Without a truck to move firewood anymore.....

[wood-fan-atic]

.....I had to go out and buy a trailer. With the baby on the way, and my old Ranger having no backseat - my options were limited. I sold the pick-up and bought a slightly used Blazer ('04, with a 4.3, 0nly 50k miles) and found this trailer on CL for $300. Well, they wanted $475, but I beat 'em down to $300 ;-P .....anyway..... she's practically new -- an '09. Should work out pretty good, I hope. It cost about $75 in lumber and gate latches. And I had returned some thermostats to the Home Depot that the wife picked up like 4-5 years ago (they were the wrong ones) for store credit...got $114....still have some left over on the card. I actually made about $40 building sides for the trailer! :lol:

 

[DexterDay]

Very Nice...

Only one word of caution. Watch how much you put in it. I own a Single axle w/ 2,990 lb axle. With my 36" side-kit fully loaded (its 6' wide x 10' long x 36" sides). It will hold about 1.5 Cord or WAY to much to haul. Espeially Green/Wet Wood. Already learned a lesson. Bent my tongue and snapped 2 Welds. Had my buddy fix it. Never will fully load it again.

Other than that. Looks awesome and what a deal you got on it!! Congrats. A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck. Congrats on the baby too. My Wife gave birth to our daughter 10 weeks ago and have a 9 year old Son also. Kids are Awesome. Don't know what I'd do without them.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Thanks,Dex. This trailer is only 4x8, with 24" sides. I was going to go a little higher on the sidewalls, but I figure then I'll be even more tempted to overload. Should handle 1500 lbs. fine..........I hope. hh:

Oh, and as for the kids.....I know Ive said it before ------- "The days are long, but the years are short" ......enjoy them ,my friend. They're off to college before you know it!

 

[smokinj]

You could pile it on rounded as long as its not green oak...Never get greedy on it! :zip:

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Yeah....unfortunately - 9 times out of ten , the scrounges here on the island ARE all oak. Great wood...if you have somewhere to store it for 3 years...which,here on the Isle, most of us do not. I have room for 2 years worth of wood on my property - 5 cords in the shed - and 5 cords in the drying racks.

 

[DexterDay]

2 year Oak is Better than 1 year Oak. Many burners still think that Oak is the Greatest Firewood (it is.. But keep reading), in the world. They Cut/Split/Stack it in Oct.. Then burn it 2 weeks later.
A lot of people around me still do this. So 2 year old Oak is much better burning than Fresh Cut . Or Seasoned is what they call that around here/LOL/Lots of Firewood sellers have "Seasoned" wood.

You are much farther ahead than most. 2 years is 1,000,000% better than 2 months ahead.

That trailer is a Dandy. Like Jay said, as long as its not Green Oak. Here is a pic of the Oak I got yesterday. I only load about half way and throw some in the bed of the truck. Even this "half load". Has the axle a 1/4" away from the frame. Almost bottomed out. Was not far from the house, so I just take my time. But too much and it will bite you in the Bu++.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

I hope to put that trailer to good use --- soon -- but not because of that hurricane! Scary stuff, those storms are.

 

[SolarAndWood]

A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck

Agreed, no shame in being a SUV with a child seat driving single axle trailer towing scrounger. Congrats on the kid.

 

[firefighterjake]

+1 on watching the weight . . . the Caravan is a steel trailer, but this trailer was as you probably know originally designed to haul around two snowmobiles -- it is a relatively light-weight trailer . . . but it should get the job done.

 

[jeff_t]

I haven't had a new snowmobile since 2000, but it realistically weighed in excess of 600 lbs. My buddies thought my 78 Liquifires were tanks, but they actually weighed less than 450. Modern snowmobiles are heavy, though relatively lightweight given the HP, speed, and suspension and handling advancements.

Don't round it up with green oak, like everybody said, and you'll be fine. And congrats on the kid. That's why I got rid of my pickup, and I haven't missed it a bit.

 

[firefighterjake]

I haven't had a new snowmobile since 2000, but it realistically weighed in excess of 600 lbs. My buddies thought my 78 Liquifires were tanks, but they actually weighed less than 450. Modern snowmobiles are heavy, though relatively lightweight given the HP, speed, and suspension and handling advancements.

Don't round it up with green oak, like everybody said, and you'll be fine. And congrats on the kid. That's why I got rid of my pickup, and I haven't missed it a bit.

I don't know as though I would say modern snowmobiles are heavy . . . I mean the four strokers are for sure . . . but the two-stroke sleds are actually quite light. My old MXZ was 464 pounds with a 600 cc engine . . . I think my 2007 GSX which has a few more bells and whistles (i.e. added weight) is slightly more than 500 pounds.

 

[jeff_t]

I haven't had a new snowmobile since 2000, but it realistically weighed in excess of 600 lbs. My buddies thought my 78 Liquifires were tanks, but they actually weighed less than 450. Modern snowmobiles are heavy, though relatively lightweight given the HP, speed, and suspension and handling advancements.

Don't round it up with green oak, like everybody said, and you'll be fine. And congrats on the kid. That's why I got rid of my pickup, and I haven't missed it a bit.

