For ramps, I cut a couple of 12” x 2” tongue and groove white oak barn floor planks to 8 ft long. I trimmed 4” x 3” sawed white oak rafter sections, and nailed them to the underside of the planks for added strength.
I recovered that wood from a couple old 36’ x 46’ x 16’ post and beam barns that my great great grandad built in 1881 & 1883. I dismantled those because the roofs and foundations were failing and to make room for a new pole-barn.
The 8 ft box of my 2000 Silverado fit that Cub like a glove. To tie it down, I used (2) 2” ratchet straps, anchored to the built in anchor points inside the (4) lower corners of the truck box.
View attachment 812362
I don’t believe that it is “just a coincidence” that the standard Cub fits so well in a regular full sized pickup truck box. Most likely, that was the design criteria used, back in the 1940’s, when that tractor was developed.
Of course this won’t work with a Farmall Super A, or with the more popular short boxes that most folks get on their pickup trucks these days.
As far as the truck handling with the tractor in back, it was very good. Less sway in the corners than when I have my 8 ft camper on back. I can’t stand trailers, so I am really appreciating the Cub.
I have a decent spot to load/unload at home, shown there on the picture at the back of the stone driveway area behind my pole barn. There is an even better spot over at my parents place, 20 miles away. They have a sand filter septic system on their front yard. I back up to that, and there is very little angle needed on the ramps to get the tractor on and off.
To load up he tractor, I remove the truck tailgate and rear the end of the ramps on the rear step bumper. The Cub’s front tire width is adjusted to less than 4 ft, while the rears are at 4’ - 6”. That wider rear setting gives the tractor more stability but prevents me from being able to close the tailgate. If I moved them into the narrowest (4) ft position, I could pull the tractor another 1-1/2” forward, and close the tailgate with it inside.
I just left the tailgate at home (I had to remove it to use the ramps anyhow), when I hauled the tractor over to my parents place, to do a (3) hour job.