Holy chit, I found a site that gives the weight.  Now this was red oak was dropped 3 weeks ago so it is losing some moisture but wow, check it out!!!

http://www.csgnetwork.com/logweight.html

burntime - 30 June 2008 12:28 PM

I have coil helpers on my ranger, I just loaded Friday with a face cord worth of oak.  Too much for the truck!

Boy, I would think so. I had a stock bone stock Ranger after college. Nice little truck but wasn’t much for hauling.

When stock 800 pounds of concrete would bottom it out.  The helpers add 1500 pounds capacity to payload.  They are monroe, when I buy a new f150 they will be going on it as well.  I think the shocks were 200 bucks and I put them on in about 15 minutes.  Amazing part is the ride is better?  The coils only pick up after the truck is down 3 or so inchs.

Hmm- so doing the math I’m lookin’ at about 2500lbs for a cord wet wood...........

Edit; Never mind.........................

woodconvert - 30 June 2008 12:38 PM

burntime - 30 June 2008 12:28 PM

I have coil helpers on my ranger, I just loaded Friday with a face cord worth of oak.  Too much for the truck!

Boy, I would think so. I had a stock bone stock Ranger after college. Nice little truck but wasn’t much for hauling.

I just hauled the cement piers and wood for the woodshed in the Ranger this week, probably about 800 lbs total. That was definitely pushing it and I drove the 5 miles back home very slowly.

1900 pounds for a face of red oak per the site give or take.  This is log so lets guess that space considered it is a hair under so say 1750.  Consider stock for the ranger is like 800, add 1500 capacity to it… 1900 is not out of line.  Granted too much for the brakes and axle but it held it.

Highbeam - 30 June 2008 12:00 PM

The load ratings for your truck ARE the live loads assuming lots of active and moving worst case scenarios. There is even a safety margin over that. If your truck has a 10,000# stickered GVWR then you can weigh 10,000 lbs and drive down the road with confidence that your truck was designed to run that way.

1/3 of a cord in a 3/4 ton? Folks here are putting that much in a mini truck.

You need to watch more than just the GVW..  You have to watch the individual axle weights!  We had a F250HD 4x4.  We were well under the GVW, but our horse trailer (without horse or water) was 300# overweight for the rear axle.  It PULLED the trailer well, even stopped it well, but it had a bit of “give” even on mild curves.  We upgraded to a C3500 dually and it’s rock solid.

BTW, I have the scale tickets here.  F250 supercab, diesel, no load:  front 4360, rear 2920, total 7280.  IIRC, the rear axle was rated for about 5800, which would give you a net allowable rear load of just under 3000#.  Note, the rear 5800# rating means 2900 pounds on each tire, quite possibly more than they are rated at.  Definitely not your typical tire for a half ton truck.

Figure a full cord of green hardwood at around 37-3800#.  Of course, some of that will go to the front axle, a 3/4 ton can probably handle the weight of a full cord.

Another point: everyone worries about the axle and springs, but what are the tires rated at?  Half ton trucks are likely to have lightly rated tires.  You really don’t want a blow out while you’re travelling down the road, overloaded, at 45 or 50 mph!

I have hauled two tons of pellets in the dually. It was a bit light in the front but I was only going about 20 miles. 

And DON’T TAKE THE SPARE TIRE OUT for more room!  We were hauling 108 bales of hay home the other day on the double axle trailer (car hauler).  Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump.  Yep, one tire gone, no spare and the other tire was really sagging!  I managed to make it about three miles (and across the narrow bridge) to the nearest tire dealer!

Ken

Good point Ken, the GVWR as well as the GAWR are stamped in the door jamb of your truck. Note that the sum of the axle ratings will be more than the allowed GVWR so you’ve really got to check all three. Then there are the individual tire ratings. I’ve done a few things to my half ton pickup like use D rated LT tires in place of the stock light duty ones, added timbren overload springs which engage after about 500 lbs of payload and then prevent excess saggage up to well beyond my legal limits.

I was thinking about it.  When I picked up my gun safe at farm and fleet it was 692 lbs not including the metal and wood palet.  The truck went down but not very much.  The coils really are the way to go to add capacity!!!