putting a rotary cutter on top of pickup bed

[boggen]

*wishes he could take his statement back about cost*

i would honestly see about "freight shipping" the 555c loader/backhoe. cost like 175 bucks for delivery. and that was about 200 to 250 miles away.

and if it is bran new. about only thing that could go wrong, is if not all the parts arrive. maybe some bolts/nuts. at worst pto shaft, and support frame bars. (but) going to assume for most part fully assembled if at a dealers. exception PTO shaft between deck and tractor is loose and tie wrapped on.

why tear yourself up. or less you are one of those folks, that like taking a weekend trip.

a dealer, should be able to even setup the freight shipping for you / to you. and if you do not have a way to unload it, (no tractor at the homestead) the freight company could have a lift or something on it. ((little extra charge for it)) and it won't matter to you what they use to bring it. it is left up to the shipping company. of if they use a flat bed pickup truck, or a trailer, or a semi even. if it gets damaged in shipping, it is the shipping company fault.

=================
i haven't seen much mention in your thread about various fines and like. and i don't think there is much.

the exception being if it hangs out back of vehicle past i want to say 3 or 4 feet, you need a "red flag" much like lumber hauling, and most large hardware stores have the string / stapler / red plastic flag some were easy to get to and put on.

if it hangs over the side some of the truck, i would make sure it hangs over the passenger side. that way ya not side swiping on coming traffic. and only time you would realy need to worry about is if on highway with 2 or more lanes. and ya pass someone.

as far as if your truck can handle it or not. double check "owners manual" there should be a rating in it, in how many lbs it can handle safely. if ya get caught going over manufacturers specs via police, then it might be a fine? *don't know*

i say owners manual, due to springs, shocks, tires, frame, center of gravity so your front tires not coming off the ground. and most likely owner manual should have some sort of statement.

if ya going to tie it down. i would bring some extra straps. X across it. then one towards cab. and one towards tail gate. and perhaps one to wrap around end of it. so it can not slide out of the bed of truck. might be over kill. but if ya not use to hauling. and you don't get it in a good spot (meaning) when ya hit bumps it shifts a little. it may help keep things tight enough, and keep it from falling out. just make sure the initial few miles (10 miles or so) after loading it. and each pit stop either for gas or food or bathroom break. double check all your straps.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

No, I meant 3/4 ton...at the time, all 4x4 Fords were built on a 3/4 ton chassis, even the Rangers (a '91 or '92 model, IIRC). Good truck and a very strong V-6. If the body hadn't rusted out, I'd probably still have it.

I never heard of a 1/4 ton truck (except for those little Cushman 3-wheelers).

Interesting...I thought I had heard of a 1/4 ton truck before...:ashamed:

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I thought I had heard of a 1/4 ton truck before...:ashamed:

Never mind...

the ranger is a compact truck commonly called a 1/4 ton and is built on its own chassis.

 

[not2old]

I have a box trailer made from a 1975 F250 and carry stuff like that on it frequently, so it will do it. I use the trailer to prevent damage to my truck. Doesn't take much to cost $500.00 or more at a body shop these days.

 

[KennyG]

I hesitate to feed this thread, but I had one of the early Japanese small trucks (Datsun 520). It had 67 hp, an empty weight of about 2000 lbs and a rated load capacity of about 1000 lbs. We typically called these trucks 1/4 ton trucks to differentiate them from the full size 1/2 tons. As I recall, Datsun made a big deal when they brought out the 521 with a full 1600cc engine and a heavier frame as being their first "1/2 ton" truck.

 

[zzvyb6]

Anyways.......

Don't put the mower up on the bed side rails, either flat or angled. You are going to raise the total Center of Gravity so high that if you make any kind of abrupt turn (even at 30 mph) you risk rolling the truck over. That's a LOT of extra roll inertia. Even your biggest baddest camper box has much less effect on the truck's roll stability because of weight distribution. In fact you might just find that it starts oscillating in roll on its own at 70 mph: Not something you want to experience more than once in your life.

