# Can I transport this length of lumber in my pickup?



## darsunt

My pickup bed, with bed extender, is slightly less than 8 feet long. I need to transport 12 foot long pieces of 2X6 and 2X10.
Is this safe/legal to do? The beams would be angled up and sticking out at least a good 3.5 feet. Do I have to put a flag on them?

Thanks


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## Willie T

In my state, Florida, 'yes', you would need a flag if the load extends 30", I think it is, past the truck.


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## Daniel Holzman

Yes you have to put a flag on them, however in my state (MA) this is definitely illegal. That said, I have transported up to 16 foot boards in my Chevy pickup with an 8 foot bed, I will not say safely, nor was it legal, but I did make it.


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## Jim F

They do it in NY. Does your cab have one of those sliding glass rear windows? If so that would help with the overhang.
Edit: Oops, that only works for a few pieces at a time.


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## Know It ALL

Don't know if it's legal, as you don't list your state.
Place something heavy on the boards up next to the cab such as sand bags to ensure they don't flop out. I like to strap boards with a few bungees if they are long to keep them together.
"If" and I say it "If" they hit the road and cause an accident,,,,you get the picture.


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## darsunt

My state is California.


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## daveb1

Check with the highway patrol,traffic safety board, or local police. Buy some ratchet straps and strap the boards together as well as into the truck. Bundgee cords are not sufficient.


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## AndyGump

Jim F said:


> They do it in NY. Does your cab have one of those sliding glass rear windows? If so that would help with the overhang.
> Edit: Oops, that only works for a few pieces at a time.


 

Holy smokes, what I have heard then is true?

"EVERYTHING IS ILLEGAL IN MA."

What a wonderful state.

Andy.


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## fungku

If you find out it's legal.

Strap them down with ratchet straps and flag them.

I carry 12' all the time this way in my pickup.


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## amen2u

I admit I have done it by running the boards carefully on top of the cab of my truck with the other end butted up and weighed down against the tail gate. Naturally I put some protection down on the cab roof, and strapped the load on very securely with bear trap tie downs. It was not a long journey either.

I was quite young back then. I did not investigate whether or not it was legal. I just did it. Ah, youth . . .


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## daveb1

If you find it is legal to transport this load when it is properly secured, be aware that the overhang MAY swing into the adjoining lane when turning corners.


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## boman47k

Tie to both sides of bed to lessen any swinging action the might occur or to one side if not to many.

When I had to, I used the twine that is supplied by most stores to wrap arond several boards several times then tie to truck. If tightened enough, it can help stiffen the boards a little and take some of the spring out.

I think around here, anything sticking past a couple of feet has to be flagged. I may need to check on that.

I have also ran a rope across the front of my bed then ran one from the boards to the middle of that rope to help keep them in the truck.


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## tcleve4911

You'll be fine..........


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## amakarevic

dude, i have a regular 6' bed and i've transported 16' lumber many times, sliding the rear window of the cab and fitting some inside the cab but still like a 5-6 ft overhang ... you'll be fine


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## Jackofall1

If you cut them in half it will fit in the box no problem, then you just have to close the tail gate, no flag required.:jester:

Mark


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## Joe Carola

Darsunt,

Don't put the lumber inside a sliding window if you have one. That's illegal and you can get a ticket and worst of all dangerous. If that lumber ever slips while applying your breaks, the lumber goes through your windshield. This happens all the time.


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## fungku

Joe Carola said:


> Darsunt,
> 
> Don't put the lumber inside a sliding window if you have one. That's illegal and you can get a ticket and worst of all dangerous. If that lumber ever slips while applying your breaks, the lumber goes through your windshield. This happens all the time.


:whistling2:

I generally only do it with trim...

Most of the time it's better to just pay for delivery. Depeding on the place it may be free, or even just $20-30 (varies greatly by location and amount of stuff you're ordering, but yeah..) If you are getting a lot of stuff even $30 is cheaper then the potential damage caused to your vehicle or others from any little slip up.

I broke my sliding window once with a piece of wood that just caught the edge of it, it shattered nicely. Also got a nice little ding on my shiny nice truck loading something in too. :furious: And I am a very careful person.


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## Know It ALL

Jackofall1 said:


> If you cut them in half it will fit in the box no problem, then you just have to close the tail gate, no flag required.:jester:
> 
> Mark


 Why not just run them through a chipper? LOL:thumbup:


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## Jim F

Joe Carola said:


> Darsunt,
> 
> Don't put the lumber inside a sliding window if you have one. That's illegal and you can get a ticket and worst of all dangerous. If that lumber ever slips while applying your breaks, the lumber goes through your windshield. This happens all the time.


I did not know that was illegal. It does make sense that it could be. Of course I would never transport anything in my truck without securing it first with the ratchet straps. 

To the OP, California is very restrictive for commercial truckers as well as having very expensive fines. I would be very careful there.


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## bjbatlanta

If you have a hitch, Northern Tool, "China" Freight, and several other places sell bed extenders that slip into the hitch and give you an additional 3' or so of support. I think I paid around $60.00 or so. It's great for hauling 12' drywall. I'd definitely put a flag on it....
I use the sliding window method for hauling 14' and 16' lengths of trim.


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## WillK

Around here HD rents trucks or vans for $19.95, either of which can carry 12' boards - in the case of the truck they go over the cab on a rack, but pretty sure they'll fit inside the cab of the van.


