How do you get your wood home?

On the job even owning a pickup truck I sometimes get wood delivered to me. It might cost you 20 or 30 bucks a trip, but owning a truck sure cost some $$$$. Just how much ply do you use a year? It might even be cheaper to rent a truck for a day…

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I just borrow my Wife’s minivan which (just) allows a 4’ wide sheet to pass and the length is 9’. I still have to take out 2 captian’s chairs and a bench seat. I drive 32 miles one way for work and I have to drive a car that gets 30 mpg. I was spending over $60.00/tank of gas when the prices were high.

-- St. Louis - just a cut away from finishing!

I have a 6’ bed Toyota Tacoma with a Thule Xsporter retractable overhead rack. I used to carry my solid stock in a Subaru Outback, but the wood was taking a toll on the interior, so I went back to a truck. The rack is 68” rail to rail, and is quite capable of carrying 14’ stock. My wife and I also like to kayak, the boats go on the same rack as the lumber…

I also have a 5×8 enclosed utility trailer, that I use for sheet good pickups, rainy day and winter wood runs, deliveries, and remodeling debris. The trailer would be more useful if it were 5 (or 6)x12, since most solid stock is racked in 12 foot lengths at my dealer, but I was limited by tow capacity when I bought it. When I purchased the trailer, I owned a Jeep Wrangler and the Outback, limiting me to a 2000 pound tow. Even within limits, the Wrangler is the world’s worst tow vehicle… <g>

If you go with a car, a 5×8 open trailer would be reasonbly inexpensive. I’ve seen them for $5-600, brand new. I used to have a 4×8 open, but sheets of MDF would get stuck in it! <g> I don’t like the really cheap trailers sold by Harbor Freight, etc… as in my experience, they are too light to track well .

There’s also the option of rental trailers, delivery, and “Load N Go” rentals from the big boxes.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

A roof rack works just fine for me, but the one time I needed a load of drywall I opted to rent Home Depots big truck, super cheap.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

I have three pick ups ( self employed, roofing), all with lumber/ladder racks and a open 5’ x 8’ trailer. The trailer wood work well if all I had was a car. Cheap, lower insurance, less maintenance and can be used for other projects.

-- Ron Central, CA

In my Explorer I could fit a 4’ wide piece of plywood. My new car not so much. So I plan to just a) rent b) borrow or c.) pay for delivery.

I limit myself to 8 to 10 footers when it comes to lumber and stick them out of the hatch.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

I use a p/u truck, but have been thinking about a trailer. If all you neeed to pickup is wood in fairly small amounts (up to a half ton), I’d think about the trailer. Everything but a compact car is pretty much capable of pulling a small trailer.

-- -JimmyC...Clayton,NC- "Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave"

I’ve got an old pickup truck that I drive to the lumber yard and back and that’s about it.

Before we had that, I loaded everything into the back of my 2004 Pontiac Grand Am. The only problems I had where with sheet goods. I could never get anything 4’ wide in the car. However, once I was able to get tree bales of welded wire and 15 fence posts in the back. I had guys in trucks sitting, watching, and taking bets against me getting it all in and on the road. I did it, though.

-- He said wood...http://hickbyassociation.blogspot.com/

I haul it home in my truck. I also own three full sized pick-ups so I have a choice as to which one to use. But, if I tried to use my wife’s I am sure she would object since that one is definately not a working truck. But, to tell the truth, when it comes to hauling I could pack more in my old minivan, when I had it, than I can my pickup. I hauled loads of 16’ base, crown, and quarter round in it by opening the passenger window and could even shut the hatch.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

If you own a truck and it is paid for why incur a new bill. My truck is a 1999 and paid for. I could not live withoiut my truck. As for fuel effiency, how many tankfuls to recoup the cost of a new vehicle? Keep the truck and use the money saved to buy more wood.

-- Bill - If I knew GRANDKIDS were so much fun I would have had them first.

I built two roof racks for different cars and carried tons of wood over the years on them. The problem with the new cars is they don’t have the rain gutter rails the cars used to have to put the straps on. If your car does have a strap secure spot I’d build a roof rack. Really works good for me.

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

A had a Ford Ranger (‘93) that was a tough little truck. It did however lack cab space, an automatic tranny, 4X4, and a long bed. (It had a 6’ bed.)

So in late 2003, I went up in truck…

Fuel milage is not great (duh!), but that’s not why I got it. It has the extended cab, auto tranny, 4X4, and, most important, and 8’ bed. I do allot more than just woodworking, so if I need to haul machinery, concrete, stone, pavers, etc etc etc, I’m covered with a 14,500lb GCWR rating and 3000lbs capacity in the bed. (Already hauled 4500lbs of oversize riverstone in the bed with no problem.)

Gas prices will always change… Your needs will change rarely. JMHO.

