Past mistake = How Not to Load Timber In Your Car!!!

[big soft moose]

we couldnt make use of that feature without miles having to ride in the back with the dog

Is the Dog that fussy then?


:lol:

yep - she's a real puppy :lol:

the actual problem was the space - we already had a graduate lathe in the back and i donnt think miles would have wanted to sit on top of it for an hour and a half.

the dog being more compact made a nice bed betwen the lathe and the wheel arch (the lathewass strapped down so we didnt get canine au blut on cornering

 

[flying haggis]

Just to add to this thread, I used to work for Keyline the builders merchants. One Saturday morningwe were standing in the yard having loaded the trucks ready for Mondays deliveries when a customer came in and puchased a 3.6m length of kitchen worktop, we assisted him to carry it to his car, a Ford Escort with a small 4x3 trailer. At that point he opened the tailgate and told us to put the worktop on the trailer with about half of it resting IN the car where the rear seats would be, so ever helpful we did as asked and then buggered off sharpish! How he expected to turn out of the yard and then drive home with half in the car and the other half tied to trailer I still cant work out to this day!!!

 

[OPJ]

that said my van does have a nice feature in which the front passenger seat folds flat in order to accommodate long boards at a below dash board height

Hi Pete,

Just out of interest, what length can you get in the van with the passenger seat folded flat? I'm leaning towards a van at the moment, provided I can afford the insurance and tax.

Oh, and did you get to Windebanks last week? Sorry, I forgot to ask you before.

 

[big soft moose]

that said my van does have a nice feature in which the front passenger seat folds flat in order to accommodate long boards at a below dash board height

Hi Pete,

Just out of interest, what length can you get in the van with the passenger seat folded flat? I'm leaning towards a van at the moment, provided I can afford the insurance and tax.

Oh, and did you get to Windebanks last week? Sorry, I forgot to ask you before.

about 7ft - i'm not sure exactly but i know its less than 8ft because i moved some 8ft sign posts the other day and had to tie the backdoors to keep them closed.

My van (55 plate peugot partner) costs £240 per year on tax, and £233 on insurance (that said i'm 37 with 15 years no claims chances are your insurance would be more) - its a deisel 1.8sdi and does about 50mpg (which is about the same as our focus)

It cost £3.5k plus vat

and no i didnt go to windebanks in the end, i rang them up and got a quote for some tulip wood - came out to about £19 per cube but i figured there was no point in buying the wood until i'd tidied up the shop enough to do something with it.

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Pete. I'll keep an eye out for something similar second-hand but otherwise, I think I'll have to look for an estate car, at least for the next couple of years. Insurance would only be between £400-600, which isn't too bad really (currently paying £300 on a sixteen-year old car with six-years no claims). It was more than double that when I first started driving! Tax is almost double what I've been paying for my escort, too. :shock:

 

[big soft moose]

yeah comercial vehicles get stitched up on the tax - the focus is only £120 per year , and our work truck (ford ranger) which qualifies as a car rather than a comercial is only £180 - makes no sense

incidentally the bloke i bought it off (broad town garage) also has a citroen berlingo at the same price which is identical except for the badge (and the fact that its white and mines blue

http://www.broadtowncars.co.uk/vanstock.php

In your buisness i might be tempted to go for something a bit bigger like a hiace, or a cargo

 

[Steve Jones]

Olly,

I can highly recommend a Ford Mondeo estate, I've got the TDCI 130bhp and with the seats folded the amount of stuff I can get in the back is amazing. Another bonus is the mpg, it will return about 55mpg on a run and about 36mpg around town. Tax is £155 for a year.

Steve

 

[Benchwayze]

Oh Dear...

Sorry to see that crack. Expensive replacement?

My car has a 'ski-port' (Accessed from the boot and through the back seat) Great for timbers up to 6" wide. I can carry maybe five 9 foot boards like that. They sometimes get in the way of the gear lever, (Which is ok on an auto!) but if they slide forward they only hit the radio, which has to be scrapped anyway after DAB comes in! :lol: :lol:

Regards
John

 

[mailee]

I have a Volvo 850 estate I use for my work and although it will carry some long pieces it is still not big enough. I use a roof rack where I carry most of the big stuff. When I have enough money I intend to buy a van along the lines of a Toyota or a Transit that can take 8 x 4 sheets. I did crack a screen once in swmbo's car but told her it was the kids that had done it. I also managed to knock the side window out in the Volvo forgetting to tie down a machine I was moving.

 

[BelgianPhil]

Citroen Berlingo. Very cheap to keep running. I stick boards in it up to 2m50 and with the back seats down you can load a pallet in the boot with a forktruck. Never done this myself but i once picked up 9 pallets in one trip. (Gutted i had to get back for the tenth one)

 

[Bigdanny]

I'm living in Bulgaria now and it sometimes defies comprehension what things people load into cars here. I've seen two donkeys in a small camping trailer behind a Lada car with 6 bales of hay on top. old transit vans loaded with 4m lengths of wood with 2 metres stuck out the back. It can be a little worrying sometimes especially when the police dont seem to notice and they are overtaking on a blind bend. I'll try to take a few photos and post them up at some point. this link pic is quite normal here.

Danny

 

[Orcamesh]

Crikey peeps, I had no idea this thread would expand like this! Looks like it is a more common problem than I thought. I guess what is needed is "the perfect van" which is designed for wood loading? Trouble is for me woodwork is a hobby so my car has to do lots of different stuff. The Touran isn't too bad for handling large items, but I will be loading on the roof in the future unless the boards are short enough, or get it delivered in a truck! Anyway, hope that all this serves as fair warning, cracking windscreens is too easily done.

 

[northwind]

you need to move up to a caravelle!

With all the seats folded flat in the back, I can get an 8x4 flat in the back, it rests on the back of the front seats!

 

[Benchwayze]

Olly,

I can highly recommend a Ford Mondeo estate, I've got the TDCI 130bhp and with the seats folded the amount of stuff I can get in the back is amazing. Another bonus is the mpg, it will return about 55mpg on a run and about 36mpg around town. Tax is £155 for a year.

Steve

Steve,

I bet your Mondeo emits more Co2 than my 3 litre, Volvo SD 90...

:wink: