Im in my apt in charlotte, and dont have a truck with me… has anyone ever transported 100b.f. wood in a car? I have a 2009 jetta, the back seats drop down and maybe i could let it stick out the back of the trunk. I'd rather not rent a truck cause the trip to the lumber yard is a bit of a drive (1.5-2 hrs, also a concern). Anybody done this, think it is a terrible or not gonna happen, or have a better solution? im not so sure itll work…
its gonna be ash, which is 41 lb/cubic foot, so 100 b.f. / 12 = ~9.5 9.5*41 = 390lbs. i think that would be ok, i mean thats 2 good size guys sitting on the trunk.
Unsurfaced boards come in lengths up to 10 feet, sometimes longer. It's not the
weight of 100bf that should be a concern so much as how much is sticking
out the back.
I've put about 120 bd ft of oak in my Toyota rav4 prior to having a trailer and a van. I had to cut most of the boards to 60" lengths to fit them in but for me that was ok because that was the size that I needed. I think that was pushing the weight limit but all ended up fine. I wouldn't make a habit of it but that is way I bought a Ford E150 van.
You gonna store 100 bd ft in your apartment?
You need a roof rack, if you only have a car they're worth the money. I wouldn't carry that much lumber in the trunk, even though it is no more then the weight of two decent sized guys it is spaced where your FWD car isn't meant to have it. It will actually do quite a bit to upset your handling because the weight isn't balanced over the rear wheel or between the front and rear where it really should be.
I've kept track, over the years (boredom), and … by my tally … when a question starts with-basically-"Is it a good idea to …." 72.3% of the time, the answer is "No."
;-)
Yeah. HF trailer, a receiver on your car, and a lifetime of big lumber purchases !
From the crushed picture above your Jetta seems smaller than my Sante Fe - but I've hauled at least that much or more in my Sante Fe. With the seats folded down (the front seat does not lay flat) I can rest the boards on the dash and get quite a lot in. I do this quite often because when I do get a chance to go the hardwood yard, I take every advantage and get as much as I can. With that said, my Sante Fe is one model that the rear window opens - so I can stick a little out that if I have to. I also make sure that I bungee cord the stacks together and I put a piece of ply between the passenger seat and my center console so that if the boards shift in transit - I have a little protection from in. I also tie the read window latch to the boards to keep it from flopping in the air stream. Of course most of my boards are cut to 8 foot by the yard - they only sell the 10 footers in 8/4 size and I seldom use 8/4.
I also would like to know where you plan to store 100 bf in an apartment. That's a lot of lumber!
i think im gonna drop the rear seat down and try and put most of what i can in the trunk, with it open yet tied shut. For the long pieces i think im gonna bring a blanket for my roof and maybe put a few pieces on top. what ever else ill cut so itll fit, (ill just up my waste calculation little). As for the apt, ill be storing it in my extra bedroom/studio/soon to be lumber storage haha, until i get it to the woodshop.
I have an older BMW323i with fold-down seats that is probably a very similar size as a Jetta. I often make trips to a local lumber dealer that is close to work, but usually limit purchases to ~50bf at a time. I fold the front seat all the way back. Some times I have to remove the headrest.
A 10' board will fit if it tucks under the glove box. However, this forces the board to tilt upwards towards the trunk. This would limit the thickness to about 3" before it is limited by the trunk height. At 10' long by 3" high and 18" wide, this would be only 45bf and a very tight fit.
An 8' board can be placed on top of the dashboard and tilts down torards the trunk. This allows a stack that is possibly 12" tall by 18" wide and 8' long or 144bf. They start getting hard to slide in as the stack gets taller. It is also a lot of weight to have sitting on the dash. I am not suggesting that is is a good idea, just mentioning that it may be physically possible to fit. It would be best to add support blocks so most of the weight is on the seats instead of the dash. Make sure to tie the load down so it does not shift around during turns and sudden stops.
Another option might be to remove the front passenger seat and possibly even the fold-down portion of the rear seat. This would clear out most of the obstructions so that everything becomes easier to fit. If you can do this, then I would think that 100bf made up of 8-10' long boards would be no problem.
Cutting the boards into 4-5' lengths is also an easy option if it works for you.
btw: all of these options that I have mentioned include the trunk lid closed on my car.
In the old days, I used to put boards diagonally from the rear window behind the driver to out the passenger window over the mirror. The passenger seat would need to be laid down for this to work, and no other passengers could be in the car. It's not ideal, but sometimes you just have to be creative and make do.
I once put an apartment kitchen of cabinets in my Ford Aerostar minivan and transported it 125 miles to the install. I had to remove all the seats except the driver's and it was full full full. I won a bet with that one!
I have a 2001 Escort 2 door and this is what I do.
First I move the front seat all the way up and tilted all the way back. Next I fold the rear seats down.
With the seats like this I can get full 8 ft lumber in the car with the lumber pushed all the way to the dsahboard (just make sure you protect the dash if you care about it). Longer pieces hang out the trunk and are secured with rope and bungees. Use those red flags also!
The weight of the wood shouldn't be a problem. If you're not sure, you can check the load capacity of the car. The tag on the door edge or door post will have tire and load info.
darn it, dbhost, I hunted for that pic so I could post it. Did you know there were 15 bags of portland cement in the back seat? I almost thought we were going to be set up for a joke by the OP.
The coolest load I ever saw was a 35' (+/-) telephone pole which a friend of mine brought home from a construction site….winched UNDER a '78 full-size Bronco that had a 10" lift kit and 31" tires. He simply straddled over it, and hitched it with come-alongs to each bumper. Took it 45 miles down the interstate, with no problems, and yes there was flags fore and aft…
I gotta ask.. Why lift a '78 Bronco to put 31" tires under it? That rubber will fit a 78 FSB with no mods at all… 10" of lift would get you 37" rubber with no fender trimming, 40" with…
I'm sure my friend could have put the original 15" tires back on it, but… wouldn't that look silly? Come to think of it, I bought his 15" tires/rims for my 79 F-100. (I'll confess, though, that 10" lift may have been the total lift of the tires plus lift kit. Been a long time.) Red Neck? Nahhh…Red Neck would be trying to put the 35' pole ON TOP of the Bronco, Haw!!! Nick: this had to be approx 1982, in the dark ages before cameras were everywhere! Jeez, I was still using an Instamatic back then!
I've hauled about 75 board feet before in my Chevy Malibu with the front and rear seats folded down. The boards stuck out a couple feet out the back of the car, but I just stapled on one of those red plastic flags.
I now have a small truck, but my three previous cars were all mid-sized sedans, and I put way more than 390 lbs on those in all sorts of horrible ways. As others have mentioned, I think length is your real issue, but if you fold down the. front seat and go from the passenger foot area to the rear window you should be able tomanage 8' lengths. 100bf in 8' lengths is just a bit over a foot by a foot, so if it's in 6" wide boards you just lay 'em 3 wide and end up with 8" deep on your front seat. No worries.
If you stick them out the trunk, tie a red flag to 'em just to be legal, but I don't see a oroblem.
If your front seat doesn't fold down you can always unbolt it, if the bolts are easily accessible. Hey, if you do decide to load up your car with 100 bf of lumber, don't forget to take pictures!
This is better than the comics in the Sunday paper!
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