# flatbed on pickup truck?



## ontario hay man

I have a 03 dodge 3500. It is mechanically good and cab is in great shape. Box is beat up a bit. What my plan is is to take off the box and put a 12 foot aluminum flatbed on it. I want to haul hay to my new buyer with it. I figure if I go 5 high I can get 100 bales on which would mean 2 trips a week. What I need to know is with about 5000 pounds on the back would I need extra leaf springs? Also would 12 feet be to long and make the front light when loaded?


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## Shetland Sheepdog

Prolly will work great --- if you put a tag axle under it!

Otherwise --- no way! Too much overhang!

9' length is about the limit on a standard pickup chassis!

JMHO, HTH, Dave


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## bluefarmer

Agree with Shetland


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## ontario hay man

Ok thanks for that advice. Now if I get the 9 foot and go a bit higher and get 100 on still do I need to add a leaf or 2?


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## carcajou

I think 70-75 bales would be about all that you would have room for without getting excessively high. You might want to layout a template and see what size deck may work for you first. For me 50 bales on an 8' box with the tailgate down is a good load, but maybe your bales are smaller.


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## ontario hay man

They are about 36 inches. I figure if I did ==I kind of formation I could get 15 per level. 6 high is 90. I dont know if that would work.


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## slowzuki

We deliver up to a max of 100 bales at a time on our F350 srw loaded in a regular box but it has a long power tailgate that gives 11 ft of bed to stack on. 80-90 bales is much better size though. These are 34" bales - 45-50 lbs.

If I was to do it more regular I would put a pipe rack over the cab to get the load more forward, moving 10-15 bales over the cab would cut the top two tie layers off.

Flatbed would make it easier too.

Tailgate up, 60 is about the limit for us, too tall and not stable driving.


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## Lostin55

Assuming that you have to purchase the flatbed, you didn't say either way, I think your money would be better spent on a flatbed trailer. It would also be a good bit easier on the truck.


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## ontario hay man

I would have to buy the flatbed. I was thinking that route so its one less thing I had to do an annual safety on. I have a 2 horse trailer that would hold probably 75 so I could load the truck with 50 or so and take the trailer to. I want the box off anyway because tailgate works when it wants and the box is rusted. Its going to cost as much to fix as a flatbed.


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## Chessiedog

I have a f350 cab & chassis dually with 8 x 9.5 flat bed . I think it's 12900 gvw without looking at it . I can put 6 across on edge in the bottom. Then 1 in the middle 2 extending from the middle for 5 bales . There is enough room for two tiers like that with a roll of one on edge in between the tiers . I think I go 5 high ,that is like 2 bales higher then the cab . I think the top layer I put 3 or 4 long ways front and back tiers . Gives me 62 bales . Truck handles it well . I would say I could do maybe 10 more ,but that is adding another 500 or so pounds . No way would I want to put a 100 on there and drive any way . Bales are roughly 36 long 50 to 55 pound bales . The bed is not entirely square plus it has a headache rack that the edges swoops back some .So you can't load it all the way to the front or the back .


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## JD3430

Can you have a local guy or doit yourself, build a flatbed with a cab deck that goes over the cab? Kind of like the trucks you see carrying PVC pipe? Might be able to put bales over the cab and use your front axle to carry some of the wight.
Or use a trailer. 
I borrow a 30' gooseneck behind my 550 and I can tow 9 tons payload of hay with relative ease.


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## mlappin

Regardless how many you haul, I'd add airbags before more leafs. Once the hay is off let the air out, can't pull the extra leafs out when it's empty. Adding a few leafs could make it ride like a tank when empty.


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## ontario hay man

I just went to dealer. I can get a 8 x 9.5 for about 3400 the other option is a 24 foot enclosed car hauler for 9500 that will carry 120 bales.


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## JD3430

I'd go trailer over truck bed any day.


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## CAEMI

I see guys leave the Marlette, MI hay auction jsut about every week with 50 bales on a half-ton pickup. I would not do it to a 1/2 ton, personally, but I've got two one-ton's available to me and don't have to. But when you gotta get home with the hay, it is a different matter.

