Drove 40 miles to scrounge.

[Danno77]

Well, not really like the subject says. Quick background. Sister lives in nearby town (40 miles is nearby where I'm from) and wife works there as well. Sister needs me to install keyless/remote start on her car, Wife needs to go into work to get ready for the new semester of classes. I figure I might as well bring the trailer because there is still wood for scrounging on every corner from an ice storm a few weeks ago. Brother-in-law reports that people are going crazy because the city is doing free wood pickup. I guess they think that the city is going to throw their 3000lb splits into a wood chipper, so they are chopping down entire trees.

Instead of driving the Aerio I decide to drive the Jeep with the trailer. I figure I can hold a 1/3 of a cord on the trailer (depends on wood weight).

Total driving yesterday is 95 miles. Averaging 14.8 is 6.42 gallons of gas. Gas last night was 1.809 per gallon. that means I spent 11.61 on gas.

Since I could have driven the Aerio instead, and averaged 26mpg, and would have only driven about 90 miles using 3.46 gallons. That means that I would have spent 6.26 on gas.

So that load of wood cost me about $5.35.

Wife and Sister were saying I should drive around town and get more wood and dump it in her lawn and come get it as I needed. I wasn't totally opposed, but I tried to explain to them that every bit of driving around cuts down on the "freeness" of scrounged wood. I was lucky, because the stuff I managed to get ahold of was all within two blocks of her house. Who knows how much in-town driving I'd have had to do to find more stuff worth grabbing!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It very well might pay you to rent a larger trailer so you could haul a cord of wood per trip. Put a pencil to it and see how it works out. Free fuel is great! But you do still have to see what it costs you especially when you have to haul long distance.

 

[Todd]

You drove 40 miles with that! :bug: Get some side rails on that trailer before something bad happens.

 

[Danno77]

what, you don't think those cinching straps are strong enough?

Anyway, I looked at renting trailers. Uhaul seems to be the only one way option around here. It costs 57 bucks to haul about 1.5 of what I'm hauling, and if I want to haul about a cord of wood then the only thing they have is an enclosed trailer that costs $101. I'd just as soon pay my wood guy to bring it all split and stacked at $45 a truckload.

I'm open to suggestions, though, so if I need to be going about this trailer renting thing differently, then someone help me out. I am looking for a newer more "gooder" trailer just haven't happened upon a good deal yet. I was told by a friend who's a contractor to look in the fall and early winter for a trailer because I'd get the best prices. When spring hits he says, everybody needs a trailer for yardwork or construction work.

 

[savageactor7]

Props to Danno for multi-tasking...I suppose you could double up on the load straps for insurance.

 

[Shari]

We bought a 4'x6' trailer last summer and just simply love it. Small enough to store, big enough to haul a face cord and not tax my tow vehicle (small SUV). Trailer has 2' metal solid sides, a checker plate solid floor, 14" tires and a drop down 2' tall tailgate. We put another 18" plywood sides on it but never stack that tall as the plywood sides are just for safety reasons so a cut round doesn't roll off. Because of the sides we don't have to tie any wood down. We paid $250 in July of last year - best investment next to our log splitter. Seriously, seriously consider replacing your trailer. Drive safe!

Shari

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Well, not really like the subject says. Quick background. Sister lives in nearby town (40 miles is nearby where I'm from) and wife works there as well. Sister needs me to install keyless/remote start on her car, Wife needs to go into work to get ready for the new semester of classes. I figure I might as well bring the trailer because there is still wood for scrounging on every corner from an ice storm a few weeks ago. Brother-in-law reports that people are going crazy because the city is doing free wood pickup. I guess they think that the city is going to throw their 3000lb splits into a wood chipper, so they are chopping down entire trees.

Instead of driving the Aerio I decide to drive the Jeep with the trailer. I figure I can hold a 1/3 of a cord on the trailer (depends on wood weight).

Total driving yesterday is 95 miles. Averaging 14.8 is 6.42 gallons of gas. Gas last night was 1.809 per gallon. that means I spent 11.61 on gas.

