Trailer preference for hauling firewood

[Crusarius]

I have a 1980 C30 dump. it is only 2wd. There are a ton of times I wish I had 4wd. It gets stuck way to easy. Usually right after you dump the load.

[woody_88]

Thank you Doc, that is a ton of sage advice in going about my future in firewood. And, with that last bit about finding something with the new worn off is a broad application. I do consider myself mechanically inclined, and mixed with my ambition, I do not see a problem in an older truck/trailer that needs some sweat equity. 

That price per cord is right on for my area to have it split and delivered. Fortunately I was able to find a reputable place to buy from if I need to in the future. Stacked outside on pallets is how it sits now, soon to have a little tin roof over top. Future plans include a wood shed.

Maybe its the "thumb-billy" in me (grew up in the lower michigan thumb) but that trailer pusher add on jmur1 showcased still has me smiling!  :laugh:

[woody_88]

Crusarius, that goes hand in hand with what Doc mentioned about spinning after loading. How aggressive are the tires on it? I've seen many heavy duty trucks with aggressive rear and more "all season" fronts.

[Crusarius]

Fronts are basic steer tires the rear are a nylon bias ply mud snow. Alot more aggressive than you would normally see on a dump truck

[TKehl]

I would recommend either:

1.  A pickup bed trailer, but only if it has a 3/4 ton axle or upgraded springs.  My experience is anything lighter wants to start swaying at speed.  Good for 1/2 cord behind the Durango.  Probably $200 when they come up.  We have a small fleet of these...



2.  A flatbed/utility trailer.  Build removable sidewalls and have something that is dual purpose.  Single or tandem axle doesn't matter too much.  5x10 is a good size, but it's wood, it will fit in what you put it in.  :D  A 3500Lb axle minimum though.  That will haul nearly a cord.

Here's my 4x8 tilt trailer overloaded.  I wouldn't take this on the road as only 2k Lb axle.  But it handled the mile to the house over the pasture just fine.   ;D



If going heavier, get one with brakes!

[woody_88]

Thanks Tkehl, those are some viable options especially as lower cost options. Good info on the pickup bed trailer, that's something I may not have thought about at first. 

I like the picture of your trailer loaded in the field! Lol

[doc henderson]

my first trailer, and yes i still have it, cost 300 bucks new and that includes a 3500 pound axle with brakes and making it a 5 x 10.  i hauled my 850 john deer at highway speed and it felt great.  that was 1985.
the more heavy duty the trailer, the more it weighs, and yes can haul more but you have a limit to the weight you can safely and legally pull with your vehicle.  My 24 k gooseneck weighs 6 k so 18 k net.  my 7k car hauler weighs 1600, so 5400 net.  my 5 x 10 is 500 so can pull 3k net.
my dad was a trucker for years, so it could look like crap but he wanted it to have new tires and brakes.

[TKehl]

Certainly!  

Good to think beyond just firewood to.  A car hauler has multiple uses and with some sideboards hauls wood well.  But if you have no other use for it, then it's just extra weight to drag around.   :D

I use that little 4x8 for a ton of things.  Moving the mower, it's my main auction hauler if I take the minivan, currently has an Oliver table saw on it, firewood, walnuts to the buying station, bagged leaves from the city for mulch, pigs, and goats.  Here are some pictures of the cattle panel rack I made for it.  (Had the top off to load the leaves, but it does have a top to.)  Get's a lot of looks when I pull up in the stockyard with it behind the minivan, but it just isn't worth taking a 16' trailer and 3/4 ton truck 45 miles to take 3 goats to auction.   ;)  :D  Git er done!

[SFires]

After reading through your post I think I'd try to go with a smaller dump trailer.  Dual axle with breaks around the 10' length should handle plenty to make a trip worth while and still not truly overload your vehicle. Add a winch and a pivot arch on the back and should be able to load about anything you could care to haul.  Just my opinion (not that it matters according to my wife 😂😂😂😂😂). 

[doc henderson]

if you get a truck, i have never used but heard good things about the un-loader that is a sheet on the truck bed and you turn a crank and it conveys off the back of your truck.  will add when i find or remember hat they are called.
edit!!! "load handler" and a few other brands

[ButchC]

I have a Pronovost P5103S/4E dump and in my (slightly😄) opinionated opinion it is the best trailer out there for hauling wood. Dumps off either side or back. Holds exactly a cord when loaded as shown The tailgate hinges either at the top to dump loads or hinges at the bottom and has adjustable chains to hold it at any angle so you can tip the bed and have the tailgate flat exactly at waist height, perfect for stacking when the customer requires it. Sides and tailgate come off easily so can I use it as a dump flat to haul logs.  I agree with the others who said your tow vehicle is marginal to pull a dump trailer unless it is a  small one. I am no safety nark but I wouldn't pull my trailer with a 1/2 ton truck other than empty. Matter of fact I like to have my 1 ton truck over my 3/4 if I am delivering very far.¼

[woody_88]

I'll check into the un-loader Doc, sounds like there's may be some options there. And that trailer you have ButchC is pretty slick. Sounds like I have a couple missing pieces to the puzzle to be able to use something like that. But if frequently loading/unloading it may be a better payoff (for my back!)

[woody_88]

Ok so last night I picked up some pallets for stacking my firewood on. Here's a picture of my daily driver with the current trailer. By the way Doc, the tires are brand new and bearings tight with fresh lube!