 

[slowzuki]

zzvyb6 haha, you're joking right? How do you use your truck if you can't put anything in the box?

My white one, a pair of 600x65R34 tires, about 800 lb each, and 1000 lbs of calcium in barrels behind. Rock solid on the windy road home.

The gray truck, an old old half ton with non-power brakes and a 390. Drives perfect on the road loaded like that. I put 90 40 lb bales on the white one as it has a long power tailgate that lets you go 8-9 tier just fine.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Look I'm not sure if you are purposely doing this as egging people on or what. A ranger DOES NOT and HAS NOT been constructed using 3/4 ton truck components. There is not a 3/4 ton compact truck class. Doesn't exist in north america.

The 4x4's or 2x4's do not use 3/4 ton truck components, the use compact truck components.

The 4x4 ranger used Ford 7.5 or 8.8 semi-float rear axles. A 3/4 ton of that vintage uses a 10.25" full floater Sterling axle.

A ranger uses a lightweight transmission produced by Mazda. A 3/4 ton used the huge ZF-5 manual transmission.

The smallest engine available in the 3/4 ton was a 302 V-8. At the time, there were no V-8's in the 1/4 ton chassis. Later, the explorer which partly shared the chassis became available with a V-8. The ranger never did get a v-8.

The ranger is not a 3/4 ton truck. The 3/4 ton or 250/2500 class is all full size trucks and nowadays has nothing to do with the payload capacity of the truck.

The same is true of 1/2 tons. You can't call it a 1 ton just because it has a 1 ton payload capacity.

Beg to differ on that one as Ford for many years had a 300 inline 6 cylinder engine in the F series trucks.

I am wondering if the original poster of this 3/4 ton Ranger theory has meant that they share the same front axle design rather than the same components. If that is what he is thinking he is partially correct, the Ranger, bronco II and early Explorers had a similar design as the full size trucks, but there were literally NO components in the drive line that would swap (aside from maybe lug nuts).

 

[whodat526]

Looks like we have to split the difference. A Ranger capacity is 1260 lbs (see the chart in this link. The capacity is listed about 2/3rds-3/4 down the chart. BTW, 2004 was the oldest I could find with a capacity listing. My old Ranger was a '92 and had helper springs (didn't look aftermarket, but I did buy the truck used).

Why would you think any truck would have to share components with the F-250? The loads are based upon the design of the components. A 3/4 ton compact truck is still a 3/4 ton truck. And Ford used 3/4 ton components (still do, I guess) on the 4x4's since the trucks are expected to see more severe service.

i would have to agree to an extent i had a 1978 ford ranger f100 that had a 9 inch rear end which is the same as a 3/4 of that era but the rangers that everybody is thinking of which lets say 85 or newer never shared any parts with a f250 i dont believe the front axles would even fit in the bed of a ranger moreless under the front end

 

[RoyJackson]

Look I'm not sure if you are purposely doing this as egging people on or what. A ranger DOES NOT and HAS NOT been constructed using 3/4 ton truck components. There is not a 3/4 ton compact truck class. Doesn't exist in north america.

The 4x4's or 2x4's do not use 3/4 ton truck components, the use compact truck components.

The 4x4 ranger used Ford 7.5 or 8.8 semi-float rear axles. A 3/4 ton of that vintage uses a 10.25" full floater Sterling axle.

A ranger uses a lightweight transmission produced by Mazda. A 3/4 ton used the huge ZF-5 manual transmission.

The smallest engine available in the 3/4 ton was a 302 V-8. At the time, there were no V-8's in the 1/4 ton chassis. Later, the explorer which partly shared the chassis became available with a V-8. The ranger never did get a v-8.

The ranger is not a 3/4 ton truck. The 3/4 ton or 250/2500 class is all full size trucks and nowadays has nothing to do with the payload capacity of the truck.

The same is true of 1/2 tons. You can't call it a 1 ton just because it has a 1 ton payload capacity.

Tell ya what...if the truck can haul 3/4 ton, that's close enough for me...

We'll be going around in circles on this, otherwise...

Then again...maybe you're thinking of Canadian tons (Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!)