Hauling Steel

[babzog]

Similar to Jack's jeep rack thread for hauling lengths of steel, I'm racking my brain on how to do this with the Sienna. I can rig a rack to the rear hitch mount, but how on earth would I attach a rack to the front.

Might be bringing home a buttload of steel this weekend and unless I can find a suitable trailer, I'm fast running out of ideas. U-haul has a 6x12 covered (and non-covered) trailer I can rent, but that would mean 8' of steel hanging out the rear end (unsure how much weight the rear gate on the open trailer can support) and all of the ensuing weight distribution issues to consider.

Could use a landscape or other similar flatbed trailer in a big way! Anyone in the Ottawa-ish area have one I can borrow or rent for a day?

 

[ZRX61]

Rent a 20ft stakebed?

 

[little d]

babzog, you could easeyly build a rack or buy one for your pu but, if this is a one time shot, id take zrx's advice and rent a flat bed.

 

[tdkkart]

Most steel dealers will cut the sticks in half for you which is what I normally have done, makes hauling alot easier. Think about your project and decide for sure if you want the sticks cut in half or something else. A 20ft piece cut in half will rarely leave you with much scrap, unless of course you wanted a 12ft piece. I had mine cut 12/8 once when I needed a **** load of 4ft pieces.

 

[38Chevy454]

Most steel dealers will cut the sticks in half for you which is what I normally have done, makes hauling alot easier. Think about your project and decide for sure if you want the sticks cut in half or something else. A 20ft piece cut in half will rarely leave you with much scrap, unless of course you wanted a 12ft piece. I had mine cut 12/8 once when I needed a **** load of 4ft pieces.

I have done similar, although to avoid a cutting charge, I brought my sawzall and cut it right there at the supplier. Just brought an extension cord and found a plug. The particular supplier had a quite high cutting charge and i needed several cuts.

 

[babzog]

I'd rather not cut it at this time, not knowing the lengths I will need. I'm getting the steel essentially for free so I don't want to muck up future uses. I've been trying to locate a flatbed trailer for rent in Canada (Ontario, Ottawa area) but u-haul only seems to have utilty (with sides) and covered trailers. Who else rents out flatbeds?

And yes, project #1 will be building a trailer. LOL

 

[Falcon67]

I use our 16' wood floor car hauler. I use screws and plumbers tape to trap the steel to the floor. I would not try carrying 24' joints on any vehicle. Our local steel dealer gives one free cut.

 

[Richard Givan]

This tip probably won't help you because I infer that you have too much steel to haul, but a way I have carried a few long lengths of steel is to put them on the ground, drive my truck over them, then lift up each end and tie or wire it securely to a frame member. Of course, this works best with a vehicle having a high road clearance. Just make sure it's not in the say of suspension travel or movable steering components--centered should work. That way it's pretty safe riding underneath the vehicle (if you make it really secure and don't hit any big bumps or the like) and there's no chance of scratching or dinging your vehicle.

I'm sure that there are 50 ways this is dangerous or unwise, and that I'll be hearing about them shortly.

 

[cj7jeep81]

check with equipment rental companies (bobcats and stuff). they should have larger trailers you can rent. around here, i can get an 18' for less than $50. Depending on how much steel you have, you can probably have a couple feet hanging over the front, and the remainder out the back and be fine.

 

[southernfriedcj]

Go borrow a buddies trailer.
That's what all my friends do.

 

[lilredex]

I'd rather not cut it at this time, not knowing the lengths I will need. I'm getting the steel essentially for free so I don't want to muck up future uses. I've been trying to locate a flatbed trailer for rent in Canada (Ontario, Ottawa area) but u-haul only seems to have utilty (with sides) and covered trailers. Who else rents out flatbeds?

And yes, project #1 will be building a trailer. LOL

I'd say cut it and get the cheapest trailer. You can always weld it back together....should be no big deal.

