Unloading The Delivery of Your Attachment

[dennis33]

I'm in the process of ordering a flail mower and a PTO woodchipper and both deliveries will require me to unload the attachments from the delivery truck.

I have a compact tractor JD 3038E with a FEL but not enough experience to be comfortable unloading something that high and heavy from a truck. But if I have to I will.

How have you unloaded your attachments from the delivery truck?

 

[PBinWA]

I have FEL forks for anything under 1000lbs. Otherwise, I'd rent a forklift or see if you can get it delivered somewhere where they can help you load it to a trailer or something.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have always bee able to unload heavy deliveries with either the FEL or my forks.

Many times companies will offer a delivery using a truck with a lift, for an extra charge. What I have found is that the trucks almost always have the lift whether you pay the extra charge or not. So, using their lift to lower the attachment to the ground may also be possible.

I have a hard time imagining an implement too heavy for your FEL to lift.

If you have serious misgivings, either have your tires loaded, or buy a ballast box for your tractor.

 

[George2615]

First you need to know if your tractor FEL can handle the weight. According to Tractor data your rear 3 pt lift is only 1300 plus Lbs. No specs for the loader are listed.

What is your FEL rated for and how much does the flail mower and woodchipper each weigh?

Does your FEL have any grab hooks to attach chain to? Grab hooks on the bucket are a plus feature to have for such lifting jobs.

If your FEL and tractor are capable then you should also have some rear 3 pt. ballast weight to counter balance what you lift with the FEL. If you don't have a ballast box then put a heavy attachment on back such as a box blade, backhoe, rake, or whatever is available.

I'd use at least two chains to lift each item. Attach them so they lift equally and use a very light touch on the joystick and move as slow as you can. No jerky movements.

Have a friend with a larger tractor? Maybe he could come over to assist or use both tractors to each lift half the load.

I recently unloaded a 1300 lb twin post garage lift off the delivery truck for a friend with my FEL. Used two chains equally spaced, 800 lb. of rear ballast, lifted very slow, and moved very slow. We had 2 tractors available on site in case 1 couldn't do the job and would have split the load between them.

 

[Roger2561]

Dennis,

I have a JD4500 and have unloaded many rather heavy items using chains to the FEL. The trick is to be on level ground, lifting nothing that weighs more than 1000Lbs and as soon as the load is free and clear of the trailer (have the driver move the truck, don't move the tractor anymore than you have to), get the load as close to the ground as possible. Keep an eye on the rear wheels (if you have access to ballast on the 3Pth that would be help) making sure they do not leave the ground. If at any point during the lift you feel uncomfortable, lower it and get someone who can safely unload it for you. My new snowblower attachment weighs in a bit more than 1000Lbs and I was able to unload it using the FEL with chains. It took 3 days for the rectal sphicter to loosen up but, I got the job done. Also, keep in mind you are not in a hurry to do this. Take your time, make sure the chains are tight, can't loosen, etc... Good luck. Roger

 

[jk96]

Request that your freight is delivered with a liftgate truck. The fee is usually an extra $60-$80 for the service.

 

[jcaron2]

I'm in the process of ordering a flail mower and a PTO woodchipper and both deliveries will require me to unload the attachments from the delivery truck.

I have a compact tractor JD 3038E with a FEL but not enough experience to be comfortable unloading something that high and heavy from a truck. But if I have to I will.

How have you unloaded your attachments from the delivery truck?

I've never had any issue unloading heavy implements using my loader, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, you could have the driver back the truck up to the side of a hill if you have one (picture a loading dock), so that you could "drag" the implements out of the back of the truck, rather than lifting them. If you don't have a suitable hill, you could make one pretty quickly with your tractor and FEL, if you have a place on your property where you could temporarily "borrow" some dirt.

 

[Ford850]

If your freight is coming by a common carrier, do they have a terminal close to you? You can have deliveries dropped at the terminal and picked them up there with a pickup truck or trailer rather than having them deliver them to your house. That way they load your truck and it is much lower for you to unload when you get it home. They also have business rates which are lower if you do it that way since they don't have to mess around in a residential area.

 

[kayco53]

My JD book shows that your loader lifts 1186 lbs at the pivot. When we unload heavy things
even with a forklift of FEL . We rig it up and lift it a few inchs off the deck and drive the truck out.Then we lower it slowly to a safe height. You could just put it down and hook it up to move it. Crane truck or power tailgate truck shouldn,t cost much more if you are unsure.

 

[dennis33]

Looks like the lift capacities of my JD 3038E with a 305 loader are well within the limits of what I'll need to unload:

Measured at pivot (U) 1186 (539)

Measured at pivot (W) 1294 (588)

At maximum height (VV) 1433 (639)

At 1.5 m (59-in.) lift height (XX) 1814 (809)

At ground level line (ZZ) 1422 (634)

The attachments that I'm looking at are the 73" Caroni Flail at 650 lbs and the Wallenstein BX42 at 425 lbs.

I don't have any hooks on my loader for attaching chains. I may look at getting a set of forks for the FEL and I think that I'll get the 3PH frame from TSC and make a box for adding weight in the back.

Hopefully after a few more hours on the tractor I'll be ready for the next step. I will request a truck with a lift gate when I order.

Thanks to everyone for the quick response.

Dennis