-- Tom, St. Louis, www.RhodesWoodsmith.com

I have a mid-sized car and a small SUV. I kinda lean toward thinking I would rent a truck if I had to haul several sheets of 4×8 plywood or sheetrock.

I have to admit I have used a utility knife and straight edge to cut down a couple sheets of sheetrock while at a box store (after I paying for them). This particular store had a person monitoring cars leaving the enclosed yard area. The clerk would look at your sales slip and glance into your vehicle to make sure you weren’t making off with more than you paid for. I was not sure if the clerk would recognize what I had in the car was once a couple of full sheets of sheetrock. Anyway it worked out.

As I get more into woodworking, I seem to ponder with greater frequency, “just how am I going to get this or that home?” I could call a friend or my Brother to use their pickups or to ask them to help haul, but I don’t want to over do it.

Sheet goods can be rough on the interior of a car, so maybe renting a pickup is the way to go.

Dalec

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR WOOD HOME?

The same way firemen get to a fire

Big Red Truck…...:)

I also have the added difficulty of just wanting to go pick up like one or two sheets of ply on a whim. I might wake up on a Saturday morning and its sunny and warm and I decided to build a cabinet for my drill press to sit on. This past Saturday I picked up 10 board feet of red oak and made a coat rack/ shelf with some drawers. I didn’t know I was going to do that Friday night. Its nice to be able to just go and get your wood when you want as often as you want and not have to worry about getting a quantity worth the expense of a rental truck. I barely have room for a shop in my garage so a trailer is out of the question. Another issue I have is that I’ve never owned a car. Every vehicle I’ve ever had was a pickup. The thought of owning a car is scary, like I’m going to paint myself into a corner.

-- Wipe the blood stains from your blade before coming in.

I have a full size pickup, with a toolbox bed that is usually full and dirty.I use a landscaping trailer, which could probably be pulled behind a car, if it wasn’t loaded heavy, or SUV.

Last spring we traded the F150 for the E350 15-passenger van. I can get 12’ boards in there but they go between the 2 front seats. Since I deliver some of the stuff I make and we have 2 kids and 2 large dogs the van was a better fit for us. It gets the same mileage as I was getting in the F150 which beats the F150 when I had to use a trailer for delivering furniture.

We will be getting a roof-rack this summer once the canoe is done.

-- Rich, WNY, www.nyrockingchairs.com

I had a Camaro and an Impala with a hatchback. It’s amazing what you can fit in them.

In the Camaro I could actually fit a couple sheets of 4’x8’ plywood in there. It hung out the back by a couple of feet but no big deal.

In both I could fit quite a bit of lumber. Enough for one of two projects anyway.

Now I have a little Nissan Frontier pickup that works for anything.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I have a mazda 6 hatch-back, with the back seats folded down I can fit an 8 foot long board in the back. The trunk is not quite 4 feet wide so, when I need something in a sheet I take my husbands truck. I generally do smaller projects so there is enough room in my car.

I’ve got a Nissan Maxima with roof racks and two spare sheets of CDX to protect the veneers on any sheet goods I buy. Can’t really carry sheetrock, but will easily carry a couple o’ hundred bucks of ApplePly or veneered plywood for carcases, and since my shop is small I can’t really process more than that at a time.

I expect to buy a used small beater pickup in a year or two to replace this one, because I don’t have a commute any more, my sweety’s new car will be the road trip car, and the only thing we’ll use my vehicle for is lumber purchasing and hauling yard stuff.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

Every guy needs a truck.

Gotta have a truck and trailer personally…but that said, if you really want a car, how bout a 10ft trailer and a small trailer hitch? I’ve seen people pull ski boats behind smaller cars.

-- --Jack D - Southeast Missouri -- http://deltawoodworks.com

My full sized Trail Blazer does a fine job of carrying anything less than a sheet inside, if I have to, with back seats folded down (though they don’t go flat). On top, I can strap sheets of plywood if I need to, but my Brother keeps his 7×12 foot trailer at my house so I can just use that if I need to haul plywood or drywall.

I’ve also been known to use the Wifes’ little Kia Sportage to haul small things in, or on top of.

I’ve got this idea in my jumbled thoughts of making a wood carrier (more for sheet goods) that will fit on top of the Trail Blazer.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

I usually have The Lumberyard cut the plywood to a size it will fit in the van. Usually a rip at 2’, but maybe two crosscuts at 32” or so. I’ve carried 6 sheets of 3/4” ply by cutting off at least 2’ from the end and then putting it in the van.

I bought a battery (Lithium Ion) skill saw that allows me to cut down the ply if the lumberyard doesn’t have a panel saw. Lumber is stowed on the roof rack of the van. it usually collapse down to the sheet metal when loaded.

I borught 12’ long Corian home that way. The longest piece was 105” and was on edge between the front seets. The read door still closed.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

4 cyl make wonders !