 

[Jack Olsen]

How many pounds of steel are we talking about? Here are my suggestions, from best to worst:

A) If it's a large load, I'd rent a truck from my local Home Depot (no mileage charge, so cheaper than U-Haul).

B) Cutting the lengths into 10' or 12' segments will make it easier to carry in a van (is that what the Sienna is?) and also easier to store once you get the stuff home. It's pretty easy to line up two pieces and weld them back together into a single long stick.

C) If you can secure a section from a long extension ladder to the bed of the rental trailer, you can extend its effective ben length. But I've got to say: if you feel at all worried about the viability of what you've put together, then don't do it. It would **** to cause an accident that hurts or kills someone for the sake of some free steel.

 

[SimS]

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and rent one of their trucks. They already have a "headache" rack that you can use to tie down the steel.

Good luck;

SimS

 

[bimmer1980]

how much steel, what type and how much does it weigh? are they 20's or 24's?

How far do you have to go?

these are all things that weigh into the solution.....

I hauled some free 3" angle iron that was 18' on my little 4x8 trailer. I posted a thread previously....

It was very safe and secure the way that I had it strapped down. I only had about 15 miles to go and it was an easy drive thru York, PA.

Conversely, I probably wouldn't haul the same load thru I-95 in NJ on the way to NYC. (I was up there this past weekend and the traffic and people are crazy...)

 

[babzog]

how much steel, what type and how much does it weigh? are they 20's or 24's?

How far do you have to go?

these are all things that weigh into the solution.....

I hauled some free 3" angle iron that was 18' on my little 4x8 trailer. I posted a thread previously....

It was very safe and secure the way that I had it strapped down. I only had about 15 miles to go and it was an easy drive thru York, PA.

Conversely, I probably wouldn't haul the same load thru I-95 in NJ on the way to NYC. (I was up there this past weekend and the traffic and people are crazy...)

The lengths are 20's, IIRC. There's a lot of 2x3, 2x2 and 1" box steel. I'm presuming there's a bunch of angle iron too. A few pieces of sheet and expanded steel too. And some smaller (cut down) lengths of box steel.

There's two shelves worth, plus a pile on the floor that's probably the same amount as the two shelves, each of which are probably stacked 20" wide by 8" high.

I have no idea how much that would all weigh... less than 1500lbs, I'm hoping?

I called HD today (good idea) and they rent their vans for $20/90min. It's an extended van with about 12' of cargo length capacity. No hitch though, so the material I'm going to transport in exchange for the steel might not fit.

I also stopped at the local uhaul place and had a look at the car carrier. Empty weight is 2000lbs, which gives me 1500lbs of capacity before I reach the Sienna's limit. Looks like I could easily play the steel on the carrier and strap it all down like you did with your smaller trailer. I think it was about 12' long so with 3' out front, I'd only have 5' hanging out the back.

The other option would be to attach a cross member to the back of a standard uhaul utillity trailer like you did and haul it home that way.

I've got a 2hr drive to get this home, so I'd prefer to make one trip if possible. Driving Hwy 7 (trans-Canada highway) and through three towns.

 

[Red05GT]

How about a standard 26' U-haul moving truck? The day rate on those for a local
rental isn't that bad

 

[gsport]

dangg... i wish i could find some free steel and have that problem...

 

[nate379]

They charge you to cut if you buy the whole stick? I'm used to seeing a $5ish cut fee if you only buy like 10ft of a 20ft stick. On some pieces where a foot is $10-12 and there isn't a use for the rest it's well worth it.

I have done similar, although to avoid a cutting charge, I brought my sawzall and cut it right there at the supplier. Just brought an extension cord and found a plug. The particular supplier had a quite high cutting charge and i needed several cuts.

 

[bimmer1980]

babzog--I would really recommend getting an accurate list of the steel and then checking in a steel book on the weight per foot. It will add up quick!!!

for example, a 2x3x3/16" tube at 20' is 117 pounds. it only takes 12 or 13 of them to be near your 1500 pound weight limit......

check out http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm

remember the P5R rule.... prior planning prevents piss poor results......