I don't know as though I would say modern snowmobiles are heavy . . . I mean the four strokers are for sure . . . but the two-stroke sleds are actually quite light. My old MXZ was 464 pounds with a 600 cc engine . . . I think my 2007 GSX which has a few more bells and whistles (i.e. added weight) is slightly more than 500 pounds.

The advertised dry weight on my Polaris was around 480 lbs. I don't know how manufacturers come up with their numbers, but it was a little off.

 

[rkusek]

Neat trailer for $375 investment, should work fine for you. I've had to trade vehicles before when kids came, just something that has to be done.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Baby on the way; new trailer and a Blazer. Life can be sweet sometimes!

 

[Beetle-Kill]

.....I had to go out and buy a trailer. With the baby on the way, and my old Ranger having no backseat - my options were limited. I sold the pick-up and bought a slightly used Blazer ('04, with a 4.3, 0nly 50k miles) and found this trailer on CL for $300. Well, they wanted $475, but I beat 'em down to $300 ;-P .....anyway..... she's practically new -- an '09. Should work out pretty good, I hope. It cost about $75 in lumber and gate latches. And I had returned some thermostats to the Home Depot that the wife picked up like 4-5 years ago (they were the wrong ones) for store credit...got $114....still have some left over on the card. I actually made about $40 building sides for the trailer! :lol:

Well, to start- nice job with the Blazer, I have always liked the 4.3 (been told it's nothing more than 3/4 of a 350 SBC) Question- is the trailer a tilt bed? If so, do you plan on using it as a tilt-bed?

 

[fabsroman]

A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck

Agreed, no shame in being a SUV with a child seat driving single axle trailer towing scrounger. Congrats on the kid.

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab. Picked up a Craig's List scrounge today with my wife, 2 kids, and parents in the truck. Me, my dad, and my son went and got measured for tuxedos for my brother's wedding in 2 months. Then, we went and got the wood. Oh yeah, I have 2 baby seats in the F350.

I will also agree that the days are long, but the years are short. My oldest is already 4 years old and I cannot believe it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab.

I looked at the crews when I bought the Suburban. The used market is funny. I got the 3/4 ton gas burb with leather that had never even had a draw bar in the receiver or anyone in any seat other than the drivers for less than half of what I could have gotten a crew for. Another advantage is I can do things to my dump trailer I would never do to the vehicle I have to drive to work in the morning.

 

[fabsroman]

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab.

I looked at the crews when I bought the Suburban. The used market is funny. I got the 3/4 ton gas burb with leather that had never even had a draw bar in the receiver or anyone in any seat other than the drivers for less than half of what I could have gotten a crew for. Another advantage is I can do things to my dump trailer I would never do to the vehicle I have to drive to work in the morning.

Luckily, most days I don't have to drive any vehicle to work in the morning since I work from home. Only exceptions are client meetings and court/arbitration dates. The other good news is that we have a 1998 Ford Taurus and 2010 Ford Focus that I can use when I need to drive somewhere for work.

Regarding the dump trailer, I agree completely. I put a huge dent in my tailgate when I dropped a heavy round on it. Sort of pissed me off. The only good thing about it is that the truck is 8 years old and I can eventually replace the bed if I have to. I posted a thread on here earlier about a trailer. I was going to pull the trigger on a 5x8 trailer from Tractor Supply to avoid this kind of abuse on the truck. However, it really isn't the trailer I want. We can't afford the trailer I want right now. I want a 6x10 enclosed trailer and an 18 foot 10,000 lb. car/equipment hauler. Might get a tilting car/equipment hauler so that it will sort of work like a dump trailer, because I also want a dump trailer but cannot justify having 3 trailers sitting around. Oh yeah, we also want a Ford Expedition. We were looking at them online the other day, but that probably will not happen for a couple more years.

Kind of ridiculous how many people have a large Suburban, Expedition, etc. as their main ride when they hardly use the majority of the SUV. I don't know how they justify the gas. When my wife's Sonata went up and I couldn't fix it, we immediately went out and bought the new Focus for $14,000. Didn't want to put all the mileage on my truck and the Focus gets over twice the mileage compared to the truck. The Focus is a lot easier to fix too. Just cannot see using my truck as my main vehicle if I don't need it to haul stuff almost everyday.

At the end of the day, needing a car and/or truck just sucks. Wish I had 10 acres of woods behind my house. Scratch that. Wish I had 50 acres of woods and 150 acres of fields. Then, I wouldn't have to leave home to hunt or cut wood. A nice shopping/strip mall right around the corner would be nice too. LOL Guess I can't have everything I want.

 

[OhioBurner©]

A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck

Agreed, no shame in being a SUV with a child seat driving single axle trailer towing scrounger. Congrats on the kid.

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab. Picked up a Craig's List scrounge today with my wife, 2 kids, and parents in the truck. Me, my dad, and my son went and got measured for tuxedos for my brother's wedding in 2 months. Then, we went and got the wood. Oh yeah, I have 2 baby seats in the F350.

I will also agree that the days are long, but the years are short. My oldest is already 4 years old and I cannot believe it.

