Utility trailer loading of bulk landscape material
 

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.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749067004.jpg

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.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749067004.jpg

The last picture was at 5:21pm - just over 35 minutes to empty the trailer.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749067004.jpg

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!

Mark....my landscape trailer for many years was the same size as yours, except mine had sides - tall enough to hold materials, specifically mulch.

With these sides......I could get 4 cubic yards easily each trip.

Wooden floor like yours and I used a plastic scoop shovel to handle the material.

I had the conventional scoop shovel with the D handle - and also long handled ones - which allowed me to reach further in.

Piece of shade cloth to fold over the top if traveling ant long distances but most of my work wasn't too far so typically I didn't need it.

I used this trailer over the span of 20 years. Had parts of it repaired over the years too including the tailgate/ramp, metal fabric, axle springs, lights, and jack. It sat outside on the barrier island so over time the salt air took it's toll. That said it paid for itself over and over every freaking year!

I carried bulk materials, plants, trees, irrigation materials, equipment, you name it. Even used it for motorcycle transport!

This is a photo of it after one of it's repairs having some metal fabric replaced. You get the idea of it's design.

My tailgate/ramp was easily removable too which really helped.

I like your idea of using the totes but wonder if your trailer just had taller sides it would be simpler and easier solution (?) Even if you made them "removable".

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749071659.JPG

On occasion I would have a job that was easier to mulch using it already bagged.

More expensive but the extra cost was always built into the original estimate, of course.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749072423.JPG

In this photo you can see both style of scoop shovels I used.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749072855.JPG

smart.

I used to buy truck loads of soil from a place in S. PhX. I would take the tarp and put it longwise so that I had a tongue sticking out the back (instead of over the side), so that I could drag the whole load out with the FEL and drag it where I needed. No need to bend over (because I physically can't).

Washed shell. Too heavy to use a plastic scoops on so a flat shovel does the trick.

Gate comes off very easily. Held in place using a loop and "U" combination at the bottom and conventional pins on the sides.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749140128.JPG

The washed shell was the perfect choice for a ground cover under these benches.......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1749140128.JPG

I wish my ramp/tailgate was removable. It would be fairly easy to unload with the tractor and front end loader. As it is I put down a false bottom (sheet of plywood reinforced with 2x4s) and drag it off the trailer. This gets most of it, but there is some shoveling involved. A couple of years ago I used the wood in the false bottom to make something else. I just have the mulch delivered now.

Hello Patrick,

FWIW, my trailer gate came with the typical "pin" type hinges, so it was not detachable.

At some point those broke so I took it to a local machine shop and the owner - on his own - made the decision to replace those with the type where the gate can be removed. It consisted of 2 "U" shaped pieces on the bottom rear of the trailer frame (you can see them in that last photo I posted) and then on the gate itself a couple of "90"'s or "ELL" shaped pieces that slid into the two "U"'s. Hope that makes sense. The trailer is now gone so doing what I can just to describe what I had, in case it's of interest.

At first I didn't realize how much better this would be for me. Didn't take long for me to figure it out and the rest is history! Trust the local craftsmen sometimes to build a better mousetrap, huh?