hauling milling machine in pick-up. good idea?

[andy_b]

i may have a small full-size horizontal mill to go pick up. i'm guessing around 2000#, actually it's probably a bit less. it has a single overarm support. my question is, do you think it would present a problem hauling it in a F350 pick-up? the pick-up can handle the weight, but i was wondering about the height. i guess if you were going fast enough to cause a problem with it in the pick-up bed, then you would also be going fast enough to cause a problem with it on a trailer.

anyone have any opinions? normally i pick stuff up where there is only me loading it, but at this place there is an overhead lift to pick the mill up, and i have a way to unload it at my place. i have many nylon 15,000# ratcheting straps as well as chains and chain binders.

andy b.

[snowman]

why dont you just rent a trailer? Doesn't cost more than 50 bucks.

i always get really scared when I see heavy stuff in the back of a pickup.

You hit a tree with a trailer, a lot lower chance of having a milling machine in your lap (through your back).

-Jacob

[tattoomike68]

it will be fine bolt it to a skid if you can, travel the back roads slow and mellow and enjoy, its fun to haul a new machine home.

what makes a load squirly is lack of load on the front axel or on the tounge of a trailer.

an F350 can haul that easy.

[andy_b]

Jacob,

i normally would use a trailer, believe me. in this case, the area i have to travel through has a lot of traffic and i will be on some back roads. i don't mind traffic and back roads, in fact i prefer the back roads, but i think it will be a real pain in the arse pulling a trailer where i am going.

is that the big concern most folks have? not the mill tipping over, but the fact it could end up in the front seat. i guess on a trailer the mill has a lot farther to travel before it would reach my head.

i guess the more i think about it, the more i think i should use a trailer. i have a few days to decide.

andy b.

[x39]

If you block the machine so it can't slide forward, you should be alright.

[Too_Many_Tools]

I get REAL nervous when I start hauling anything over about 500 pounds in the back of a pickup.

Have you ever had the little old lady pull out in front of you so you had to slam on the brakes?

Ever had the driver with a death wish in the shape of a cell phone glued to their head cut in front of you and had to do evasive manuvers to survive?

Ever have a fender bender at low speeds?

If you had been hauling a heavy machine in the back of your pickup during any of these moments, you would likely not be alive to be reading this sentence.

Those who haul heavy items in their pickups continue to do so because the unexpected hasn't happened to them YET.

Not surprisely, I would recommend using a trailer. Having a heavy object sitting high in a vehicle is an accident waiting to happen.

An example that occurred this week...a semi carrying a backhoe was not able to stop in time for another truck...the backhoe sheared the cab off the semi and pieces of the driver are still being found along the road.

TMT

[snowman]

sorry my answer was so short

my father had a friend that was a little too drunk driving home from the bowling alley. had his ball in the back seat. left the road at 35 mph, hit a tree...not much damage to car. (by the time he hit the tree, he was probably only going 20)...

The bowling ball kept going 20, right into the back of his head.

He's still alive, surprisingly. Had to move back in with his parents...can't do much on his own, etc.

A bowling ball weighs 16 lbs, a milling machine weighs 2000.

If you could strap that sucker indirectly to the frame of the truck, I'd worry a lot less...my biggest problem with pickups is the lack of anything to lash to. Yah yah yah...they've all got those little posts, but what are they rated for?

-Jacob

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Andy,

I drove my full size bridgeport home in the back of my full size pickup truck (RAM 2500)... This is what I did:

Before picking up the machine, I put a 3/4" 4x8 sheet of ply on the bed.

After the machine was lowered into the back of my pickup truck, I screwed 2x4's on all four sides of the base to prevent it from sliding around on top of the 3/4 ply. I then used 4 heavy straps w/rachets going from the head, to each corner of my pickups bed.

-Adrian

[Too_Many_Tools]

I should mention this...

When a load moves forward from a pickup bed after the pickup suddenly decelerates, it seldoms stops until it hits the engine.

Anything in between the load and the engine is history...including the driver and any passengers.

The tie points on a pickup are mounted in sheet metal. Their load rating is nil. Unless you have tie points attached to the frame itself and use rated chains so the load becomes part of the pickup, you have nothing. Blocking the machine does nothing to prevent a machine from dislodging during a crash.

TMT

[This message has been edited by Too_Many_Tools (edited 06-24-2005).]

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

The blocks are to keep the machine from sliding around from normal driving. The top straps are to keep the machine from tipping over from normal driving.

The gas pedal is there to help maintain speed while you plow through anything that gets in your way.

-Adrian

[Michael Az]

Andy, I have been a truck driver for 30 years and please take my advise and use a trailer. As has been mentioned, there isn't any way to safely tie down a heavy machine in a standard pickup.
Michael

[abn]

It's scary but I'd do it...run straps through the tailgate to your bumper or trailer hitch. Try to do it super early AM or weekend so you don't piss too many people off by driving 15mph. I picked up my vertical mill in a pickup, very top heavy, scary but I'd do it again.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Just do it, and drive carefully. Life's too short to be wasting time with the what if's. While you're at it, bring along a flame thrower and don't be afraid to use it when you think someone is going to cut you off. What if, what if, what if, what if you use a trailer and it disloges from your truck 600 feet before you come to a stop... then WHAM.. the trailer smashes into you.

-Adrian

[SJorgensen]

I recently moved my mill. The first move was scariest on a flat-bed truck with overload springs. It was a bitch.

The last move went very well and with a lot less stress. I spent $55 dollars to rent a special trailer that lowered all the way to the ground. The rise of the trailer when it was on the ground was only about three inches and the ramp was about 18 inches. We were lifting from the bottom so any uneven surfaces caused a lot of sway on the top-heavy mill, but this worked very well and everyone was pleased and impressed with the trailer.

I should have taken pictures.

When you move your mill, please take some pictures. This can be extremely hazardous and very stressful. It would help all of us to see you doing it properly. And if you don't it improperly, that can be very informative as well. Good luck on your move. Oh and a full accounting of the cost of my first mill move should include a cleaning bill for my shorts.

Thanks,

Spence

[This message has been edited by SJorgensen (edited 06-24-2005).]

[pete913]

Good lord. I've hauled better than 150 bushels of wheat in a dualed up F350 with a grain box on it more times than I can even count. 60 lbs per bushel, you do the math. Two of these mills should be no problem at all, and won't even come close to overloading the truck. The only thing I'd make sure of is that it has some real tires on it.