I've got a 5x10' utility trailer that I use to transport various things. I frequently use it for hauling of bulk landscaping dirt, mulch or bark chips used in the flower beds around the house and also for the garden vegetable beds. Normally I throw down a tarp or two on the bed and have the supply company dump the yard or two of product, then I fold the tarp over and run a couple of ratchet straps across the top to keep the tarp under control and prevent the product from falling out/off the trailer.
The hard part has been unloading once home. Mulch and bark just don't shovel easily so it's an extra effort to load up the wheelbarrow to transport the product from the trailer to the destination. When I get near the end of the product, lifting the tarp and dropping it into the wheelbarrow finishes the job of unloading.
I got thinking. If there was a way to line the trailer with containers, maybe when loading the bulk product it would just fill up the containers - and then once home I could lift the containers into the wheelbarrow and not have to attempt the shoveling?
Below pictures tell the story - first picture was taken at 4:45pm Monday. I did use a bow rake and drag the top layer of the bark chips over into the wheelbarrow.
The next picture when the trailer was almost half empty - at 4:57pm (12 minutes!)
Once the tops of the totes were exposed, I grab hold of the handles and just drop it into the wheelbarrow.
The last picture was at 5:21pm - just over 35 minutes to empty the trailer.
I bought some used plastic totes off marketplace for $5 each. I bought plenty - ends up I bought more than twice as many as fills the trailer. I dropped a tarp down on the trailer, then placed the totes along the outer edge and middle of the trailer. There were some small gaps - but that wasn't a problem. When the bobcat operator loaded the first yard, I took a bow rake and moved the product around to the outer edges and corners to almost fill up those containers - then the same with the 2nd yard.
This would normally have taken at least another hour - and a lot more effort and frustration. This is a huge effort and time saver! I wish I had thought to do this back 12 years ago when we bought this property!