Dually for Firewood Hauling?

[Slade McCuiston]

Note: I've looked for a better place to post this, but if this isn't the best place I'd like the mods to move it to where they see fit.

I live on a farm in Kentucky and we heat our house using firewood. This farm has an abundant supply of dead trees (and undesirable, twisted, icky trees we're culling through TSI) and I've been cutting and hauling my own wood for years. After I utterly destroyed the bed on a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 by overloading it, I decided that I might be looking at a different vehicle to accomplish my objectives. I figured that a dual-rear-wheel vehicle would help better distribute the load of an entire bed of firewood. So, I bought a 1990 F-350 Custom with a regular cab and 11' flatbed. I got it here while back and it's been in the shop to get it back into dependable condition. I was told that I'll have it in a week or so and I just wanted some insight.

We've always used single-rear-wheel trucks, even hauling huge stock trailers. I've drove a few duallies, but always on someone's farm, almost never on the road... aside from a short trip right up the road in a 2010 F-350, I have never driven one on the road. What advice do you dually guys have for me? Are there any things that I need to watch out for? Is the tracking extremely different in comparison to a single-rear-wheel truck?

 

[Garmins dad]

You will HATE.. i mean truly despise your dually once you drive in mud.. it gets in the wheels and unbalances the wheels.. As for driving it.. just watch on tight corners.. Other then that just runner like ya stole her. I use mine every day for everything. It's my car, its my hauler, its my road trip machine. Would i give it up.. Heck no.. Things to watch.. not much.. sounds like you haul trailers.. so your good....

As for tracking.. one set of rear wheels will follow the tracks of the fronts.. The others will plow snow.. or push mud...

 

[mitch95100]

Duallys are made to distribute the loads of heavy trailers. (Thats obvious) they are however NOT made to do the following.
Park in tight spaces
Drive into a car wash
Go muddin with the boys in
Go drift bustin with the boys in
Make a u turn in a 2 lane road.
If itz a gas expect to pay for gas. It not a prius.
Tires are spendy
Other than that i love mt dually. Hauls any thing i want and will out pull alot of other trucks! You will be happy with it!


Sent from me to you using my fingers

 

[rarefish383]

My Dad bought a brand new 72 Chevy C30, 12 foot stake body, I turned 16 in 1972. Guess what I learned to drive in, yep the C30. Even with the 12 foot bed, and a 17,000 pound GVW, the truck was only good for about a cord and a half of Oak. We used it to pull our Asplundh 16 inch chipper. A truck is a truck, you get used to the width and length. Wish I had the old Chevy back, Joe.

 

[Slade McCuiston]

Thanks, guys, for your quick response. It's a 4x2, and with my limited experience with duallies, that's a disaster off-road. Oddly enough, that's where I intend it to be most of the time. But, I've got plenty of equipment that can pull me out. The deal was too good to pass up.

 

[imagineero]

weld the diff, you'll have a great time in winter

 

[Speed]

Duallys are made to distribute the loads of heavy trailers. (Thats obvious) they are however NOT made to do the following.
Park in tight spaces
Drive into a car wash
Go muddin with the boys in
Go drift bustin with the boys in
Make a u turn in a 2 lane road.
If itz a gas expect to pay for gas. It not a prius.
Tires are spendy
Other than that i love mt dually. Hauls any thing i want and will out pull alot of other trucks! You will be happy with it!


Sent from me to you using my fingers

+1

 

[NSMaple1]

Thanks, guys, for your quick response. It's a 4x2, and with my limited experience with duallies, that's a disaster off-road. Oddly enough, that's where I intend it to be most of the time. But, I've got plenty of equipment that can pull me out. The deal was too good to pass up.

Might want to find a set of tire chains for it. Really sucks getting stuck when the gear to pull you out is a looong walk away. Plus hard to tow yourself out when you're the only driver there at the moment. You'll find yourself in those circumstances eventually.

If I wasn't hauling big trailers I'd likely stick with a single wheel 4x4 over a dually, or go right up to a larger (say F550) 4x4 with a dump body.

 

[angelo c]

Chicks dig duallies....

Other then that its just a truck. And you haul ? You wont want to haul with a SWD ever again. Nothing like haulin a backhoe in the air conditioned cab listening to a Nice radio. In comfort. Beats a dumper....

Get a diesel if you can too...love that smell of diesel in the morning

 

[Slade McCuiston]

Might want to find a set of tire chains for it. Really sucks getting stuck when the gear to pull you out is a looong walk away. Plus hard to tow yourself out when you're the only driver there at the moment. You'll find yourself in those circumstances eventually.

