Hey Guys, I need your help

[Anonymous Poster]

I need to be able to load mulch in pick up trucks. The new 425 only has a lift of 5 feet (60") and some of these good old boys trucks are much higher than this. I don't know welding but have some experience with woodworking. I was thinking about building a ramp. Your help is needed. Thanks, any input is needed.

 

[PTRich]

I've used ramps before, they work very well. Just the ones you use for loading equipment into a truck. I think in your application something more permanent and secure would be needed. Loading with ramps is a piece of cake, baking up on two skinny boards is not. Perhaps dig a hole with a pressure treated wall on the end. Have the trucks drive into the hole. Then you would only need a short ramp to drive right into the back of the trucks. Of course you could build up a dirt pile against a wall also. I place a piece of plywood over the back window when I load, the hydralics are very fast! You could easily put a rock into the glass.

 

[MossRoad]

I had the same questions. I know it will not load a truck, so your options are a ramp for the tractor or a hole for the truck, or a 1400 series instead of a 400 series. That's about it( I knew I was getting a low trailer, so it wasn't an issue for me). I would take PTRich's suggestion and build a permanent loading dock for the trucks.

And he is right about the hydraulics being snappy-fast. I was tossing old rotten railroad ties about 8 feet with the pallet forks, just like the flippers on a pinball table. You could easly take out a truck window. You can also toss dirt in your lap if you snap the bucket back too fast with it raised too high.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color="red"> have some experience with woodworking. </font>

A ramp to fill a pickup is pretty easy. The 425 isn't very heavy, even with a bucket of mulch. Of course, overbuilding increases the comfort level, so I suggest building it heavy, and plan on moving it, if you need to, using the PT. If you make a ramp up 2', you should be able to load anything but the kind of jacked up rig that shouldn't carry cargo anyway.
I've run my 1845 up a ramp that is about 8' long to 2' height, with 4x4 posts at 4' and 8', x braced at the end with 1 x 4, three 2x6 stringers, decked with rough cut 1x. It's about 6' wide, so the 2 x 6s are 3' apart. The whole works is poplar - built "temporary" about 5 years ago. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the wooden ramp idea, its right up my alley with my limited talents. Spring has arrived here with the flower season ready to kick off. Our weather has been in the 70's and I hope everyone has been enjoying the same. Thank goodness for the Power-Trac, its a real work hoss.