Firewood trailer

WoodBros · December 01, 2013, 10:38:20 AM

So I am currently a college student here in Nebraska and about to enter the second year of my firewood business. I currently have a 1998 chevy 2500 V8 and a old family trailer, I plan on purchasing a diesel truck in the next year but am kind of lost on the best trailer to buy. Any of you veterans have some advice for a whippersnapper?

Offthebeatenpath · December 01, 2013, 11:07:11 AM

Welcome to the forum Woodbros. I'm not a veteran, but have hauled some firewood. Check out this thread from last year-

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,63665.0.html

There are a few trailers shown in the thread that folks are using to haul firewood. I love my dump trailer, both for dumping and hand unloading. When I'm throwing the wood inside by hand, I lift the bed all the way up with the doors closed and the wood self feeds to the end with little bending over and no climbing into the trailer.

thecfarm · December 01, 2013, 11:19:52 AM

WoodBros,welcome to the forum. Dump trailer too. I don't have one,but I don't have a wood business either. ;D

brendonv · December 01, 2013, 11:57:16 AM

This would be one of my best tools. Multi use too. Hauled a shed yesterday. Had to get creative on where to put the grapple though.

beenthere · December 01, 2013, 01:07:32 PM

Woodbros

I'd say a dump trailer too.

Can you give us a little better idea how you visualize this business to be in the near and the far future.

Access to firewood timber or what for a resource?

Plan on selling split wood green (sell/deliver as soon as split) or seasoned (partially dry after a year storage) then delivered ?

Split by hand, or splitter, or processor?

Money to invest?

For example, will you need equipment to log and haul?
Will you need storage space for logs and for split wood?
Will you need or want tractor/loader or skidsteer in the future, or need it now?

Magicman · December 01, 2013, 02:38:16 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, WoodBros. I guess that the Bros means that you are two ???

WoodBros · December 02, 2013, 09:07:17 AM

Yes there is two of us! Me and one of my good buddies. We currently have a husky 22 ton splitter and have been using my dads chainsaws. In the near future (5 years) i dont see us buying a wood lot or purchasing a skid loader, but this next year I want to split about 40 cords (10 this year) we have been trying to sell after 6 months of seasoning and once we post on craigslist we usually sell pretty quickly. We have a good supply of wood but its about 45 min away, so we may look into other ways of getting logs. Our trailer is pretty old and is only rated at 3000 lbs so i think that and a couple chainsaws will be our next purchases. What do y'all think?

beenthere · December 02, 2013, 10:21:19 AM

Invest in a hydraulic trailer.
It will keep its value and be a help getting logs, as well as moving split wood.

Just decide on who's the owner when you and buddy don't see eye to eye. That is the only rub I see in this picture.

And another thing, each get your own chainsaw. Don't share saws and don't borrow them.
Just sayin......

DDDfarmer · December 02, 2013, 01:27:28 PM

Quote from: beenthere on December 02, 2013, 10:21:19 AM
Invest in a hydraulic trailer.
It will keep its value and be a help getting logs, as well as moving split wood.

Just decide on who's the owner when you and buddy don't see eye to eye. That is the only rub I see in this picture.

And another thing, each get your own chainsaw. Don't share saws and don't borrow them.
Just sayin......

X2

goose63 · December 02, 2013, 02:35:56 PM

Here is my wood trailer

Higgins · December 04, 2013, 07:55:57 PM

Quote from: beenthere on December 02, 2013, 10:21:19 AM
Invest in a hydraulic trailer.
It will keep its value and be a help getting logs, as well as moving split wood.

Just decide on who's the owner when you and buddy don't see eye to eye. That is the only rub I see in this picture.

And another thing, each get your own chainsaw. Don't share saws and don't borrow them.
Just sayin......

x3

This is all good advice! You don't want to be stuck investing in new equipment because your so-called buddy decided to walk away with your share along with his...

deerslayer · December 16, 2013, 09:50:06 PM

You can haul wood all sorts of ways and I have. However, some years ago when i acquired a dump trailer, things were better. Mine is 12' long and will hold a full cord of split wood if I toss it in. Stacked it would hold a lot more but that would be very time consuming. a dump trailer is really not that expensive for the versatility it has. They also have a good resale value.

