Hauling firewood on a landscape utility trailer

[HarryVanderpool]

I'm assuming you have brakes on both axles and a high quality trailer brake controller?
Also consider that you should load some weight in the truck bed so that your trailer won't push you around in curves.
Don't get carried away!

 

[ruffdog]

I would only be concerned about losing wood through the openings in the side rails. I'd use 1/2" ply x 12" tall to keep the wood on the deck. Once that is done, I have loaded trailers like that WAY over legal capacity but have only driven on small country roads at low speeds. The only advantage to tall walls would be if the OP is loading with his FEL and just dumping the wood in.

 

[4570Man]

I would only be concerned about losing wood through the openings in the side rails. I'd use 1/2" ply x 12" tall to keep the wood on the deck. Once that is done, I have loaded trailers like that WAY over legal capacity but have only driven on small country roads at low speeds. The only advantage to tall walls would be if the OP is loading with his FEL and just dumping the wood in.

My experience is that trailer ratings aren’t a suggestion and are pretty tight. The axels, tires, and springs can’t take much more. It appears the op has a tubing frame trailer which is a plus. There’s some angle iron frame 7k trailers that I don’t trust with that much.

 

[Diggin It]

Definitely NOT plywood. It warps too easily and will de-laminate in a year or so along the exposed edges. Plus it's great for splinters.

 

[ruffdog]

Definitely NOT plywood. It warps too easily and will de-laminate in a year or so along the exposed edges. Plus it's great for splinters.

The OP stated in his first post that the sides would be removed most of the time.

 

[om21braz]

Keep in mind that some of that weight goes on the truck through the tongue of the trailer.
You can get more on there then you think & not be overloaded.

+1 I found this out the hard way and managed to bend the frame on a 2500 Yukon with a load of big green wood not over 30 high on this type trailer.

 

[goeduck]

+1 I found this out the hard way and managed to bend the frame on a 2500 Yukon with a load of big green wood not over 30 high on this type trailer.

That does not sound right, can you expand on this?

 

[grnspot110]

I used 3-1 x 6" CCA for my sides with an angle iron top edge. They a jointed at 7'/9' for easier handling 8 PC Utility Trailer Wood LH / RH Sides Latch Rack Stake Body Corner Brackets | eBay. These sides are over 20 years old & still going strong!

 

[nyone]

+1 I found this out the hard way and managed to bend the frame on a 2500 Yukon with a load of big green wood not over 30 high on this type trailer.

I would like to hear more about this also. I own a 02 yukon 2500 and its my primary tow vehicle

 

[nyone]

+1 I found this out the hard way and managed to bend the frame on a 2500 Yukon with a load of big green wood not over 30 high on this type trailer.

I would like more info on this. What part of the frame? I own a 02 yukon 2500 and its my tow vehicle

 

[chevy791979]

Consider hog or goat panels -- heavy wire mesh. Durable, easy to handle, probably lighter than lumber. I think the come in 16' lengths so you may get both sides out of one by cutting it in half.

This works very well

 

[om21braz]

That does not sound right, can you expand on this?

Problem was it was getting dark, parked hooked up to trailer sitting on uneven ground, loaded it with wood. In the awkward position I was parked in, evidently we got too much weight on the tongue. Combine that with pulling out this position twisted the frame end down on one side. I did not notice until I got home and with a little more light, noticed one side of my rear bumper was sitting a couple inches low. Fortunately a trip to the dealerç—´ frame machine and $200 got it straightened out.

Sometimes you just get in too much of a hurry and wind up paying the price.

 

[goeduck]

Problem was it was getting dark, parked hooked up to trailer sitting on uneven ground, loaded it with wood. In the awkward position I was parked in, evidently we got too much weight on the tongue. Combine that with pulling out this position twisted the frame end down on one side. I did not notice until I got home and with a little more light, noticed one side of my rear bumper was sitting a couple inches low. Fortunately a trip to the dealer痴 frame machine and $200 got it straightened out.

Sometimes you just get in too much of a hurry and wind up paying the price.

Did you have a receiver hitch or was the ball attached to the bumper itself?

 

[ruffdog]

Were you using a hitch insert that had a large amount of drop?

 

[om21braz]

Did you have a receiver hitch or was the ball attached to the bumper itself?

Receiver hitch, oem unit, bolted to frame.

 

[om21braz]

Were you using a hitch insert that had a large amount of drop?

Been almost too long to remember, but I think it had at least 3” of drop. Unloaded trailer would set reasonably level.

 

[farm boy00]

I have a 16' landscape utility trailer and I'm looking at building some short walls for it so I can use it to haul firewood. They need to be fairly easily removable as for most of my uses I wouldn't want them on it.

Looking at weights of a cord of wood, seems like there's no point in going too high with the walls. It's a 7000# trailer and it weighs 1740#, so theoretically I can have about 5250# of payload. It'll probably be more like 5000# max once I factor in the weight of the walls, and I'd rather not max out the trailer either.

Anyway I'm debating how I should go about this. I had at one time considered using 2x12s to make a 24" high wall all around, but not only is that a fair amount of weight, but seems like I probably don't need to go a full 24" high. So I'm thinking about using 3/4" plywood and make it 16-20" high. The uprights on the rails are about 10" high. They already have holes that I can bolt to. I'm thinking maybe for the sides, I could have two 8' lengths 16-20" high, connected by hinges to hold them together and so I can fold it up when not in use. Carriage bolts through the plywood and the uprights on the existing rail. In the front corners I could either bolt through a piece of 4x4 to lock them together or maybe some sort of latch for easier disassembly, less space and lighter weight.

I'm just throwing around ideas right now. Anyone have any thoughts about how to do this better?

Thanks

Sounds like you have a good plan. I would go for it and use hinges like you say. One more thing would be use a large diameter washer on the plywood side so it will not rip out so easy. Use some angle iron on the outside of the corners to help hold them together. Make sure you paint the plywood so it will not get wrecked as fast

 

[JerryK]

I had a similar trailer to your flat bed. I used it occasionally for hauling firewood. I bought sheets of 1/2" OSB and rip'd them in half, covering the sides and front of the trailer. I just put the sides on when I needed them, and stored them in my barn the rest of the time. Boards were still looking like new when I sold the trailer. Place the OSB on the sides, and bolt thru here and there just on the top rail. Then install the front piece and bolt her in. The rear piece just slide in in front of the gate. I bolted a strap near the top of where the panels connected, to help hold it together, and a bent strap at the front corners. Fairly quick to go on and off, and not that expensive... I could haul 3 face cord, but 4 face cord only on short trips due to the tire load. Trailer was already pretty heavy due to all the krap I had been welding onto it for years.

 

[radioman]

I have a very similar trailer to yours. I just took scrap 2x12x16 and used square ubolts from tractor supply to hold to posts on sides. The front was held by just slipping in and leave it free to pull out any time I need to carry things longer then 16 like custom made gutters or lvls. I used regular grade wood cuz at the time I was short on money and it was free and it lasted me about 10 years. One side is rotted out now and I'll switch to pt this time. I liked having the thick wood since it held up well and I banged alot of stuff on it. The 11.5 inch high was perfect since it left a gap between the top rail and wood and I could slip my rachet straps between them. I learned that humping the firewood in middle is perfect for strapping down firewood before going down the road. With roughly under two feet on sides and hump to there feet in center 16 ft long yields to about 2 to 2.5 full cords of wood. the dry stuff is not too bad for weight but all green you could tell you a bit overloaded.

 

[JerryK]

Here is the only pictures of my trailer with the sides on that I can find ..... Again, nothing wrong with OSB if you just use it once and awhile. If you want to park it outside, that's different.