Transporting boulders

[JimmyTig]

I want to transport some boulders about 50 miles. I have a 5x8 heavy duty dump trailer that should probably handle 2 or 3 of them. How in the world do you fasten them down for transport? Or not bother?

The sides on my trailer are high enough where the boulders could not possible fall over the sides or the back. It's more if I was in an accident-- those boulders flying around could do some serious damage.

I don't have D-rings in my trailer ....

Getting in a traffic pickle is a big concern with this load - so you want to prevent movement. Use the mass of one to hinder the movement of the others-- chain together with large chains into a single bundle and use ratchet chain binders to tighten. Use large timbers/railroad ties for cribbage fore/aft and sides. Just keep in mind that your stopping distance has increased and too sudden a stop could be problematic. Leave when traffic is light, stay in right lane with flashers on at no more than 45 mph. And the boulders will make it over the sides - when the rig tips over.

 

[bartjoebob]

I want to transport some boulders about 50 miles. I have a 5x8 heavy duty dump trailer that should probably handle 2 or 3 of them. How in the world do you fasten them down for transport? Or not bother?

The sides on my trailer are high enough where the boulders could not possible fall over the sides or the back. It's more if I was in an accident-- those boulders flying around could do some serious damage.

I don't have D-rings in my trailer ....

Sounds like you're in the market for some boulder holders, really big ones.

 

[sunandsand]

I definitely like the idea of using a U-haul trailer to move big rocks. They're very well built, quite heavy duty, and best of all, if you bang them up, it is someone else's trailer, not yours.

I had a guy load a scrap water heater into a light duty trailer, he gave it a big heave and went through the plywood deck. ("Yer fired . . . ")

Strong and ample tie-downs are an absolute must. I know a guy who was ferrying a yacht down the Intracoastal, his BMW motorcycle was braced in front of the mainmast. They ran aground, the boat stopped, the BMW didn't - it cleaned off EVERYTHING on the boat in front of it on the way off, and it is still out there, somewhere off the coast of North Carolina. He went into the drink, too, fortunately, he wasn't hurt and could swim.

I'll bet the insurance claim form raised some eyebrows . . .

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[MFO]

I like the comment above about putting in some dirt or 3/4 inch stone to stop them from moving around. Then cover the top with a tarp and strap that down, and drive slowly on roads with minimal turns. My biggest concern is the weight of the boulders. They likely weigh more than you think. I have one nice boulder in my yard that can only be moved with an excavator, and it doesn't look all that big. I transported several thousand pounds of granite 80 miles per trip, making 5 -6 loaded trips, in my most similar example. I didn't have a dump trailer. The first trip I used my brother's utility trailer with a dual axle that we normally used for my Jinma 284. That broke the axle within 30 miles of easy roads. What a nightmare trailering a trailer with a broken axle with 3 large pieces of granite in it. Then I bought a 20 year old Bobcat trailer that was considerably more heavy duty. I rebuilt the bed with 2x12 pressure treated, packed all the bearings, installed new tires and rims, then went to work transporting the rest without incident. I placed the granite evenly on the trailer and made sure there was proper tongue weight and good balance. Then I nailed in 2x4 blocks around the pieces, and chained the tops. There was no shifting and it worked perfectly. You could surface mount D rings to a few piece of 1/2 inch plywood on the trailer bed and chain them down. If the plywood is touching all sides of the bed, it'll also keep the boulders stable in normal traffic. But so would dirt or 3/4 inch stone on the deck for normal braking. Nothing is going to save you in a serious braking situation or accident, but chaining them to plywood would show an attempt to keep the load stable.

 

[nikerret]

Whatever you do... Drive at night when there is no traffic...

At night, it’s harder to see if there is a problem with your tie-downs. Also, if there is a collision, and the boulders get loose, that’s much worse. I’ve seen vehicles totaled and the occupant injured over armadillos. A boulder that gets loose is likely to kill anyone who hits it. At night, things are harder to see, yes. The biggest issue is other drivers will likely be looking at the vehicle that wrecked, not at what may be left in the roadway. I’ve worked a lot of secondary collisions, due to this.


That’s not to say driving at certain times don’t hold benefits. My preference would be a weekend early morning, before dawn, but after “normal” visibility starts.

 

[Trog777]

Send it.

 

[bigtiller]

At night, it’s harder to see if there is a problem with your tie-downs. Also, if there is a collision, and the boulders get loose, that’s much worse. I’ve seen vehicles totaled and the occupant injured over armadillos. A boulder that gets loose is likely to kill anyone who hits it. At night, things are harder to see, yes. The biggest issue is other drivers will likely be looking at the vehicle that wrecked, not at what may be left in the roadway. I’ve worked a lot of secondary collisions, due to this.


That’s not to say driving at certain times don’t hold benefits. My preference would be a weekend early morning, before dawn, but after “normal” visibility starts.

Agreed, doing this at night was bad advice.

 

[smiley]

Drop some dirt in, drop the rocks in, drop enough dirt in to keep them in place and be on your way. That's how we always did it without tying them down.
Smiley

 

[5030]

Do keep in mind that when driving on a public highway, you come under the rules and regulations of the DOT. Last time I checked, ANY load must be secured against movement. I told you how to secure them a ways back. You can either heed my advise or wing it but be apprised if you wing it and something happens, not only will you be liable for damages, you'll probably be ticked for an insecure load as well.

Your choice. I KNOW what mine would be.

 

[deezler]

It's not coming out of the trailer unless you crash. Don't crash. Just send it.

 

[Redfox2]

I want to transport some boulders about 50 miles. I have a 5x8 heavy duty dump trailer that should probably handle 2 or 3 of them. How in the world do you fasten them down for transport? Or not bother?

