How do you get your lumber home?

[Rick Levine]

I too have a Ford F-150 with an 8' bed and a camper shell so the wood stays dry even in the rain. It also allows me to leave the wood in the truck if I don't have time to unload it. I got a good deal on a '95 with low milage which made the deal even better.

[Randal Stevenson]

I have a 94 Ranger that I bought (worked part time at a garage), with a "blown" (damaged) motor for $200. Kid brought it down, with a "why is it making all this noise" question. He'd been driving it, on ONE quart of oil. (think it was an excuse for mommy and daddy to get him a new one).
Put a new motor in it, new clutch, brakes, tires, shocks, and gave it a clean up (2.3L , 5spd). Runs good, gets around 21 in town. Keeping my eye out for another Festiva, got 35 mpg, in my old one. But it had been hit 5 times since I had it, both window tracks busted and the sunroof leaked (frozen out of the car). You might think the other way. Keep the vehicle, and find a smaller used 4 cylinder, for your daily driver/econobox. When you need to take the kids all over town (soccer, baseball, hockey, etc) and then need to go to the hardware store/lumber run, take it. Just going to work, take the econobox. Also gives you a backup in one is in the shop.

[Chip Olson]

If I'm picking up a lot of plywood or something, I borrow a friend's truck (she keeps it around for haulage and is happy to lend it out). For smaller stuff, I take the kid seat out of the car (Subaru Legacy wagon), fold down the seats and it's good for up to about 6', or longer if I don't mind it sticking out the back.

[Hank Knight]

I bought a Toyota Prius hybrid two years ago for the gas economy. It's a great car - 50 mpg on regular gas - I love it, but it's no good for towing. I needed a work horse so I kept my paid-for '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's a V8 and gets only about 16mpg on a good day; but it's really great for hauling stuff, including lumber and sheet goods (tied to the roof rack). The only better combination I can think of would be a pickup instead of the Jeep.

[Justin James]

I work at a sawmill, so I can usually rough-cut stuff so it will fit in my econobox. If not, or if I have to buy sheet goods, etc, I just borrow the truck . . .

I guess this solution won't work for everyone though!

[Steve Clardy]

Mine is delivered here to the shop

18 wheeler

[Randal Stevenson]

On a more humorous, mod up/slashdot style post...


I had always joked about renting that truck at the borg, to go pick up some decent plywood, at my local distributer.

[Jim Mattheiss]

I'm blessed on the vehicle front. LOML owns a business with a lot of rolling stock.

I picked up my craigslist Jet table saw with an appliance dolly (owner had removed rails and sides) and rolled it up the ramp and into the truck by myself. The Isuzu Box truck has cargo rails and load straps, so it rode securely to it's new home.

My dad came along for the ride, but didn't even get his hands dirty.

I used the same truck to pick up the 12 sheets of oak veneer plywood at my local lumberyard a while ago for a bookcase project.

Worst comes to worst, U-Haul offers $19.99 rentals of pickup trucks. Not sure the duration/mileage, but that's an option nobody has mentioned.

Cheers

Jim

[Rob Will]

I can't believe so many people haul stuff in cars.

1.) It is dangerous.
2.) It tears up your interior.
3.) It takes more trips due to limited capacity.
4.) Greater risk of load loss or damage due to open doors and trunk lids.

A truck or lightweight utility trailer would be better. As far as the transmission coolers go, if your needs only involve light local and occasional towing, save your money. A vacation trip in the mountains with a couple of "large" people and thier luggage would be far worse on a transmission than towing a little utility trailer to the BORG every now and then.

IMHO, the real maesure of a truck is the ability to haul 4' x 8' sheet goods with the tailgate closed. Anything really long deserves a tandem axle 16' utility trailer. Around here new ones go for about $900 (w/ electric brakes).

Here's a simple little trick when tying down materials on a utility trailer:
Before loading your goods, lay your nylon ratchet straps out flat across the trailer and then place your materials on top of the straps. After loading, throw your straps across to the opposite side. This creates a loop that completly wraps your load. This works especially well when hauling multiple long boards or loose pipe .

Rob

[Ray Bersch]

Well, I looked through all the posts and I guess I am unique in my choice of vehicles - my car is a '97 Volvo 960 Wagon - right now it is heading to Lake Placid driven by a friend who needs to haul furniture and household stuff to her summer home up there - it really hauls stuff. I can't quite get a full size sheet of plywood inside, so I usually have the yard make one pre-planned cut - but if I really need a full sheet I have roof racks and that works perfectly. I had to look hard to find this car with low miles, but I am more than satisfied. The other car is a 2007 Volvo XC - not as much hauling space but convenient none-the-less and a great all wheel drive vehicle with stability control.

Why two wagons?? Beats me, it seems like we fill them both when headed to Maine for the summer. Besides, we like the wagon over the SUV.

[Art Mulder]

I can't believe so many people haul stuff in cars.

Rob, I'd say that this is one of those things that falls into the "if your only tool is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail" category.

And as for tearing up the interior... I doubt that the occasional load of wood can do any more damage than my four kids.

[Al Killian]

I can't believe so many people haul stuff in cars.

1.) It is dangerous.
2.) It tears up your interior.
3.) It takes more trips due to limited capacity.
4.) Greater risk of load loss or damage due to open doors and trunk lids.

Rob

1) How is it dangerous to haul stuff in a car?
2) I lay a trap down and have yet to damage my car doing this.
3) I can safely hold 75 bdft in my car without any problems.
4) If the load is secured like it should be in any vehicle the I dont see where someone would lose a load or have damage.

[Jim Heffner]

Well, for me it ain't too much of a problem....depends on which one of my trucks I'm driving at the time. (1) 2001 Chevy Silverado 4x4 or work truck is a '93 Chevy box truck ....either one will get the job done with no complaints ....a little easier to put full sheets of plywood or mdf into it
and pull the rollup door down closed and ride! Jim Heffner

[Kevin Herber]

I sold my 97 Ford Ranger two years ago - 8 years old with 23k miles. Not used much so I got rid of it. Recently traded in my mini-van for a Prius. Figure I'm saving $200 per month in gas do to my 50+ daily commute. With the savings, if I need to haul anything I'll look into renting the truck from HD. Has anyone rented one before? Do you have to buy something in order to rent it? I can make it from HD to my preferred lumber dealer then on to the house and back to HD in less than two hours.

-- Kevin

[Clint Winterhalter]

My Poor Brother In Law has a full size Chevy.
He is the only one in the family with a Truck.
The poor son of a gun spends his weekends hauling stuff for one of his siblings. He gives me a hand with lumber from time to time.
I fill his tank and buy him lunch and or dinner. (not cheap any more).
I've also repaid him by helping him with some major projects on his house..

In a pinch I grab the Depot Truck on occasion..
What ever it takes..

Clint