fields_mj
Full Access Member
I'm curious how much weight some of you guys tow on a regular basis. Here's why.
I heat with firewood. 4 years ago the woods that I hunt in and cut firewood in was logged (select log, not clear cut). Over 1100 trees were taken out (mostly oak) and it didn't make much of a dent. Most of the tops that were left behind started out at 24" in diameter. Some were noticeably bigger. So I cut firewood like it was going out of style for a year and a half. After that, the tops were starting to rot too much for me to use them for firewood. I had accumulated enough to last me for a few years. I still have enough to make it through this winter with some left over, but what ever is left won't be in very good shape for the following winter. Since the logging, the farm I cut on hasn't hand much in terms of blow downs, so as a source for firewood it has temporarily dried up.
Kick in Plan B. My folks live about an hour north of me, and I still have access to the farm up there that dad and I have hunted for the last 30 years. Lots of good hickory, but its an hour away. They did a little logging last year, so dad and I went out last weekend and cut/stacked about 15,000 lbs worth of hickory (about 3 cords). I can haul a full cord with my bed rails on, but I don't like to haul that much weight in the bed for that far. I don't mind doing it for 5 or 10 miles locally, but I don't care to haul it 50 miles that way. So, I'm thinking about trying to find a trailer to rent. Problem is that I have no idea what a realistic limit is when it comes to how much I can, or should tow for any distance. The truck is NA, has a ZF5, 3.55 gears, SRW, and I run the stock 32"~33" E rated tires on it. I did have a D60 put in last fall. The bed has a ball installed for a goose neck, possibly from the factory, but I don't know what its rated for either. It has a 2 1/2" rear hitch that I have sleeved down to 2". I have a 10,000 lb rear hitch that I used to pull our travel trailer (5K empty). I'd like to find a trailer that I can borrow or rent for a day to haul the wood down to my place. The firewood will weight between 5K and 6K per cord, and ideally I'd like to be able to transport 2~3 cord per trip. Using the rear hitch, I would want a trailer that could haul 2 cord (10K minimum) and another half cord in the bed. If its a goose neck, I would want to get at least 2.5 cord in the trailer (preferably 3). The problem with all of these ideas is that I have no idea if my truck should be capable of hauling something like this. It hauls the 5K travel trailer (IE brick nosed wind brake), with very little problem, but there's a big difference between that and 15K worth of firewood. I would love to get some input from you guys on what I should reasonably expect my truck to be able to handle.
Thanks,
Mark
I heat with firewood. 4 years ago the woods that I hunt in and cut firewood in was logged (select log, not clear cut). Over 1100 trees were taken out (mostly oak) and it didn't make much of a dent. Most of the tops that were left behind started out at 24" in diameter. Some were noticeably bigger. So I cut firewood like it was going out of style for a year and a half. After that, the tops were starting to rot too much for me to use them for firewood. I had accumulated enough to last me for a few years. I still have enough to make it through this winter with some left over, but what ever is left won't be in very good shape for the following winter. Since the logging, the farm I cut on hasn't hand much in terms of blow downs, so as a source for firewood it has temporarily dried up.
Kick in Plan B. My folks live about an hour north of me, and I still have access to the farm up there that dad and I have hunted for the last 30 years. Lots of good hickory, but its an hour away. They did a little logging last year, so dad and I went out last weekend and cut/stacked about 15,000 lbs worth of hickory (about 3 cords). I can haul a full cord with my bed rails on, but I don't like to haul that much weight in the bed for that far. I don't mind doing it for 5 or 10 miles locally, but I don't care to haul it 50 miles that way. So, I'm thinking about trying to find a trailer to rent. Problem is that I have no idea what a realistic limit is when it comes to how much I can, or should tow for any distance. The truck is NA, has a ZF5, 3.55 gears, SRW, and I run the stock 32"~33" E rated tires on it. I did have a D60 put in last fall. The bed has a ball installed for a goose neck, possibly from the factory, but I don't know what its rated for either. It has a 2 1/2" rear hitch that I have sleeved down to 2". I have a 10,000 lb rear hitch that I used to pull our travel trailer (5K empty). I'd like to find a trailer that I can borrow or rent for a day to haul the wood down to my place. The firewood will weight between 5K and 6K per cord, and ideally I'd like to be able to transport 2~3 cord per trip. Using the rear hitch, I would want a trailer that could haul 2 cord (10K minimum) and another half cord in the bed. If its a goose neck, I would want to get at least 2.5 cord in the trailer (preferably 3). The problem with all of these ideas is that I have no idea if my truck should be capable of hauling something like this. It hauls the 5K travel trailer (IE brick nosed wind brake), with very little problem, but there's a big difference between that and 15K worth of firewood. I would love to get some input from you guys on what I should reasonably expect my truck to be able to handle.
Thanks,
Mark