New truck and trailer?

[KMB]

New truck and trailer…

...yeah right Kevin. LOL!

A friend of mine has a farm and has some dead hardwood that I can have. The trailer that I’m buying and fixing…is kinda on hold…money is being directed to more important things such as medical attention for my wife and other stuff. The car hauler trailer, that I can still borrow, now has no brakes courtesy of kin of the trailers owner letting the trailer wiring cord drag on the pavement which resulted in lots of broke/melted wires. I’ll still use the trailer for shorter trips, but for the hour trip to my friend’s farm, I wanted something with brakes since I wanted to bring home a good load and was going through a town/small city.

So…the friend and his wife offered to let me use their trailer (and truck if needed). I didn’t see an official temperature for that day (this past Saturday), but my wife said it showed over 100 deg on our home thermometers. I’ve never been so thankful for having a tractor with a FEL available to help when cutting wood!!!! Especially in that crazy heat and humidity! I know…should have started a LOT earlier in the morning…but stuff happens. I did get hot…but not to bad…drank lots of water and Powerade…but still HOT.

If it had not of been so hot, I could have cut on more trees (that I’ll get later)…and had planned on fully loading the trailer, but even with the tractor for loading the wood, I was getting to hot (getting sluggish, starting of a headache and so on). The resulting load of wood was what I could have pulled with my ½ ton (4.6L V8, 3.55 gears, auto) at a slower speed…but the trailer was already hooked up to the Dodge, and I REALLY wanted to drive that truck!!!

The truck is a 2004 model, base (no power doors or windows and so on but has air and the other basics), automatic, 24V Cummins, don’t know what gears it has. The trailer was built by Tiger Trailers in Texas. 83”x20’, 2-6K axles, 12K GVWR, 1 braked axle (rear), 7.50-16 10 ply tires, 5” channel frame, 5” channel wrap tongue, 3” channel crossmembers, 3”x2” uprights, 3”(?) pipe top rail and 2-5/16” Bulldog coupler, spare, loading ramps and heavy duty trailer jack…a very nice and very well built trailer! I would have wanted brakes on both axles myself. We only loaded 15’of the trailer (I know the load should have been set back further over the tandems…but I had planned on more wood) which was what I would guess to be about 2/3 of a cord (wood was Oak) which I’ll estimate at 3500 lbs. Based on a similar built Big Tex trailer specs, I’m guessing the trailer weighed about 3K. So the truck was pulling only about 6500 lbs…I know…very, very, very easy pulling for that Cummins…but I wanted to drive it anyway!

Compared to pulling the same approximate weight with my ½ ton, all I can say is WOW!!! Complete night and day difference. The solid feel, of course the power getting up to speed and holding the 55/60 mph…everything was SO much better pulling with that truck! All you Cummins and 1 ton (or ¾ ton) truck owners already know what I’m talking about. I’ll probably get to use that truck and trailer again if I can go cutting earlier in the day, on a cooler day hopefully, and get a real load to fill up that trailer! Course I’ll have to unload it by hand when I get back home…will make for a long day. Anyways, just had to tell y’all about me getting to be spoiled by pulling with that Cummins for about an hour…back to reality and the old Ford .

Kevin

 

[dingeryote]

Looks like ya snagged a good load despite the heat!
You guys down south are nuts!! If it gets over 80 I ain't cutting anything unless I have to.

A good truck and trailer make a huge difference don't they!!

Nothing wrong with the 1/2 tons. They are good for most things and can be pushed, but there is no confusing them with a good 3/4-1 Ton when actual work has to be done. The ratings for 1/2 tons are mule fritters. Yeah, they might be able to pull that much on a glass smooth road, but darn if they wont let you know they are overmatched. The stiffer frame, heavier suspension,Gearing, and more robust brakes all add up.

Don't get spoiled though. Your old Ford will do 90% of what needs to be done, and wont eat ya out of house and home on Maint. and fuel costs.

Stay safe!
Dingeyote

 

[KMB]

Looks like ya snagged a good load despite the heat!
You guys down south are nuts!! If it gets over 80 I ain't cutting anything unless I have to.

A good truck and trailer make a huge difference don't they!!

Nothing wrong with the 1/2 tons. They are good for most things and can be pushed, but there is no confusing them with a good 3/4-1 Ton when actual work has to be done. The ratings for 1/2 tons are mule fritters. Yeah, they might be able to pull that much on a glass smooth road, but darn if they wont let you know they are overmatched. The stiffer frame, heavier suspension,Gearing, and more robust brakes all add up.