My one ton's both will carry 5000 pounds. For me, I'd rather not pull a trailer unless I have to. Extra tires, brakes, lights, etc., all add up to maintenance and the potential for breakdown and attention from troopers (which is growing in the wake of the new DOT regulations on farm vehicles).

Just my opinion, but an 8' wide flatbed affords much for stacking space than an ordinary pickup box that is 50" between the wheel wells. To test your theory, I'd see how many bales I could stack on two sheets of OSB laying on the barn floor. That would be the size of an 8' x 8' flatbed.


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## ontario hay man

That was my thought with an extra trailer and I will have to repair box or get a new one anyway. I could get 15 per row on 8x8. I might go with the airbags like marty suggested. Plus anything longer then a 20 foot trailer is a PITA to get in my yard.


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## slowzuki

We use a trailer as well, a 27 ft bumper pull. When its hitched we limit the bed to about 40 bales. Every superduty up here has a bed that rots out so its cheaper to go flatbed for sure. Also, those load handler sheets with some chaff laid down before the load is stacked on it would unload the flatbed quickly.

You should be able to do better on a flatbed, the dually ones come up for 500-1800$ regularly on Kijiji, can sometime find an aluminum one near the upper range of that.

Overloads work ok but get the factory style that don't touch when unloaded not just an add-a-leaf. Air is good too but do a good job on the air lines to prevent chaffing and make sure you get brackets compatible with a gooseneck hitch.

I prefer delivering via truck in winter as the hay stays dry and you don't get stuck everywhere. In summer the trailer is far better for size of load per trip. Also good if you have a place to back it in and unhitch so you don't have to load and go everytime.

Obviously 36-40" bales makes a big difference in the numbers. Quite comfortable putting 50 bales on a long box 1/2 ton with the heavy payload package with 33-34" 40-45 lb bales. We use a 2004 ford with the heavy springs quite often for this, maybe wouldn't want to do it with the soft spring package.


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## RockmartGA

Another issue to consider regarding a 12' bed on a one ton chassis.

If you ever think you will want to use the truck to pull a gooseneck, the optimal setup is to have the gooseneck hitch directly over the rear axle. If you go to a 12' bed, you would have to move the gooseneck box about 2-3 feet to the rear in order to obtain clearance between the bed and the trailer. The result would be that the gooseneck would act more like a bumper pull and would also result in a decreased tongue capacity as you are now back toward the end of the truck frame.


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## ontario hay man

Ya I realized that was to long. 9.5 would be the max.


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## hillside hay

You could always extend the frame while changing the box to flatbed. Make sure that you fully box out the frame and set it up in a jig if you have the time, equipment, and capability.


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## mlappin

mlappin said:


> Regardless how many you haul, I'd add airbags before more leafs. Once the hay is off let the air out, can't pull the extra leafs out when it's empty. Adding a few leafs could make it ride like a tank when empty.


If you wanted to be really cute since you'd already have an onboard compressor for the air bags, go ahead and mount a tube bumper for air storage then rig your bags up with a leveling valve like used on air rides on heavy trucks. Load it down, bags self adjust to keep the truck the same ride height, unload it and air is automatically drained.

We have a tag set up like this on one of the grain trucks. Driver flips the air switch down when parking it in the field to be loaded and the leveling valve keeps just enough air in the tag bags to keep from squashing the main leafs from not enough air or taking too much weight off the drives from too much air. When empty flip the switch up and raise the tag up for roading.


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## deadmoose

Why is new bed so pricey? Local place here always has tons of new and used beds. Takeoffs aftermarket etc. Quick search got me this. http://www.truckpaper.com/list/list.aspx?pg=2&ETID=1&PCID=2000685788&bcatid=27&dlr=1&Pref=0&Thumbs=1

Not near what they have.


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## ontario hay man

I think it the freight that adds the price. I bet by the time I get one of those bodies shipped here it wouldnt be far from the same and those look like steel? My price is on aluminum. I dont know if there is much difference in price.