Since I could have driven the Aerio instead, and averaged 26mpg, and would have only driven about 90 miles using 3.46 gallons. That means that I would have spent 6.26 on gas.

So that load of wood cost me about $5.35.

Wife and Sister were saying I should drive around town and get more wood and dump it in her lawn and come get it as I needed. I wasn't totally opposed, but I tried to explain to them that every bit of driving around cuts down on the "freeness" of scrounged wood. I was lucky, because the stuff I managed to get ahold of was all within two blocks of her house. Who knows how much in-town driving I'd have had to do to find more stuff worth grabbing!

I've driven that far, but usually as a favor - tree blows down in a friend's yard, I cut it up and take it away. I'd probably do it but I can get just over a cord in my truck. I'd definitely do it if I had a decent sized trailer along with my bed load. 1/3 of a load at a time? No way.

 

[boostnut]

Macomb? I didn't realize you guys got hit that hard. We had limbs down but nothing the size of whats in your pics. Nice haul for 5 bucks.

 

[Danno77]

I don't know why Macomb looks like a war zone, because weather reports made it look like we got as much ice as they did, yet our town was just fine (sure, small stuff down here and there).

 

[bayshorecs]

Same around here. Maybe the amount of wind breaks. Some towns were fine but others got hammered.

 

[Wet1]

Are you sure that's a face cord? Looks like < 1/3 cord to me based on the picture.

 

[Danno77]

Are you sure that's a face cord? Looks like < 1/3 cord to me based on the picture.

yeah, I was waiting for someone to call me on that. A couple of those logs weighed quite a bit, so I'm thinking it's really probably like 1/4. We'll see once I get a couple of those bucked in half and it's all split. weight of the wood really makes a difference, I can have a completely full trailer or a half full trailer and they'll weigh the same depending on the wood. (but everyone here get's that already anyway).....

 

[free75degrees]

It very well might pay you to rent a larger trailer so you could haul a cord of wood per trip. Put a pencil to it and see how it works out. Free fuel is great! But you do still have to see what it costs you especially when you have to haul long distance.

I looked into renting a trailer once and it turned out that renting an entire moving truck was not much more. If I was going to rent anything and the size of the scrounge was large enough, I'd rent the truck and pick up a few cords at once.

 

[Danno77]

I looked into renting a trailer once and it turned out that renting an entire moving truck was not much more. If I was going to rent anything and the size of the scrounge was large enough, I'd rent the truck and pick up a few cords at once.

I checked that out earlier, too. It seems uhaul's biggest 26ft truck can hold 7,400lbs. and is only 88 bucks. not a bad deal, but would still require driving two vehicles home and having to drive that big thing around. Chances of me finding a good free load that I could back a 26ft moving truck up to are slim I would think.

Anyway, I wonder what would happen if I put a hitch on the back of the Aerio and towed that little trailer....Basic idea was this: I have been good about not making special trips for wood, I guess that's at least one benefit of how I've one it so far. Every trip I've grabbed wood on would have been made anyway, the wood is just a bonus I guess.

 

[Danno77]

LOL, some quick numbers for ya (maybe not complete....)

Uhaul route:

Drive Aerio to pick up Uhaul in Macomb = 1.5gal (and wife drives it home) +1.5gal. ($5.66)
Drive Uhaul back fully loaded = 6.67gal (5.66+12.06)
Rent uhaul for a day and one way (5.66+12.06+88)
Cost for 7400lbs of wood = 105.72


Driving Jeep with small trailer:

Drive Jeep back and forth 8 times (80milesx8=640miles) uses 43.54gallons of gas at 1.809 is 78.76 for 8,000lbs of wood.

So....
Uhaul = 70lbs of wood per dollar
Jeep = 101lbs of wood per dollar

(i know this doesn't even get into wear and tear on the jeep and trailer, nor the extra time spent making multiple trips, but you get the idea)

 

[iceman]

LOL, some quick numbers for ya (maybe not complete....)

