Hauling firewood on a landscape utility trailer

[PA452]

I have a 16' landscape utility trailer and I'm looking at building some short walls for it so I can use it to haul firewood. They need to be fairly easily removable as for most of my uses I wouldn't want them on it.

Looking at weights of a cord of wood, seems like there's no point in going too high with the walls. It's a 7000# trailer and it weighs 1740#, so theoretically I can have about 5250# of payload. It'll probably be more like 5000# max once I factor in the weight of the walls, and I'd rather not max out the trailer either.

Anyway I'm debating how I should go about this. I had at one time considered using 2x12s to make a 24" high wall all around, but not only is that a fair amount of weight, but seems like I probably don't need to go a full 24" high. So I'm thinking about using 3/4" plywood and make it 16-20" high. The uprights on the rails are about 10" high. They already have holes that I can bolt to. I'm thinking maybe for the sides, I could have two 8' lengths 16-20" high, connected by hinges to hold them together and so I can fold it up when not in use. Carriage bolts through the plywood and the uprights on the existing rail. In the front corners I could either bolt through a piece of 4x4 to lock them together or maybe some sort of latch for easier disassembly, less space and lighter weight.

I'm just throwing around ideas right now. Anyone have any thoughts about how to do this better?

Thanks

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

We've loaded several like that, 1 to 1.5 cords is about it... and 1.5 cords is pretty heavy on them.

I actually have weighed several cord loads in my truck of birch and it averaged out to about 4800lbs a cord. I kept the weight tickets in the truck too, have had several "know it alls" argue in the past that no way wood can weigh that much. (we've always used the 5k a cord figure as a rough guide)

Now these were trees dropped in winter, limbed and sitting in decks for 6+ months, some of it was a year or more old.
Fresh cut, had leaves on it yesterday wood will be heavier and wood that's been split and allowed to dry will of course be a fair bit lighter.

We bought close to a thousand tons of logs recently and paid by the ton, with the agreement of 5k lbs to a cord.

 

[PA452]

Yeah, based on what I'm reading as the weight of a cord of say red oak, seems like I'm not getting more than a cord on there without overloading it, if that. Which is why I figure there's no point in going too high with the walls. Still, more than I can get on the back of the trucks I have available.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Yeah, based on what I'm reading as the weight of a cord of say red oak, seems like I'm not getting more than a cord on there without overloading it, if that. Which is why I figure there's no point in going too high with the walls. Still, more than I can get on the back of the trucks I have available.

Sometime to consider too though is 10-15% of that weight is on the truck, so with your numbers, you'd be ok to around 5800lbs. My trailer is a 12k and I've hauled 3 cords on it a few times, usually just 2 though.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Cheap easy way for me is to use zip ties/tie wraps and 2”x4” fencing. Zoom in on pics. Easy to tie in place and quick to remove.

 

[Woodchuck71]

If that is your trailer in above picture,and you stack the wood,I'd use ratchet straps across the rows.The rail would be the anchor point.
You'd be surprised how much wood and weight you get on there

 

[sb47]

No need to go higher then the existing sides because if you stack a cord in, it will be just level with the top rail. I used plywood on mine for years till I had sheet metal welded in. You don't even have to attach the plywood to the sides because the wood will hold the plywood in place.
Here is how I ended up doing mine. However I can't run binding straps or chains through the sides anymore because of the sheet metal. But I prefer it this way because I can just toss wood in willy nilly and not worry about wood falling out the sides.

Here is a cord tossed in the same trailer before I painted it.

And one after I covered it with the tarp I mounted on the front.

The tarp is one of those dump truck tarps and I secure it to the back using the bolts that hold the tailgate from bouncing out. It just so happens the tarp has holes in the exact right place.

 

[homemade]

On your trailer, if your throwing splits on, stack the outside like fence posts.

 

[unclemoustache]

I just use sheets of plywood or osb cut down the length for 2' walls, set in place with no attaching. Easy in, easy out. Never needed to tarp or strap it, although I would if going on the freeway.