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## stadry

*you could always tie them UNDER the truck,,, they rarely fall out of a box that way :laughing:*


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## 4just1don

put the tailgate down and its only sticking out by 2 foot. Here 4' and over requires flags. They lay better flat than over the tailgate and tie them together and both ways and your good to go. Put spare tire or other heavy items on the front, or tie down one more time. (If you dont carry a flag under or behind the seat,,,,you should,,,and your not a real experienced trucker.)

I use the rear view mirror and radio antennae for light trim


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## darsunt

I found out you can legally carry lumber extending 4' beyond the truck if you flag it. I will follow recommendations given here and tie the boards together and to the bed.
The bed extender I have rests on the open tailgate. My only concern is the weight resting on the tailgate. Fortunately I only need to move 5 boards.


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## COLDIRON

Jim F said:


> They do it in NY. Does your cab have one of those sliding glass rear windows? If so that would help with the overhang.
> Edit: Oops, that only works for a few pieces at a time.


" I thought I was the only one, now I feel better, works great".
I worry more about something flying off and hitting another vehicle than a stinking ticket, anybody who worries about tickets all the time has a problem. Don't you think cops ever carry stuff home in their trucks?.


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## Thurman

"darsunt", it sounds as if you have a Ford truck with the folding bed extender that actually just sits on the tailgate. IF I remember correctly you can fold it up to 90º, then slide the boards between the extender and the tailgate. Secure the load, flag it and on your way. Around here there is a law which pertains to "not securing a load properly", loosely interpreted to say the least. This will get them every time according to how the police see the load on a truck, and may not like it.


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## DIY_ing_Guy

My biggest concern is killing some stranger, either by having a board fly out, or someone who's not paying attention driving their windshield into the board. 

I routinely load 12' and under by ratchet-strapping the forward end at bed level, laying the long end over the edge of the RAISED tailgate (so the ends are angled upward above a tailgating car's roofline). 12' and under will balance weight-forward and not tip out easily. I strap the back end as well, and I strap AROUND all the boards so no single board can escape. (Like wearing a belt AND suspenders, I admit...)

You will be surprised at how many cars will pull their hoods right up under the boards at a stop light, like the boards were invisible, even with a red flag.

16' boards want to tip off the back if you do this, so I strap them through the rear window and over the raised tailgate (again, giving me some height). I hate doing it, though, if someone were to hit the boards it would be really bad for both. I don't do it often for for very many boards, and I don't recommend it. Be careful to leave good separation from your windshield as the boards may bounce if you hit a speed bump or pothole.

Guy


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## Joe Carola

COLDIRON said:


> " I thought I was the only one, now I feel better, works great".
> I worry more about something flying off and hitting another vehicle than a stinking ticket, anybody who worries about tickets all the time has a problem. Don't you think cops ever carry stuff home in their trucks?.


Telling someone to put framing lumber through the sliding window into the cab where it can go threw the windshield is just stupid! Worrying about a ticket is not the issue. The lumber going threw the window is. It's just simple common sense which obviously you don't have.


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## WillK

Let me also suggest the option of just renting a trailer if you have a hitch. $30 from U-haul should get you a 6'x12' trailer, you could get an open or closed trailer at that price and you get 24 hours, so if the time you get renting a truck at HD wasn't enough to make the dropoff this might be better.

Let me point out that if this is pressure treated wood, I believe that makes it more slippery.

A few years back, putting up our fence in Indianapolis I was bringing home the entire project's worth of 4x4 pressure treated 8' posts home in a Ford Escape. 3 layers high if I recall, and too long to keep it all inside. Taking off from a stop sign, they all slid out into the intersection.


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## AndyGump

Many is the time I have set lumber on the back part of the cab of my truck and on the closed tailgate then strapped the load at top and bottom with good 1/2" thick rope.
You should protect the cab top with towels or something but it can still get damaged with doing much of this.

Andy.


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## COLDIRON

Joe Carola said:


> Telling someone to put framing lumber through the sliding window into the cab where it can go threw the windshield is just stupid! Worrying about a ticket is not the issue. The lumber going threw the window is. It's just simple common sense which obviously you don't have.


" The poll is in more do than don't , does not make it right just saying. Buk, Buk, Buk".


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## Joe Carola

COLDIRON said:


> " The poll is in more do than don't , does not make it right just saying. Buk, Buk, Buk".


It's obvious here on this forum that many people do stupid things. The problem here is that you have many people telling them to do stupid things.


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## darsunt

Well I tied the lumber together and to the ruck bed and extender in 3 places, and flagged it, and made it home safely.

Interestingly a police car followed me for awhile and then went on by. I guess I passed inspection.


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## mrgins

darsunt said:


> Well I tied the lumber together and to the ruck bed and extender in 3 places, and flagged it, and made it home safely.
> 
> Interestingly a police car followed me for awhile and then went on by. I guess I passed inspection.


Also notable that the cop seems like he was waiting for the stuff to fall off so he could ticket you, instead of pulling you over to see if it was ok


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## bubbler

DIY_ing_Guy said:


> You will be surprised at how many cars will pull their hoods right up under the boards at a stop light, like the boards were invisible, even with a red flag.


+1 on this one... it's like a moth to a flame... 

This winter I carried a snow blower strapped to a hitch platform, I was AMAZED at how many would ride just a few feet off from the back of it cruising along at 30MPH... it's like they were waiting for it to fall so they could file a claim...


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