Organization: Computing Technology Services, Michigan Technological Univ.
Date: Monday, 11 Jan 1993 08:24:38 EST
From: <JCLEWIN@MTUS5.BITNET>
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: SUMMARY truck or trailer?

HERE IS A SUMMARY FROM MY REQUEST OF WAYS OF HAULING LOGS.  I JUST
NOTICED LAST NIGHT THAT THE TOPPER ON MY TRUCK WAS BENT UP IN SUCH A
WAY THAT SNOW NOW DOESN'T FALL BETWEEN IT AND THE TRUCK WINDOW;
THE RESULT OF THROWING WOOD UP AGAINST IT.  MY PLAN IS TO BORROW MY
SOON TO BE FATHER-IN-LAWS CHEVY HALF TON FOR HAULING, A TRUCK HE BOUGHT
SPECIFICALLY FOR HAULING WOOD.  I ALSO PLAN ON BUYING LOGS FROM A LOCAL
CUTTER AND HAVE THEM PUT OUT ON A THE FARM, CUT THEM UP, THEN HAUL THEM
THEM TO TOWN.  THIS WILL ELIMINATE HAULING OVER OLD LOGGING ROADS,
PROBABLY THE HARDEST PART ON THE TRUCKS.   BESIDES, LOGS ARE ONLY 35 BUCK
S A CORD, HARD TO BEAT.

THANKS FOR ALL THE SUGGESTIONS.  I HAVE ELIMINATED HEADERS AND SIGNITURES
TO RESPECT REQUESTS OF ANONYMOTY.

JEFF LEWIN.  JCLEWIN@MTUS5.BITNET.
WHAT'S THAT BIG BRIGHT YELLOW THING IN THE SKY?  I SEEM TO REMEMBER
SOMETHING LIKE IT IN THE SUMMER, WAS IT CALLED... THE SUN??

>1) What size truck do you use?
Ford f150 1/2 ton, v-8 engine.  Used to use a Toyota 1/2 ton, now retired :)

>2) How much wood do you put in it (i.e., how full or portions of a full cord -
As much as will fit.   I guess that's about 2/3 of a cord, unless we do
makeshift rails and stack much higher than the bed rim.  I don't recommend
this method for anyone who has to travel on a paved road, but logs falling
out are not a major problem for us.

>of what kind of wood)?
Softwood, usually pine and aspen.  At least one load a year of scrub oak,
but that ends up being lighter since it doesn't stack well.

>3) How far do you haul, and over what sort of roads?
Usually less than five miles, forest service roads.

>4) Do you load the wood in a trailer?  If so what size, how full, etc?
No, but our neighbor does.  It's about 4"x8", and again, as much as will
fit.  I think he installed rails, so he can get more in.

>5) Do you use some other vehical (tractor, etc.)?   If so, details?
No.

I second the guy who said light trucks will carry much more than their
rating.  If it's overdone, though, the handling becomes dangerous and
unpredictable.  I doubt that I'll carry 3000 lbs. of quarry tile from
Mexico again in the abovementioned 1/2 ton Toyota.  But at low speeds,
off the roads and with pumped-up tires, I don't worry too much about


1) What size truck do you use?
Toyota 4x4 4 cyl.

2) How much wood do you put in it (i.e., how full or portions of a full cord -
'Heavy' half cord.

of what kind of wood)?
Ponderosa pine.

3) How far do you haul, and over what sort of roads?
About 20 miles, 13 of which are paved.  Dirt roads in the mountains.

4) Do you load the wood in a trailer?  If so what size, how full, etc?
No.  However, we are probably safely conservative in our wood hauling
activities.  Besides, the truck will last longer by this conservativeness.
It has been our observation out in this part of Idaho that the norm for wood
hauling is to massively overload the truck bed so that the wheel wells just
clear the tires and also overload a trailer made from a pickup bed.  This
norm also applies to hauling hay bales.

5) Do you use some other vehical (tractor, etc.)?   If so, details?
No.


   1) What size truck do you use?
   2) How much wood do you put in it (i.e., how full or portions of a full cord
 -
   of what kind of wood)?
   3) How far do you haul, and over what sort of roads?
   4) Do you load the wood in a trailer?  If so what size, how full, etc?
   5) Do you use some other vehical (tractor, etc.)?   If so, details?

I have a heavy-duty 3/4 ton truck, which could probably carry a full
cord, but for logs and split wood I use an old manure spreader that
I've converted to a cart.  The bed is approximately eight feet by
three feet, with sides about two feet high.  We pile wood higher than
the sides -- still less than a cord -- and haul it around with a John
Deere 40 (~1955) or sometimes with a John Deere 750 (~1987).  The high
wheels of the cart and the tractor can go anywhere, which makes the
cart useful for logging trails, woods, or short hauls on the road.
It's also easier to unload than a pickup.  Since all our firewood
(oak, maple) is from our own woodlots, we don't need long-haul road
capability.

Around here the standard rig for people in the wood business is
anywhere from a one-ton sized pickup with a dumping body to the size
of trucks that are used for sileage.  Hay elevators are used to load
trucks with wood.
Newsgroups: misc.rural