 

[Stuart in MN]

How about a standard 26' U-haul moving truck? The day rate on those for a local
rental isn't that bad

This is what I was going to say. I think they may even have a half day rate.

 

[38Chevy454]

They charge you to cut if you buy the whole stick? I'm used to seeing a $5ish cut fee if you only buy like 10ft of a 20ft stick. On some pieces where a foot is $10-12 and there isn't a use for the rest it's well worth it.

It was at a warehouse that was not very accomodating to small purchasers. They had what i wanted for a decent price. Cutting myself was not that hard. The cut fee was for ANY cuts, even on a full length piece. Since I was getting like 10 pieces, that $5/cut fee adds up quick. Sawzall is free.

 

[babzog]

I will ask about the truck when I go pick up the covered trailer for my other job tomorrow. Killer for me will be mileage. It might end up being the best option unless I can borrow my BIL's PU.

Otherwise, going by that calculator (thank you!), I could be well over the Sienna's tow limit (maybe 1000# over) if I use the car hauler.

 

[bimmer1980]

take some pics before and after you get it loaded... we're curious to see the haul!

 

[babzog]

Sure, I'll be taking some pics.

I inquired about the UHaul truck. It was about $50 for the rental, plus mileage (no free distance). So, total rental cost would be north of $300. Think I'm gonna go with the car hauler and hopefully I can get the BIL's truck to pull it.

 

[saabman]

Plan your project, and measure the various pieces. From this you can come up with a cut plan for the steel yard. I buy steel in 24 and 20 ft lengths, cut down to many different sizes. Cuts are cheap at the yard I use and there saw is much bigger than my saw

 

[babzog]

It wasn't a steel yard I was getting the steel from. Story is kinda sad and I'd rather not go into it, suffice to say, the tools and materials will go to good use. I acquired the steel through a mutally beneficial trade - a pile of unused fencing panels for the quantity of steel.

The trade. I went to town to pick swap the Sienna for my BIL's truck for the long-haul.



The haul. I'd stopped to check the load after driving 8kms on a gravel road. This was a heavy load so I kept my speed to between 60 an 80kph. Got home around midnight.



Unloading the next morning:



Growing scrap/short pile:



Why work hard?

 

[nate379]

Nice!

My Dad has a tractor about that size as well and he built fork tines for it. Said it's one of the better things he has done in a while. It can only lift about 2000lbs, but for what he does that is plenty.

 

[babzog]

Last few pics.

There's 1 1/2 sheets of expanded metal, 3 half sheets of 1/8", a half sheet of 1/8 diamond plate, a bit more than half a sheet of (less than 1/8), and several strips of sheet metal, about 1' wide.



The pile has everything from some very large steel (one piece of 4x8x18', 2 pcs 2x6x20, some heavy angle and heavy C channel) which I will probably try to sell as I can't imagine ever finding a use for material that large. There's also a few pcs of 2x3, 2", 1", smaller C channel, some flat stock, some round stock.



The scrap pile:

 

[bimmer1980]

A nice load of steel! That should go along ways for some projects. I can imagine all sorts of options for work benshes, tool stands etc....

Doesn't sound like you will be hauling any more steel in the near future, but just a couple of thoughts on loading and strapping...... unless you had already taken off some straps before the pictures, the small straps you have showing are a bit on the small side.....

I usually like to use at least a couple of 2" straps with large ratchets and make a loop around the steel bundle and then attach to each side of the trailer. This tightens up the steel bundle and secures it to the trailer. It also helps to prevent the load from sliding forward or back during accelleration or braking. I also usually stack the smaller dimension pieces on top of the larger pieces so that everything is supported and is kept from moving around.

I'm glad you got everything home safe... have fun building!