Baby's got a brand new set of wood-haulin wheels! see pics.

[WoodButcher80]

bought this 4x12 flatbed with a 3500lb axle and 7 leaf springs per sides for 200 buckaroos. has electric trailer brakes too!

welded on 9 stake pockets, and built the sides with 2x4 posts and 1x8 horizontal sides. 35" total height to the sides, and all 5 side pieces are removable with a few wing nuts.
i also built the rear gate to collapse forward when the trailer is needed as a flatbed with no sides. . . .

all in all, about 150$ in treated lumber and nuts and bolts and 30$ in protective paint.. . ready to snag up some tasty hickory and maple, one cord at a time !


i know you guys like pics, so here ya go !

 

[WoodButcher80]

set 2 of 3 ............

 

[WoodButcher80]

one more ............................

 

[WoodButcher80]

this is it!

 

[pinewoodburner]

bought this 4x12 flatbed with a 3500lb axle and 7 leaf springs per sides for 200 buckaroos.

welded on 9 stake pockets, and built the sides with 2x4 posts and 1x8 horizontal sides. 35" total height to the sides, and all 5 side pieces are removable with a few wing nuts. . . about 150$ in treated lumber and nuts and bolts and 30$ in protective paint.. . ready to snag up some tasty hickory and maple, one cord at a time !


i know you guys like pics, so here ya go !

I hope you don't try and haul one full cord in that without breaks and a 3500 lb axle. I haul 1 cord in my 5X8 dump trailer that is rated for the weight and has breaks, but it is a single axle. One cord is alot of weight. Nice looking trailer and great deal. Be careful of the weight and stopping.

 

[WoodButcher80]

it has trailer brakes.

 

[LLigetfa]

Sweet deal and nice job on the stake sides. Not so sure about the way you're latching the tailgate though.

 

[Gooserider]

Agreed - I suspect you will find those wingnuts to be a bit of a PITA to deal with, and they will also probably have a tendency to vibrate off on their own... What I would probably do if it were mine is use a bunch of padlock hasps, or possibly some draw bolts. If using the hasps, I'd probably look for the kind with a swiveling eye so you can lock it without necessarily having to stick something in the eye, though I'd put at least a snap hook on the eye when going down the road...

Gooserider

 

[WoodButcher80]

it seemed the beefiest way for now. 4 - 3/8" thick bolts. its not going anywhere. also the weight of the gate falling back is burdened on the middle of the lag bolts, NOT on the nuts , for added strength.

basically, the bolt would have to rip through the 3/4" thick treated side to go anywhere. well, it was the best i could come up with for now.


as for the wing nuts goose, i put those on temporarily as i play with the design. im going to use nylon lined lock nuts before i go anywhere . the hasps are a good idea. i can add them below the 1/8" thick L-brackets. i like my brackets cus the keep the boards nice and tight together since the brackets are really stout.
ill add hasps for safe measure, but ill need to find ones that will work around a 90degree bend like this.
as for now, its all i could find at the depot. . .

 

[Gooserider]

What you have looks good, and I'm not worried about the strength on it. I'm just a bit worried about the "ergonomics" of how much headache it is to put the boards on and off, work the tailgate, etc... I look for ways that avoid needing tools, and that are tolerant of not getting stuff lined up exactly right...

However, if it suits you, then great!

Gooserider

 

[WoodButcher80]

ide rather it be safe, than convenient. just me .

 

[Gooserider]

ide rather it be safe, than convenient. just me .

Didn't say anything about unsafe.... Some ways an ergonomic friendly design is safer just because it doesn't tempt one to skimp on doing it right because of the hassle... As I said, your basic design and setup looks great, I'd just see what I could do to reduce the need for tools to take it apart...

Gooserider

 

[savageactor7]

Real nice job WoodButcher...that didn't take you long at all.

 

[btj1031]

Nice job, thanks for sharing the pics. I need one of those!

 

[WoodButcher80]

well thanks guys, glad ya like it .

as for mr goose.....

well i did buy (and return) 3/8" bolts that have the 8 or so holes in the shaft and come with a cotter pin. now those are convenient! but i got worried about uncontrollable pressure that might be on the cotter pin clip thingy. they were nice in the fact that you could smoosh your material real close together to get the pin nice and tight. . . just didnt want to keep them just to shave of 37 seconds for me to drop the gate.

 

[Highbeam]

Sure beats my cheezy OSB sides. Great deal on the trailer too.

 

[pinewoodburner]

Have you hauled any wood yet? If so, how did it do?
Great job with the the improvements and the best thing is the amount of $ you have invested.

 

[Wet1]

Nice. So where are the pics of her all loaded up with a cord of green oak?!?!?! :cheese:

 

[smokinj]

Nice. So where are the pics of her all loaded up with a cord of green oak?!?!?! :cheese:

Thats what iam wanting on as well!

 

[WoodButcher80]

patience my friends! i need a solid weekend where im not doing other things around the house. the wood is still wet under that black paint for pete's sake! actually i plan on picking up a half cord sunday, but not a cord of green oak! hah .

 

[WoodButcher80]

well heres her first load of Pignut Hickory.. each 18" long piece weighed about 80lbs or so. i base this weight on the comparison of an 80lb bag of salt that i used to carry up and down stairs every month of my childhood for the softener . i know its not loaded to the brim, but i read the tires and they said 1260 lbs max, so i didnt want to puch her the first time out. they were deflecting out about an inch so not too bad.

besides, i forgot to get a little bottle of oil to mix with my 2gal can of gas . arggg!


sorry for the bad pic, its my phone

 

[fyrwoodguy]

phone pic better than no pic....keep'em comming!

 

[moosetrek]

Nice deal! Looks like you're all set on the trailer, but I'd definitely check those tires - 1200# is too light. The minumum on a 3500# axle is a 205/75/15 tire which should be rated for 1800# per tire X 2 giving you 3600# total. You can prbably go to a heavier tire, a 225/75/15 that will give you a lot more capacity (or carry the same weight a lot more confidently), depending on the rim width. Good luck and enjoy, she looks good...

 

[Skier76]

Cool trailer! What are you towing it with?

 

[WoodButcher80]

moose, good idea on the tires. it just so happens i drive a jeep cherokee XJ and am up for some new tires soon so ill just keep my current ones and us them for trailer! theyre still in good shape and are 225 71 15's, just need new ones for the winter (coming soon! ) .

it pulls this fine, but i do need new springs, it has 7 leaf springs now on each side BUT theyre not very stiff.

i had a half cord or so of oak and elm and the tire was almost rubbing on one side of the trailer, ill put em on asap. 35$ each side for leafs thats are 1750lbs each at tractor supply. . . not too bad.