Thinking of buying a grain truck to haul/deliver firewood

[Barnie]

I'm thinking of buying a grain truck to make my firewood deliveries, my current method is with a dump trailer that holds 5face cords at a time which is fine but most of my orders are 10-20 cords per household, My cutting site this year is about 25 kms from town, the roads in good shape and graded regularly. Im just thinking that delivering 10 cords at a time would be a lot more efficient.
The box on the truck I'm interested in is 20'Lx8'Wx6' high and would hold 10 cords easily.
But then theres the insurance and plates to think about too along with the upkeep.
Do any of you use a truck like this for firewood ???

 

[moondoggie]

How heavy is the box and truck?? You would possibly need another axle or two...

 

[Barnie]

How heavy is the box and truck?? You would possibly need another axle or two...

the axles are 20,000 lbs front and 40,000 lbs rears, I emailed the owner to get the gvwr from him

 

[zogger]

View attachment 459899
I'm thinking of buying a grain truck to make my firewood deliveries, my current method is with a dump trailer that holds 5face cords at a time which is fine but most of my orders are 10-20 cords per household, My cutting site this year is about 25 kms from town, the roads in good shape and graded regularly. Im just thinking that delivering 10 cords at a time would be a lot more efficient.
The box on the truck I'm interested in is 20'Lx8'Wx6' high and would hold 10 cords easily.
But then theres the insurance and plates to think about too along with the upkeep.
Do any of you use a truck like this for firewood ???

Only if you are legit and selling quite a lot of wood, then sure why not. I looked into getting a dump truck, ran it by my insurance, egads, it was outrageous! I had a straight swap going for my half ton 4x4 but the insurance increase wasn't worth it, let alone facing getting a cdl and biz license etc. I would have been doing firewood just to afford the expenses of ..doing firewood..

 

[TMFARM 2009]

here's what i would suggest! go big or go home. lol

no really, i think you would be upside down in cost vs a dump trailer and pickup that is probably paying for its self.

you are the one who has to deal with the maint. fuel cost, taxes and fees, then at least around here its full on commercial tags and insurance, plus cdl licenses required.

how handy will it be to load vs the dumptrailer?

 

[Barnie]

Only if you are legit and selling quite a lot of wood, then sure why not. I looked into getting a dump truck, ran it by my insurance, egads, it was outrageous! I had a straight swap going for my half ton 4x4 but the insurance increase wasn't worth it, let alone facing getting a cdl and biz license etc. I would have been doing firewood just to afford the expenses of ..doing firewood..

our biggest year was 1,100 cords and the smallest was 400 and that was this summer as i had a contract for my skidder that ran into late spring. I got two dump trailers on the go right now but my truck is getting its ass kicked thats why I'm looking at getting this grain truck. Im sure the plates and isnurance would be pricey for sure, I got a commercial plate on my pick up right now and that itself is $1,500 for the year.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

I don't see how that truck will hold 10cords. With the dimensions given "20x8x6", it has a volume of 960cu/ft. A stacked cord of wood is 128cu/ft per cord or 7.5cords in that truck. A loose cord is right around 180cu/ft per cord or 5.3cords per load.

Maybe I'm doing the math wrong, but that's how I figure my wood deliveries.

 

[zogger]

our biggest year was 1,100 cords and the smallest was 400 and that was this summer as i had a contract for my skidder that ran into late spring. I got two dump trailers on the go right now but my truck is getting its ass kicked thats why I'm looking at getting this grain truck. Im sure the plates and isnurance would be pricey for sure, I got a commercial plate on my pick up right now and that itself is $1,500 for the year.

Well, you are a big commercial operation, so I think with business deductions and so on, should work out for you OK given a deal on the truck and it works good. For a part timer just making a little cash on the side, nope.

Anyway, we need pics of your stacks! That's a lot of wood you do man!

 

[Barnie]

here's what i would suggest! go big or go home. lol

no really, i think you would be upside down in cost vs a dump trailer and pickup that is probably paying for its self.

you are the one who has to deal with the maint. fuel cost, taxes and fees, then at least around here its full on commercial tags and insurance, plus cdl licenses required.

how handy will it be to load vs the dumptrailer?

loading would be the same as the dump trailers I'm guessing, I have a portable double wood splitter with a 30' offloading conveyor (I can drive it around my site)

 

[TMFARM 2009]

im with zogger on this one. if you need bigger i would personally go full on semi and dump trailer. but that may be harder to find a deal on.
sounds like you are equipped to handle most anything.

 

[Barnie]

I don't see how that truck will hold 10cords. With the dimensions given "20x8x6", it has a volume of 960cu/ft. A stacked cord of wood is 128cu/ft per cord or 7.5cords in that truck. A loose cord is right around 180cu/ft per cord or 5.3cords per load.

Maybe I'm doing the math wrong, but that's how I figure my wood deliveries.

when I first bought my dump trailers I piled and loaded each separate cord into the trailer to see how much it would hold, it holds 5 loose cords (not piled). the box dimensions of my trailers are 14' long, x7' wide x 4' high plus theres an extra foot of mesh which we never fill.

 

[Barnie]

loading would be the same as the dump trailers I'm guessing, I have a portable double wood splitter with a 30' offloading conveyor (I can drive it around my site) View attachment 459905

This is not my wood pile but this is one of the wood splitters I have.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

Full on dump trailer is nice, until you need to dump in the city!
Are most of your deliveries rural or urban? I know even my 14' dump trailer "2cord" is too big sometimes in town. At that point I have to make 2trips in with the little 10' trailer.

I would think you could get that grain truck in a lot tighter spots than a large semi dump trailer.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

when I first bought my dump trailers I piled and loaded each separate cord into the trailer to see how much it would hold, it holds 5 loose cords (not piled). the box dimensions of my trailers are 14' long, x7' wide x 4' high plus theres an extra foot of mesh which we never fill.

Wow, I have the same size dump trailer with 5' tall sides and sell it as 2cords!

One us us are off a little!

 

[dancan]

loading would be the same as the dump trailers I'm guessing, I have a portable double wood splitter with a 30' offloading conveyor (I can drive it around my site) View attachment 459905

That a Powersplit double vertical ?

 

[Barnie]

Wow, I have the same size dump trailer with 5' tall sides and sell it as 2cords!

One us us are off a little!

I always get mixed up with this, is it 2 bush cords (6 face cords), cause my trailer will hold 5 face cords

 

[Barnie]

That a Powersplit double vertical ?

Its a timber devil double verticle with 30' conveyor

 

[dancan]

Same guys , what do you think about it ?

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

That just dawned on me, that you were talking about face cords!

 

[Barnie]

Its a timber devil double verticle with 30' conveyor

Its in french sorry