How do you secure long boards in back of pickup?

[David Ragan]

Great job asking for advice *before* attempt....all excellent points above. I keep all rigging in my cab all the time

[Tom M King]

This was after we had some of the tiedowns taken off, but sometimes you have to get creative. This was $3500 worth of fine grained Heart Pine. We carry 16 footers all the time.

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[Mel Fulks]

A few might be wondering if that 3500$ is mistake,and it might be, but I'm sure that's what took to get it! And you could
probably leave it parked on the street without anyone stealing any. I will never get to where I'm not jolted when I hear its
current price.

[Tom M King]

No mistake. It was all very fine grained, quarter sawn. The guy had been milling old beams since the '80s. These were all pieces he'd been putting aside all these years because they were, "too good to throw away", but no one had ever needed such small pieces before. He asked me what I needed to get out of any wood I got from him, so I sent him the cut list. It was the perfect batch to make reproduction 18th Century sash out of. It wasn't exactly an even 35, but only a few dollars short.

We bought some 20 footers to replace some flooring in an early 19th Century house, and the pile was a lot smaller looking for about the same money. Those we had to pull the trailer to get.
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[Mel Fulks]

Tom ,that is a post with a different spin.... Usually the truth is "its to good to use".

[John K Jordan]

Years ago I had some boards slide out of a truck bed when slowly going up a very steep hill. I reloaded them and backed the rest of the way up the hill. I secure much better now.

I bundle with ratchet straps around both ends. Then I put extra straps around the end and and pull the bundle tightly towards the bed to prevent any sliding. My truck bed has a non-slide rubber Rhino liner which also helps.

But there is nothing like a trailer. For most of my hauling I use whichever trailer is appropriate (and empty): a 12' utility, a 16' flatbed, or an 18' flatbed gooseneck trailer. I can haul 24' long lumber on the gooseneck and it can carry a LOT of weight behind the diesel truck. (same trailer I use to move the bobcat and tractor) If I request, the lumber yard will bundle the load for me with bands before loading, then I strap the bundles to the trailer.

JKJ

[Jon Nuckles]

Lots of good ideas for securing wood. I'm replying only to say that boards certainly can slide out of a pickup bed if they aren't secured. I dropped about 200 board feet of cherry on a busy city street as a result of only moderate acceleration at a stop light. Fortunately, this was in Minnesota and several people in cars behind me jumped out and helped me load the boards back into the bed. Minnesota nice!

[Allan Speers]

I had to do this once, so I made a temporary bed extender out of 2X4's and plywood. I hung two red rags on the end, plus I added a few red reflectors, in case I got stuck driving after sundown.

I probably could have just ratcheted the bords together, but I was worried about getting hassled by the police or state troopers. Plus, it WAS safer.

[Mike Schuch]

When you ratchet strap the boards down it is important to loop the strap all the way around the bundle of boards. By looping the strap around the boards you are pulling all the boards together and the friction of one board against the other will keep any of the boards from slipping. Ratchet strapping the ends of the boards together will accomplish the same thing.

When I haul long boards that go past the end of my tailgate I put the hook at one end of the strap in the loop on my hitch receiver. Then I come up over the top of the boards. Do one complete wrap around the boards. Then go back down to the receiver with the ratchet strap. I have never had a situation where this one ratchet strap hasn't been sufficient to secure a load of boards of any size.