GMC 4X4 with a 26,000 gooseneck trailer how many feet of logs could it haul?

[Rod]

I was looking at a 5500 GMC and it's rated for a 26,000 gooseneck trailer.The truck weighs 5,000,qnd I'd say the trailer weights 6,000,maybe 7,000.I was wondering how many feet of logs it would haul.

[Bibbyman]

Probly more than the law will allow! :D

The key is the weight of the wood/bf.  Dry cedar weighs less than half of fresh red oak.  So you could haul twice as many bf as you could red oak.

[DanG]

Can't really say from that info. ???  First, my one ton Ford weighs over 5800 lbs.  I'm thinking the 5500 is a 2 1/2 ton truck.  It's gotta weigh more than 5000.  You can't match up board feet to weight without knowing species and condition of logs, either.

I see Bibbyman types and thinks faster than me, so I'll respond to that part, too.  :D  For sure, it will haul more than it is rated for.  Where'd you get the 26,000 figure?  If that's the gvw, that means the combined weight of the truck, trailer and load.

[Bibbyman]

My advice is....

What ever you do,  don't take Arky's advice on loading a truck and trailer.  ;)

Pounds don't weight the same in Arkansas! :D

[footer]

My 2002 GMC 2500HD weighs in at just over 7100lbs including the hitch weight of my 24000lb GVWR flatbed trailer.  Trailer is just over 5000 lbs. Trailer and truck both empty.  I have the ticket from the carrier enforcment to prove it.
By the way, you would need a CDL liscense also if you dont have one.

[Rod]

the 5500 has the same motor and trans as the 3500 1 ton.GVWR is 19500,and I got the weight from the sales man who looked it up on the info on the truck.And I got the towing rating from the salesman who got it from some info on the truck and he called GMC...And lets say the logs will be red oak...i found some 25950 trailers.The truck has a duramax diesel,auto,19.5 tires and a 513 rear end.

heres what they look like,I found  a 4500 on ebay for sale http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4535836218&category=63734

[Rod]

I bet I might of missunderstood him.I'd say it's the total weight of truck,trailer,load,fuel=total 26000 lbs.If the truck is 5000 and the trailer is 5000,then it could hual 8 tons legal

[bull]

don't worry about how much you can haul, warry about how much the truck can stop even if the trailer has brakes :-[.    my F 450 weighs in at 7200 empty 9' dumpbody with 40" high pine side boards.........   a western star triaxle can only run legal w/ around 4000 bfd of red oak........ you be about legal around 1000bfd.....
CDL does come into affect due to the size of the trailer..... In MA im legal w/ the F450 and trailer combo empty truckand not over 10,000 lbs on the trailer. The F 450 is  considered a class C vehicle because of the GVW @ 15,000 lbs......  watch out for the DOT or the Truck team..............  I say let the log truckers haul the logs.....  ;)

[Ga_Boy]

Rod,

I run a GMC K3500 with the Duramax and Allision combo.  I do not worry about BF, I know what my loader will pick up and my trailer is rated for 12K gross. 

Like everyone else is saying, keep it under your weight limit and all is fine.  There is always the temptation to overload, it ain't worth the risk of a ticket and worse yet what you might do to another vehicle on the road if you can't stop.

For me, I spent the extra $$$ and bought the DOT certified chains (gold anadized) and they are U.S. made not improted.  I also picked up a set of the U.S. made ratchet load binders.  I am hoping that if a DOT enforcement officer sees me; they will notice the DOT certified chains and not bother with me.  :



Mark

[Rod]

I rechecked and he said it will pull 26,000.It has a govener set at 65.

he said not to let the price stand in the way of buying the truck.He said he'd give me a real good deal on it.

The speed limt is 70 on the highways and most everyone goes 80,.

It sounds like it will do it's fair share of towing tho.

[Gary_C]

I have a 24 foot, 3 axle, flatbed gooseneck trailer which should be rated at 24,000 lbs. Original rating was 22,500 but I put heavy springs and Goodyear G-rated tires (3750 lbs each). I first pulled this with a 92 Ford F-250 and now have a 2002 F-350 super duty with duals. Trailer is licensed at 26,000 lbs with farm plates.

In Minnesota a F-250 (3/4 ton) can only be licensed as a passenger vehicle (license costs more) and there are no weight limits on passenger vehicles so some drivers say the DOT is not legally allowed to check your weight.  With the F-250 I weighed 13,000 empty and around 37,000 lbs loaded so I was shooting for a 12 ton maximum load. The electric brakes must be kept working perfectly with all six brakes working and the best brake controller available. No CDL required although it may be because of farm plates.

With the 2002 F-350 and a Y plate (15,000 lbs) and the same trailer I weighed about 14,300 empty and could, by the total license haul 41,000 lbs. I was stopped early one morning at the mill by the DOT and after an hour and 15 min with the officer on the telephone to his headquarters, he determined that I needed a medical certificate but no CDL and that turned out to be wrong, but I got the medical certificate anyway. They did not check my weight only because I was already in the driveway to the mill and refused to turn around and go out on the street where they could get out their scales. I weighed right at 41,000 on the mill scale, but they did not follow me in and check that. He looked at my almost new 235-85R16 G-rated tires and said that I would probably be over the tire rating on the trailer.

Even though Ford, Chevy, and Dodge all have tv ads that show their trucks pulling stumps, railroad locomotives, and even large ships stuck in the ice, none of them will actually rate their vehicles for what they are actually pulling because of brakes and because if you are pulling into the wind or up a long hill, you can easily overheat your transmission or burn the valves.

You need to check with your state DOT as the laws are different in all states, even though the US DOT rules are supposed to be applied in all states. You should also be very familiar with the new uniform tie down regulations as they apply to transporting logs and firewood.

