Advice on transporting large amount of lumber
My folks are thinking of having a cherry tree cut down in their yard. I am thinking about having it sawed up. I’ve done this before with a different tree and got some good lumber. The problem I’m facing is they live in Ohio, I live in Vermont. The prior tree transported smaller portions every time I visited in my pickup truck. I think the pile wore out its welcome at my parents house because it took about 2 years to move it all.
I’m looking for any advice on how to move this next batch of lumber in one trip (or two). My rough estimates of the first tree produced around 800 bf. (trees 30″ at stump & 40-60′ high). I have no idea how much this weights. If my little tacoma (v6- 5000lb tow capacity) can handle this, etc.
I’m bouncing around the idea of renting a uhaul truck or a trailer.
Has anyone out there done this?
I know it’s a lot of driving for lumber. But besides getting decent cherry, there is a sentimental value since it’s at the house I grew up at & aging parents….
Replies
Dried Cherry Lumber
Dried Cherry lumber weighs about 3 to 3.5 lbs per board foot, if you ship it green after sawing then significantly more - water is heavy. I think you should rent the truck, no use burning your own transmission.
We do this pretty frequently. We've made multiple long-distance trips in pickups, flown to rent trucks and had stuff shipped by truck. Commercial truck is the most cost efficient way we've found but it includes the problem of loading and unloading the shipment. One of our local lumber yards unloads shipments for us with a fork lift and we haven't had to deal with loading on the other end. That could be a problem you face that we haven't had to deal with.
Would those that have done this suggest having the commercial truck haul up logs to a mill in Vermont (assuming the commercial truck type can handle logs). How would I even go about finding a commercial truck that would do this?
or have them cut up in Ohio.
I'll probably just go with cutting them up in Ohio, and either rent Uhaul-ish truck to bring them back or find the commercial trucker to do it.
A woodworker needs a strong wife, and one who can drive a truck. In some places, you can have more than one wife, but I don't recommend it.
wives
I've had three, but never more than one at a time. I've heard that can be (even more) dangerous. I wouldn't have trusted any of them to drive my truck, though. Apparently, I used a faulty selection process. ;-)
Don't move logs. Cut it into something you can load or unload by hand, if necessary.
Ideally, have the logs sawn locally and pay for kiln drying, so the shipment will weight much less. Second alternative would be to stack and sticker in Ohio after sawing, ship at end of next summer. If there's not a mill close by, you might research local portable band saw operators. Many have a forklift and will saw on site.
Load it or saw it?
Locate a local Band saw mill in the area and have it cut on site. Then Rent a Penski truck ( flat bed.) Depending on the area in which the truck is going to end up, will dictate the price of the rental charge. For instance, driving from LA to Oklahoma the truck rental could be as high as $3000.00 one way. Now say you are going the other way, the price could be as low as $800.00 plus gas of course. Check out the rates on line.
Trucks
If you're going to move logs, you need a logging truck. You can't rent them, for good reason.
If you're going to move lumber, you probably want a flatbed. For small loads, a pickup with a lumber rack will do fine, as long as you pay attention to the weight.
In either case, the problem is not creating motion, the problem is stopping motion.
Do it right, figure the weight and get enough truck. Don't put a ton and a half in a half ton pickup or seven tons on a five ton flatbed. The problem isn't the suspension, the power or the ride. The problem is what will happen when you slam on the brakes at 60 miles an hour.
If I were going to do this, (and I have, exactly your scenario, but it was broadleaf maple, and my parents are about forty miles away, not in another state) I would (and did) cut the tree into six and eight foot lengths that would go into my pickup, and then I kept driving until it was done. I ended up taking an extra trip just to be certain each load stayed below a half ton. Turned out that Mom was happy to have me, and said she'd have to cut trees down more often if I was going to make that many trips.
I love maple. I scrounge the stuff wherever I can. But I try to do it professionally, in spite of the fact that I'm just an enthusiastic amateur.
Good luck!
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