Transporting lumber...

[cusimar9]

I dare say many of you will have access to a van of some sort but I'm sure there are a few on here who, like myself, use their daily driver to make pick ups from B&Q or whichever your chosen lumber dealer happens to be.

I currently drive a Honda S2000 which is not really that practical (although I've managed to squeeze far more in it than I would have thought prior to buying it!) but I mostly steal the wife's BMW 1 series whenever I know I need to pick something up.

The 1 series will just about fit a 2.4m long piece if it's jammed against the front window over the seats, but there's no way you'd get a 2.4 x 1.2 sheet in the boot.

What do you all drive and how 'practical' is it for those trips to the lumber yard?

 

[marcros]

discovery 3

It is absolutely brilliant for most things, but the way that the front seat works, beyond 8ft is a pain. It can hang out of the back for a couple of miles.

if I needed sheet materials, i have them cut where i buy them. If I needed full sheets i would either hook up the trailer or most likely get it delivered. Quite often, the delivery charge is worthwhile, particularly if i factor in time. I wanted some ducting from 10 miles away. The fiver for delivery was cheaper than a gallon of fuel and saved me an hour or more.

 

[wallace]

I used to have a 110 defender which was awesome for wood transport. I had 1.5 cube of timber and it never flickered. I once had 20 full sheets of ply on the roofrack. I now have a discovery which is useful but not a patch on the defender

 

[andersonec]

I dare say many of you will have access to a van of some sort but I'm sure there are a few on here who, like myself, use their daily driver to make pick ups from B&Q or whichever your chosen lumber dealer happens to be.

I currently drive a Honda S2000 which is not really that practical (although I've managed to squeeze far more in it than I would have thought prior to buying it!) but I mostly steal the wife's BMW 1 series whenever I know I need to pick something up.

The 1 series will just about fit a 2.4m long piece if it's jammed against the front window over the seats, but there's no way you'd get a 2.4 x 1.2 sheet in the boot.

What do you all drive and how 'practical' is it for those trips to the lumber yard?

Lumber???

Are you phishin to find a better carrier then nick it? :lol:

Andy

 

[Melinda_dd]

I have a Peugeot 206, and I firmly believe it is the Tardis in disguise. I haven't yet found anything that I have needed to transport that hasn't fit in it!! (Including half a double bed and mattress!

With the seats down, it may well be a van... dreading the day I have to get a 'proper, clean' car for using to transport ....people in ...rather than wood!!!

 

[cornishjoinery]

This funny thing happened once, someones car got to small to carry things around in, so a manufacturer decided to build, what is known now as a VAN...............get one! lol

 

[Lons]

My car is an Audi A6 and there's no way I'd ever shove timber into it. Worst it ever carries is my golf clubs. :lol: Wife has a Mini which doesn'r carry much but we've just ordered a Nissan Juke so might be a bit better.

What I DO have is a VW Transporter LWB and an 8 x 4 double axle trailer :lol: :lol:

Bob

 

[SammyQ]

Fiat Multipla!!!!!!

Take out rear seats = van!

My 1.9L diesel pulls 600 kg of trailer tent and five adult bodies, plus luggage, nae probs....60-70 mph and damn near 60 to the gallon on autoroutes....


Biased, Sam

 

[apreston]

Toyota Prius - I kid you not !
8-foot lengths inside, longer go on the roof bars (being careful not to put too much weight on). My best trip so far has been 20 cubic feet carried 100 miles (wish I'd taken a photo).
And no worries about fuel costs.

 

[marcros]

I have a Peugeot 206, and I firmly believe it is the Tardis in disguise. I haven't yet found anything that I have needed to transport that hasn't fit in it!! (Including half a double bed and mattress!

With the seats down, it may well be a van... dreading the day I have to get a 'proper, clean' car for using to transport ....people in ...rather than wood!!!

the other half of it? (hammer) :mrgreen:

 

[Bigdanny]

Get a trailer, The amount of stuff I can move is pretty good. I've had wood beams 8m in length, 3 tons of ballast. Pic here is about 2.5 cubic of acacia logs.

 

[Benchwayze]

Imagine my delight when I first discovered the 'ski-port' in the rear seats of my first Volvo saloon.

I can get four, 3m lengths of 4 x 2 in there, and still close the boot lid. If I have to carry sheets, I use 'Hopkirk' square roof bars, and I secure the sheets to the bars with four one-handed cramps. It's surprising how well they hold a fair load. I do use a rope too, if it's a particularly heavy load. Works for me. :mrgreen:

 

[cusimar9]

I did think about roof bars for 8 x 4 sheets, but have read it's not a very safe way of transporting them because they can slide or worse get caught by the air.

Interesting to hear it works for you Benchwayze, maybe it's not such a bad idea, I guess you'd have to drive < 40mph with them on.

Don't really have space for a trailer unfortunately.

I'm regretting selling my old Honda Integra DC5, the boot in that was enormous and the boot lid hinged so far into the roof the opening was huge!

 

[Benchwayze]

I did think about roof bars for 8 x 4 sheets, but have read it's not a very safe way of transporting them because they can slide or worse get caught by the air.

Interesting to hear it works for you Benchwayze, maybe it's not such a bad idea, I guess you'd have to drive < 40mph with them on.

Don't really have space for a trailer unfortunately.

I'm regretting selling my old Honda Integra DC5, the boot in that was enormous and the boot lid hinged so far into the roof the opening was huge!

Cusimar,

I always get the timber yard to cut sheets into 8 x 2s. Much safer. The cramps hold the sheets extremely securely, although I wouldn't consider driving above 30, because the draught can get under the sheets and easily lift them. Mind you, I am barely 3/4 of a mile from the timber yard! As I said, if I am carrying a heavy 'payload', I use ropes as well.

Cheers

John

 

[woodfarmer]

I second the trailer option

 

[bourbon]

Get a trailer, The amount of stuff I can move is pretty good. I've had wood beams 8m in length, 3 tons of ballast. Pic here is about 2.5 cubic of acacia logs.

And very unstable as well. As for '20 sheets of ply' on a roof rack. Do you have a death wish?

 

[Benchwayze]

A trailer for me too, if I had somewhere to store a trailer, so it wouldn't get nicked! :lol:

 

[morfa]

I have a Citroen C4. It's a hatchback so you can get about 9ft by 3ft stuff in it. Normally when I'm buying ply I have the yard do some cuts for me so I can just plonk it in the back. If it's bigger than that I just pay for delivery or buy enough that delivery is free. My local yard are cheap on the delivery front and the drivers are excellent with helping me get stuff in the house.

 

[gwaithcoed]

I have a Ford Cmax. Difficulty finding decent timber where I live so when I visit my daughter in Cannock Staffordshire I go to the timber yard that I used to use when living there. I can get in 12 x 2.4 mtr lengths of 6x1 in comfortably. However my wife has to sit in the back
a little uncomfortably

Alan

 

[wallace]

Bourbon not really a roof rack but a proper expedition box section jobby. Impossible for the sheets to slide because the sheets sat inside and held down with ratchet strapping. Nothing a 110 couldn't handle