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## somedevildawg

ontario hay man said:


> I think it the freight that adds the price. I bet by the time I get one of those bodies shipped here it wouldnt be far from the same and those look like steel? My price is on aluminum. I dont know if there is much difference in price.


I'm sure there is, may be cheaper to ship aluminum however.....


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## ontario hay man

If I knew how to do it would go down and get it installed down there I wonder if the customs guys would notice the box change lol.


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## slowzuki

Probably not, but built in US its duty free. If you are HST/GST registered you pay the GST on re-entry but can claim it back on your next filing.



ontario hay man said:


> If I knew how to do it would go down and get it installed down there I wonder if the customs guys would notice the box change lol.


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## ontario hay man

Might be worth it then. Im only 4 hours from ny or ohio.


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## DSLinc1017

I hall hay all the time on a 9.5 flat bed. Just did a load yesterday. 65 is about max, I can do 75 if I really need too. I did 100 once.... Once was enough! Only went about 2 miles to the customer, when I arrived about half the load was falling off the back, but saved by one very stressed load strap. My last flat bed was a 3500 dodge, that once had a box. Put a CM steel flat bed on it, but with the salt it only lasted a few years before it started to rust. I was halling 6 - 3x3's with it, they fit perfectly, until I started to break leafs. Did the math and it all made sence! I now have a 5500 with an aluminum bed. 6 - 3x3's isn't an issue.

I've halled hay (smalls) in a 16' enclosed trailer and a 24' dry van, (box truck). It is nice if weather hits, but stacking and unloading is brutal in hot weather and the hay dust can be hard to take. My preferred method is a Goose neck trailer. Easy to stack / unload and get into tight spots. I have a heavy duty tarp made for it, and it works like a charm.

One thing to keep in mind, is a truck with a box has a different frame than chasie cab. The frame for the box isn't flat like a chasie cab, the whole way front to back. If you put a flat bed on it you will need to shim the low spots. 
In short, a flat bed is much easier to hall hay than a factory box. Just as most of the previously posted comments pointed out.


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## ontario hay man

How is the 5500 on fuel? I was thinking of getting one. Do they come in crew cab?


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## DSLinc1017

ontario hay man said:


> How is the 5500 on fuel? I was thinking of getting one. Do they come in crew cab?


The fuel on my new 5500 is on par with a 3500 new. Around 16 on back road hilly country It takes a good 20k for better mileage to really kick in. And yes you can get them in crew cab and longer frames too. The crew cab didnt add to much onto the price, I think it was an extra 3 k or so for the crew.


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## ontario hay man

How much did you pay? And slowzuki does that duty free count on trucks from the states to?


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## slowzuki

I'm not up to date on the trucks but that was the basic idea of NAFTA, cars/trucks built anywhere in canada/us/mexico free trade ie no tariff.

If you aren't HST/GST registered you pay HST in some provinces. Buying our tractor in the US we filed the shipment out of state forms to skip the state sales taxes then imported to canada. 50$ a/c tax for the freon and the gst. Be warned they don't take checks or credit cards for the gst. Cash, certified check, or debit.


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## ontario hay man

We are signed up for hst. I should look into things more. I see alot of you murricans talking about things that sound dirt cheap compared to the same thing here.


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## DSLinc1017

ontario hay man said:


> How much did you pay? And slowzuki does that duty free count on trucks from the states to?


When all was said and done. A bit under 50k. Including aluminum bed with 5th wheel, two stainless jockey boxes, custome aluminum fenders, and rear tag hitch. Price doesn't include V plow. I've got pictures of the truck on the site some where, not sure what thread it was.


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## ontario hay man

See that sound cheap as dirt. I should price it before I say that but im thinking I would be closer to 60k or more.


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## DSLinc1017

Found the tread:
http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/20746-finally-remembered-to-take-some-pics/page-3


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## ontario hay man

That rig looks great.  I was reading a diesel mag a few weeks ago. They had what they called a 5500 long hauler. It had a mega cab, 11 foot box and the fuel tank between the cab and box held 200 or so gallons. It looked awesome. It could also pull 40k lb. It didnt say the price.


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