Those bed liner conveyor things for pickups

[Tig]

I know I'm a bad TBN'r for not attaching a pic.
Here is what I used to make this thing
I bought the 42" wide tarp from Loadhandler for about $20. They are real tough.
I used a 48" x 1" iron bar and a couple pillow block bearings for the spool.
It sits in the tailgate slot and I bolted it to the sides. Hard to describe but the strength comes from being held in position on the box sides. The bolts just keep it from rattling off when not under load. It goes on and off in about 5 mins.
Originally I made a 24" crank handle out of tubing and that worked great. I ran into problems if I over loaded the trailer and the suspension compressed. The handle gets too low to the ground and you can't crank. That means you have to use a ramp to tilt the crank side.
That nonsense inspired me to weld an old lawn mower front rim to some tubing and swap out the handle. I cut a slot in the rim for the hook and wrap the winch cable around it. I sit the battery if the front corner of the trailer bed in a marine battery box. You free spool the winch and pull the tarp out to cover the bed and a few feet past. That also wraps cable on the rim for unloading. I do have to be a bit careful with the wheel wells. Too much material in front of them and it does not come out clean. The battery helps keep the one side clean. The bed liner is probably quite important in making things work well. I also positioned the spool shaft 1/2" above the bed so that it would lift slightly as it pulled.
If you have ever unloaded a trailer of tractor cut sod you can appreciate how wonderful this thing is. It is smaller scale than any dump truck but it matches my tractor nicely and suits my needs. The video is when I first tested the electric winch. Since then I have seriously over loaded that trailer while moving material on my property. I have not had a problem unloading, even after I clipped a tree and bent the shaft.
Here's the video. Enjoy.

 

[RayCo]

There have been several good posts about the Loadhandler on this site. Do a search for some interesting reading. I can't recall anyone who doesn't like it after using one.

Shall do. Thank you.

 

[weldingisfun]

RayCo, check Harbor Freight if you decide you are going to buy a Load Handler. The price there is less than most other places. That is where I bought mine. Never used it, still in the box and trying to sell it now. You are to far away or else you could get it for a very good price ($85). I thought it might work on one of my utility trailers. Too short and too narrow, so it never even came out of the box.

 

[sodamo]

Thanks for the video TIG
I have a Loadhandler 3000 mounted to Army surpus M1102 trailer.
orders a 5000 12v winch from Harbor Freight as I can haul 3-4000K, so the 1 ton likely won't work.
Was wondering about what to use for a pulley and had the wheel idea myself, but haven't found one yet, need to fit 1 inch shaft.
I can place my battery on the wheel well.
I also ordered a remote switch off ebay.

 

[Midniteoyl]

The video is when I first tested the electric winch. Since then I have seriously over loaded that trailer while moving material on my property. I have not had a problem unloading, even after I clipped a tree and bent the shaft.
Here's the video. Enjoy.

Dude! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:



Schematic! We need a schematic!

 

[Tig]

I'll post a few pictures of some of the details. It's a simple fabrication although I did put thought into the geometry of the pulley and the direction of the forces involved.

 

[PhysAssist]

I'll post a few pictures of some of the details. It's a simple fabrication although I did put thought into the geometry of the pulley and the direction of the forces involved.

Hi Steve,

I am also very interested in any further information you can provide. ptimist:

Also I tried to follow your video link, but I only got to a blank page with a message about a schmuck like me trying to access your private file.

Would you possibly be willing to allow me access, even if only temporarily?ath:

Any additional pictures would be very welcome as well. :yes:

We have a small wooden-decked and sided HF trailer that we were gifted by my F-I-L (too small for our bucket to easily unload, big enough to make shoveling a royal pain in our tired old rotator cuffs), and need to be able to unload it of various loads like rocks, firewood, gravel and dirt. :melodramatic:

We also could use it to help unload our F-350 which has the same size issues. :grumpy:

I'm suspect that I am getting too old and decrepit to even be able to crank the load handler even with the mechanical advantage of a 24" handcrank. :ashamed::shocked::banghead:

Thanks
Thomas :drink:

 

[sodamo]

Still in the planning stage of mine. Have a 5K winch on a slow boat from HF. Having a challenge on the pulley, but my latest thought is possibly a garage door opener pulley as they are available in 1" shaft, which ought to fit the Loadhandler shaft.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Midniteoyl]

Any progress on the pics, Steve?

 

[Tig]

Sorry guys. I'm dealing with my second hard drive crash this year. I'll get new pics and fix the access to the vid.