I work for a landscape/lawn company. We are toying with the idea of installing one of those kits on a regular cab pickup that adds a hoist under your factory pickup box. I find that Northern seems to be the main seller. This truck would haul ONLY grass clippings and brush so no great weight involved. Just wondered if anyone here had one or was involved with their use.
- Thread starter redtom
- Start date
RCP
Well-known Member
- Location
- Grove City Pa
Not quit the same, but we built one under the bed Chevy dually, the problem we had was getting enough bed lift to dump the contents. When you look at a commercial truck the bed probably goes 60 degrees from horizontal. How high will the kit you are considering lift the bed?
Rich
Rich
You may want to find a dually with a dump already installed. Grass clippings today gravel tomorrow. For the heavier stuff you won't have enough truck. I have a Crysteel dump bed installed on a 1981 Ford F350. Been on there since 1985 ? Been a really nice unit. We even got it with curbside loading where the side folds down.I really like this bed. It is larger and heavier built than a regular truck bed. Really great to haul anything and you can even haul long items up over the cab protector.
I have one still, it works good, better than a pitchfork, for grass and leaves. Problem is with packed in leaves, it gets hung up behind the wheel wells when dumping, My truck usually has sides on the box rails too, I have to drive forward back up and hit the brakes to try and loosen the grass, leaves ect to dump out, seems to stick to the bed floor too., it is handy though.
timcasbolt
Well-known Member
The only negative I've heard about them is that it is advisable to reinforce the box so that it doesn't distort. I suppose probably the lighter the load, the less important that would be.
Would a dump trailer be a better option: lower loading height; steeper dump angle; several hundred pounds less weight that stays with the pickup; and designed for that job.
I agree that if leaves don't break the pickup box, eventually enough compost, top soil, sand, or rock will be hauled until the box does break apart.
I agree that if leaves don't break the pickup box, eventually enough compost, top soil, sand, or rock will be hauled until the box does break apart.
Son in law has a rig that works fine for leaves and lawn clippings, at much less cost. A piece of heavy canvas as wide as the pickup and about 20 feet long, with a rod and gear head motor on one end. Lay out the canvas from back to front of the pickup, with the powered end laying across the bed behind the cab. Fill the pickup with whatever. Then finish unrolling the canvas back over the top of the load, attach it to the stake pockets at the back, turn on the motor, and it rolls up the canvas, pulling the load out the back as it does. Don't know what it is called so I can't look it up for you, but I'll bet Northern Tool or someone like that sells it.
Fawteen
Well-known Member
- Location
- Downeast Maine
I had one years ago under the bed of a Chevy K3500. I DID build a subframe where the lift arm connected to spread the load out. Subframe was just angle iron fitted around the sheet metal boxed ribs that ran laterally across the bottom of the bed.
Picked up some awful heavy loads with that puppy, never hurt the floor of the box.
Picked up some awful heavy loads with that puppy, never hurt the floor of the box.
Another option is a slide-in dump body designed for a pickup bed. I have a friend who had one and he used it pretty rough and it seemed to hold up. Advantages would be- movable to another truck, no wheel wells to hold materials from sliding out and possibly a higher dump height- better unloading.
I was in a hurry when I posted so I guess some more facts may help. Every truck pulls a trailer with mowers on it, so a dump trailer is not an option. They have those already-they are dedicated to the landscape crews. The loads will be grass only, twigs sometimes and leaves. NOT gravel, dirt or stones. We have real dumps on one tons for that. While the poly dump insert is an option, it is high on the sides to dump grass into and with the cost of that and a new pickup, a new cab and chassis can be bought and a dump box. Believe it or not, we really want one ton cab and chassis-new. But time is the problem-none available and cant get them before spring rush. So we were looking for alternatives.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
I rigged up a scissors wagon hoist under the box on a trailer I made out of the back of a pickup. It would haul and dump more weight than it would ever haul if it was still a complete pickup. Two problems came up with it, the first problem was the wheel humps holding back part of the load during the dumping. Second problem would not be much of a problem if it was a complete pickup but being a trailer it was tippy without two front wheels to help stabilize. Those soft 3/4 ton leaf springs just did not provide enough stability for the heavy loads I was dumping.
My family had a lawn service if Florida. Started out with pickups but moved to one ton dumps with a 7x9ft beds. Could fill one in a coupla hours. Originally had steel floors but the grass juice would eat the metal and when wet grass would stick. Went to wood floors no problem. Used to dump 1.5 to 2 tons of grass a day. Know that because we used the local land fill.
timcasbolt
Well-known Member
I think this is the better option for most people thinking about it. They are available in steel (cheaper), plastic (quieter?), aluminum (lighter), and stainless steel (probably last longer). I've seen used ones on marketplace for under $1500.
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