Unloading Pallet of Pavers

[downslope]

I have a pallet of pavers loaded toward the front of the 8' bed on my 1-ton pickup. The pallet is about 1 foot from the front of the bed and weighs about 3200 lbs. I need to get it to the rear to offload with loader pallet fork. I will remove the tailgate so I can get in close and also remove a few of the bricks if it's too heavy.

The question is, how can I slide it to the rear? The guy who loaded it pushed it in with a bobcat. I haven't tried it yet, but I thought I would wrap a chain around the front of the pallet and pull it back with the tractor, maybe parking the truck on an incline to make the pull easier.

The potential problem I see is that the pallet is sitting on a 4X8 piece of plywood and the truck has a plastic bed liner, so what I see happening is that the plywood will slide back along with the pallet. Any ideas?

If I can get this unloaded without too much trouble I can pick up a few more pallets of the pavers for free. I never even thought about the plywood, I just usually keep it in there to protect the liner when loading machinery or sliding pallets of fertilizer that might have nails sticking out.

[Diamondpilot]

I think the ply will come with it. You will need to find a way to secure it. Maybe put your forks against it then use a come along from the tractor to the pallet.

Chris

[LD1]

I would do a diamondpilot suggested. Gotta secure that plywood.

Also, what do you have to unload it with??? Gonna take a pretty large tractor/FEL to lift a 3200# pallet of bricks

[downslope]

If I can't secure the pallet I suppose I could cut off the overhanging plywood, what do you think?

I will try Diamond Pilot's idea if I can find a come-along. I only have a chain hoist right now.

The tractor is a NH TD75 4WD. I believe the loader is rated around 2800 lbs and the forks have a rating of 3500. It should be a good test of the loader I have had it to the limit lifting some logs and stumps, but who knows what they weighed. Like I said I may have to remove some bricks. There are approx 450 pavers on this pallet. Sometimes "free" is not always so free I have about 10 pallet-fulls available, each with 450-500 bricks, but that would be a load on a 10-wheeler and they're 50 miles away.

Thanks for the ideas.

[B8FISH]

couple of c clamps to secure the plywood to the liner? It would also appear that there is only 3' of "excess" plywood, what is the distance from the grill guard/front of tractor to the pallet fork frame--you may have enough clearance to make it work.

[downslope]

couple of c clamps to secure the plywood to the liner? It would also appear that there is only 3' of "excess" plywood, what is the distance from the grill guard/front of tractor to the pallet fork frame--you may have enough clearance to make it work.

Hey, you're right, there was a little less than 3 ft overhang and I was able to get in with the forks and lift it off.

The loader was at it's limit. I could raise it off the truck bed by using the curl and then I drove the truck out from under, but it didn't want to lift until I raised the rpm to 2000 and then I could hear a relief valve bypassing.

If I can approach the pallet from the side (long edge) that should make it easier to lift and move around the yard, right?

Now to decide if it's worthwhile to pick up another pallet and a quarter.
Thanks again, everyone.

[schmism]

Now to decide if it's worthwhile to pick up another pallet and a quarter.
Thanks again, everyone.

Shure, take the Plywood out to start, place the pallet right over the axle, and you should have no issue getting to it with the forks.

[LD1]

Shure, take the Plywood out to start, place the pallet right over the axle, and you should have no issue getting to it with the forks.

YEP

3200# should be nothing for a one-ton (assuming DRW). You dont have to force the load all the way to the cab.

Or better yet....if you have a trailer, haul them 2 skids at a time

[RJD2516]

Wow, that is a pretty big load for that tractor. I learned last week that my L3800 with pallet forks on it will pick up a pallet of 36 cinder blocks, but it won't lift 45 of them on a pallet. And the 36 blocks felt really close to the limit. I had 850 Lbs of ballast on the back. But, it was sketchy.

At 1260 lbs (34.1 lbs each, plus pallet), I think that was a lot to ask my tractor. But my tightened butt checks pretty much guarantees that I won't lift that much again.

[CurlyDave]

If you end up having to cut the plywood off, think about the value of a pallet of pavers vs. a sheet of plywood. I know I paid $600-700 for a pallet of pavers last summer.