How big are your tires? HF has two, and 8 inch for ~200 and a 12 inch tire full 4x8 bed trailer for ~250.
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have the 12" one and have been pleased so far.
The "fold" facter is nifty... slightly inconvenient (in the flat position, you are supposed to bolt the frame so it won't fold. i plan to replace the nut/bolts with pins.... or at least wingnuts.)
Took about an extra 100 to do all the title/inspection stuff since it's from a "kit" so consider the price $350.
We recently towed a 3 foot stack of plywood with a 4cyl saturn. (2000 LS?)
Dang, is this a serious newsgroup or what? :-) Thanks a bunch for all the answers - I'll have to post a binary of the "final solution." Might lose an eye to a flying rolling pin, but I think it'll be worth it :-).
OK, if you're considering a Ranger (Chevy S10, Dodge Dakota, Toyota Tacoma, etc, any of the small pickups), understand they don't come with an 8' bed. That means you'll be carrying stuff with the tail gate down, and have to secure it (ropes, etc). In addition, sheets of ply will have to be put across the fenders, they won't fit on the floor of the bed.
If you go to a full-size pickup (Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram) you can get an 8' bed (not in the Toyota Tundra, tho). To me the long bed is a worthwhile advantage, in that I can put 8' lumber, ply, etc in and not have to worry about tying it down. You may have to look for a long-bed, tho, because the "standard" size is a
6.5' bed, and they are much more common.
I would advise, whatever size truck you choose, that you get an extended cab model. Having that extra space so you can put your tools, duffle bag, or whatever _inside_ is extremely useful, and you will regret it if you don't have it.
Be aware that a fullsize pickup, extended cab, 8' bed, is a very long vehicle and can be a pain to maneuver (it takes 4 lanes of traffic plus a bit to make a U-turn with my F150, I don't even try to go thru the drive-thru at Wendy's).
hmmmm... must not have been that high.... (at least i hope not.... as it would have been three times the capacity of the trailer)
it was a mix of 1/2" osb and plywood...not sure how many sheets.
Perhaps i'm thinking how high it was from ground to top of load on the trailer. you know after busting butt loading it i may not have been thinking straight... ;)
Tue, Sep 23, 2003, 1:24pm (EDT-1) snipped-for-privacy@nospam.bigfoot.com (Al) says: just something reliable to move the wood..
Get you a decent full size pickup, something with a bench seat. Then you can take your old lady along, and strap her in right next to you, rather than a weeny little truck, with her sitting next to the opposite door. She'll think that's romantic, and you'll have someone to help with the plywood.
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my Taurus will take several 9' planks 8" wide completely into the car from the back of the trunk up to 3 or 4 inches from the dash and still let me close the trunk lid. If I'm only getting one or two, I can go up to 10' if I angle them up onto the dash. All wrapped where the boards touch something to keep the interior from getting ripped or gashed.
That's why I liked my old LeBaron. You could get 10' material under the dash on the passenger side and close the trunk. I can do that with the prelude if it has a little flex, like PVC pipe. 8' is no sweat. I used to load up my F body GMs too (Camaro/Firebird). I got a free propane fridge once (30 high, 24 wide, 25 deep) because I could get in the front seat of a Camaro. It took 3 tries, moving/reclining the seat and trying different orientations but I got it in. It was "first one to haul it away". I carried 15 2x4 8s in the Firebird. (closed up) Again it was "all you can haul away for free".
FWIW Al, I recently bought a 91 ford econoline work van. Reliable and tons of room. It will easily accomodate full 4x8 sheets. In fact, the distance from the back of the seats to the rear doors is about
10ft. I love the fact that I can go buy a bunch of stuff and unload it as I need it, or, if the weather is bad, wait until the weather improves to unload.
I have a 96 ford windstar, and you can carry a 4x8 sheet in the back with the 2nd and 3rd row seats removed, but the door will NOT close. Its close though, with just one sheet. The more sheets, the higher the door is open. I hold the door closed with a rachet strap, either to one of the seat mounts if I'm carrying planks, or strapped around the passenger seat if sheet goods. The bad part about this, is there is NO good place to hook it to the door. There is just the plastic loop thats used to close it from the inside. I'm sure that someday, this will pull out.
