Loading a pickup

[Pete Bunyan]

Hey all. I'm new at cutting my own firewood, but I want to put my new MS 361 to use already, so it's off to the woods this weekend. Probably 40 miles round trip. I hope to find good in-town wood sources, but for now it's state and federal forest permits.

I'm envious of all the equipment and easy access you guys have, but all I have is a pickup, a 2002 Tundra. Is my best bet for maximizing the load with a stake-bed kind of setup to just stick some boards in the stake pockets and then screw some rails or plywood to them?

Any advice on how high I can load this before I need to invest in upgrades to the suspension?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Lignum]

Hey all. I'm new at cutting my own firewood, but I want to put my new MS 361 to use already, so it's off to the woods this weekend. Probably 40 miles round trip. I hope to find good in-town wood sources, but for now it's state and federal forest permits.

I'm envious of all the equipment and easy access you guys have, but all I have is a pickup, a 2002 Tundra. Is my best bet for maximizing the load with a stake-bed kind of setup to just stick some boards in the stake pockets and then screw some rails or plywood to them?

Any advice on how high I can load this before I need to invest in upgrades to the suspension?

Thanks for any help.

I cut my wood in smaller lengths, 10''-12'', it is easier to handle, and the wife says it is easier to load the stove.

Now, load the truck up until is squats, and go. You will know it is too much when it bottoms out when driving. In so far as an upgrade, you will be saying that as long as you cut wood, no matter what you drive.

 

[Mad Professor]

I used to run an old beater chevy with an oak bed. I'd put the load as close to the cab as possible, stacked 2ft above it. Each rack got secured with a chain/chain binder. The rear of the bed might still be empty but there would be a hell of a load altogether up front.

Not sure if you could do this with a newer "pretty" truck.........

 

[JackD_ME]

I wouldn't put more than a 6" or 8" sideboard on just to keep the load from spilling, and not too much higher than the bed. Just be sure to have a rugged headboard to protect the rear cab window and keep the load from entering the cab in case of an accident.

If you haul firewood long enough, you WILL poke out a back window! Don't ask me how I know...

 

[oneoldbanjo]

If you are going to be burning a lot of wood - I think you are going to need a trailer so that you can bring lots more wood home with each trip. I bought a used trailer and it hauls lots more wood than I can get in my truck bed. A nice used trailer can be had for $ 400 - $ 600 in my area and I got my last one from Craigslist. Wood is heavy so don't get a light landscape type trailer unless you are content to just cover the bottom - if you start stacking wood up high in the trailer you need a trailer with a good frame, springs and tires. My trailer is about 6 feet wide and 9 feet long with sides that are abut a foot high and has a low boy axle and wheel set up with 10 ply tires. The low sides are nice as it makes it possible to reach over and stack wood in the trailer - and you can also unload it by just reaching over the sides (I have seen a lot of trailer picture on this site where the sides are high and the owners just toss the wood over the side and unload it from the back. I load my trailer up heavy with wood and use the truck for hauling the saw and supplies. When I get home I park the trailer near the wood shed and put the splitter in between the trailer and shed. I grab a piece of wood from the trailer and stop at the splitter, then carry the split pieces to the woodshed and stack it. I never have to bend over to pick up an wood off the ground and walking distance from the trailer/splitter/shed is less than 20 feet. I stack the trailer with most of hte large wood on the bottom and shut the splitter off when picking up the smaller pieces and then start the splitter when I get to the bigger pieces.

 

[Zodiac45]

You'll do just fine with the Tundra. As the others mentioned, keep your load towards the front (weighted) and don't overload the truck. As Old Bango mentioned the most efficient method is too take a trailor also. This way (because you are traveling 40 miles) you can get a decent days haul out of each trip. Heck I use an old 86' Ford Ranger 4x4. I don't have to travel as far and I put about 1/2 cord a trip on. The price of gasoline is getting rediculous and it's about too get worse (talking $4 a gal by summer) This in and of it'self is becoming a factor in how far you go.
Sheesh Guys that's the one thing that really gets me :angry2: Flaming! This whole oil bizz:angry2:

 

[wdchuck]

My F250 stake sides are cab high, as is the load, three rows of rounds in an 80" bed, one thing I do if it's going to be fresh cut green wood or heavy wood(oak, hickory, locust) is to over-inflated the tires about 20lbs, just for the one trip. What that does is prevent the tire sidewalls from flexing much, reduces heat on the sidewalls, prevents a blowout under a heavier than usual load, BUT, as soon as the wood is unloaded, the tires go right back to the proper inflations psi. Same technique when I used my boat trailer for double duty.
Now that I use vehicles that can handle what I put in, and have D-8ply/E-10ply weight rated tires, it's no longer necessary to do it.

Keep this in mind too, your ability to steer, a heavily loaded rear end, can make steering a little dicey. In the beginning, our little sonoma has brought home some loads that weighed more than filled the space in the bed, so a full load can come in two forms.