[doc henderson]

gotta give you credit!  what is your weight rating.  is the trailer wide enough for a metal tote container?  even full a couple guys can slide them off a trailer.  I am the camping coordinator for our scout troop and in winter at camporees (5 to 8 thousand folks)  we take our own wood to fire a wood stove in the cooking warming tent.  looks to about 2k trailer.  a tote container holds 1/4 cord.  we move ours with a skid steer with forks, and or a pallet jack.  my son and I unload the top and then tip it over.  

[woody_88]

I'll have to see about scraping the paint off the axle tag underneath, the previous owner spray bombed it. I would confidently say the 2k rating is accurate, it definitely has a "bow" to it when loaded up. And to be honest, I really don't want to push more than that with my car. I know many people say and do tow 3-5k lbs with those panther v8's but it still makes me cautious. 

In reference to measurements for a metal tote, this winter I want to redo the whole top with new wood, what's on there now has seen better days (see the strap holding the gate on ) So I may be able to redesign to fit something like that. Wouldnt mind keeping it for small duty uses

[doc henderson]

the axles are made with slight bow as you prob. know. looks about 4 x 8.  you can look up the weight of a cord of wet wood by species.  for now as a homeowner, at least you got a start.  and you car has some weight to it to help control that trailer when full.   ;)
the totes are the same as a typical pallet at the base.

[hedgerow]

Back in the 80's a guy I met looking for a place to cut wood starting coming out to my farm and we became friends. He didn't have a pickup or splitter at first hauled wood in a 70's ford station wagon at first. I had a pickup box trailer that I had pulled the box and put a frame under the box with hinges and had a hand winch with a gin poll on the front so it would dump. I traded him that trailer for some labor that year during harvest. He pulled that trailer for years with that car not fast but it worked. Later he bought a pickup from me and I was just down to his place in ILL last weekend from their 50 wedding party and he still has that trailer and still using it to haul wood. 

[woody_88]

That's a great story hedgerow! Hard work and opportunity enabled his success. 

I'll take a gander online at wet wood weights, maple is VERY common in my parts. Along with ash. More ideas on hauling firewood Doc, love it!

[TKehl]

M101A2 trailers also make a good setup with some modifications.  They can be made to dump manually by pulling a couple pins, setting the brakes, and backing up.  They do have surge brakes.  Unlike the earlier versions, they take a 3/4 ton 8 lug wheel and tire.  Can be had for well under $1k.

However, the deck is quite tall, relatively speaking.  As tall or taller than most stock 4x4 truck beds.  If you are getting large rounds without equipment, it would be a challenge.  Though a winch or something could be rigged.  

I've had one, liked it, and would kind of like to get one again.  

For firewood though, I'd rather pull rounds off the trailer straight to the splitter rather than dumping them and picking them up off the ground.  That's why we have so many of the truck bed trailers on the farm.  Wood generally goes from forest to trailer (cut and split where it falls) and then from trailer to stove.  Very little handling.

[woody_88]

To speak on deck height and large logs, I was able to get a line of some very large and long maple logs fresh cut. These puppies are every bit 18" dia and some 6' long. The low deck height made it possible for me to swing over one end at a time, and set one on top to lift the other up and on top. Any taller of a trailer/deck/bed and would not have worked. 

Tkehl, the last load or two I've brought home I had the opportunity to split as I unloaded and that is DEFINITELY the way to go!

[doc henderson]

when I started, I had the 18 foot car trailer and the logs cut to length.  they would set on the trailer till I could split them.  backed the trailer up to the splitter of vise versa and roll/work off the back.  I have now made a sloped work table so someone can stage logs on there and they roll to the splitter, of if they have a knot, I just got a Logrite 36"pickaroon to grab them to get them rolling.  made a conveyor to drop stuff into the bins.  that has been a 15 year process.  take your time and keep your eyes open for great deals!

[TKehl]

A hookaroon is great for pulling firewood off a trailer to.  That and the "claw" single handed timber tongs were two of my best $50 purchases ever.  My back thanks me very much!   ;D

For long ones, a frame can be made to lift them onto a car trailer with a winch.  Search for the DanG/Deadheader log loader.  I've been planning to build one for a while.  Just got the steel at the last auction, now I need a winch...  (Should have bought a winch years ago, but could only afford better come alongs, then rachet chains, but it is power winch time now.  )

[Arctiva]

This year I bought a skidloader and hauled 6 heaping 7x14 dump trailer I (borrowed) 6 foot long and 36"+ logs in. The Wood site my city has for us to scavenge wood at had a ton of BIG old logs that no one could handle till me I also (borrowed) a log splitter and been splitting all summer time permitting. Next year I will be purchasing a dump trailer and skidloader splitter. Last year I did a pickup load at a time for way to many weekends and split with a axe or muscled big rounds into the owb. By March I could barely use my left arm from golf or tennis elbow, it still hurts and in a month  I'll have the burner going. 

[woody_88]

Alright so I've been renting these uhaul utility trailers when my wood source has a ton of wood avail. These are the 6x12 with a ramp, and I have to say, I really enjoy using it. They have a ton of great features so it makes me think this size and style is the way to go. It's a double axle with brakes (surge) and I really like that. Especially since most of the wood I get is in urban areas with a lot of lights and traffic. It's been said before that us folks in the metro Detroit area are a bunch of hotheaded Frijoles on the road!! More so that it has brakes not necessarily that style. The sides are 3-4' so I can really pack tons (literally) of wood in there.

[Corley5]

Any trailer that doesn't require unloading by hand, one piece at a time would be my preference.