How to load trailer with 18 inch high sides with forklift with a long bundle

[Fallon]

Good advice from 4570Man. Make sure you have stake pockets in the deckover trailer and you can add or subtract side sections as needed.

I'll 3rd that. My old 16' tilting deck had a 4-6" lip around the edge. Between that & the fenders it drove me nuts loading anything but a tractor on it. Usually stacked a pallet or 2 to clear the lip.

My new 22' deckover power tilting deck is way steeper & consequently harder to load the tractor on. But it's not that hard & I dont gave to wory about impliments hitting the fenders. Everything else is trivial to load over the sides with pallet forks. My only regret is not getting a 25' or so.

 

[MossRoad]

we use straps to cradle the load- then the strap loops slide over the forks, lift the long bundle over the sides and set it down on the trailer deck- load lumber and metal roofing like this all the time

Like this.... that's how we did it at the airport. Straps on the forks and load it over the side rails.

 

[dnw64]

Long fully palletized loads are easy to load from the rear. With the forklift centered on the pallet, set it on the rear of the trailer and support the free end somehow. Then reposition the forklift to the rear of the load, lift, remove the temporary support and slide it onto the trailer.

We load dry vans this way multiple times per week.

We have a deadman made of 2x4s with triangles of OSB screwed to the inside corners to make it stronger (we load up to 17' long pallets that can weigh 4000#). It's a rectangle - with the long side matched to dock height for the normal dry van loading, and the short way is about pickup truck height.

For odd situations we will use a second forklift at the end to eliminate the deadman.

 

[QRTRHRS]

We load dry vans this way multiple times per week.

We have a deadman made of 2x4s with triangles of OSB screwed to the inside corners to make it stronger (we load up to 17' long pallets that can weigh 4000#). It's a rectangle - with the long side matched to dock height for the normal dry van loading, and the short way is about pickup truck height.

For odd situations we will use a second forklift at the end to eliminate the deadman.

Loading van's was where I learned the trick. Often as not we just used a pallet since they are just about the right heighth but the dead man would be a lot more stable. Load enough van's and you are likely to see it all!

 

[Big Barn]

How long are your bundles?

I made 7 foot fork extensions and would handle 12 foot bundles of tin roofing easily.

 

[dnw64]

We have 6' fork extensions that fit our small (5k) forklift, and they're a great asset, but only go so far...

 

[Renze]

I used to drop pallets under it. If your side rails are strong enough you can hook some crossbars on them. But deckovers are much nicer, universal trailers.

 

[dnw64]

But deckovers are much nicer, universal trailers.

Except that, the deck is higher, which makes loading angles steeper...

There is no perfect trailer (or car, or house, or tractor, etc).

 

[4570Man]

Except that, the deck is higher, which makes loading angles steeper...

There is no perfect trailer (or car, or house, or tractor, etc).

I’ve never had a problem with the loading angle on my current deck over. Not all deckovers are created equal.

 

[Fallon]

Except that, the deck is higher, which makes loading angles steeper...

There is no perfect trailer (or car, or house, or tractor, etc).

My deckover power tilt is 3 times as steep as my old low gravity tilt was. I looked at nice gravity tilts assuming I'd just replace my old gravity tilt with one that wasnt way to short, before i ended up eyeing the deckovers. 90% of my hauling is the tractor with impliments. I'd still get the deckover tilt over a gravity tilt, despite the steeper deck being a bit of a pain. Not dealing with fenders no matter what I'm putting on is so nice.