If I wasn't hauling big trailers I'd likely stick with a single wheel 4x4 over a dually, or go right up to a larger (say F550) 4x4 with a dump body.

I'll definitely look into some chains. Do you have any opinion on which brands of chains are better? Thanks for the suggestion. Of course, I always keep the required tow straps/recovery straps and such for those circumstances in any truck I drive. Two people are better than one though...

Chicks dig duallies....

Other then that its just a truck. And you haul ? You wont want to haul with a SWD ever again. Nothing like haulin a backhoe in the air conditioned cab listening to a Nice radio. In comfort. Beats a dumper....

Get a diesel if you can too...love that smell of diesel in the morning

Yeah, I haul. Gooseneck stock trailers, flatbed trailers loaded with tractors, hay wagons, scaffold wagons... you name it, I've probably hauled it. It's a gas, but I can't pass up a truck that I got a steal on just because they didn't want it sitting in their yard any more. :biggrin:

 

[Garmins dad]

Duallys are made to distribute the loads of heavy trailers. (Thats obvious) they are however NOT made to do the following.
Park in tight spaces
Drive into a car wash
Go muddin with the boys in
Go drift bustin with the boys in
Make a u turn in a 2 lane road.
If itz a gas expect to pay for gas. It not a prius.
Tires are spendy
Other than that i love mt dually. Hauls any thing i want and will out pull alot of other trucks! You will be happy with it!


Sent from me to you using my fingers

:msp_thumbup: All of that is so true....

 

[sam-tip]

Just don't let some drive your dually if they drive a small car like honda or Toyota. It may come back without a rear wheel fender. Plus not the best for driving in deep snow. But dont think you will have that problem.

Sent from my SCH-R950 using Tapatalk 2

 

[naturelover]

Back in 2009, during the crash, there was a 2004 Chevy diesel dually for sale for like 25 grand. Had 40 some thousand on it, decked out, looked new.

I couldn't get there fast enough though...


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[stihl sawing]

If you have plenty of stuff to pull it out, ya might be ok. You might want put a 1200# winch on it. I don't have a dually but my winch has saved my butt many a time.

 

[zogger]

Can't you change out the rears to a big single? I know that is an option on the litter spreader truck here, duallies or a whopper single. Ours has the duallies though, SOB gets stuck easy on wet ground, even filled with litter. Boss's truck, he drives it, we pull it out periodically with the crawler...

 

[leo58]

Rocks or chunks of wood stuck between the dual wheels will ruin one tire if not both at highway speed. 10 ply single knobby tires on the back will eliminate the stuck rock problem and get better traction overall. Dual wheels generally are straight tread and will get you stuck often.

 

[Slade McCuiston]

Again, thanks for your responses. These are really giving me some insight on the things I should do.

If you have plenty of stuff to pull it out, ya might be ok. You might want put a 1200# winch on it. I don't have a dually but my winch has saved my butt many a time.

Yes. That is a good idea. I'll probably buy one of those as soon as I can afford one.

Rocks or chunks of wood stuck between the dual wheels will ruin one tire if not both at highway speed. 10 ply single knobby tires on the back will eliminate the stuck rock problem and get better traction overall. Dual wheels generally are straight tread and will get you stuck often.

I guess I'll make a habit of checking those tires. Thanks!

 

[EXCALIBER]

Well in usual fashion I am going to be the odd man out again, with the opinion that differs from everyone else's. There is nothing wrong with a dually in snow or mud, you just have to learn how to drive it. Second a 2wd will go a long ways off road if you know how to drive one. I have never had mine stuck in deep snow or mud as to date. The problem I see most is if people were driving for crap, they wouldn't even get a whiff. Second you can't be lazy like most and rely on 4wd to save you for your lack of prep or driving ability. To the person who suggested welding the diff solid, clearly they have very little driving experience or just live and drive on very flat ground. If you weld a diff or add a locker when you drive off road and side hill on slick conditions you will not be able to keep the rear from sliding down the hill. Best bet is lower tire pressure to acceptable PSI for conditions, get good A/T tires for off road, easy on the foot pedal, and have some experience. I would be willing to bet my dually would go further in mud or snow than most single wheel trucks, but put a ding dong behind the wheel and I am sure it could easily get stuck.

 

[Fifelaker]

SS 1200#??? My experience with any vehicle in mud. sand or snow is 2 rpm's below tire spin.

 

[importjunk]

If the frame has not been extended, it probably isn't a dually. A dually will have a wider rear track than a dual wheel ton. I have never seen a dually rear axle under a factory frame of that length.

The dually is more stable under load, but the extra width is a problem in town.