Hybrid hauling and towing mulch

[Mr Perfect]

I put my hybrid to work today hauling mulch in the bed and in the trailer. There's probably 3/4 of a yard in the trailer and about 1 1/4 yard in the bed. The truck had no problem with it! The mulch comes from the town transfer station a few miles away.

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[KTM]

I love to see this. Will be doing the same thing in a week or so when mine is delivered.

 

[GPSMan]

How did you keep it from blowing out? You should cover with a tarp.

Nice work.
But the only two things you can legally litter while while driving is hay and feathers.

 

[atomguy245]

If you go the bagged route, this is 25, so maybe stop at 20

 

[Maverickent]

By " town transfer station", do you mean the place where the city arborists dump the tree debris from city property, which gets chipped and piled up? If so, (and I say this out of love for my Mav brother) those wood chips are garbage. It usually is comprised of many tree species, which are not appropriate for actual mulch. It decomposes fast, which takes nutrients(N-P-K) away from your plantings; it invites a party for undesirable guests, including termites, snails, centipedes, milipedes, slugs, crickets, mice, and up the food chain. Your property looks awesome. Using mulch made from 100% cedar is not cheap, but it is worth it, because not only does it break down slowly, but it also actually repels the nasties.

 

[OleFordGuy]

By " town transfer station", do you mean the place where the city arborists dump the tree debris from city property, which gets chipped and piled up? If so, (and I say this out of love for my Mav brother) those wood chips are garbage. It usually is comprised of many tree species, which are not appropriate for actual mulch. It decomposes fast, which takes nutrients(N-P-K) away from your plantings; it invites a party for undesirable guests, including termites, snails, centipedes, milipedes, slugs, crickets, mice, and up the food chain. Your property looks awesome. Using mulch made from 100% cedar is not cheap, but it is worth it, because not only does it break down slowly, but it also actually repels the nasties.

There's some truth to that. Many many years back I had to remove some I'd put out around the house before my home termite bond could be renewed. Ever since then, it's been cedar or cypress mulch for me.

 

[Pop2020]

So, was it easy to clean out the bed? In my old Ridgeline with the wonderful dual-action tailgate I always had to spend time trying to get the mulch out of the crevices and openings. I've got the Lariat with the spray-in, so I was wondering whether to use the bed or get a trailer.

I'm also wondering "how many yards of mulch is equivalent to the towing capacity of a Maverick hybrid"? At 2k lbs, I'm guessing a couple of yards. Think somewhere I read a yard of mulch is about 800 or 900 lbs.

 

[Mr Perfect]

So, was it easy to clean out the bed? In my old Ridgeline with the wonderful dual-action tailgate I always had to spend time trying to get the mulch out of the crevices and openings. I've got the Lariat with the spray-in, so I was wondering whether to use the bed or get a trailer.

I'm also wondering "how many yards of mulch is equivalent to the towing capacity of a Maverick hybrid"? At 2k lbs, I'm guessing a couple of yards. Think somewhere I read a yard of mulch is about 800 or 900 lbs.

I made three trips loaded like the picture shows. For all three of them I put a tarp in the bottom of the bed before loading. The picture is from the first trip, I just loaded the bed with the tarp only covering the bottom of the bed. What I found was that when I opened the tailgate, mulch filled up the space between the bottom of the tailgate and the bumper. I had to get it out before I could close the tailgate again. It was slightly annoying but not a huge problem. For the second and third trips, I put the tarp in the bed but made sure that the tarp was pulled up to the top of the tailgate. That way when I opened it, that gap was covered up. That pretty much fixed the problem. Once the bed was mostly empty, I just pulled the tarp out with whatever mulch was left on it.

The tarp I used wasn't big enough to completely cover the interior of the bed, so when I was done with it for the weekend, I blew it out with a leaf blower. Also took it through the car wash to get the rest of it clean.

 

[Thoron99]

There's some truth to that. Many many years back I had to remove some I'd put out around the house before my home termite bond could be renewed. Ever since then, it's been cedar or cypress mulch for me.

I’ve never tried mulch from the dump myself, but the rumor where I live is that the dump guys sometimes throw furniture wood and particle boards into the chipper.

 

[dalola]

So, was it easy to clean out the bed? In my old Ridgeline with the wonderful dual-action tailgate I always had to spend time trying to get the mulch out of the crevices and openings. I've got the Lariat with the spray-in, so I was wondering whether to use the bed or get a trailer.

I'm also wondering "how many yards of mulch is equivalent to the towing capacity of a Maverick hybrid"? At 2k lbs, I'm guessing a couple of yards. Think somewhere I read a yard of mulch is about 800 or 900 lbs.

lol...oh, the memories! I too had a gen. 1 Ridgeline (2012 I think...) You're right, bulk materials in the bed was a total PITA! Between the tailgate design & the stupid in-bed trunk, it took a long time to clean when finished. Then I got smart, and did what the OP did....bought a tarp that fit perfectly in the bed, going up the sides & TG, to contain loose material like mulch. Made for MUCH faster clean up time!

 

[Mr Perfect]

I’ve never tried mulch from the dump myself, but the rumor where I live is that the dump guys sometimes throw furniture wood and particle boards into the chipper.

It's clean here. In 6 yards of mulch I found 1 baseball sized rock. That's it.

Even if they do put an occasional piece of furniture or particle board in the chipper, I'm not concerned. I'm putting it around trees and on flower beds. I've been doing it for a decade or so and have great results.

 

[Pop2020]

lol...oh, the memories! I too had a gen. 1 Ridgeline (2012 I think...) You're right, bulk materials in the bed was a total PITA! Between the tailgate design & the stupid in-bed trunk, it took a long time to clean when finished. Then I got smart, and did what the OP did....bought a tarp that fit perfectly in the bed, going up the sides & TG, to contain loose material like mulch. Made for MUCH faster clean up time!

Oh, man, you "disrespecting" the in-bed trunk. Say it ain't so. I loved that feature because I could store stuff in there without it being in the bed, but it was a pain when something was in the bed and you needed to get to something in the trunk. I'd much rather lock things in that trunk that inside under the rear seat.

 

[dalola]

Oh, man, you "disrespecting" the in-bed trunk. Say it ain't so. I loved that feature because I could store stuff in there without it being in the bed, but it was a pain when something was in the bed and you needed to get to something in the trunk. I'd much rather lock things in that trunk that inside under the rear seat.

For sure I was the minority, but I hated that in-bed trunk! As a concept, it sounded cool & useful, but my reality was, it was a complete PITA! I always had stuff in the bed, so it was pretty pointless for my use case. For the most part, I did enjoy the truck, was a nice "break" from years of traditional half tons, but the novelty wore off quickly, and I went back to my beloved F150's. Kinda doing the same experiment with the Mav, but so far, thinking it may be a keeper!

 

[Thoron99]

It's clean here. In 6 yards of mulch I found 1 baseball sized rock. That's it.

Even if they do put an occasional piece of furniture or particle board in the chipper, I'm not concerned. I'm putting it around trees and on flower beds. I've been doing it for a decade or so and have great results.

Well like I said just a rumor the “old timers” around town tell, but we do raised bed veggies so not taking any chances on the bulk mulch.

(don’t currently have a truck to carry it anyway, until the Mav ever comes)

 

[groovesocket]

If you go the bagged route, this is 25, so maybe stop at 20

Twins!

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