Ever drug a 3,000 lb machine up ramps into pickup truck ?

Milacron · Apr 7, 2008

Ever dragged a 3,000 lb machine up ramps into pickup truck ?

3,000 lb vertical mill....due to logistics, no forklift and probably no wrecker possiblities (steep hill, lots of mud, out in the middle of nowhere) I've winched a 10,000 lb mill up ramps unto gooseneck trailer before, but with gooseneck you have some proper "meat" to attach the winch (come-a-long) and plenty of room between that attachment point and the machine.

With pickup truck a bit more problematic. But with purpose made steel ramps I might consider trying it....anyone else loaded a machine that heavy into a pickup truck this way and if so what were your ramps like and how did you attach the winch ?

And before anyone starts chattering about using a trailer...the machine is far enough away I don't want to drag a trailer with me (plus the truck (one ton diesel dually) would easily handle a measly 3K lbs in the back)

WILLEO6709 · Apr 7, 2008

3k can be handled by a decent size skid loader equipped with forks.... but not saying machine type hard to say if that is feasable. think 60 HP or above on a skidder

pilgrimtt · Apr 7, 2008

Build a heavy duty pallet/sled to clamp it down to? Then you could push it or pull it as you pleased.

grandtools · Apr 7, 2008

I've done it quite a few times. One time I used 2" x 10" hardwood planks with a steel plate bolted on to the ends to rest on the edge of the pickup bed, removed tailgate, of course. Other times I used steel channels, but found them a bit slippy as the machine kept sliding sideways. I used a comealong, like a CM chain type. I had a cab protector bolted to the bed, that gave me a good place to pull from. One other time I just put nylon lifting slings thru the holes in the pockets on both sides and brought them together to hook the hoist in the middle. It strained the bed a bit, but I made it. In that case the machine weighed about 2300#. All in all, it isn't that hard if you take some time to plan it out and have the right equipment. Once you get setup, providing you can get close to the machine, it doesn't take that long. I've done it with a few mills and wood planers I bought at auctions.
If you have the truck level, thats about half the battle.

77ironhead · Apr 7, 2008

best of luck to you, D, unless you have (or install) some hard points in the bed of your truck thru to the frame, you're asking for trouble. last fall, I went to pick up a 3-head gang drill (nice and light, right?)...it was sitting in the back of another PU truck, no sweat, I'll just put the 2 trucks bumper-to-bumper, bridge the gap, and come-along the press into my truck. hooked the come-along to the piss-willy points that came in my truck's bed, cranked the handle, watched the points bend....go to plan B: choke the frame rails with spansets, throw the free loops over the front of the bed into the bed via the gap between the bed and the cab, hook the come-along up and away we go....all the way until the press was 2/3 into my truck, I lost the length needed and watched the sheet metal in the front of my bed start caving into the bed (but now I'm stuck b/c the thing is bridgeing the gap) keep cranking...the DP started WALKING up the spansets and did a pretty good job crushing the sheetmetal on my truck bed (yes, I did the quickie straightening job once I was home, and it's a work truck, but still)...and that was a relatively light-weight DP, not 3k of machine....I say all this to illustrate what can happen w/o some rigid points in your bed....perhaps 2 forged eye-bolts thru the front 2 bed mounting bolt holes?
on edit: yep with good ramps, it can be done with relative ease....if possible, if you go with the eye-bolts thru the bed, try and fill the gap between the bed and the frame rail with a stack of washers so's not to tweak the bed's sheetmetal around the bolt-hole

abarnsley · Apr 7, 2008

Did an air compressor

Tail gate off, top of ramps sit on (bolted/welded) a piece of 2x2 angle to reinforce end of bed.

A couple holes drilled through angle iron into bed to drop pins into keep ramp from slipping back

Ramps need to be long enough to clear rear bumper...

Do you have a gooseneck mount in bed to tie winch to?

A strip of say 1/4 x 2 in flat iron across front bottom of bed with matching piece under bed floor, through bolted, comes in handy (and provides solid front of bed tie down points)

A small electric winch and rollers did it for me..