Uhaul route:

Drive Aerio to pick up Uhaul in Macomb = 1.5gal (and wife drives it home) +1.5gal. ($5.66)
Drive Uhaul back fully loaded = 6.67gal (5.66+12.06)
Rent uhaul for a day and one way (5.66+12.06+88)
Cost for 7400lbs of wood = 105.72


Driving Jeep with small trailer:

Drive Jeep back and forth 8 times (80milesx8=640miles) uses 43.54gallons of gas at 1.809 is 78.76 for 8,000lbs of wood.

So....
Uhaul = 70lbs of wood per dollar
Jeep = 101lbs of wood per dollar

(i know this doesn't even get into wear and tear on the jeep and trailer, nor the extra time spent making multiple trips, but you get the idea)

why dont you rent a uhaul and do 3 trips in one day
our cost for a uhaul trailer is 15-18 bucks a day over in mass
even if a trailer is 30 bucks make a day outta of it. and get enough to equal it out

 

[Danno77]

why dont you rent a uhaul and do 3 trips in one day
our cost for a uhaul trailer is 15-18 bucks a day over in mass
even if a trailer is 30 bucks make a day outta of it. and get enough to equal it out

It's all in the fine print. those "teens" cost rates are for "in-town" moves and limit your miles significantly. In fact, those rates that I put up a few minutes ago are "one way" rates and they limit me to about 10 miles over the distance from the uhaul store in Macomb to the uhaul location where I live.

 

[Danno77]

Just a quick check in to say that i got that little trailer load split and stacked and it measures at almost exactly 1/4 cord (using cubic feet). 27x50x42 inches is 56700 cubic inches. a cord is 128cu ft (221,184cu inches). That basically works out to .256cords.

 

[myzamboni]

check into United Rentals and rent a 20' stakebed. It will handle alot more weight.

 

[JeffRey30747]

Your trailer looks a lot like the 40"x48" Harbor Freight trailer that my Dad has. We left the light kit off of it and pull it behind the ATV to scrounge wood in places that even my tractor won't go. Ours has sideboards on it made from scrap tongue and groove ceiling boards. It wouldn't take much to put a serviceable set of side boards on your trailer. Two foot high should get you close to the 1/4 cord you are hauling now and you could probably get that out of one sheet of plywood/OSB plus some standards made from a scrap pallet or two. If you went much higher than that weight could be a concern.

 

[Danno77]

check into United Rentals and rent a 20' stakebed. It will handle alot more weight.

closest U.R. is about 115 miles away.

 

[KarlP]

Uhaul seems to be the only one way option around here.

Why the heck would you rent the trailer one way? Its like $25 for a trailer rental if you pickup and drop off at the same location. Rent it near your house and drive it there and back a few times.

 

[Danno77]

Uhaul seems to be the only one way option around here.

Why the heck would you rent the trailer one way? Its like $25 for a trailer rental if you pickup and drop off at the same location. Rent it near your house and drive it there and back a few times.

same point pickup and dropoff with uhaul is 30 bucks for a day of use and it only holds almost 2x as much as my dinky trailer (weight-wise). I might try it, but I wish it was capable of hauling more. If I worked hard I could probably get two cords of wood in a day (4 trips?) that would be 80x4=320 miles. 320 miles averaging 15mpg (probably less, actually) is 21 gallons of gas is 40.53 cents. so I'd be paying about 70 bucks for 2 cords of wood. so basically that's about 114pounds of wood per dollar. thats better than my trailer estimates above, but not by much.

 

[TreePapa]

Uhaul seems to be the only one way option around here.

Check out local (non-chain) equipment rental yards. You should be able to get a better deal. I don't know about your specific area, but the local folks around here (the few remianing that haven't been gobbled up by the chains) give a much better deal.

Peace,
Sequoia

 

[Highbeam]

I run 50 miles each way to my woodlot. If transporting wood I always can manage an entire cord or more per trip. If I am just out there anyways then I just bring back whatever I can get in the truck in whatever time I have.

Mileage isn't a problem as long as you can haul a healthy amount of wood. Fuel is cheap now. Today's diesel is 1.89 which makes the fuel cost pretty insignificant.

Now the real trouble is cutting, loading, and unloading more than one cord in a day. That gets old real fast.