About a week ago, a guy in a Ford Escort went right thru a stop sign at a rural highway crossing and his car was literally torn apart by a Ford pickup pulling a snowmobile trailer with 5 snowmobiles. The Escort driver was totally at fault and paid with his life, but the pickup driver may be in trouble also because the trailer was made for 4 not 5 snowmobiles and he had a CDL but his medical certificate was expired.  The Escort driver was a Somali and the day after there was some talk from the state that a new law was needed to not allow interpertrators for driving tests. May have been just a coincidence but it sure sounds like a good idea to me.

Gary

[hillbilly]

                 I've found that you can buy 2or three good 10 wheelrs for the price of what you will pay for that kind of truck and still haul more on the ten wheeler .if you go w/that big of a truck here to be able to haul anything you have to have a cdl any way, SO JUST GO BIG THE FIRST TIME AND SAVE MONEY  ;)just my two cents.For exaple  Ive found a1996 kodiak w/the small CAT deisel and 16' bed w/air ride tag w/122,000 miles on it for 10500 the fellow has a new bigger truck and siad he didnt need this one anymore .
               hillbilly

[rpg52]

Interesting discussion - I just bought an old truck from a tree service company, GMC 3500 4x4, with a chip box dump bed.  Truck weighs 7800, to keep insurance reasonable, I designated it 10,000 GVW.  It seems that I couldn't pull a trailer with any load and still stay under the GVW limit.  So I'm thinking of just loading the back of the truck, but still couldn't put much of a load in the back, even though the truck could safely haul it.  Quite a quandry at this point.
Ray

[sawguy21]

This is an issue here too. There was a crackdown because too many oil rig service people were overloading single rear wheel pickups and it spread to include recreational drivers. The guys hauling campers and snowmobiles on short box half tons were targeted.
I ran into a problem with a steel deck and picker equipped 3 ton. It was overloaded with two drums of fuel on the deck. We needed a tandem but most of our employees weren't licenced to drive one and the company decided they could not justify the cost.

[RMay]

This is 1000 bf. of pine & cedar

[Rod]

well I changed my plans.I saw and old buddy who sold me a 1996 3/4 ton 4x4 suburan with a 350,40 gal tank and only 290,000 miles.You would think it only had 90,000 miles on it if you drove it.So next I need a trailer and I'll be set to go hauling...

[Gary_C]

RMay

Do you know that your load of logs does not comply with the new US DOT cargo securement rules that went into effect on January 1, 2004?

I am not sure if all states have adopted these rules and how much each state will enforce the rules on small loads, but be aware that your load does not comply and it your load would be a very serious violation for a commercial log truck.

Part of the rules are specific for transportation of logs:
     Section 393.116 (b)
          (1) Logs must be transported on a vehicle designed and built, or adapted, for the transportation of logs. Any such vehicle must be fitted with bunks, bolsters, stakes or standards or other equivalent means, that cradle the logs and prevent them from rolling.
          (2) All vehicle components involved in securement of logs must be designed and built to withstand all anticipated operational forces without failure, accidential release, or permanent deformation.  Stakes or standards that are not permanently attached to the vehicle must be secured in a manner that prevents unintentional separation from the vehicle in transit.
          (3) Tiedowns must be used in combination with the stabilization provided by bunks, stakes and bolsters to secure the load.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/vehicle/cs.htm

Even if your local DOT does not enforce these rules on smaller loads now, if you are ever involved in an accident, even if you are totally not at fault, you may be held responsible if your load does not comply with the law.

What you would need for your load to be legal is two sets of bunks or stakes securely bolted to the trailer, not just stakes slid into pockets, and two tiedowns on each bunk with a working load limit of one sixth of the weight of logs for each bunk.

Gary

[tnlogger]

 good point gary. down here i know most of the DOT guys and can get by somewhat.
but only as far as overloading. I had to weld the trip stanards on the old chevy to comply and we cant use the old selfloader trucks any more.  the regs are there for a reason i've seen to many farmers thow a few logs on a trailer and ties them down with them little 2" straps.

[Buzz-sawyer]

TN
we cant use the old selfloader trucks any more+
Do you mean like a homemade pulp wood truck using a cars rear end to load itself?

[Tom]

Do you mean like this?
http://www.tomssaw.com/gallery/pulpwoodtruck

[tnlogger]

no but i've used them.
the self loader i'm talking about the lodder is the standards on one side of the truck it's run off a rearend and pto but the whole side drops to the ground, roll a log on it and flip it onto the truck.
i'll see if i can find a pic of them

[Rod]

ok,this 290,000 mile truck needed new frout rotors and pads,and now it needs a new compresser for the A/C and it be ready to go for a while more.

It says on the door it came with 10 ply,but now it has 6 ply tires.I think when these wear out I might go back to the 10 ply that it came with from the factory but a size bigger.

[ironmule2004]

I use a 2002 F-250 Superduty with a gooseneck that has 2-10k axles.  The tare weight is 14,500 and I usually haul aroud 10 tons of wood putting me at around 35,000.  I have hauled up to 12 tons with no problem.   I usually can travel 60mph and sometimes well over that if I'm not watching myself on the highways.  I run electric brakes and they do an excellent  job of stopping the truck.   When I have them turned all the way up they will actually jerk the truck back when I stop.  I've  have had the trailer wire come unhooked while traveling losing my trailer braking.  The truck stopped fine but I noticed that the trailer didn't pull back and thats the only way I could tell that they were'nt working.  I run 14ply load range "G" tires on my trailer.  I'm almost through building a new gooseneck/bunk trailer out of 12" I-beam with 12,000lb axles.  I plan on getting an F-450 later on to pull it with.   

IronMule