddy that will loan out a trailer (unlikely) trailer rental places will charge $150+ per day... then you still need a truck to pull it...

:agree2:

Yup. It's easy for free wood to wind up costing.

Question: I know it's out of the way, but do you have any friends or family in the immediate area whom you rarely see? If so, bundle a wood run with a social call. Time spent with an old buddy will cover the cost of gas and your load of wood (use your discretion in terms of what your truck will handle) will truly be free.

I bundle yard sale jaunts and visits to my brother with trips to the hemlock pile.

P.S. I drive a 4-cyl Ranger with 160+ miles. Pretty hilly territory here. Just take it slow. 3rd gear (even 2dn) can be your friend as you approach the hillcrest.

 

[Mike PA]

+1 on the Ryder rental. Not a bad way to go - cost $50 or so, but worht it to get it loaded and done in one shot. Calculate weight and rent appropriate size truck.

 

[Fastcast]

:agree2:.....Ryder or UHaul

 

[woodlumn]

thanks for all the advice

unfortunately, I've got no family, friends, or business up where the wood is.

the Ryder rental idea intrigues me though...are talkin' one of their big, covered moving trucks? or are you talking about another set up?

to do this in one or two trips would be worth shelling out a little cash.

 

[strongback]

I concur with the Ryder, Uhaul, Penske, Sunbelt rental. I know You can get a stakebed truck (5 ton?) from sunbelt I don't know if the others offer anything but box trucks to a non CDL holder. I'd also try to barter a days labor and take a buddy or two with me to ensure that you can get it all loaded/unloaded in one day.

Alternatively, if your not in any risk of losing out on wood due to time constraints and since it's already down and seasoned you could just go and pick it up a loads "as needed" and save yourself the trouble of having to store it on your property. I can haul about a cord at a time but this is still the method I used to gather wood from a couple of good-sized piles last year. Had enough wood to last the whole season but never had more than one cord stacked at my house.

 

[ropensaddle]

If you rent the ryder get one with a lift gate you will thank me.
I would bet they are more than fifty though!

 

[Billy_Bob]

The way I look at it, with high fuel prices, high energy prices, etc., I WILL need tons of firewood in the future and WILL need to transport it in an economical manner.

So I bought a trailer. Now I can haul twice the amount of wood in one trip.

 

[wdchuck]

Equipment rental outfits often have trucks and flat bed or dump trailers. Call your larger franchised rental stores.

Around here, a 16', 14K#gvw, tandem axle, with brakes, ball size 2-5/16", flat utility trailer rents for $55/24hrs.

A Dump trailer, 7'x14', 14K# gvw, tandem axle with brakes, ball size 2-5/16", debris cover, and you can add higher sides to it too, rents for $110/24hrs.

The dump trailer gives you the fastest turnaround, and least handling, and can be towed well with a 3/4ton gasser pickup truck.

Renting a p/u truck, equipped with trailer brake kit, from the rental store, and a dump trailer would be the best quick option, and save your back. Figure about 10-12 mpg loaded.

The bed of a deck over dump trailer is about the same height as a pickup truck bed, the dump trailers with deck between the wheels, also known as a lowboy, are considerably lower, and you could load your rounds with a hand dolly, you'd fill the trailer fast and get a good load if you stack the rounds neatly. Fill the truck too while your at it with the smaller stuff, helps to prevent " tail wagging the dog ".

I've gone both routes, flat trailer, and dump trailer, for moving 2+ cords of oak rounds per trip, the dump is the way to go.

 

[wdchuck]

ANother advantage to renting, the company has the right plates to handle to the GVWR .

We have a little sonoma, 4cyl, 5spd, great wheelbarrow, its plated for quite a bit more than just for the truck, since it also hauls plenty of wood and a trailer filled with wood. And still gets 24mpg loaded. Don't underestimate your little truck.

 

[Fastcast]

If you rent the ryder get one with a lift gate you will thank me.

:agree2:......Absolutely!......

 

[woodlumn]

So with the Ryder rental, are you talking about something like this?

They're calling it a "straight truck," with capacity up to 26,000 pounds (for us non-CDL folk). Just load it up, drive safely, and clean it up before returning?

So far, that seems like the easiest/least expensive approach, as long as I don't get it stuck in the grass, heh.

 

[Wood Doctor]

So with the Ryder rental, are you talking about something like this?

They're calling it a "straight truck," with capacity up to 26,000 pounds (for us non-CDL folk). Just load it up, drive safely, and clean it up before returning?

So far, that seems like the easiest/least expensive approach, as long as I don't get it stuck in the grass, heh.

Before you rent that, I suggest you find out how much wood is actually there. Those "three trees" better be at least two cords of wood apiece or that Ryder truck is way too big. It takes a pretty good sized tree to yield two cords of wood. You would be amazed at how much unsplit wood that truck will hold, properly stacked inside.

 

[blizzard]

something that size would hold a lot of wood. you might not need something that big. just a thought

 

[tanker]

So with the Ryder rental, are you talking about something like this?

They're calling it a "straight truck," with capacity up to 26,000 pounds (for us non-CDL folk). Just load it up, drive safely, and clean it up before returning?

So far, that seems like the easiest/least expensive approach, as long as I don't get it stuck in the grass, heh.

That 26000 pounds is for truck,occupants and load all together,not 26000 pounds of payload. You load that truck up like that and you run a good chance of having to own what is left of it.

 

[woodlumn]

That 26000 pounds is for truck,occupants and load all together,not 26000 pounds of payload.

good to know! so I guess (according to the wood-weight calc I was using), three cords of oak would be way too heavy for that truck.

I think the issue here is that the wood isn't "local." it's out of my way. if it was on the way home, or in my neighborhood, fuel and equipment costs would be minimal. as it stands now, I might not be saving a whole ton of money by getting this particular batch of "free" wood. hmm...

thanks again for all your advice!