Good luck, hedge on the side of caution until you figure out a happy medium.

 

[SPED]

Another vote for the trailer, like others have said not only can you get more per trip, but you can leave it loaded until you have time to get to it. Also, one thing to keep in mind, no matter how much you beef up the suspension, your real breaking point is the axle, if you snap that you're in for a bad day.

 

[wireedm]

+1 on the above mentioned, and keep an eye out on the tires. If you like to load a truck put some 10 ply tires on it. I put some Firestone Transforce A/T on my F250 at an excellent price, and really like them. You can run them all the time at 80psi and will handle more than you'll ever put on the truck. I would NOT want to have a blowout with a full load of wood on the back! Talking about a bad hair day.........!

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Fresh wood is really heavy. I had a blowout on a trailer with some cheap light duty tires and had to jack up the trailer - luckily it was only a couple of miles from my house and I could unhook the trailer and go get tools. My floor jak is 1-1/2 ton and would pick one side of the trailer up - but then slowly creep down under the load. I stuck a block of wood under the trailer until I could go get the tire replace - and I actually ended up replacing both tires with heavier ply tires.

 

[clearance]

Good points here. 1) Headache rack, yes, one with rails the full length of the box, comes in very handy for many things. Also you do not want to pay for a new window or have a chunk of wood hit you in the back of the head.-JackD

2) majority of the wieght over the rear axle, and then slightly towards the cab.

3) Tires, truck tires that say LT on them, load range E-wireedm is right.

 

[wood4heat]

Good points here. 1) Headache rack, yes, one with rails the full length of the box, comes in very handy for many things. Also you do not want to pay for a new window or have a chunk of wood hit you in the back of the head.-JackD

2) majority of the wieght over the rear axle, and then slightly towards the cab.

3) Tires, truck tires that say LT on them, load range E-wireedm is right.

Everything clearance said plus you could put airbags on your rear axle. Inflate them before you leave to get wood and deflate them when you get home. You'll increase the capacity of your truck without affecting the ride.

If you do go for a trailer you should invest in trailer brakes. The early Tacoma's did not come with great brakes.

 

[Ken05]

I had an 04 Tundra, nice driving truck but the rear springs would squat to the blocks with only 800 lbs and the rear drum brakes really struggled with any weight. Also swayed bad with a trailer. The new Tundra has corrected those issues.
The brakes scared the :censored: out of me going down a hill with a trailer. I got a Chevy 2500HD now.

 

[user 19670]

Fresh wood is really heavy. I had a blowout on a trailer with some cheap light duty tires and had to jack up the trailer - luckily it was only a couple of miles from my house and I could unhook the trailer and go get tools. My floor jak is 1-1/2 ton and would pick one side of the trailer up - but then slowly creep down under the load. I stuck a block of wood under the trailer until I could go get the tire replace - and I actually ended up replacing both tires with heavier ply tires.

THAT is why people won't work with hydraulic jacks unless the load is suppoerted by a block --for safety-- as we used to say at work

 

[treemandan]

My stake sides are cab high, as is the load, three rows of rounds in an 80" bed, one thing I do if it's going to be fresh cut green wood or heavy wood(oak, hickory, locust) is to over-inflated the tires about 20lbs, just for the one trip. What that does is prevent the tire sidewalls from flexing much, reduces heat on the sidewalls, prevents a blowout under a heavier than usual load, BUT, as soon as the wood is unloaded, the tires go right back to the proper inflations psi. Same technique when I used my boat trailer for double duty.
Now that I use vehicles that can handle what I put in, and have D-8ply/E-10ply weight rated tires, it's no longer necessary to do it.

Keep this in mind too, your ability to steer, a heavily loaded rear end, can make steering a little dicey. Our little sonoma has brought home some loads that weighed more than filled the space in the bed, so a full load can come in two forms.

Good luck, hedge on the side of caution until you figure out a happy medium.

You are out of your mind! That is a Sonoma? How long have you been doing the over inflation thing? I think that bears some investigation. Keep on trucking YEEFNHAA! And YOU say be carefull ?

 

[Limestone]

Look for a set of timbrens for the rear springs

 

[wildbio]

options:
1. Beef up suspension
Timbren air springs, Firestone or Air Lift adjustable air (these work great I have on my truck), add-a-leaf spring, heavier springs

and/or

2. Get a trailer w/ minimum 3500lb axle rating (w/ brakes = safer but mine doesn't have them)

 

[Patrick62]

For what it is worth...

I have been there, done that. You would (will) be amazed what you can haul with a regular pickup. Rack cab high....

However! Remember this:

No matter what you use for tires, you are carrying all the load on one itty-bitty little wheel bearing on each side.

-Pat

 

[pigpen60]

if you have a full floater rear axle your alot better off. but i have seen a couple broke both from severe abuse! pigpen

 

[KMB]

Look for a set of timbrens for the rear springs

+1. They work great. Easy to install. I've got them on my 1997 F-150 4x4.

Kevin