Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[California]

I spent a while trying things, puzzling how to resolve the issue illustrated in several YouTube videos: A trailer tailgate isn't suitable for the unloder same as a pickup's tailgate. This unloader can only replace the tailgate, it can't be mounted with the trailer's tailgate in place.

Bringing home gravel with no tailgate would be a traffic safety issue and would likely cost me a ticket.

The best (only) solution I've come up with is - a temporary mount for the unloader that installs with the same downward pins as the tailgate. These pins go down into the rear of the frame rails.

Then to use the unloader - before loading gravel on top of the fabric, unspool the excess fabric out the back onto the ground, set the tailgate in place, then loop this excess fabric and its axle up over the tailgate and carry it on top of the gravel on the way home.

At home, lift the taigate out and set the axle with spooled excess fabric where the tailgate was.

This would need a mount with two big pins facing down, same as how the tailgate attaches now. Fabricating that 'artificial tailgate' mount should be simple. It would be similar to the trailer adapters others have in their YouTube videos, except removable.

Anybody have other alternatives?

I fabricated a removable mount to use the HF Tailgate Unloader on my 4x8 trailer. All its mounting hardware assumes an ordinary pickup tailgate so it doesn't match the blunt end of a trailer at all.

I welded up a replica of the bottom edge of the existing tailgate, which mounts by dropping pins into holes in the frame rails.

The bearings for the fabric shaft are now two inches beyond the back of the trailer, spaced by 2x2 heavy gauge box tubing. This spacing is needed for the diameter of the rolled fabric.

The unloader fabric is sufficiently long to carry it home from the quarry looped up over top of the mounted tailgate, and down inside the trailer. Then at home swap them.

Next step is to weld a 3/8 drive socket into the opposite end of the fabric shaft to rotate it with a cordless drill - when its not under a lot of tension. Because it feels like hundreds of turns of the long crank handle to wind in the whole length of the fabric.

Note to others interested in doing this: the width of the fabric plus the axle bearings is considerably greater than 48 inches so this won't mount inside a trailer that is only 4x8. And fabricating something removable to mount the fabric axle beyond the end of the trailer isn't trivial. So this isn't a simple project. I almost returned the kit after a long time puzzling over how to mount it.

I'll post some photos when its complete.

 

[newbury]

I'll post some photos when its complete.

Please do!

 

[California]

The HF Tailgate Unloader is designed to temporarily strap to a pickup's tailgate.

Mounting it on the back of a trailer requires creating a new mounting method.

After much thought I welded up a removable mount duplicating the bottom edge of my lift-out tailgate.

Note the base of the standard tailgate. I had to duplicate that. (The pins are angled so the tailgate can be mounted with the inner face down to make a longer deck - clever!)

I made a removable crossmember from an old WWII army surplus sheet metal angle by welding on sloping pins like the real tailgate, and a 2x2 spacer to get the spool up and back. Note I had to mount the spool's axle bearings upside down compared to how they are used on a pickup. All of the stress on this device pulls toward the trailer so this should work fine. I don't intend to load anything near the ton rated capacity of the device.

Sorry about the crappy welds. We found that angle crossmember and many more, under a rental that Dad bought in 1968. That house was a remodel that had started as a WWII prefab using many angles like this to link metal panels together. There was so much rust pitting on this after 50+ years stored outdoors that it wouldn't polish smooth to weld to. Welding it made lots of sparks. The 2x2 box was cut from an exercise machine.

How it all fits together.
The pins go down into holes at the back of the left/right frame rails. You can see where one pin emerges below.

5.5 ft of excess fabric. Plenty to turn some up at the front of the trailer, and still carry the spool home from the quarry looped up over the tailgate and carried on top of the load. Then at home, remove the tailgate and mount the unloader spool in place of it.

I had to narrow the fabric by a half inch to make everything fit within the width of the bed.

That's the driver-side crank handle, also shown in the first photo.

My improvement on HF's design, a socket welded into the passenger-side end of the spool axle. To turn with a cordless drill.

Now to try it out! Assuming it works as intended, I'll trim off the excess plastic hanging down, that was made to fit a pickup's tailgate.

 

[2manyrocks]

Appreciate your sharing what you did. I've thought about doing this myself.

Did you cut the fabric with a hot knife to keep it from fraying or was that not needed?

My experience has been to not overload it because if the load is too heavy, it won't unload without having to shovel out enough material to get it to unroll. Also helps tremendously if the trailer bed itself is slick.

 

[California]

Did you cut the fabric with a hot knife to keep it from fraying or was that not needed?

My experience has been to not overload it because if the load is too heavy, it won't unload without having to shovel out enough material to get it to unroll. Also helps tremendously if the trailer bed itself is slick.

Hot knife? No. I expect the edge will fray but not enough to affect usability.

This will be used mostly to haul orchard prunings including heavy chunks so I expect the fabric will take a beating, get frayed and punctured over time. So a ragged edge won't be what ends its usefulness. Maybe blue tarp material will be suitable for replacement fabric.

I agree the one ton rating seems unreasonable. One of the YouTube reviewers tore open the point where the handle fits the tube. I won't carry that much weight.


Are these on closeout? Now the HF listing has no details.

 

[2manyrocks]

In Tennessee, the HF listing looks same as always except price is now $54.99.

I doubt blue tarp will work as replacement fabric. Maybe their mesh tarp material is similar, but whatever fabric they are using for the unloader seems stiffer.

 

[California]

In Tennessee, the HF listing looks same as always except price is now $54.99.

You're right.

I just got home (Central Valley) from the ranch (Sonoma Coast) and HF's page displays normally here.

This home PC and the ranch laptop both have Windows 7 so I assumed they run identically. First time I've seen a variance in over a decade using both.