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

I live half the time in a small town in the North Georgia Mountains, where if you don’t have a Gun or a Pick-Up, they will get you one. It’s a way of life! Also you can not have a standard exaust system;must make a little sound! Kind of makes you feel like “Dirty Harry” riding around town.
While in the high mountains of Colorado, we use a jeep and a flat bed trailer. Those people are too beset with themselves, it doesn’t matter.
The importance of your need will determine how you get it home.

-- Imagination is more important than Knowledge

Actually, if you live in Georgia and don’t have a gun or a pickup, you will be accused of being a communist or a Yankee. I use my 6 1/2 foot bed truck. If it’s raining, I have a 6×10 enclosed trailer. Of course at 5.9L I burn through a little bit of gas, but I can get from point A to B pretty quick.

-- I don't make mistakes, only design changes....www.dgmwoodworks.com

I have a Silverado, and it actually is great on gas. I’m getting 20 in the city.

-- Chip -- Manchester, Connecticut "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

I only have one vehicle…................A Dodge Dakota clubcab….......Haul lumber anytime I need to. Wife did tell me though…......”If you had a car you could quit buying lumber”.......... so I keep on truckin….......lol

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

Nice lookin Dodge ClosetGuy. CabinetMaster, keep on truckin ? Your showing your age dude.

I’m on my second Dodge Ram 1500. As gas prices increased, in 2006 I traded my ‘01 for a new Dodge Laramie 1500 Hemi with the multiple Displacement Engine. In a nutshell, when you drive steady with a lighter load, 4 cylinders cut out and your mileage increases. Last Summer as gasoline topped $4 per gallon I altered my driving habits and found that by staying withing the 70 mile speed limit, I was able to get 20 miles per gallon, even with the bed fairly well loaded. In fact on one 200 mile trip on highways with a 55 mph limit, I got 21.3 mpg.

I still have all the features of a full size truck that I need, including 20” tires and four wheel drive. As I make the 1400 mile long haul between Gainesville Florida and the Upper Peninsula, this better mileage keeps more cash in my pocket, rather than in the Arabs.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I have a ford taurus. I use homemade roof racks. composed of a one by four with a 1/8” steelplate inlayed into it to keep it ridgid. with 3 inch suction cups on each end. they are not pretty, but they are functionable.

-- Sean Buffalo, New York

I have an 1998 Camry with a roof rack with a 4×8 sheet of 3/4 ply bolted on. That’s where I carry most of my sheet goods. By folding down seats and pass throughs I am able to carry dimensional lumber. I also have a small trailer (4×5) that I can haul odds and end in; bales of insulation most recently.
For larger projects that requires less discriminating choices of wood, I pay the up charge for delivery. Usually end up fighting about some of the stock that is delivered.

-- Gary, South Central Wisconsin. So much to learn, so little time!

I have an old ford taurus. Combine that with a bolt on trailer hitch from JC Whitney, and a 4×8 trailer from them or harbor freight, and you are in business. You have a combination of a pickup truck when you want it, and the comfort of a sedan when you don’t.

-- "non illegitimis carborundum"

I once was like laflaone. My car out of college was a 1990 taurus. I could fit a 2ft wide piece of ply between the fenders and bungee the trunk. I then got a homemade 5×8 trailer with a $150 hitch on my taurus and that worked until 2001 when I got my first truck, f150 with a short box. Now 3 trucks later, I am in an 06 f150 after getting rid of the 04 diesel at 150k and $5 a gal. Still wish I had that 8ft bed, but with a 6×12 flatbed and a 7×16 enclosed I can haul most. At one time I had 5 trailers licensed to me at the same time. I got my first trailer in 1998 and have had 10 since. Does that sound like a problem? However I am down to 3 now, the 6×12 flat, 7×16 enclosed and the boat, but you can’t really count the boat trailer. :)

I’ve had pick-ups & full size blazers before. Right now I have 2 Blazers, a four door & a ZR2. I like them because they drive more like an automobile & still have room for some larger items. When I need to pick up 4X8 sheet goods or long items I use a Harbor Freight flat bed trailer. For camping & hauling household stuff I’ve made a knock down box with a fold-in-half top that is inserted into the stake pockets & is held in place with ratchet straps. I use it as a flat bed for picking up my lumber most of the time. It holds nearly a ton & is light weight & easy to move around. When knocked down the trailer tongue folds down & the trailer can be leaned up in the garage. It’s been working great for me for years. Here’s a link to the HF trailer & a photo.

HF Trailer

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

This is my lumber getter. Only attach it when you need it.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Well I have a “65 f-250 390CI (only part not factory) Gets 13 mpg empty and 12 mpg with a cord of wet fir. I get to work in a car but play in the truck, hunting, fishing gettin’ wood!