Don't get spoiled though. Your old Ford will do 90% of what needs to be done, and wont eat ya out of house and home on Maint. and fuel costs.

Stay safe!
Dingeyote

Good post! Your "good truck and trailer" and "ratings for 1/2 tons" comments are bang on!

Yep, the old Ford has been good to me...as long as I look after it. In reality, cutting and fully loading by hand a 7K rated 77" or 83"x16' utility trailer by myself and then unloading by hand when I get home is a good day of work...which is the way my firewood cutting goes. If I only had the Dodge and that trailer without a tractor, it would be a pretty big job to cut and load that trailer, by hand by myself, up to it's full capacity at almost 2 full cords. I've said/typed this many times that realistically a 3/4 ton (4x4) with a big gas engine and a properly well built 7K rated trailer would be all I needed for the way I handle my firewood. But driving that Cummins sure was nice...ok, ok, I'll quit .

Kevin

 

[dingeryote]

Good post! Your "good truck and trailer" and "ratings for 1/2 tons" comments are bang on!

Yep, the old Ford has been good to me...as long as I look after it. In reality, cutting and fully loading by hand a 7K rated 77" or 83"x16' utility trailer by myself and then unloading by hand when I get home is a good day of work...which is the way my firewood cutting goes. If I only had the Dodge and that trailer without a tractor, it would be a pretty big job to cut and load that trailer, by hand by myself, up to it's full capacity at almost 2 full cords. I've said/typed this many times that realistically a 3/4 ton (4x4) with a big gas engine and a properly well built 7K rated trailer would be all I needed for the way I handle my firewood. But driving that Cummins sure was nice...ok, ok, I'll quit .

Kevin

Truck lust LOL!!!!!
It happens.:hmm3grin2orange:

I keep eyeballing surplus deuce and a halfs.
It never stops.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[STLfirewood]

If you can try going to the woods and just cutting. Get 4 or 5 cords on the ground then rent a dump trailer and hire a couple biys to load folr you. Make a day of just hauling. You have the truck for it. You can pull 2 cords on a dump trailer pretty easy with that truck. The loading is the hard part get so high school kids for that. Nice haul


Scott

 

[audible fart]

hire a couple biys to load folr you.
Scott

Why do the guys he hires have to be bi?

 

[KMB]

If you can try going to the woods and just cutting. Get 4 or 5 cords on the ground then rent a dump trailer and hire a couple biys to load folr you. Make a day of just hauling. You have the truck for it. You can pull 2 cords on a dump trailer pretty easy with that truck. The loading is the hard part get so high school kids for that. Nice haul


Scott

Well, I guess I have access to that truck...but it's an hour away to get it. And to rent a dump trailer I'd have to go 1-1/2 hrs to 2 hrs to find one. I don't know if there would be that much wood (4 or 5 cord) available and I wouldn't have any place to store that much wood at one time. On my property, I could probably store 3 cord max (if I stacked the unsplit rounds carefully) for splitting later. I'm not trying to sell any firewood this year. I'm gonna try and get a good supply for myself and my mom-in-law so I don't have to start from nothing after this years burning season. All I've ever sold was maybe 3 or 4 cords one year...very, very small time...just some extra money to pay bills.

Kevin

 

[WidowMaker]

Truck lust LOL!!!!!
It happens.:hmm3grin2orange:

I keep eyeballing surplus deuce and a halfs.
It never stops.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

==

Talk about eat you out of house and home...

 

[zogger]

Nice rig

If you were saving money by heating just your own place with wood you had to haul, well, shoot, might take ya only 30-40 years to get a positive ROI!
hehehehehe

Ya, pretty truck.

Realistically, I think a well used/old but still running small flatbed dump at around two grand is the best home firewood hauler. Not a commuter car, not an expensive pickup (ohh shiny) not a SUV..whatever, just a plain jane plenty of dents and dings old bucket of steel that still runs. Flatbed duallys can usually realistically tote at least 4 thou lbs without being overloaded. I know guys haul that in big pickups, and they are overloaded. Usually they got air suspensions and whatnot added, just beating on the axles and bearings and so on. It'll work for awhile, but they will most definitely kill their trucks early.

I like small pickups, then skip all the intermediary steps in size and go right to a mid size real work truck. You can get a real decent truck that is still easy to drive and no CDL needed for much less than a shiny new or nearly new 3/4 or 1 ton pickup.

