How do you load your truck?

[GadDummit]

Ok guys, How do you get those huge stumps/trunks up in the truck?






I know I'm not Superman (Weenie armed pecker neck really...) but some stumps of oak I've cut that look like this weigh what must be 800 lbs. Holy cow! Is there some kinda pickup loader thingy you built to load up? Or is everyone but me just that ripped? :D


I'd love to bring home logs of that size and saw them up at my convenience instead of having to make 18-24" lengths out of them just so I can lift the suckers!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Only thing i know of is a lift gate.

 

[Ashful]

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Like this

 

[GadDummit]

Ohhhh, now I get it! I just needed to order my chainsaw with the Bobcat attachment!

I'm sure the wife won't notice another 30k or so. Now, about storage....

 

[Ashful]

If you're going to process big wood, you have two choices. Take your saws and splitter with you to process them on-site (which is what I used to do), or get a front-end loader capable of moving them. BTW, those FEL's you see on cat-0 sub-compact tractors are not capable of moving the sort of stumps you're discussing. That's cat-1 CUT minimum territory.

 

[GadDummit]

If you're going to process big wood, you have two choices. Take your saws and splitter with you to process them on-site (which is what I used to do), or get a front-end loader capable of moving them. BTW, those FEL's you see on cat-0 sub-compact tractors are not capable of moving the sort of stumps you're discussing. That's cat-1 CUT minimum territory.

Thanks Ashful! Yeah, that's probably not going to happen. I'd get a tractor, then lose a wife. It'd be a win/win for about a week until I my sap started a-risin' then I'd be wishin I had the wife and no tractor

I wonder if I can fab up some kinda lever that hooks on the trailerhitch, Load a heavy beast in it, put a seatbelt tied to it around the back tire, and zzzzip! Pull the truck forward and it'll dump it in the bed where I can move it around? Kinda like the ones that some folks use to load their splitters with a log from the ground.

Hmm...Spitballing a bit on it.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Iv hauled some 2- 3 hundred pound rounds without mechanical help. rolled em up a plank. youve got to cut em to 18In anyway before you split so do it at the worksite. if you want to rig up something ,theyve got those 55 gallon drum pump cranes that bolt to your truck bed.

 

[blades]

Iv hauled some 2- 3 hundred pound rounds without mechanical help. rolled em up a plank. youve got to cut em to 18In anyway before you split so do it at the worksite. if you want to rig up something ,theyve got those 55 gallon drum pump cranes that bolt to your truck bed.

But be sure to reinforce the the truck bed with a large heavy steel plate spanning the frame rails and such. bed steel by itself will just buckle.

 

[Highbeam]

If you're going to process big wood, you have two choices. Take your saws and splitter with you to process them on-site (which is what I used to do), or get a front-end loader capable of moving them. BTW, those FEL's you see on cat-0 sub-compact tractors are not capable of moving the sort of stumps you're discussing. That's cat-1 CUT minimum territory.

No need to haul a splitter. Just your saw and maybe a maul to turn even the biggest rounds into something you can lift into the truck. You will be noodling the rounds to split them down as needed. Split them smaller at home.

 

[GadDummit]

Iv hauled some 2- 3 hundred pound rounds without mechanical help. rolled em up a plank. youve got to cut em to 18In anyway before you split so do it at the worksite. if you want to rig up something ,theyve got those 55 gallon drum pump cranes that bolt to your truck bed.

Mine are cut 24-30" due to a big fat fireplace (ahhh the warmth!) so they get pretty heavy even before splitting. You must have been a big strappin' fella to roll those up a plank though!

But be sure to reinforce the the truck bed with a large heavy steel plate spanning the frame rails and such. bed steel by itself will just buckle.

Roger that. My truck is a 1962 GM with a wood plank bed, but it's got those heavy rails running along it. She's a tough old girl but I bet the steel plate will take some of the pressure off.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Ohhhh, now I get it! I just needed to order my chainsaw with the Bobcat attachment!

I'm sure the wife won't notice another 30k or so. Now, about storage....

