How best to unload wood chips?

[ArkCivEngr]

I have the good fortune to live within 15 minutes (tractor seat time) of a guy who runs a tree service and always has a huge mountain of chips available that I can get for free.

The problem is unloading them. The good ol' shovel method takes quite a while (I have an 8 ft. bed on my truck), so I've been pondering ways to unload more quickly. The one idea I keep rolling around is to place a thick sheet of plywood in the bed with boards running crossways for gripping purposes. On the end I'll build a "hitch" that can be pulled with my L3400.

If anyone else has tried anything like this or has another idea, feel free to chime in. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[DocHeb]

I use a 10' x 20' tarp.

Lay one end of the tarp across the tailgate and run the rest towards the front of the truck. Dump the load onto the tarp. Fold the remaining half of the tarp back and secure it at the tailgate. At your destination, gather both ends of the tarp near the open tailgate, tie it to your tractor, and pull the load off & out.

It's easier to do it than it is to describe it.

 

[bobodu]

Somewhere...I saw a picture of a tarp that is laid in the bed and wound up on a pipe at the tailgate.

 

[ArkCivEngr]

The first thing I tried was a tarp--one of those good trucking ones with ring-straps running up the sides. Since I'd left my tractor at the loading place, I wove some tie-down straps through the rings and tied it to a tree. Then I drove away from the tree, and promptly snapped one ring and the tie-down strap. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif These chips are heavier than they look.

 

[RonR]

In the years before all farm trucks had dumps, when we unloaded silage, we had a steel frame that was structure for 3/4" plywood that was stationed at the front of the truck bed.

To unload, when the endgate was opened, a steel cable (which was in the truck bed) was attached to a set of cables that anchored to a huge plow sunk in the ground. The truck driver simply drove forward until the plywood structure was at the rear of the truck to empty the load.

If you had a simliar structure, I'm sure your tractor could pull the chips out.

Ron

 

[Ken_CT]

The "loadhandler" is available from JC Whitney. It works as good as the ad says it does. Here is a link to it. I have one and it is well worth the money. Load Handler

 

[Scrounger]

I tried one of those from JC Whitney. A few yards of mulch was all it could handle before it was just too heavy of a load.

It looks like without a dumper you're gonna do a bit of shoveling.

 

[Slamfire]

The steel framework with the plywood wall attached is the method I use. You can either pull it off the truck with the tractor, or drive the truck out from under it. Use it with one of the hard plastic bed liners, you know, the one you had to bet rid of because your partial load kept runnin' from the tailgate to the cab dependin' on whether you were startin' or stoppin'. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[krickard]

Have you talked to the tree trimmer if he would dump the load on your property?Entergy Power used to be willing then went to the tree service companys.so don't know if still doing it, but doesn't hurt to ask.
unloading loose material from a truck can be done by putting a chain link fence on bed attaching angle iron to front side and chain on both front sides pull the load off the bed with tractor, link fence ends up on top of load to be rolled up out of way works on 14' trailer of cow manure,also.
se'ya ken /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[milkman]

I also have the Load Handler on the rear of my Kory 3000 wagon and it definitely does all that it claims to do. I can put 5 bucket loads of creek rock on my wagon and unload that in about 30 seconds. There are differend grades of the Load Handler, I got the heavy duty rated at 3000 lbs, it has bearings on each end of the shaft, I have seen the lighter ones that don't have the bearings, if you get the heavy duty, the mat that pulls the load off is ~53" wide and 15' long and will definitely unload wet mulch. I can unload inside a building where I can't use a dump trailer.