How to safely haul 12’ lumber?

Since no one has mentioned it, there is also the option of strapping them to the roof. In any case, unless you are doing this on a regular basis or driving across the country, I suggest you invest in nothing more than straps/rope and a red flag.

The best solution is a trailer, but not a good investment if you are only doing this once (albeit you can probably rent one relatively cheaply).

 

i mentioned it, sorta
if using the roof as a bearing surface, use blankets and be sure you don't dent the tinfoil they use these days. strap it mostly to keep it from shifting side to side. with very long wood, i have tied down the leading edge to the front bumper, not very forcefully to not dent anything, to keep the wood from rising to catch air.

i agree, if infrequent, for 12 foot, all you need is straps/rope and red flag (and a brain).
everything else is toys. though, nothing wrong with toys. i am tempted to get HF extender just because it is cool and cheap and i might actually use it someday. imagine the pantie drops!

 

Yup. I drove about a half hour and was extra cautious.

 

Its my sisters beach house and they have zero tools there, and no good place to do any sort of work. Also 90 miles from home. So I don't want to have to go back and forth for the build. Plus..... with no tools, I'd probably forget to bring something important if I had to lug my stuff down there. I'm more comfortable and efficient in my own work area when it come to stuff like that. I bought the hitch mount bed extender today. I can always use it for kayaks and paddle boards also now.
Picked up ratchet straps, red flag and some extra D-Rings also. Tomorrow morning, I pick up the wood from the lumber yard.

 

I’ve done this with a short bed. More than once.

 

Flags? I use them reddish shop towels.

At HD they used to provide red plastic flags but I haven't seen them in a while. Maybe, gotta ask for them now.

 

Back in the day, when roof gutter's were used, canoe racks used to haul most anything, one could lift that high. I've used a single section of a aluminum ladder on the bottom as a base supporting longer loads. B.T.W. I have heard... if, you had a 1985 Chevy Citation hatchback, slide the front seats all the way forward, remove the headrest's, lay the back seat down, one could haul 4x8' O.S.B. with the hatch tied and driver scrunched down peeking over the dashboard...

 

You got this! This was pretty sketchy but I got it 10 miles home, the next time I used one of the trailer hitch bed extenders and it was much better.

 

Well that was easy!

 

Well done OP! You won't regret buying that bed extender. You only need it when you need it! It really does make hauling long load so much safer in these short beds!

 

Made it home and nothing fell out along the way.

 

Those extenders are worth every penny. And easier to store than a trailer.

 

You might want to do some additional fastening before the "long trip".
Suggest besides the strap over the top of the lumber...
Get some bungee cord and wrap around the lumber and the and extender as well as at the d ring attachment.
Your load could still slide backwards with the way you have it tied down.

 

Agreed. Boards flapping separately instead of bound as a single-mass is not good. And using some method (nails in the boards and ropes wrapped around those nails?) to prevent movement is good.

 

Y'all, the tie-down in the truck is cinched around the wood, and the ends of the boards are wrapped in shipping plastic. Wrapping a bungee cord around there isn't going to add crap.

Based on what we've seen in this thread alone, OP has secured this load better than 75% of what's on the road. It's fine.

And again, the finished raised bed will be easier to tie down, and generally more secure as a big box vs. the bundle.

 

Good eye! Yes, the bundles were shrink wrapped together and I did the “wrap around” on the ratchet strap in the back of the bed. I yanked pretty hard on the bundle. It did not budge. The trip was just 6 miles from yard to my house also. But, yes.. additionally fastening can never hurt.

 

DCSB here. This is my go-to method, done it countless times. Add a strap around the boards to the hooks behind the folded down rear seats to stop the side to side shimmy.

 

Unless one does jack rabbit starts, loads tend to shift forward.

 

If you own a extension ladder stop ladder down to bed near cab extend it to 10 foot rest on closed tailgate 8-2x4 is much weight
load them on ladder and strap to bed strap down spots mark with red flag and drive safely

 

Did you do any wheelies when taking off from a stop. LOL