Of course not usefull info if you can't (don't want to) drill holes in bed of car shaped like a work truck...

mfisher · Apr 7, 2008

Long ramps, specially built with intermediate bracing and raised edges on the sides, pipe rollers if possible of course.

There really isn't a place to tie off on a pickup bed, unless you want to permenately bend the front of the bed, so what I have done in the past is to block the wheels of the truck well, and use two pull lines at angles, one to either side of the cab. It means double the rigging, and a real chance of the load shifting to one side if both the lines aren't done carefully. Need to have located the truck carefully at the right spot between two large trees. Setting the rigging high on the trees helps (and pulling on the front of the machine), since you get some up lift to help the machine up the ramp, as well as dragging it forward.

With the right geometry, should be able to get the front half of the machine onto the bed before running out of room for the rigging, and then it is a matter of re-rigging, so that you are running the lines behind the machine to get it the rest of the way onboard.

Method worked ok to load a big ugly useless safe by myself. Might not have been 3000 pounds (closer to 1800), but that is just a matter of stronger rigging, ramps and trees.

Sea Farmer · Apr 7, 2008

I think 1,000 lb coolers (full of water, ice, product) are the heaviest I've ever attempted. I center the come-along on a chain hooked between the two front bed tie-downs. Length of the come-along might be an issue, my heavy one really needs nearly 3 feet.

Ramp quality not much of an issue for only 1,000 lbs, so I don't have any suggestions there. I routinely take off the tailgate and put the ramps directly onto the bed, some styles of ramps crash against the bumper when you do that. I have always thought taking the tailgate off was standard practice, but lately have noticed others not doing so, that's why I mention it. I'm sure you had already thought of that

Limy Sami · Apr 7, 2008

One point to add, watch for unbalanced weight of machine, the softer truck springs will give more one side that the other,............ you can guess what happens.

Over come this problem by placing jacks either side of the rear chassis.

JohnMartin · Apr 7, 2008

No, but I've taken a horizontal mill OUT of a pickup without forklift, tractor or even a comealong. Slid it back along heavy planks to a stack of cribbing timbers, jacked and removed cribbing one piece at a time until mill was on the ground. No reason it wouldn't work in reverse. With some timbers bolted underneath to widen the stance, even something as tippy as a vertical mill should be easy.

Sean S · Apr 7, 2008

Take your cordless drill/saw kit. Purchase (4) 4X4X12's and about 4 2X4's near the location...

Block the wheels of the truck.

Lay the 4 long pieces tilted in your bed so at least the length of the machine will be on your lumber one the machine see-saws in, plus the extra needed to winch a couple feet after you're up there.

"Cap" the cab end of the 4 pieces of lumber with your 2X4's and screwgun (might need a few layers).

Cap ground end with 2X4 to keep the ramp straight.

Attach come-along to cab end "cap" and winch (might need grease).

Just prior to the "teeter", have your assistant manually tilt the whole shebang into the truck bed and winch a little more until stable. A safety strap or two are in order at this point to prevent any rearward slide...to the truck.

Depending on where you end up, you might need to back the truck into something to push the ramp/skid in a bit further.

Secure and cut off the ends of the lumber to use as dunage later.

Messy... and will take some on-site engineering, but I've done similar. Unknown steps have been skipped here. Take plenty of dunage/straps.

Dangerous of course... I'll hold the standard disclaimers since it's you.

Sean

Milacron · Apr 7, 2008

Assuming small steel wheels can be mounted to the machine that ride in a steel track on your ramp, and assuming truck bed height "normal" for one ton (i.e. not 4WD), I wonder what would be mininum *electric* winch (like Warn types) capacity needed to pull 3,000 lb up the ramp ?

