Hauling firewood on a landscape utility trailer

[PA452]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Good info. To be honest, I never got any email notifications of replies so I just assumed this thread went nowhere. :laughing:

Ended up moving forward with my plan pretty close to how I originally described it. I just used plywood, made it 18" high. Figure that's higher than I need, but gives me a little safety buffer as I will be using this on the road. Instead of running bolts through the uprights, I bolted 2x4 pieces onto the plywood that fit in my stake pockets. This way it doesn't take any tools to install or remove. I just pull out the sides, unfold, and drop in. The piece on the front just slides in also, blocked by the rail on the front and a couple of thin blocks that I screwed to the plywood on the inside. It all looks like it would be unwieldy, and to be honest even I kind of thought I might need a second person to help install and remove. But there's enough flex, I'm easily able to put it in and take it out by myself in no time at all.

Hope I didn't screw up with the type of plywood I bought, but if I did it's not a super expensive lesson. I intend to paint it, hoping moisture and/or rain doesn't destroy it immediately. But as I said, I'll only be using these sides when hauling firewood or other materials where they would come in handy. Any time I'm not hauling, I intend on removing them and putting them inside. I don't think I'll even have them set in the stake pockets when traveling empty to where I'm going to get firewood. I'm thinking I may fold it all up, strap it down, and install when I get there. I know nothing's going anywhere once there's a load of wood inside the walls.

Here's some pics from today:

Folded up and ready to be put away:

 

[Egon]

Nice!

You done good:thumbsup:

 

[nyone]

Looks great!
Dont paint it, paint peals and chips. Stain it or coat it in oil.

 

[PA452]

Thanks guys.

Painting it with used oil is something I hadn't considered, I may do that. And it's free to boot.

 

[Thomas]

Neet and clean. :thumbsup:

 

[LouNY]

Looks good and functional,
I am surprised that your trailer had stake pockets with the top rail on it, seems like it would interfere with anything but the short stakes you used.

 

[PA452]

The stake pockets are still very useful for chains. In fact that's all I've ever used them for; I wouldn't have bought a trailer without them for that reason.

But also, the rails on that trailer are removable, they're bolted on. One of the many reasons I really like that trailer. I have yet to find a need to take them off, but it's nice to know it's an option.

 

[PA452]

Put the walls to use yesterday. Worked great. They slid right in. Kept everything contained. Truck and trailer pulled great. Applied some deck stain sealer, but only one coat. They got rained on quite a bit yesterday and this morning. Just got the trailer unloaded an hour or so ago, going to be taking them off shortly. Hopefully they don't warp.

The tree I got the wood from:

After:

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Buy one or two 3 cubic yard dumpster bags for $30, you can unload all the wood with your tractor.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WM-Bagster-Dumpster-in-a-Bag-775-658/202228840

I like the way you think. The whole game with firewood is minimizing the handling. I'd be thinking IBC totes on the trailer. If the tractor can't handle a full one just load them as full as the tractor can handle.

 

[oosik]

Post #48 you figure that is a max load for the trailer?? WoW - my wood trailer must have been WAY overloaded. Same sized trailer but with five foot high sides - loaded and stacked to at least a foot higher than the five foot side racks. Thank God we only moved it on our own property.

 

[4570Man]

Post #48 you figure that is a max load for the trailer?? WoW - my wood trailer must have been WAY overloaded. Same sized trailer but with five foot high sides - loaded and stacked to at least a foot higher than the five foot side racks. Thank God we only moved it on our own property.

He only has a 7 k trailer. I’d guess he had more than 7 k on it. It was soft maple at least in the top so it’s not very heavy but that’s still a lot of wood.

 

[RickB]

He only has a 7 k trailer. I壇 guess he had more than 7 k on it. It was soft maple at least in the top so it痴 not very heavy but that痴 still a lot of wood.

Legal net weight for a 7K trailer is in the 5000-5400 range. The pictured load is well within that, I bet.

