Use Uhaul truck to transport 2 cords?

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I

illini81

Feeling the Heat
Apr 7, 2017
376
Southeastern CT
So I’ve been watching Craigslist like a hawk, looking for truly seasoned wood. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to buy truly seasoned wood in my area is to buy it from a homeowner. I just found someone selling 2 cords of three year seasoned oak and hickory. They’re about 25 miles from me.

I was the first to respond to the post, and so the wood is mine, as long as I can get it. The trouble is, I don’t have a truck. Up until now, I have gotten quite a bit of wood just dumped on my property from people who don’t want it (friends, neighbors, etc). I’ve also borrowed trucks a few times.

I don’t feel bad borrowing a truck for a few quick trips in town, but I’d feel bad borrowing a truck for a job that would take me probably six trips and would involve highway driving.

Has anyone ever rented a Uhaul to pick up wood? Since the wood is seasoned, I’m estimating that it weighs 5-7000 lbs total. I’ve heard up to 7,000 lbs for a wet cord of oak, and also that wood loses half it’s weight when it dries. So that would be a max of (2 cords) x (7,000 lbs) x (1/2) = 7,000 lbs.

Uhaul lists a max load of 6,385 lbs for their 15’ truck. I would imagine there’s a fairly significant safety factor on that number.

Am I crazy to be considering this? Has anyone else used Uhaul to transport wood?
 
Long ago, I had some friends who were mobile service techs for U Haul. U Haul had specific language in the contract to prohibit hauling firewood. They on occasion would end up with trucks with bent frames caused by hauling wood. Maybe things have improved over the years?. I would expect more than a few folks say the heck with it and do it anyway.
 
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homedepot also has rentals.
 
Home Depo, Baby dumps, 1 ton , better choice is if you could rent a dump trailer and barrow a pick-up to tow it.
 
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peakbagger said:
Long ago, I had some friends who were mobile service techs for U Haul. U Haul had specific language in the contract to prohibit hauling firewood. They on occasion would end up with trucks with bent frames caused by hauling wood. Maybe things have improved over the years?. I would expect more than a few folks say the heck with it and do it anyway.
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That makes sense to me. I wonder though if that is because the trucks can hold enough wood to significantly exceed their weight capacity? For example, a 24' truck has enough volume to hold just over 11 cords, which would weigh around 11 x 3,500 lb = 38,400 lb if dry. However, it only has a weight rating of 6,500 lb. People probably aren't putting 11 cords in a Uhaul, but even two or three unseasoned cords would significantly exceed the weight rating.
 
My local hardware store has a 1 ton pickup and a dump trailer they rent out. And I've seen a large skid loader stuffed in that dump running around town before. I don't know if you have anything like that near you or not.
 
I would look first to a landscape or snowplow guy, they're pretty slow right now, maybe you could go with them, help load, etc - ???
 
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mike van said:
I would look first to a landscape or snowplow guy, they're pretty slow right now, maybe you could go with them, help load, etc - ???
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I had the same thought. I found a place that advertises that they do stuff like this. I offered to help with loading. They said it would be $275.
 
Got a buddy thats got a diesel? Go rent a big dump trailer and getter done! If you snooze you are going to lose..
 
My husband and I used to use a U-Haul cargo trailer to move wood on occasion. We never even put a full cord of oak in, however, because it would be easy to overload the weight limit for the trailer or the tow vehicle (in our case a mini van) by using the full capacity of the trailer. We were also careful to keep the weight distributed more to the front and less to the back.

In our area the cargo trailer was about $15.00 for a day, no mileage charges. It was worth it for us to have a hitch put on our van to take advantage of getting wood when homeowners decided to get rid of it. We always cleaned out the trailer with a broom and leaf blower before returning it. If you have a way to tow, you could probably do three trips with a cargo trailer.
 
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illini81 said:
So I’ve been watching Craigslist like a hawk, looking for truly seasoned wood. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to buy truly seasoned wood in my area is to buy it from a homeowner. I just found someone selling 2 cords of three year seasoned oak and hickory. They’re about 25 miles from me.

I was the first to respond to the post, and so the wood is mine, as long as I can get it. The trouble is, I don’t have a truck. Up until now, I have gotten quite a bit of wood just dumped on my property from people who don’t want it (friends, neighbors, etc). I’ve also borrowed trucks a few times.

I don’t feel bad borrowing a truck for a few quick trips in town, but I’d feel bad borrowing a truck for a job that would take me probably six trips and would involve highway driving.

Has anyone ever rented a Uhaul to pick up wood? Since the wood is seasoned, I’m estimating that it weighs 5-7000 lbs total. I’ve heard up to 7,000 lbs for a wet cord of oak, and also that wood loses half it’s weight when it dries. So that would be a max of (2 cords) x (7,000 lbs) x (1/2) = 7,000 lbs.

Uhaul lists a max load of 6,385 lbs for their 15’ truck. I would imagine there’s a fairly significant safety factor on that number.

Am I crazy to be considering this? Has anyone else used Uhaul to transport wood?
Click to expand...
Just sweep it out when done ,,, loading and unloading will be a pain in the ass but that's on you LOL. Weight-wise I don't think that would be a big issue as long as you keep the center of gravity as low as possible. They do build a substantial safety factor in that so I would think five to seven hundred pounds is not going to hurt anything.

