WTB: Equipment loading tray

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rkepler
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:50 am

WTB: Equipment loading tray

Post by rkepler »

I'm finally finishing my loading equipment and I'm looking for a 'bridge' to connect my lift table with people's transports. I really liked the "equipment loading tray" from Big Boots & Western but it looks like they're not actively selling them anymore (I have an info request in) so I'm looking for alternates. I don't have easy access to a 48" press brake or, for that matter, to 1/8" aluminum sheet so if I can't find anything can someone suggest a design that has similar ease of use? It was nice that the bent tabs on the ends would latch into most folks 'rails' so it made a pretty slip proof connection.
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Greg_Lewis
Posts: 3014
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: WTB: Equipment loading tray

Post by Greg_Lewis »

While you said you didn't have access to a brake, perhaps there is a fab shop that would bend one for you. Below is a pic of mine. I found a scrap of 16 ga. steel at a scrapyard and had a fab shop bend it for me. The guide bars are 1/2 by 1/4 tacked on. I don't think I've got $20 in it.

The sides are a little high for the drop center riding car but otherwise it works fine. The two little holes down the middle are for the knob-screws that hold it to the sidewall of my trailer. If I was making another I'd use some 1-inch channel for the sides which would be lower and stronger, and just bolt them onto the sheet.

IMG_0284.JPG
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
rkepler
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:50 am

Re: WTB: Equipment loading tray

Post by rkepler »

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. I was thinking that steel would be too heavy, thus the original choice of aluminum. What are the dimensions of your fabrication and what's the heaviest equipment you've run across it? A friend has one of the originals and it's held up pretty well even with pretty heavy models.
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Greg_Lewis
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Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: WTB: Equipment loading tray

Post by Greg_Lewis »

It's 20 wide, 36 long and the edges are folded up 1 3/8. I've had my Allen 10-wheeler across it, but I'm not bridging gaps with the full length, but more like 16 inches or so. As I wrote above, it does get close to the drop center riding car particularly if everything isn't lined up just right. I think if I did another I'd use 14 ga. and, as I wrote, 1-inch angle or channel along the sides. I find it is not as heavy as some of the plates at the clubs, but then they are probably built for a Northern.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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makinsmoke
Posts: 2260
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2003 12:56 pm
Location: Texas Hill Country

Re: WTB: Equipment loading tray

Post by makinsmoke »

Don’t forget.

You don’t need a brake. You can bolt/weld flat bar or angle to the edges, as well as for the running rails.
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