 

[oosik]

4570man - Are we both looking at the same trailer load of wood. Post #48 - single layer of wood in that trailer - - its going to weigh 7000 pounds?? This is a pic of my poor 'ol wood trailer - - 6'wide by 12'long with 5' high sides. If we stacked the green split pine tight and high - two cords.


View attachment 575677

 

[LD48750]

Legal tare weight for a 7K trailer is in the 5000-5400 range. The pictured load is well within that, I bet.

tare weight noun
Definition of tare weight
: the officially accepted weight of an empty car, vehicle, or container that when subtracted from gross weight yields the net weight of cargo or shipment upon which charges can be calculated.

Legal tare?

 

[4570Man]

4570man - Are we both looking at the same trailer load of wood. Post #48 - single layer of wood in that trailer - - its going to weigh 7000 pounds?? This is a pic of my poor 'ol wood trailer - - 6'wide by 12'long with 5' high sides. If we stacked the green split pine tight and high - two cords.


View attachment 575677

Sorry no. I was confusing post 40 with the OP. Even being maple I’d guess the load in post 40 is over 7k. I doubt the op in post 48 had over a ton of wood.

 

[PA452]

Post #48 you figure that is a max load for the trailer?? WoW - my wood trailer must have been WAY overloaded. Same sized trailer but with five foot high sides - loaded and stacked to at least a foot higher than the five foot side racks. Thank God we only moved it on our own property.

I was playing it conservative, as it was the first time I was hauling firewood on that trailer and I was going to be driving 70 miles at an average of 55mph. But yeah, I figure by the numbers I was approaching the limit.

Here's how I'm coming to that conclusion:

- I'd say 95% or more of that load is red oak, and a handful of hickory logs mixed in that the oak took down. From what I'm reading, a cord of red oak can weigh anywhere from 4700-5700#, depending on if it's dry, seasoned, green, wet, etc.. This wood came down a little over a year ago. It's also been a very wet year and the outer area around the bark was fairly wet, centers were very hard and dry. Let's just say 5000#.
- A cord is 4x4x8, or 128 square feet. Granted those logs aren't split real small, so there's a lot of air space in there. But given my trailer is 16' long and 6.4' wide, that means a cord would be if I stacked the wood 1.25' high in my trailer. It's stacked right around that height in the back, and a little lower toward the front.
- My trailer is a 7000# trailer and weighs 1740#, which means I should be able to load 5260#.

I feel confident I could have loaded more, but given the distance, I wanted to play it safe.

The tires didn't look bad with that load on there, and the truck didn't sag much. The Tundra pulled it great. Except going up some steep hills out of river valleys, you could hardly tell it was back there. It was a joy to drive.

 

[oosik]

Whew - OK - post #40 - that's more like it. Lordy - I was looking at that single layer and wondering 7K ??? My God - you would need a gantry crane just to pick each chunk out of the trailer. I just checked and a green chord of pine is going to weigh right around 4400 pounds - and we were able to get two chord in my old wood trailer. No wonder is pulled so hard. My poor little Ford 1710 had to work like a whipped mule to pull a loaded trailer half a mile. And we would get four loads every fall - we burned wood for twelve years here.

 

[4570Man]

4570man - Are we both looking at the same trailer load of wood. Post #48 - single layer of wood in that trailer - - its going to weigh 7000 pounds?? This is a pic of my poor 'ol wood trailer - - 6'wide by 12'long with 5' high sides. If we stacked the green split pine tight and high - two cords.


View attachment 575677

That should be nearly 3 cords. A cord is 4x4x8-128 cubic feet. The trailer is 360 cubic feet.

 

[RickB]

tare weight noun
Definition of tare weight
: the officially accepted weight of an empty car, vehicle, or container that when subtracted from gross weight yields the net weight of cargo or shipment upon which charges can be calculated.

Legal tare?

Sorry. Net weight.

 

[PA452]

Sorry no. I was confusing post 40 with the OP. Even being maple I’d guess the load in post 40 is over 7k. I doubt the op in post 48 had over a ton of wood.

Definitely had well over a ton. Based on the numbers I don't see how it could have possibly had less than two ton, unless the cord weights I'm finding online are very wrong.