Firewood trailer

Adirondackwoodburner said:

Looking for a decent single axl firewood trailer. Would love a power hydraulic lift dump box but that may be pricy..Can annyone recomend a trailer line that has a manual lift?

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I don't know about manual lift, but I know where to get trailers cheap.
www.craigslist.com You will see used trailers in with the car listings.

If you want a small 4ftx 8ft utility traler with a 750 to 1000 lb capacity for 250.oo to 350.oo
www.harborfrieght.com
or www.northertools.com

the 1000 lb trailer needs the more expensive wheels ,standard wheels only good for 750lbs.
These trailers tow nice behind 4 cyl compact cars.

www.northerntools.com also sells heavier trailers,maybe some with electric brakes even.

Both harbor & northern sell an engine craine for around 350.oo that will bolt to the bed of a
pick up or trailer. It swings out & has a cable to hook around & a winch , either crank up like a boat or 12 vdc on the more expensive model. They both sell 12 vdc winches ,to use with a ramp & pull logs up ramp & onwards to the front of trailer.

I always buy a 35.oo ramp kit & two 9 in x 2in x 8ft boards & just roll the logs up on the trailer.

I guess if I wanted to be lazy about it, I could get a 12 vdc winch, & bolt it to the front of the trailer & hook the cable around the log & pull it by winch ,up the ramps.

This could be a low cost solution 4 u

Rig up 2 posts with a cross beam and a chain fall to lift the tounge of a standard trailer and wala you have a dump trailer.

I have an old car-trailer I am rebuilding that is getting a flat deck to do double duty as firewood hauler. Figure the each axle is rated at 3500 lbs. (7000 lbs total) So loading the snot out of shouldn't be a problem.

A friend of mine had a tree service - it's why we started burning in the first place - plenty of free wood.

He used a two axle car trailer rated at 7000lb and I'm sure he exceeded that weight by a long shot - it's easy to overload a trailer like that.

Just make sure you have good brakes on both axles to be safe - single axle brakes at 6000lb + start getting scary.

A real cheap way to go with a wood hauler is an old pick up box / frame / axle - you can then build tall sides on it and get a good load of wood in it - and those leaf springs are rated at quite a bit - but, you can't really rig trailer brakes on such a thing - so you'd better have at least a 3/4 ton truck in good condition to tow it with.

Now this is my talk...single axle? What kind of truck do you have?

single axle isn't really commo except for puny trailers. Could you build one?

Here is an example of a small dump trailer:
http://www.kaufmantrailers.com/cata...0288d0f4924446095c8102e82da37050ca1459fbfd1e0

I think part of the reason he is looking for a single axle is because on some of the durangos the tow rating is pretty anemic.

Should be at least 5000# I would think.

Just remember that a single cord of wood can weigh 4000 lbs. The typical car huler 7000 lb rated trailer weighs 1500 lbs so even though you have room for it you'll be overloaded before you get 1.5 cords loaded in.

Tow rating is no reason to skip over tandem axle trailers. They tow better and are less of a teeter totter. Two brake axles is a good thing.

Dump trailers, commercial ones, are very heavy. Thousands of lbs. A small one that I considered was 4000 lbs empty with a 12000 lb load rating. Maybe adapt a tilt bed trailer to help with dumping. The wood will roll out pretty easy.

Are you looking to buy new or used? If new you may want to visit a trailer fabricator near you. From what I've seen pricing dump trailers, they are generally a lot cheaper than the brand name ones, and the places I've looked make a real nice quality trailer. That way it might be a lot easier to add in custom options like a manual dump.

Those are neat little trailers! I would get the 5000# version.

I bought the Bri-Mar 5x8 with the landscape gate. Priced out the dump but the extra $2000 was not in the budget at the time. Occasionally the dump would come in handy but oh well. I ended up buying that short solid gate too b'c is it way easy to unload that way as opposed to removing the gate.

I roll the big logs up the landscape gate. I put some pressure treated sides on the trailer and I can get almost a cord of wood in there for short trips. I am overweight with a cord so i would not do that for a longer trip.

A very good trailer if you can get the $1000 together.

How much are you willing to spend?

It sounds like you need to bust out the welder.

I would find a 3/4 ton pickup box trailer. that is what i use and i added 2' sides and 2' on the front. And i pull it with a 1/2 ton Chevy just fine. Just so you know i have had it loaded over the sides i made and still never had a problem. And my pickup still pulls it fine.

Kelly

Depending on how often you plan on using it and how far you are going. If you are going to load the Durango to capacity and actually pull 5000# I would want brakes on there. If you really want a dump bed then start looking at used trailers. I wouldn't rule out 2 axle trailers. Axles do not make the trailer expensive generally.

Better check DOT and state law for trailers before making one. I think you'll find anything over 3000# probably needs at least one axle with brakes. I've made single and dual axle trailers. I'd say its better to find a good factory made used one that you know is probably safer, at least liability-wise.

[quote author="steam man" date="1205364102"]Better check DOT and state law for trailers before making one. I think you'll find anything over 3000# probably needs at least one axle with brakes. I've made single and dual axle trailers. I'd say its better to find a good factory made used one that you know is probably safer, at least liability-wise.[/quot












I agree 110% ! DOT enforcement is getting to be like the NAZI Gestapo Besides ,I think you could buy one cheaper than just the price of materials to build one .

I have a 5 x 8 dump trailer that I got new for $2100 a few years back. If your budget is only 1500, try and find one of these used. I love mine. Use it to haul lots of stuff like gravel, dirt, mulch and firewood. I almost had an acident with my landscape trailer do to no brakes. Anything that is heavy, I use the dump trailer. I highly recomend if you can, take a look at these. I will not ever wear this trailer out.