who uses a car trailer for firewood?

[husky455rancher]

im seriously considering picking up a 2004 18ft dual axl 7k lb rated car trailer for firewood. i would ad some sort of a removable stake body setup on it to haul wood. i have a couple old cars too so it would be nice to be able to trailer them.

a dump trailer would be ideal but too much money for me right now. anyway what are your thoghts in doing it this way?

oh btw it has electric brakes and a full diamond plate floor with ramps that slide of of the trailer.

 

[brownie525]

i use my car trailer for wood and it works out perfect. I build stake body sides and have a nice long ramp at the back so i can roll big ole rounds up it if need be. I would love to have a dump trailer but have no room to fit another trailer in the yard. I like how the car trailers are not real high so they are easy to load.

 

[RAF]

This is what I use for everything. Fire wood, tractor, cars, junking, lumber. The sides that are on it are used when I have junk or smaller logs. I just put stakes when hauling 5' or bigger logs. Going to build a small manual crane to get some of the bigger things on to the trailer soon.

 

[cjcocn]

Here is my 16' equipment hauler with the wood-hauling sides on.

6,000# braked axles and the sides come out of the stake pockets when I need them to.

I am thinking of welding on home-made stake pockets to accept some rectangular metal tubing so I can just have uprights with no lumber. Less wind resistance traveling and the logs get chained down and tightened with load binders anyway.

 

[Rookie1]

I use my BIL's when I get an opportunity for a large load. I just stack it nice dont bother with sides. If it was mine I would make removable sides and some sort of tailgate.

 

[porta mill]

I do , I use my equipment trailer alot when i have to go get a large amount of wood or logs. removable sides are almost a must when getting fire wood . I try to get as much as i can get in log lengths i have a warn wench mounted to the tongue so I can drag the logs on the trailer . I also have a dump trailer that I use also nothing is better than pressing a button and it unloads it self. One thing to remember it is very easy to over load a 16 ft trailer with green wood good luck

 

[husky455rancher]

thanks for the replies. im trying tho think oif the best way to add the stake pockets to the trailer.

i was thinking of maybe using 1/8 steel and beiding it to look basicly like a piece of channel and weld it to the sides of the trailer. maybe the size of a 2x4 or a 4x4. i would also give them a bottom so they wouldnt fall through towards the ground.

i was thinking of bolting the wood through the bent up bracket but id rather it be set up for quick removal. i think i could box pretty much the whole trailer in with 7 pieces of plywood. unless i use 2x6's instead. im not totally sure yet. it looks like ill be getting the trailer tomorrow if all goes well. so monday ill be makin some brackets at work


any more ideas on the best way to make the brackets would be great.

ill be sure to post pics if i get it tomorrow, Mike

 

[Lloyd H]

stake pockets

Make sure they will drain, water as well as saw chips and debris

 

[cjcocn]

thanks for the replies. im trying tho think oif the best way to add the stake pockets to the trailer.

i was thinking of maybe using 1/8 steel and beiding it to look basicly like a piece of channel and weld it to the sides of the trailer. maybe the size of a 2x4 or a 4x4. i would also give them a bottom so they wouldnt fall through towards the ground.

i was thinking of bolting the wood through the bent up bracket but id rather it be set up for quick removal. i think i could box pretty much the whole trailer in with 7 pieces of plywood. unless i use 2x6's instead. im not totally sure yet. it looks like ill be getting the trailer tomorrow if all goes well. so monday ill be makin some brackets at work


any more ideas on the best way to make the brackets would be great.

ill be sure to post pics if i get it tomorrow, Mike

Mike

Do a search on trailer stake pockets and you will get a lot of hits. They generally run from about $3-$5 per stake pocket. You can get them in different sizes, with perhaps the most popular being of a size that accepts 2x4s.

I may build my own since I cannot buy them locally and shipping may make it costly enough that building them myself is cheaper. If I build my own I will build them to accept a certain size of rectangular steel tubing so I will not have to worry about breaking 2x4s.

HTH

PS .... If I build them I will cut and weld rather than bending. I have a cut-off saw, but I do not have a bender and it is tough getting good bends without one (learned that when building the rack for my truck).

 

[danrclem]

Here's a picture of my 16' car hauler. I've said for a long time that I'm going to put some pockets on the side and use it for wood. Procrastinate, procrastinate. I guess one of the reasons that I haven't done it yet is because I have a 5x10 trailer that I use. I'd be able to get a lot more wood on the car hauler though.