The sides on my trailer are high enough where the boulders could not possible fall over the sides or the back. It's more if I was in an accident-- those boulders flying around could do some serious damage.

I don't have D-rings in my trailer ....

Frankly, I would put a few inches of dirt in the bottom of the trailer before I tossed in the boulders!

 

[sixdogs]

When I moved some big ones, I put a pallet on top of one and then ran chains over the top of the pallet and pushed it into the wood. Rock didn't move an inch.

 

[ning]

Avoiding movement of large items is necessary for more than just keeping the trailer/truckbed nice - you may not think much of a box sliding around in the back of your truck, but a 1000# boulder coming loose in a turn can easily cause an overturn when it hits the side, and then you have to worry about what that boulder's going to do to someone else.

This is why stalls in a horse trailer are important - you've got a large, mobile load in a larger trailer, and you need to keep it in one spot. You'd prefer to strap that load down tight, but the horse would probably kick you if you tried, so you put it in the stall. A boulder won't kick you unless it gets loose on a turn, so strap it in tight enough that a sudden turn isn't going to break it loose (you know, when you tried to do the move at night because there's so much less traffic, and found a few deer in the road suddenly? or a kid?).

 

[Alan46]

I want to transport some boulders about 50 miles. I have a 5x8 heavy duty dump trailer that should probably handle 2 or 3 of them. How in the world do you fasten them down for transport? Or not bother?

The sides on my trailer are high enough where the boulders could not possible fall over the sides or the back. It's more if I was in an accident-- those boulders flying around could do some serious damage.

I don't have D-rings in my trailer ....

Now would be a good time to install some, just sayin. ☮️

 

[Gord Baker]

With a small dump trailer and no D-rings there isn't much you can do. Maybe just cover them with a heavy tarp and stretch a few straps across the top. Take the less traveled roads, don't get in a hurry, drive slow, defensively and under the speed limit. Give the tailgaters ample time to get around you.

If possible, throw in some dunnage or old pallets to act as a shock absorber just in case.

Put a thick layer of soft material, like dirt in the bottom around the boulders lower 1/3.
That‘ll help prevent them from shifting. Then add straps across tops
If you strap them without the soft material, the straps will constantly work their way lose

That's the best advice to date. Sounds like those boulders exceed GVW on Trailer and Braking system.
Tell the recipient to come and get them.

 

[nisaacs]

Avoiding movement of large items is necessary for more than just keeping the trailer/truckbed nice - you may not think much of a box sliding around in the back of your truck, but a 1000# boulder coming loose in a turn can easily cause an overturn when it hits the side, and then you have to worry about what that boulder's going to do to someone else.

This is why stalls in a horse trailer are important - you've got a large, mobile load in a larger trailer, and you need to keep it in one spot. You'd prefer to strap that load down tight, but the horse would probably kick you if you tried, so you put it in the stall. A boulder won't kick you unless it gets loose on a turn, so strap it in tight enough that a sudden turn isn't going to break it loose (you know, when you tried to do the move at night because there's so much less traffic, and found a few deer in the road suddenly? or a kid?).

 

[nisaacs]

It's not coming out of the trailer unless you crash. Don't crash. Just send it.

I agree. It don't mater what you haul, if you crash you got problems.

 

[mini14]

I've moved quite a few for landscape jobs. I put them on pallets and use stretch wrap. Use the skid steer to unload

 

[OzarkChris]

Many very good ideas above! I've moved numerous tons of larger rock over the years But before I send in my two cents, I'm making a few logical guesses. First, that like most dump bed trailers the dump bed base is metal (not wood, so forget all of the "screw" this or that down stuff). Second, since you don't already have tie-downs inside the bed, you probably would either A) rather not have them in the bed (so items being dumped don't get hung up later) or B) you don't want to (or can't, and don't have friends that can) weld them in.

Now, my 2 cents, your trailer is a good size for many things, but in my opinion, may be a bit small for this task - however, it may be the largest thing you can haul, if this is correct don't expect to haul more than one rock at a time - you know, fuel being what it is now, add up all the trips and determine if it might be more feasible to hire a truck that will carry all of the rock in one load.

If I were doing this I would probably do it this way. First, consider renting a larger dump trailer - or regular (non-dump) trailer if you have the means to off load the rock. Using either of the methods 5030 stated earlier is absolutely the legal, safe and proper way of doing it. However, if you might be the type to roll the dice or (like me) believe that most times it's easier to play ignorant and hope for a lenient judge should something happen, I would consider doing the following: first, use sand, gravel or mulch on the bottom - myself, I ask the wifey if she needs any of those so it doesn't go to waste, if she doesn't I use the cheapest of the three. Second, line the sides, front & back of trailer with old tires standing upright wherever you have the space. Third, use a tire on top of each rock (with hole over the pointy part on top) and finally, using rated straps, chains etc tie them down to the tie-down points on the outside if the bed. I don't believe I've ever seen a manufactured dump trailer without tie-down points on the outside of the bed - I have seen homemade ones without though.

If it still doesn't appear to be stable AND if you have hailing weight left on the trailer, consider putting more of the bottom layer around the tires, rock and sides of the trailer. DON'T be the guy that decides the trailer is rated for 2T and loads 4T in the bed - that ticket can become really, really expensive (just ask my neighbor), and is extremely unsafe!

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps!

 

[smiley]

I thought I had replied to this earlier but don't see it so here it is again. Dump a few inches of soft dirt/sand in the bottom, carefully drop the rocks in and they'll make their own nest. If needed, dump enough more dirt around them to keep them from shifting and head for home. We moved many thousands of yards of heavy rip rap like this and it was standard practice as long as long as I can remember and without tie downs. It's easier on the truck or trailer too. Round rocks would naturally require a little more fussing
Smiley






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