Transporting lumber to your shop

I have a Chevy Silverado 2500 no topper. Here in Michigan I try to make my lumber runs on good days, watching the weather and planning accordingly, even in the winter. On those rare occasions when I get caught in bad weather, rain and such I caver the lumber in plastic as much as I can. I usually let it set in my shop for a week or 2 to acclimatize to the shop before I use it for anything. If it gets wet, I just let it dry longer.

Chris

What do I wish i had for transporting lumber and sheet goods? Well if I didn’t have to pay for it. Bollinger B2. By their measure, fits “(40) 16ft long 2×4s Fit Through Patented Passthrough or (72) Sheets of 4’x8’ 1/2 Plywood fit with Rear Seats Removed”

40 2×4s Fit Through Patented Passthrough
72 Sheets of 4’x8’ 1/2 Plywood fit with Rear Seats Removed

https://bollingermotors.com/bollinger-b2/

-- ~Walker

I have rented pickups and vans from Home Depot. $20 for 75 minutes, which is enough for me to make the round trip. The vans can hold a flat 4×8 sheet of plywood inside, without getting wet.

I have no other reason to own a pickup truck or a van like that.

Honda Odyssey, one reason i got a van over a truck. No worries when it rains

I used a dodge caravan to transport lumber and sheet goods. I called it my panel truck. Sadly my son totaled it the first day he had his license, no injuries except to the van. I use my jeep Cherokee with the seats down and for sheet goods I use my wife’s van. I have to clean it when I am done.

I drive a Tacoma with the access cab and hauling lumber in the rain is not fun. I have not found a good solution for keeping things dry. Last time I needed a handful of sheets of ply it was of course raining. Like Chris I try to plan around the weather but i live in the midwest so the forecast is as much a guess as it is science. While I was at the yard I picked up the cheapest 1/4” sheet they offered to toss on top. Figured if it didn’t get too wet maybe some could be salvaged for shop cabinet drawer bottoms.

If I lived anywhere it rained a lot I would most likely be looking at a van. While I personally think they are butt ugly the Ford Transit vans would make a great lumber hauler. Might not be the coolest thing to drive around daily but they hold a ton of crap in them and have a pretty low load height.

Yeah, I’m kicking myself for selling our Odyssey years ago. I can’t imagine buying one now that the kids are older though.

Woodmaster1 – glad to hear your son was ok!

I drive a Tacoma with the access cab and hauling lumber in the rain is not fun.

Do you lay the sheets flat in the Tacoma with the tailgate down?

Chevy Avalanche. Covered bed, midgate that carries 4×8 sheet goods.

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. - OldTools Archive -

-- A friend will help you move, a good friend will help you move a body

Do you lay the sheets flat in the Tacoma with the tailgate down?

- JoeFuture

Ya the tailgate has to be down. I have a couple 2×6 pieces that lay across the molded slots in the bed and toss the plywood across those. Throw on a couple ratchet straps in an X pattern and its nice and secure. Nothing has flown away on me yet and around here 80 mph is the average speed on the highway.

Ram 1500 with a canopy. The lumber yard is 3/4 of a mile away.

Long bed pickup with tonneau cover

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Ram 1500 with a canopy. The lumber yard is 3/4 of a mile away.

- BurlyBob

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Look on craigslist for a used trailer. Can usually find for $1000 or so. Light enough to tow with anything.

Thanks folks. A trailer’s probably not going to work behind the Prius. I’ll have to resort to something like this for now.