Wanting to haul wood with a F-150
 

Anyone in Washington experience this:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6518798

May seem kind of silly, but I wanted a sportier truck that was not loud and large!

If anyone has any suggestions after reading the thread-link provided, please feel free to post them?!?!

Just hauling firewood, No new/bigger truck would be needed. If the wood is green/wet just fill it to the top of the rail. You won't beable to load a cord and a half. Maybe 3/4.

Yes, a diesel can be loud. However there are some things along the fuel rail to change that lovely sound. I just like it loud.

My buddy has a '76 F-150 Highboy that he loaded about a foot above the rails with green rounds and didn't have any problems. Only thing he noted was the steering felt a lot lighter than normal. Otherwise, the ol' 300 sixer moved it right along without a complaint.

Between the truck and the trailer you should be able to transport a cord and a half of wood without any pproblem.

My post was refering to just the truck, trailer not included. Trailer, another 3/4 cord.

It's possible, just make sure you distribute as you load it. The stuff in the bed I would keep as close to the front as I could, and just make sure the trailer is loaded evenly but not taking weight off the truck- that will make it fishtail badly.

When you load the trailer, have AT LEAST 60% of your weight forward of the centerline of the rear axles. That will guarantee that you will not have trailer sway.

There is another part to the equation, a short box. Now loading too much on the tongue will cause the front to pop-up. Kinda scary hauling a camper and pulling a 18' cargo trailer and having your front pop-up down through the bumps. No steering control.

No weight distribution hitch?

Weight distribution hitch?

watch the springs. dont let em ride the snubbers. For a load of wood once a year or so and not runnin a busy freeway, dont worry about it. But watch the springs. ;)

That's a hitch that has spring bars attached to it and the trailer tongue to remove some weight from the tow vehicle and back onto the axles of the trailer. Some people say it can reduce sway, but all it really does is allow you to haul a bigger or heavier trailer with your truck. For example - a 2008 F-150 (Super Cab, 8' Bed, 4x4, 5.4L and 4.10:1 gears) is advertised as being able to tow 9300 lbs. What is missing from the equation is that number is achieved with the weight distributing hitch. Otherwise, the tow rating drops dramatically - into I believe the 5500 lb. range. It's no different than any other half ton from the past - it's only good to tow about 6000 lbs dry.

I run into this all the time at work... people will come in with their brand new half ton and expect to tow a midsize backhoe off the lot. They just don't realize that they need to have the proper equipment to tow that amount of weight. Another example - you don't need a Kenworth to tow a fullsize 580 Case Backhoe, it can be done with a regular 16000 lb trailer using only an F-350 and a weight distributing hitch. Science is amazing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is.... if you don't have a weight distributing hitch, don't overload your truck by making it squat to the bumpstops - having it loaded in the bed and having a full load in the trailer. Don't ask your truck to do more than it's capable of without the right equipment. It will save a lot of wear and tear on the truck, and save you a lot of money and aggrevation in the long run. If you plan on towing heavy loads a lot, invest a little bit of money in a weight distributing hitch - it will make life a lot easier.

Ah!. Thanks for the information! That is interesting about the 2008 F-150 Super Cab towing 9300 with a weight distribution hitch..... very interesting indeed.

my boss was on a crab boat in alaska for alot of his life and picked up this saying "pile it high and let it fly"

my uncle has a dent side crew cab short bed... and we used to pile it to the top of the roof with 4 foot across by 16in long rounds... the rear would sag a little.. but still would drive normally...

now the same truck, hooked up to a 16 foot car trailer with 2 pallets of hardy board... and one pallet of ply-wood... made the rear of the truck sit on the rubber stoper things...{hardy-board is the siding of newer houses... and its heavy stuff... dumb fork lift driver couldnt do what was asked... we wanted to have the hardy board on the rear and the ply-wood on the front... but nope... cant do that one... so once the tow rig got there... 3500 duramax with a 6 or 7 speed alison tranny and over load springs... hooked up... got the ply wood thrown of the trailer... and the bump side to the rear.... and hooked up the winch that he uses to drag 8 foot long by 4 foot across logs up hills... and couldnt move the hardy board... damn me and my cusian for being over there.. unloaded and stacked.... then moved the stacks to the end of the trailer and threw the ply-wood on the front...**shrugs...**]]

guess what this story is all about, it just depends on how you load it... we used to watch the old ford and chevy comercials, and my uncle would always say, i should call them up and see if they will send me one of their f-350s or the 3500{depended on which commercial it was}} and let me make a commercial for them out here with some old growth fir...