Thats what I was going to say ;-) My regular cab F150 wasnt going to cut it when my son was born... we struggled with it for a while... bought the smallest car seat we could find and still was cramped and very difficult to reach the shifter, had to skip 4th gear usually...

So after we sold our house that was on the market the wife gave me permission to buy the 350 crew cab long bed :coolgrin:

Good luck with the new suv trailer combo I'm sure it will work well, just dont go to heavy on it... I'd reccomend checking the ratings on the tires just to be sure what load rating they are and keep a close eye on the pressure when your hauling of course. I've got a 6x10 thats built like tank but only 3500# axle and tires... want to upgrade it to 6,000# and put taller sides on it but the upgrade would cost more than I spent on the trailer I think.

 

[JDC1]

A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck

Agreed, no shame in being a SUV with a child seat driving single axle trailer towing scrounger. Congrats on the kid.

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab. Picked up a Craig's List scrounge today with my wife, 2 kids, and parents in the truck. Me, my dad, and my son went and got measured for tuxedos for my brother's wedding in 2 months. Then, we went and got the wood. Oh yeah, I have 2 baby seats in the F350.

I will also agree that the days are long, but the years are short. My oldest is already 4 years old and I cannot believe it.

I scrounge w/ the kids in my crew cab as well. If they are good (quiet) I will grab milkshakes when I am done. People think it is funny when I show up, fire up the saw and the babies just sit in their car seats and watch. As soon as they are able to they will help load.

 

[fabsroman]

A SUV and a trailer are every bit as capable (if not more, at times) than a truck

Agreed, no shame in being a SUV with a child seat driving single axle trailer towing scrounger. Congrats on the kid.

Or you can just go with a F350 crew cab. Picked up a Craig's List scrounge today with my wife, 2 kids, and parents in the truck. Me, my dad, and my son went and got measured for tuxedos for my brother's wedding in 2 months. Then, we went and got the wood. Oh yeah, I have 2 baby seats in the F350.

I will also agree that the days are long, but the years are short. My oldest is already 4 years old and I cannot believe it.

I scrounge w/ the kids in my crew cab as well. If they are good (quiet) I will grab milkshakes when I am done. People think it is funny when I show up, fire up the saw and the babies just sit in their car seats and watch. As soon as they are able to they will help load.

Oh, I am patiently waiting for the day the kids can contribute more around here. The oldest is already getting me sodas from the fridge in the kitchen and garage and she is learning what tools are and giving them to me. She actually carried some wood for the stacks the other day. Can't wait until they can load the wood in the truck, help stack it, and mow the lawn. Of course, it will come with the regular bickering that my dad still complains about that he endured between me and my two brothers, but for some reason he almost always brought us along to cut and haul wood.

 

[JDC1]

I think that a valuable part of a childs education is learning how to do manual labor. I am in my early 30s and amazed at how little my buddies know when it comes to maintaining a household.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

I saw someone hauling wood attached to a minivan the other day. I boggled.

~Rose

 

[fabsroman]

I think that a valuable part of a childs education is learning how to do manual labor. I am in my early 30s and amazed at how little my buddies know when it comes to maintaining a household.

Yep. I am an attorney/CPA and most people are amazed that I know how to work on my house, work on my cars, build up and maintain my bicycles, do almost all the work on my guns and hunting equipment, etc. They are literally shocked. Me, I am shocked that people pay $100 a week to have their grass cut, or $1,000+ for a car repair, or $1,000+ for home repairs.

Went over a friend/client's house in April to go over his tax returns and some shingles had come off his roof. He was shocked that I knew how to repair them. Then, I was shocked that he didn't own a hammer. We went to the local hardware store, bought a hammer and some roofing nails (I was shocked that he thought we could use his 3" narrow head nails for shingles), and then I fixed the shingles for him. He also tells me what he pays for car repairs and it is crazy.

I learned the basics from my dad and now with the internet I am learning a heck of a lot more.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

Absolutely! I was positively boggled that my husband had NEVER USED A CHAINSAW before yesterday. I just stared at him in abject horror and asked, "But, what did your family do when a tree limb fell down? Or you needed firewood? Your parents live out in the country! They have two fireplaces!"

"We called the tree service people. Or Dad did it."

-50000 guy points. And then he tried to use it wearing flip-flops and I seriously considered if that was grounds for divorce. I cannot believe I married such a city boy! And didn't even KNOW it! *sigh* This is what I get for moving out of Texas.

I think I was 12 the first time my dad let me use a chainsaw (not by myself, obviously, just "this is a chainsaw, this is the chainbrake, this is the release trigger, this is the trigger, hold it like this, saw the log in half, etc"). I know I was younger than that when I used the table saw or the recip saw or the jigsaw or basically anything that could have sliced my hand off. I was 6 the first time he took me hunting and could barely even lift the shotgun. I'm pretty good with anything involving construction or wood (or at least know the general theory and can figure it out from there). Am slightly hopeless when it comes to cars but at least I know a good mechanic when I see one and know when I'm getting ripped off, compared to some of my friends who'll pay $500 for new brakepads.

~Rose