 

[husky455rancher]

i forgot to ask what is a decent price for a 2004 18ft 7k lb rated car trailer. i dont wanna get screwed lol. anyway it supposidly needs nothing. the only thing he said is the fenders are a bit dented up. the floor is diamond plate also and it has the built in slide in ramps.

 

[046]

a trailer with tandem 7klb axles is more like a heavy equipment trailer. sure you can haul cars, but it can easily haul tractors.

it's ideal for hauling wood! just make sure you've got a heavy duty truck like Cummins.

here's mine loaded with $15k+ lbs. pulling rig is a 97 cummins 12v.

 

[046]

oppss... thought you were referring to tandem 7k axles or 14k lbs ratings. a trailer with tandem 3,500 lb axles is consider light duty.

be sure to get brakes on both axles. it's not what you can pull... it's what you can stop!

look on craigslist... super nice tandem axle car trailer go for $1200 to $1,800 range. you can get one brand new with steel floor, new tires, brakes, etc for under $2,000 in tulsa

i forgot to ask what is a decent price for a 2004 18ft 7k lb rated car trailer. i dont wanna get screwed lol. anyway it supposidly needs nothing. the only thing he said is the fenders are a bit dented up. the floor is diamond plate also and it has the built in slide in ramps.

 

[porta mill]

try tractor supply store I think I saw stake pockets there. or if you have a welder get some metal and build your own . buying them is probably more practical to most. or do a search for stake pockets on the net . as for price on the trailer that depends on the trailer light duty or heavy duty anywhere from $1000 to 2500. depending on the market best thing to do is look around in your area for what is available. right now there should be plenty for sale with the way our economy is going people loosing jobs.

 

[RoyR(MI)]

When I built my trailer, I found some rectangular tubing that was the right size for a 2x4 to slip into and cut 4" long pieces and welded them to the sides of the trailer every 2 feet. Works great.

 

[RAF]

thanks for the replies. im trying tho think oif the best way to add the stake pockets to the trailer.

i was thinking of maybe using 1/8 steel and beiding it to look basicly like a piece of channel and weld it to the sides of the trailer. maybe the size of a 2x4 or a 4x4. i would also give them a bottom so they wouldnt fall through towards the ground.

i was thinking of bolting the wood through the bent up bracket but id rather it be set up for quick removal. i think i could box pretty much the whole trailer in with 7 pieces of plywood. unless i use 2x6's instead. im not totally sure yet. it looks like ill be getting the trailer tomorrow if all goes well. so monday ill be makin some brackets at work


any more ideas on the best way to make the brackets would be great.

ill be sure to post pics if i get it tomorrow, Mike

This link will show you the ones that will take a 2x4 with out cutting. I'm going to make stakes with tube steel and weld stops on the stakes to keep them at 3'. ( I think they make 3 1/2" x 1 1/2") Just some thoughts for you.

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.prodInfo&productID=5750&categoryID=369

 

[valekbrothers]

Its not really a car trailer, but this is what we use. It was originaly built as a boat trailer. They had a large wooden cabin cruiser on it. I bought the frame added some extra cross members the wood deck and the sides. It has two 6,000 lb axles with hydraulic brakes. I kept the sides down to 20" because I pull it with a Dodge Dakota. Even with all the saws in the tool box up front it is very well balanced.

And here are all the saws loaded.

 

[Nuzzy]

Put some sides on my jeep trailer and it seems to work out pretty good. 7K dual axle 16' C-channel car hauler. My stake pockets came with the trailer though.

Really want a 28' gooseneck but that won't happen for a few years...

 

[husky455rancher]

heres a pic of it the guy wants 1600 for it delivered. what do you guys think? all he said is wrong with it is the fenders are dented up a bit.

 

[046]

looks like a clean trailer, but make sure it's got stake pockets.
it'd be nice if tires were good too. look out for dry rot on tires.
trailers have a tendency to sit around a lot.

most importantly it's got to have brakes on both axles!
green wood gets heavy quick!

$1,600 price for a used car hauler is no big deal... similar priced trailers come up all the time on craigslist. so really depends on how big a hurry you are in..

stay away from mobile home axles!!!

heres a pic of it the guy wants 1600 for it delivered. what do you guys think? all he said is wrong with it is the fenders are dented up a bit.