-- If at first you don't succeed...Don't try skydiving

I have always had a p/u or van for work. I have seen a trailer that folds to about 2 feet wide at Sears. If I didn’t have a P/U, I thought it would be the perfect thing to pull with a small car and be easily stored.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

In my 2006 Toyota Sienna Van if the items are less that 6’ long and/or the weather is bad. I measured the width before I bought the van, 4’ wide. In nice weather I use my ‘95 Chevy 1/2 ton with a 6 foot bed. My truck runs and looks like new so why get a newer one? The Sienna gets around 30mpg if you don’t drive fast and I’m retired so slow (55mph) can be an option. The truck gets 15mpg at best but it’s just a short haul truck so it doesn’t really matter.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

My 2004 Chevy Impala pulls a 5’ x 8’ trailer with ease. The trailer affords me greater capacity than my old full-size pick-up. And for the few times I really ever used my truck, I have a very comfortable ride with significantly better gas mileage for 95% of the time. A lightly used Impala costs $10-12k, a similarly slightly used full size pickup costs 60-100% more. The trailer cost me less than $1500 brand new.

Never thought I would give up my pick-up, but in retrospect I made a good decision (for me).

-- Just 'cause a cat has kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits.

Whats a car? One dem things with a back seat you might need twice a year?

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

After I get to the place to pick up lumber with my van, I just fold down the back seat, remove the two bucket seats, load up the lumber and/or plywood, lay the two bucket seats on top of the lumber, close door and away I go. Every thing is covered if the weather is bad. Never had a pick-up or trailer.

-- Ron in Osseo, Minnesota

spaids,
You say that your pickup is getting a little old. Is there something wrong with it? If not, why get rid of it?

This is what I drive everywhere. I paid $300 for it. 84 model, no a/c or ps, looks like crap, but it runs great.

I have another pickup I use to haul heavy loads with. I bought it new…... 31 years ago.

-- David, Southern Indiana

Well, I guess I’ll chirp up here.

Due to my business needs I had to have a mid-sized sedan for most of my life. You wouldn’t believe what I have hauled and where those cars have been taken on fishing trips. I have always carried a cloth bag in the trunk of the car containing (1) lengths of 1/4” nylon braided rope, (2) an old sleeping bag, and (3) some “S” hooks. The old sleeping bag was for padding the load so the paint on the side or roof of the car wouldn’t be harmed. The “S” hooks were for hooking onto various areas of the car, usually the four corner areas beneath the bumpers, and the rope was to tie down the load. I have hung wood off the side of a car. across the top of a car, and beneath the car. The beneath-the-car method is the most interesting. It was taught to me at a metal warehouse where I had bought some lengths of 10 ft. steel tubing and was trying to figure how I was going to get it home. The tubing was laid down together on the pavement and I drove over it lengthwise. The tubing was then tied to the bumpers at the front and back, lifting off the pavement. It worked beautifully! I have hauled long wood strips and boards this way too. There are many ways of lashing 4’ x 8’ sheets of plywood to the car roof. The first time I was faced with this I added four C-clamps to my bag. I could stack three or four sheets of plywood on top of the car (with the sleeping bag beneath) and clamp the four plywood corners together tightly. The C-clamps then gave me a place to tie on the ropes. I have even moved two large 6-drawer file cabinets by lashing them to the roof. Give me plenty of rope and I can haul almost anything with a car.

Now that I’m retired I have traded in the car for a truck.

Rufus

-- Always remember half of the people in this country are below average.

Don’t know how others do it….I go east on 82 then north on 259 out to the country to my place. By the way, I do that in my truck

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas

stack it on top of the Honda, GMC, Ford,etc., on top of two ropes, each rope goes from back seat to back seat across the roof, another from front seat to front seat over the roof. Place enough timber on the roof of the accrod, the civic, the Neon until the roof metal slightly bends under the wieght of the lumber and or plywood. Take the four dangling ends of rope and throw them over the other side, on top of the lumber. Feel

Open all four doors of the sedan, get in the drivers seat and grab all four rope ends and pull them tight into the car and winch down on the ropes. Close first door with force while holding ropes, close second through fourth doors. The pinching action of the rope when the door is slamed on it, winches the ropes tight….?

Then drive slow and maybe stay off the highways?

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

I’d never owned a truck until 1999. My wife told me every car we had I tried to turn into a truck, with boards sticking out of the trunk, tied to the top, etc. Bought a F-150 in late ‘99 (2000 model). All I use it for is picking up wood, delivering projects, or hauling yard waste away, but it’s great to have. I’ve only got 26,000 miles on it, but it’s paid for and very convenient when I need to pick up sheet goods.

-- Randal, DeKalb, Illinois

I live in WV where the truck to adlut male ratio is 1.5 to 1.

-- DocK, WV