Securing barrels in pickup-truck

[Dan Williamson]

Ok... I know most of you guys will have flatbed trucks... but..

Does anyone have any good tips for securing FULL barrels of honey/syrup in a pickup bed for transport?

Thanks.

[greenbeekeeping]

just good ratchet straps.

Matt

[PCM]

You can get rubber expansion eyebolt fitting that fit in your stake pockets/holes.

In the state of Missouri, even in a pickup with the tailgate closed it is a unsecured load if not strapped down

PCM

[Dave W]

Dan . . .

If you put just one full barrel of honey in the middle of the bed, and
drive wild and crazy, you will get a "flat bed" (after fenders and/or tail gate are torn off.) :)

Be Very CAREFUL, sounds like "trouble" to me.

[sqkcrk]

If you don't have a rubber mat bedliner, then put down some cardboard before placing the barrels in the bed. This will help to keep them from sliding around.

Use the eyebolts that PCM wrote of and tie the barrel(s) forward. They're going to end up there anyway, if you don't use the rubber mat or cardboard. Except when they have slid towards the back whenever you take off from a start.

Another thing you can do is tie or strap them together in sets of three. That way individual ones won't slide around as much. You really aught to use the cardboard.

How many do you want to move? How big is your truck? What's it's weight and GVW? Barrels of honey, full, will weigh more than 660 lbs and some tall ones go more than 700.

I used to carry 16 barrels in my F-150 Ford pickup. Empty that is. :)

[doc25]

You could also use empty barrels as fillers to keep the load from flying around. The plus side is people will think you produce a ton of honey.

[BEES4U]

1. Place a sheet of plywood cut to size for the head ache board and floor.

2 Use or make you own chocks so that they can secure both sides of the barrel.

3 Attach a 2x4 accross the back of the barrel.

4 You may want to bolt on some tie downs for using the straps.

5 You need the tension on the straps to be at a low point as it is point less to have it high.

6 If you are driving at 55 mph everything in the truck is traveling at the same speed. SOOOOOOOO, be a good defensive driver.

7 When you turn right or left the cargo is going to stay on the course of a straight line.

8 If the front end of your truck feels soft and does not respond to turning properly make a proper adjustment such as lighten the load.

9 Check your tire inflation psi.

Have a safe trip,

Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[dbest]

I don't bother to tie them down. Have you ever loaded barrels into a semi? They don't get held in with anything. Some drivers will used a load bar at the back but not all the time. The main thing is to not drive like a nut job.

[Dan Williamson]

Thanks guys... Well I plan on transporting around 2 barrels for now. Actually I need to get some liquid sucrose to feed my smaller colonies before winter. It will save me around $60-$70 to buy it in barrels rather than 5gal pails.

I can pump the syrup out of the barrels into feeder pails right out of my pick-up. I haven't dealt with barrels much but am moving that direction. I guess I need to figure out how to get it up against the front of the truck bed now! A barrel hand truck is probably a necessity right? I had thought I could slide it to the front but with my rhino liner 600+ lbs is going to be tough to slide!

[jean-marc]

Dan:

You can block the drum with one foot and pll over it. That way you get the drum on its edge. Next you keep it balanced and roll it forward on that edge. You just have too pull pretty hard at first to get it on it's edge. If you weigh 200 pounds plus that should be no trouble. If you only weigh 130 pounds you may have trouble getting it on its edge.

Jean-Marc

[BEES4U]

Here is what I have done with barrels.

Remove the 2" bung and put in a gate valve, have the fork lift driver place the drum on it's side, move the forks in so that the forks can pick up the barrel from underneath, place the barrel into you truck on a sheet of plywood, scoot the barrel forward, place a 4x4 in front of the drum and push it in further, chock the drum, and drive safely.
The syrup will flow out by gravity flow.
I placed a secured carbon dioxide cylinder with a regulator into my Chev 1/2 ton, ran a pressure hose with pipe fittings into the other bung, adjusted the psi to no more than 7 psi and dispensed the syrup.

Do not adjust the gas regulator valve higher than the 7 psi as you will make the ends of the barrel convex!
I stoped the above method because it was not cost effective. I mixed my own granulated syrup in up-right barrels and saved a lot of time.
I used a pressure demand pump to pump the syrup into the division board feeders.

Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[Dan Williamson]

Dan:

You can block the drum with one foot and pll over it. That way you get the drum on its edge. Next you keep it balanced and roll it forward on that edge. You just have too pull pretty hard at first to get it on it's edge. If you weigh 200 pounds plus that should be no trouble. If you only weigh 130 pounds you may have trouble getting it on its edge.

Jean-Marc

Well I'm 175... so I'm guessing I can get it over but with alot of work! LOL

[Dan Williamson]

I used a pressure demand pump to pump the syrup into the division board feeders.

Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

Ernie...

Can you explain the pressure demand pump and where you can find one?

[BEES4U]

spellingI bought mine at a service desk for parts at a RV supplier.
The pump is normally hooked up to the RV water service so that when you draw water the pump starts, pumps you the water for like washing your hands, you turn the water valve off and the pump stops. I could fill a division board feeder in about 45 seconds depending on how warm and thick the syrup was at the time.
Any RV service desk should have one in stock.
Good Luck,
Ernie

[alpha6]

Get a sheet of plywood to fit in your bed.

Run two 2x4's or 4x4's the width of the barrels and nail/screw them in. (this way when not transporting barrels you just pull the plywood and it all stays together.) Also run a 4x4 at the top so if you stop it doesn't jump into the cab with you.

Load the barrels. Place a block behind the last ones and the tail gate so they don't shift backward.

Get four 2x4's that are attached together with a strap. So each 2x4 is attached to the other (you will have a set of two, one for each side of the barrels)

Place one of the 2x4's on top of the barrel. The other will hang just over the edge on the side of the barrels. Do this on each side.

Run rope or straps over the 2x4's and it will hold the tops in line and secure to the bed.

These can be reused for a lifetime and your load won't shift and is very secure.