(for that matter, how are those Warn winches rated anyway ? It seems like they are rated by the amount of tension the line can withstand...in which case how would one even know how much weigh it could lift straight up before stalling the motor ?)

wiz · Apr 7, 2008

if there are any trees near by, then tie off to them going around the cab. the hooks in the bed will most likely tear out. You could brace back to the building it's coming out of. I suppose you could build some brace points onto the ramp.

good luck

wiz

Dave P. · Apr 7, 2008

If you pull on both front corners you might want to wedge a 4x between
the sides of the bed to keep from bowing the front of the box in.
Go ahead and laugh, but maybe digging a small hole for the
back of the truck to sit down in would help the ramp angle.
Not sure with the mud mentioned and a 2 wheel drive though.
We did this with a trailer when we moved a small out building
to make it easier to load.
Sounds like video of this could be entertaining.....might
prove easier just to drag the trailer along.
Dave P.
Edit most winches we've used were rated at stall at about
the first wrap of line. You could take a few "tackle" pulleys
along to double up the line pull.

Sean S · Apr 7, 2008

Assuming small steel wheels can be mounted to the machine that ride in a steel track on your ramp, and assuming truck bed height "normal" for one ton (i.e. not 4WD), I wonder what would be mininum *electric* winch (like Warn types) capacity needed to pull 3,000 lb up the ramp ?

Figure 1500 + friction...so 3000lb

I don't personally like wheels, I'd prefer grease. If it's *my* ramp you are speaking of, you can screw "ladder" steps behind the machine as it travels to *help* prevent backwards travel. I just think wheels are too unpredictable and too fast.

Basically what you are building is a poor man's roll-off. It would be a good idea to have a "catcher" strap towards the top of the machine as well in case of top tip. Just bring it taught every couple inches of travel.

You know how it is... you have to be there, and have a good sense of balance and ability to predict the future, but I think you get the basic idea. You're just dragging a machine across a skid that "happens" to be sitting at an incline. The skid itself is your winching point.

The truck is going to squat a bit...which is a help. Driveways, trees, environment. Hard to do creative rigging without being on site.

I'll just go ahead and add the disclaimer for all those who may read this in the future:
Don't Freakin' Do This!

Sean

surplusjohn · Apr 7, 2008

I would design ramp to extend onto the bed and have a snatch block, on the very end of the ramps so that the cable goes back to the winch anchored to a deadman on "dry land", so to speak, the ramps have to be ridgid enough to be anchored and resist that same pull. I pulled a heavy press onto a truck this way and used the truck's own pull to provide the "pull" with multiple hitches.

Milacron · Apr 7, 2008

Sean S said:
I don't personally like wheels, I'd prefer grease. If it's *my* ramp you are speaking of, you can screw "ladder" steps behind the machine as it travels to *help* prevent backwards travel. I just think wheels are too unpredictable and too fast.

No, not your ramp...was thinking in terms of all steel ramp that might be carried along and used for other jobs. Track would continue in truck bed but be removable. Standard 2 inch nylon strap would be tightened behind machine as it climbed ramp via Warn winch. Truck bed would be "up hill" so it machine couldn't slide forward on it's own once in bed. I suppose there could be "breakover angle" issues as machine goes from incline into truck bed without consideration of wheel diameter and track fence heights...

Re grease...seems like Masonite (hardboard) between machine base and ramp would be better ?

SIP6A · Apr 7, 2008

The first thing you need to do is learn how to spell

dfw5914 · Apr 7, 2008

inverted truss 3" wide c-channel ramps work well

A slip fit cross tube prevents the ramps from twisting

matt_isserstedt · Apr 7, 2008

Wanna borrow a gantry?

Monarch CK, 3500 lbs. Really would not even need to setup the casters...simply the 3pc of the load frame.

I know it's not as exciting as winching up ramps but there's less chance of damage to machine or trucking facilities

On edit, don't they make a "scissor" style pallet jack that has a high lift ability? Completely unsure of details like capacity or actual height but if you could get the machine level with the bed that makes things soo much easier.

Double edit...you can forget that...capacity maxes out at 2000 lbs for manual versions potentially worth the effort to lug along.

http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/...h_lifts_telescoping_and_non_telescoping.shtml

Ever drug a 3,000 lb machine up ramps into pickup truck ?

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