I'm seriously considering a trailer, either find a used one, or build one. I have the towing package option on my van, so I can look for a heavier duty trailer than normal.
"Pops" is right. I've got a '93 long bed GMC Sierra farm truck that has been loaned out to almost everybody in the neighborhood at least once. It's made more trips to the dump than I have, moved more furniture than I own, and even spent a weekend or two touring Salt Lake City and Wendover while I stayed home slaving over a hot table saw.
I used to have an 87 Caddy Fleetwood. half sheets of ply would go _flat_
*inside* (as in 'close the lid' inside) the trunk. Had enough cubage to carry _at_least_ 20 half-sheets of 3/4", although I never had more than about 10 in it at any given time. Once, I also transported a full 10' section of industrial (steel) scaffolding, entirely _inside_ the vehicle. two 5' _square_ end-pieces, two circa 30" x 10' 'platforms', and the roughly 11' long cross- braces. At least two full sections would have fit, but one was sufficient for my needs at that time -- and that stuff is not inexpensive to rent. The scaffolding company looked at me *real* funny, when I showed up with a *only* a car, to pick up the rental.
Al, I have posted some pictures in the binaries group showing one way to solve your problem with a compact truck.
If you do get a compact truck, be sure to get heavy duty suspension and a decent sized engine. Some of the base models with four cylinders aren't rated for much more than two big passengers and a basket of laundry.
The following is my blather that goes with the pictures in the binaries group......
There are many ways to move wood, here's what works for me using a compact pickup. Since the truck was going to run with one or two passengers and no cargo over 90% of the time, I didn't want to get a full sized truck so decided to make a small truck work for me.
One important criteria was to be able to carry 4 x 8 foot sheet goods flat, as most of you know the average compact pickup doesn't have 4 feet between the wheel wells.
There are 4 pictures associated with this post. See alt. binaries.pictures.woodworking if you are interested.
Carrier: Shows the sheet goods carrier in the back of my compact pickup. It is 1x construction with butt joints glued and screwed and gussets in the corners. All screws within cutting depth of a skill saw from the top were removed. 3/4 plywood would work nicely too. 2x lumber would be unnecessarily heavy to handle. It has one cross piece for structural stability and sheet goods support. It needs one, more would reduce the utility of the storage spaces under the sheet goods. This bed liner has holes cut in it so I can use the tiedowns. It came that way, but if it didn't I would have cut them myself.
Cutting: Shows the carrier on short saw horses so it can be used as a sacrificial cutting table. You might be able to see some of the many cuts into the top edge. A few more projects and I will cut off the top 1.5 inches and replace it. I will also lower the top gussets so they aren't in the way of cutting or replacing the top edge. The saw horses and carrier have matching notches so they form a secure table when the carrier is set on the saw horses. The saw horses need to be will cross braced to they won't collapse when you wrestle heavy stuff on and off the carrier. You can also drag the thing across the floor to move it if you notch it right.
Assembly: That is a sheet of 5/8 plywood on top of the carrier to serve as an assembly table. 1/2 plywood felt too flimsy, 3/4 was a paint to move around. The top is indexed to the carrier with cleats. It's not a stiff super flat torque box assembly table, but is is real handy. I have assembled 200+ pound caseworks on the table and wrestled them on and off the table by myself without knocking the table over. 1/2 plywood felt too flimsy, 3/4 was a pain to move around. The top is 4 feet x 6 feet 9 inches. I would have made it 4 x 8 feet except my storage space wasn't tall enough.
Stowed: It stows against the wall between the end of a row of storage cabinets. You can see the cleats on the bottom of the top that locate it on the carrier.
I don't think construction technique or materials matter as long as you build a stable system that isn't too heavy to handle. Also note that no fasteners are required to use the system in it's three modes.
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