 

[rwoods]

As a flat bed trailer mine has a little heavier frame than most landscape trailers sold around here that count on the upper rail for additional strength. I bought a flat bed so I could para-buckle logs over the side. Fenders are removable. Anyways I used hog panels for my sides. It is easy to overload a trailer of this size. It is a shame that the red oak below went to firewood instead of lumber. Ron

 

[PA452]

I'm going to be transporting on some major state highways (PA). Anyone know if I'm required to tarp firewood?

Did a little reading, I'm still not quite sure. Sounds like 'loose material' needs to be tarped, but I'm not entirely sure if firewood fits in that category. Seems like they're more concerned with things that will blow out (tree limbs, sawdust, etc..).

 

[sb47]

I'm going to be transporting on some major state highways (PA). Anyone know if I'm required to tarp firewood?

Did a little reading, I'm still not quite sure. Sounds like 'loose material' needs to be tarped, but I'm not entirely sure if firewood fits in that category. Seems like they're more concerned with things that will blow out (tree limbs, sawdust, etc..).

I use a tarp just to make sure even though I see a lot of people that don't. You never wanna give DOT a reason to stop you. Piece of mind go's a long way knowing everything is safe and secure and you can concentrate on driving and not what the load is doing.

 

[homemade]

They’ll only crack down on you when you start dropping pieces down the road.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

You never wanna give DOT a reason to stop you

They’ll only crack down on you when you start dropping pieces down the road.

True/False
First one is very True...
Second one is False...
At least that has been my experience. Which cost me close to $900.

 

[4seasons]

I second the no need for sideboards on that trailer thought. You can easily load 6000 lbs of wood on a trailer that size by stacking it neatly. I have put 4000 lbs on my 5.5 x 10 ft single axle trailer with similar sides by stacking to the top of the sides and a good size hump in the middle. I tossed a strap over each row and hit the road.
I can't imagine tarping a load of firewood. Of course I live in TN were the DOT is much more relaxed, and I rarely haul wood on the interstate. I see log trucks running the highway all the time and never seen a tarp.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[bowtechmadman]

Woodchuck...I guess I'm curious why would the wood in the red trailer need strapped down? What about what's in the bed of the truck? I rarely haul wood on the road but I wouldn't have thought to strap it down if that was mine.

 

[Woodchuck71]

My reply was to original poster.
Personally,I wouldn't strap or tarp anything UNLESS it's a hazard to the public on roadway.
If he was worried about losing some,instead of solid sides, I'd strap it down.
Ratchet straps are a lot easier to handle then sideboards.As far as DOT is concerned,they are becoming a lot less lenient on average Joe,because of the mandatory Elog requirements on commercial vehicles.Money has to come from somewhere,and if crap is falling of trailers OR pickups, guess who'll get the easy money ticket?

 

[cre73]

I have almost the exact trailer. Personally I would not raise the height of the sides. I just have some free plywood around mine. When it is full, it is all the weight I believe the trailer can safely handle. Never weighed it but the D load range tires are bulging pretty good. Trashed a tongue jack once trying to get it off the ball, given it was on its last leg.

 

[PA452]

Yeah, I debated making the plywood only slightly higher than the rails, but ended up going higher more as a safety margin to keep things from falling out, and for the potential of using those walls when hauling other, lighter weight materials.

The rails rise about 10 inches off the deck. I cut the plywood to be 8 inches higher than that. Figured I'd go higher and I can always cut down if it seems like I should.

I'll post pics when done.

 

[sb47]

My reply was to original poster.
Personally,I wouldn't strap or tarp anything UNLESS it's a hazard to the public on roadway.
If he was worried about losing some,instead of solid sides, I'd strap it down.
Ratchet straps are a lot easier to handle then sideboards.As far as DOT is concerned,they are becoming a lot less lenient on average Joe,because of the mandatory Elog requirements on commercial vehicles.Money has to come from somewhere,and if crap is falling of trailers OR pickups, guess who'll get the easy money ticket?

So your ok with risking others lives just because your lazy?
And if crap is falling off trailers no mater who it belongs to. That's exactly what we pay them to do. Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.