Well, it depends on what other uses you might have, just making a general observation after looking at cubic miles of used trucks of all sizes and prices. Pickups are way over priced, most of them, for what work they can do as in hauling gross weight, comparing dollars to dollars. Mid size trucks are usually a better deal dollar wise at the used lower end of the spectrum, if you shop carefully and really inspect the ride. Even if they suck gas, who cares, how many trips a year will it take to get up one homeowner amount of wood?

Of course getting to borrow anything for free is the best deal!! So you did good!

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i personally hate dodges... but the perfect firewood rig is what is paid for lock stock and barrel...
profit is more obtainable with no equipment payments...to each their own... run what ya brung!

 

[Misfit138]

Always been a Chevy guy, but it's very tough to beat the Cummins for longevity.
The Dirtymax may be the strongest Diesel..but the Cummins just keeps on running!
Gotta love the Cummins.

 

[Locust Cutter]

...yeah right Kevin. LOL!

A friend of mine has a farm and has some dead hardwood that I can have. The trailer that I’m buying and fixing…is kinda on hold…money is being directed to more important things such as medical attention for my wife and other stuff. The car hauler trailer, that I can still borrow, now has no brakes courtesy of kin of the trailers owner letting the trailer wiring cord drag on the pavement which resulted in lots of broke/melted wires. I’ll still use the trailer for shorter trips, but for the hour trip to my friend’s farm, I wanted something with brakes since I wanted to bring home a good load and was going through a town/small city.

So…the friend and his wife offered to let me use their trailer (and truck if needed). I didn’t see an official temperature for that day (this past Saturday), but my wife said it showed over 100 deg on our home thermometers. I’ve never been so thankful for having a tractor with a FEL available to help when cutting wood!!!! Especially in that crazy heat and humidity! I know…should have started a LOT earlier in the morning…but stuff happens. I did get hot…but not to bad…drank lots of water and Powerade…but still HOT.

If it had not of been so hot, I could have cut on more trees (that I’ll get later)…and had planned on fully loading the trailer, but even with the tractor for loading the wood, I was getting to hot (getting sluggish, starting of a headache and so on). The resulting load of wood was what I could have pulled with my ½ ton (4.6L V8, 3.55 gears, auto) at a slower speed…but the trailer was already hooked up to the Dodge, and I REALLY wanted to drive that truck!!!

The truck is a 2004 model, base (no power doors or windows and so on but has air and the other basics), automatic, 24V Cummins, don’t know what gears it has. The trailer was built by Tiger Trailers in Texas. 83”x20’, 2-6K axles, 12K GVWR, 1 braked axle (rear), 7.50-16 10 ply tires, 5” channel frame, 5” channel wrap tongue, 3” channel crossmembers, 3”x2” uprights, 3”(?) pipe top rail and 2-5/16” Bulldog coupler, spare, loading ramps and heavy duty trailer jack…a very nice and very well built trailer! I would have wanted brakes on both axles myself. We only loaded 15’of the trailer (I know the load should have been set back further over the tandems…but I had planned on more wood) which was what I would guess to be about 2/3 of a cord (wood was Oak) which I’ll estimate at 3500 lbs. Based on a similar built Big Tex trailer specs, I’m guessing the trailer weighed about 3K. So the truck was pulling only about 6500 lbs…I know…very, very, very easy pulling for that Cummins…but I wanted to drive it anyway!

Compared to pulling the same approximate weight with my ½ ton, all I can say is WOW!!! Complete night and day difference. The solid feel, of course the power getting up to speed and holding the 55/60 mph…everything was SO much better pulling with that truck! All you Cummins and 1 ton (or ¾ ton) truck owners already know what I’m talking about. I’ll probably get to use that truck and trailer again if I can go cutting earlier in the day, on a cooler day hopefully, and get a real load to fill up that trailer! Course I’ll have to unload it by hand when I get back home…will make for a long day. Anyways, just had to tell y’all about me getting to be spoiled by pulling with that Cummins for about an hour…back to reality and the old Ford .

Kevin

Howdy Kevin! That's almost identical to the Ram I want, except I want a hand-shaker (Manual transmission) for the ease of main't and additional operational flexibility that manual gear selection affords the knowledgeable operator. That and if you lose a clutch, you're stuck. If you lose a torque converter, it tends to take a lot of down stream tranny parts with it that get real expensive in a hurry. I am in the process of getting a nice 16k GN trailer presently that my F-350SD Ford will pull with it's gas V8, but a 12V or 24V Cummins will laugh about pulling it. It will also be a lot easier and less costly to maintain than my old 6.0PSD was,...
-Bryan

 

[Moss Man]

I'd like to have that Dodge to haul my dump trailer with, nice set up.