I move alot of wood and for anyone that heats with wood i would always suggest some type of michene.. even an older on at an auction or CL. It just makes things so much easier. You never catche lifting logs. I get through my wood pretty quick with the help of the equipment i bring home

 

[saewoody]

I say just cut them to length before loading if you can. I had been grabbing a lot of log length stuff (4'-6') little by little and built up about 3 cords worth over the winter. But it makes quite a mess in the yard when you are cutting that much wood. I have limited space for processing, so I have decided to make the bulk of my mess somewhere else and then bring the cut wood home. As far as the pic you posted, pieces like that can be lifted so that they are standing on end and then top end can be laid onto the tailgate. Then pick up the bottom end and slide the piece into the bed. I have used that method a lot in the past. It always seems to be harder to get them out than it was to get them in though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bholler]

The few times i have taken stuff to big to lift i just take a maul axe and wedges and split off peices till it is small enough to load. But really i try to stay away from the big stuff

 

[VirginiaIron]

Ok guys, How do you get those huge stumps/trunks up in the truck?

View attachment 197678




I know I'm not Superman (Weenie armed pecker neck really...) but some stumps of oak I've cut that look like this weigh what must be 800 lbs. Holy cow! Is there some kinda pickup loader thingy you built to load up? Or is everyone but me just that ripped? :D


I'd love to bring home logs of that size and saw them up at my convenience instead of having to make 18-24" lengths out of them just so I can lift the suckers!

Open only ifins you are a "Weenie armed pecker neck", lol.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-with-cable-winch-60731.html

This is from our site page posted by MontanaLocal Post # 17

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pics-of-your-toys-work.161802/

 

[GadDummit]

Open only ifins you are a "Weenie armed pecker neck", lol.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-with-cable-winch-60731.html

This is from our site page posted by MontanaLocal Post # 17

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pics-of-your-toys-work.161802/

LOL! that crane is pretty neat, but I could see it bending my pickup box real bad. That other thing on post 17 is exactly what I was thinking!


Here's a direct link

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pics-of-your-toys-work.161802/#post-2175904


And a pic:





I invited Montana to stop in and let us know about it. Hopefully he'll come say hi!

 

[Dobish]

i load it up with little pieces so the tailgate touches the ground... then roll it up there

i actually gave up trying to get really big pieces in there by myself.

 

[Montanalocal]

Hi GadDummit, thanks for the reply.

I purchased this from Northern Tool for $499 plus about $100 freight here. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_650281_650281

They have them listed on Amazon for $392 plus $50 shipping. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FAKNM0/?tag=hearthamazon-20

They are rated for 500 lb. I like them because they slip right into a 2 in. receiver hitch with no welding or drilling. Having said this, I did have to do some modification to it. The motor/winch that it comes with does not work well in my opinion. It has limit switches that kept malfunctioning.

So, I took it off and purchased an ATV winch and installed it. It took some doing to fabricate a mounting plate for it, but I have that capability in my large shop. Once I had that good winch on it, it has worked great for several years for me.

As I have said elsewhere, I am 71 years old, and without this I would no longer be able to cut and load firewood.

 

[jetsam]

I bring saws and a trailer which is much lower to the ground, and buck everything up into stove length before loading.

If I had to load some of those rounds into a pickup, I'd bring a ramp and bolt a winch to the bed, and drag the rounds up the ramp with the winch. A green 36" x 18" oak round is heavy.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I bring saws and a trailer which is much lower to the ground, and buck everything up into stove length before loading.

If I had to load some of those rounds into a pickup, I'd bring a ramp and bolt a winch to the bed, and drag the rounds up the ramp with the winch. A green 36" x 18" oak round is heavy.

How much? 600 pounds or so?

 

[Ashful]

How much? 600 pounds or so?

Your guess is pretty darn close. White oak is 62 - 64 lb per cubic foot when cut live, depending on time of year. Red oak is not far off that number, if I recall.

So a 36" diameter x 18" round would be 10.6 cu.ft. = 668'ish pounds.

 

[bholler]

How much? 600 pounds or so?

to damn heavy That is why I don't go after stuff that big. To me it is not worth the effort. That and I can call my neighbor with his log truck to come get it and take it to the mill.

 

[Highbeam]

So a 36" diameter x 18" round would be 10.6 cu.ft. = 668'ish pounds.

Don't try and lift it all at once. 36" is easy peasy. Here's a 40" or so round at the end of the log that I took apart and hand loaded in a couple of minutes.

 

[Ashful]

I'd "like" that photo, if it weren't for the off-color saw.

Here's some 48" - 49" diameter x 20" long rounds I brought home whole, with the help of a grapple on an excavator, and a dump truck. I think each weighed close to 1500 lb.



Note proper colors on the saw.

 

[bholler]

Yeah i have no desire to deal with anything that size. I have plenty if access to nice small stuff