Note: There is a lot of difference in dump trailers. Do some research before you buy. Mine is lined with 5/8" plywood which protects it from all the clunking of wood. (original owner hauled broken concrete in it)

Wood isn't that heavy compared to dirt/sand/gravel so most dump trailers will readily dump a full load of wood. Another cheapo trailer option is a trailer made from a pickup. These will haul a decent load and if you get one the same brand as your truck, the tires/wheels interchange. If you have a junk truck and a welder, you can make one of these trailers in half a day with about $100 worth of materials. (jack, coupler, wiring ends, safety chains, weld rod)

stumpjumper83 · December 17, 2013, 09:45:49 PM

I have a 6x10x6 deck over dump that I bought used for 2,600. Factory they only have 20" sides so I bought some steel, and added 24". Stacked in it holds 4 face cord. I pull it with either a ford f-350 or 800, you don't want to try it with a 1/2 ton, as you can get 4 ton of wood in it if its green oak. Trailer works well, if I had it to do over I'd have gone wider so I could see it behind my 800.

plt · December 21, 2013, 10:58:08 AM

I'm using a trailer I built some 25 years ago. It's just a 5X6 with 3 foot slated sides. It dumps by hand by releasing a latch in the front. I have it balanced so when I drive out from under a load, it closes. It has been a rugged little bugger and has been all I've needed.

beenthere · December 21, 2013, 12:00:01 PM

Quote from: plt on December 21, 2013, 10:58:08 AM
I'm using a trailer I built some 25 years ago. It's just a 5X6 with 3 foot slated sides. It dumps by hand by releasing a latch in the front. I have it balanced so when I drive out from under a load, it closes. It has been a rugged little bugger and has been all I've needed.

I'd be concerned that there isn't enough tongue weight if the load dumps by just releasing a latch. But if it works for you, that is what matters.

So you figure about 1/2 cord of wood, or do you not loose pile it?

Busy Beaver Lumber · December 21, 2013, 03:00:27 PM

Ok I will chime in and add my two cents worth.

We have two trailers in our fleet. The first is a 6 x 10 dump trailer rated at 10,000 pounds. With the sides built up with two 2 x 12 boards, it will haul just over a full cord and is a real time save when it comes to making the delivery. Just push the button and dump the load in 30 seconds. We also put a divider in the middle and dump half a load at a time if someone want just half a cord. When I hook this up to my one ton chevy, I can deliver two cords at a time by loading the truck as well. I had this trailer custom build by a fellow in michigan. As you see it with the fold down side, it ran about $4600

When it comes to bigger jobs, we pull out the chevy dually and 20 foot tri-axle trailer. This combo as you see it in the picture can haul 5 cords at a time or just over 800 bundles of wood. My good friend built this trailer from scratch at a cost of about $3000

timberlinetree · December 22, 2013, 07:56:34 AM

One of the things I like best about the trailer is insurance and reg. Lot cheaper than a dump truck or second truck. Around here they really whack you for ins/reg. I want one!

plt · December 22, 2013, 11:53:24 AM

Quote from: beenthere on December 21, 2013, 12:00:01 PM
Quote from: plt on December 21, 2013, 10:58:08 AM
I'm using a trailer I built some 25 years ago. It's just a 5X6 with 3 foot slated sides. It dumps by hand by releasing a latch in the front. I have it balanced so when I drive out from under a load, it closes. It has been a rugged little bugger and has been all I've needed.

I'd be concerned that there isn't enough tongue weight if the load dumps by just releasing a latch. But if it works for you, that is what matters.

So you figure about 1/2 cord of wood, or do you not loose pile it?

I'd say probably a half cord. I put in rounds or splits. It's all according whether or not I move my splitter. I've learned how to load it for tongue weight. The little thing has been great for me. Firewood getting would be a different story with out. I couldn't get along without it.

sam-tip · December 23, 2013, 07:14:09 AM

Quote from: Busy Beaver Lumber on December 21, 2013, 03:00:27 PM
Ok I will chime in and add my two cents worth.

We have two trailers in our fleet. The first is a 6 x 10 dump trailer rated at 10,000 pounds. With the sides built up with two 2 x 12 boards, it will haul just over a full cord and is a real time save when it comes to making the delivery. Just push the button and dump the load in 30 seconds. We also put a divider in the middle and dump half a load at a time if someone want just half a cord. When I hook this up to my one ton chevy, I can deliver two cords at a time by loading the truck as well. I had this trailer custom build by a fellow in michigan. As you see it with the fold down side, it ran about $4600

When it comes to bigger jobs, we pull out the chevy dually and 20 foot tri-axle trailer. This combo as you see it in the picture can haul 5 cords at a time or just over 800 bundles of wood. My good friend built this trailer from scratch at a cost of about $3000

Nice trailers. But don't you need a Class A CDL with the triple axel and dually? I did some checking and my dually and dump put me at 26200 GVWR ( 12200 dually + 14000 dump). But with a 3/4 ton truck (10k GVWR) I am ok with standard drivers license. Since I also have two triple axel trailers (3 7k axels = 21 GVWR) I going to get my Class A license soon.

Busy Beaver Lumber · December 23, 2013, 09:00:20 AM

Hydraulic dump trailer and 1 ton truck I pull it with actually belongs to me. Actually the dump is rated at 9990 for just many of the reasons you mention so I am ok to pull it with one ton and no CDL.

Triaxle trailer and Dually are actually owned by my best friend and he does all of our heavy hauling. He does have a CDL license, so he is all good.