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uhaul also rents pickup trucks, many big rental companies like enterprise also rent 3/4 ton and larger pickups. Availability in certain areas is hit or miss.
 
I used a U-Haul truck about 10 years ago to move some wood. I just swept it out diligently, and there was never a problem.
 
trguitar said:
I used a U-Haul truck about 10 years ago to move some wood. I just swept it out diligently, and there was never a problem.
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Another option would be to go on Craigslist and find a guy with a pickup truck in a dump trailer to load it and deliver it and dump it that way you can have a flat price for the truck labor and everything included and getting it to your property. Usually you can find somebody that's laid off that would work very inexpensively and it could help you out


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Some sympathy for your issue. However, I cannot image life without a pickup or utility trailer. Both is even better, and a cargo trailer too.

If you were to possess a pickup or trailer, you would not have to fret over such an issue. In fact, you could very easily get a few years ahead on your firewood pile.

Plan your life, and live your plan.
 
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BoiledOver said:
Some sympathy for your issue. However, I cannot image life without a pickup or utility trailer. Both is even better, and a cargo trailer too.

If you were to possess a pickup or trailer, you would not have to fret over such an issue. In fact, you could very easily get a few years ahead on your firewood pile.

Plan your life, and live your plan.
Click to expand...

100% understood. Unfortunately a pickup isn't in the cards right now. However, without one I will be up to about 15 cords of wood after I figure out how to get the 2 cords from CL, so it's working out ok. The trouble is that I only started getting wood 9 months ago, so none of it is seasoned.

My eventual plan is to do exactly what DuaeGuttae suggested - set up a minivan for towing. Although I will probably buy a trailer instead of renting one. Seems like it is very easy to find free wood within 5-10 miles from my house, so i think the minivan will do just fine with small loads and multiple trips.

I already have a backlog of wood that I'm going to have to start turning away - my next door neighbor has about 5 cords of oak he just cut down that he is willing to dump on the edge of my property, the mother of a friend of mine just took down 3 oak trees - I'm not sure how much wood, but I'd imagine there's a lot - and she said it's all mine, and a coworker's neighbor just took down an oak that he may or may not want (can't make up his mind). But again, the problem is that none of it is seasoned... Just. need. to. get. ahead...
 
BoiledOver said:
Some sympathy for your issue. However, I cannot image life without a pickup or utility trailer. Both is even better, and a cargo trailer too.

If you were to possess a pickup or trailer, you would not have to fret over such an issue. In fact, you could very easily get a few years ahead on your firewood pile.

Plan your life, and live your plan.
Click to expand...
Yes agreed, one pickup truck 6 trailers for all different purposes. I don't know what I would do without them.

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Rent a uhaul that can handle the weight then just clean it out really well, I used a leaf blower. It's the only way that makes sense money wise. I'd do it again if the situation arose.
 
weatherguy said:
Rent a uhaul that can handle the weight then just clean it out really well, I used a leaf blower. It's the only way that makes sense money wise. I'd do it again if the situation arose.
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What makes sense, to me anyway, is to own a utility trailer that can be used for transporting lawn tractors to and from the shop, bringing home a new refrigerator, moving furniture for friends and family, hauling firewood, going to the dump, trips to the lumber yard and landscape center to name a few uses. Maintained, they will last your lifetime.
 
How many miles would you be traveling? I wouldn't be overly concerned with the Uhaul weight rating...Consider those a safe suggestion. Or, put it this way, I've overloaded trucks at work (per the instruction of the driver) plenty of times by more than just a few hundred pounds...try a few thousand. Would I want to drive over weight loads like that? Not really...but it happens constantly.
 
illini81 said:
100% understood. Unfortunately a pickup isn't in the cards right now. However, without one I will be up to about 15 cords of wood after I figure out how to get the 2 cords from CL, so it's working out ok. The trouble is that I only started getting wood 9 months ago, so none of it is seasoned.

My eventual plan is to do exactly what DuaeGuttae suggested - set up a minivan for towing. Although I will probably buy a trailer instead of renting one. Seems like it is very easy to find free wood within 5-10 miles from my house, so i think the minivan will do just fine with small loads and multiple trips.

I already have a backlog of wood that I'm going to have to start turning away - my next door neighbor has about 5 cords of oak he just cut down that he is willing to dump on the edge of my property, the mother of a friend of mine just took down 3 oak trees - I'm not sure how much wood, but I'd imagine there's a lot - and she said it's all mine, and a coworker's neighbor just took down an oak that he may or may not want (can't make up his mind). But again, the problem is that none of it is seasoned... Just. need. to. get. ahead...
Click to expand...

We found that getting the maximum hitch for our van allowed us to use a U-Haul a few times while we watched Craigslist for what we wanted rating-wise on the used market. When a good utility trailer came up, we were immediately equipped to go buy it and tow it home. Once, though, when we needed to fix some wiring and had a good wood opportunity, we rented the cargo trailer for once again for 15.00. It’s great to be able to take advantage of free wood quickly when you’re a suburban scrounger.

Congratulations on getting so much wood dumped. We never managed that. We always picked up. Now, however, we live on land with lots of wood (and no stove).
 
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