685 lb Steel Drum

[Walt McBride]

Is there a safe manual way to lower or move a steel drum of honey from vertical to horizontal position, on the bed of a truck?
Walt

[Tom G. Laury]

Get another Manual.

[paul.h]

Get Pepi and gonzolas to help Manual.

When I worked in a locomotive repair shop we had a two wheel truck that we could handle 55 gal. drums with, I have no idea where it came from. I could upright a drum by myself.

[G3farms]

what is the purpose of laying them down?

G3

[bfriendly]

paul is probably talking about a 'barrel dolly' Yes it is possible to upright a full drum by ones self with this , although----------------------- I would much prefer to have 2 or more people around...

But seriously, I see NO REASON you would want to set one down when full... they roll, tops pop off, etc... Much better to secure it upright...

[GaSteve]

You could try one of these. It's a little over the stated capacity but would probably still work.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200356887_200356887

[Walt McBride]

I have a drum cradle and have used it to drain a drum of honey into 5 gal. buckets on my small flat bed S-10.
When I buy a drum of honey from an other beekeeper they want to lift it on to the bed in a verticle position. When I drain it I want the honey gate over the edge so I can put in to buckets.
I do not have the mechanical means to remove the full drumb.
I do not want to pump it. Keep things simple! So that was why I asked about a safe way to lower it to horizontal.
Walt

[Countryboy]

I do not want to pump it. Keep things simple! So that was why I asked about a safe way to lower it to horizontal.

Then siphon the honey into the buckets. Then tip over the nearly empty barrel.

Pumping might be a simpler method than you imagine.

Why not get it in 5 gallon buckets? Ten 5 gallon buckets are easier to handle than a 50 gallon drum.

[Velbert]

I have used 2 land scaping timbers (make sure they a good solid ones no bad knoty spots for them to break) and rolled them up into the bed of the truck.

[Tom G. Laury]

Safest way is with a drum dolly. A full drum can be dangerous to handle without proper equipment.

[Trevor Mansell]

The best thing to do is laddle it in to 5 gal buckets ,then tip it on its end to let it finish into one. A 700 lb barrel of honey can easily break a leg or worse.

[jean-marc]

Tip onto a rubber tire.

Jean-Marc

[Wee3Bees]

I get them out of my pickup truck often without a forklift or any heavy equipment. However, those suckers are heavy! I have done it with and without a drum dolly (regular hand truck built for 55 or 60 gallon drums).

What I did was to build a platform (with casters underneath) about an inch or two shorter than the height of my tailgate (shorter because once the full or almost full barrel is on the tailgate the weight pushes the truck down). I can measure the actual height differential if you are interested as I don't remember now as I built it 3 years ago.

Option 1 - use the handtruck (if you have one or can borrow one) and move it to the platform and gently set it down. 1. I place my platform against the back wall in my garage so it won't roll away from the truck, 2. then I place the barrel on it. There is one slight problem with this method... the barrel never gets all the way centered on the platform. So I merely, 3. move the truck forward (out from under the edge of the barrel (which is mostly resting on the platform). Then I, 4. put the truck in reverse and use the tailgate (which is now raised back up an inch or two) to push the barrel all the way onto the platform (which is still against the back wall).

Option 2 - remove enough honey in the barrel and slide it manually onto the platform and then begin with step number 3 above ... wear rubber sole shoes, wet down the truck bed and push. This won't work if you have a spray in bed liner or if you are concerned about scratching your truck bed.

I never could figure out a way to get the full drum out of the truck onto the ground without a forklift, docking bay or a ramp unless one had a platform to set it on.

I took two out of my truck this past week by "driving" them down a temporary ramp I built from 2 by 6s. I had a heavy duty rachet strap controlling the speed of my drum dolly as I walked it down the ramp. Worked very well, however, you have to have a drum dolly ($400 to buy; I have one I can borrow).

[Wee3Bees]

Velbert,

I just read your post about rolling them up two landscape timbers. You must be as strong as an ox.

I have had to pick one up this year that "accidentally" fell over off uneven ground (which, yes, was operator error) after setting it down with a drum dolly. My preference would be to buy a drum dolly which lifts them vertically up or down from or to you truck bed (costs about $900) instead of driving them down a ramp or rolling them up a ramp... if they ever get loose they decide when they stop.

[sqkcrk]

Tip onto a rubber tire.

Jean-Marc

You beat me to it.

Another alternative is to build a cradle, similar to ones that folks used to have to put a barrel of kerosene on it's side.

Can't you get them in smaller sizes? The barrels that is.

[JohnK and Sheri]

John also used a tire to tip down on to. Course maybe that is why his back is so bad.
Sheri

[jjgbee]

Kelly sold a strong, four wheel drum truck made by Harper. When tipped to the 45 degree angle on all 4 wheels, it is easily tipped to horizontal and is abount 15 inches above the surface if the handles are supported with a 4x6. This is tall enough to slide a 4 gallon (50 lb) bucket under for filling. The best investment I ever made was a barrel tipper from McMaster Carr ( los Angeles) catalog sales. Attaches to barrel with a steel strap. Leverage allows the barrel to be lifted straight up. In the lifted position it may be moved about on heavy 6 in wheels. In the lifted position it can be gently tipped and locked in the horizontal position. I am always cautious when tipping open top barrels.

[Iowabeeman]

We drop them on a tire to cushion the fall. It doesnt have to be a big tire either. It's easy to roll the barrel off the tire if you want to move it around on the trk bed. If we want to pick up the drum, we roll the top edge back on the tire. It makes them much easier to lift. I wouldn't try this by myself.

[EastSideBuzz]

Block and tackle or I use one of these. Run the cable around the barrel and over a rafter and let it do the work.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200332217_200332217

[deknow]

we are about to buy one of these from mcmaster carr (i've dealt with them in the past for machine shop type things). any other thoughts? any cautions?

deknow



Kelly sold a strong, four wheel drum truck made by Harper. When tipped to the 45 degree angle on all 4 wheels, it is easily tipped to horizontal and is abount 15 inches above the surface if the handles are supported with a 4x6. This is tall enough to slide a 4 gallon (50 lb) bucket under for filling. The best investment I ever made was a barrel tipper from McMaster Carr ( los Angeles) catalog sales. Attaches to barrel with a steel strap. Leverage allows the barrel to be lifted straight up. In the lifted position it may be moved about on heavy 6 in wheels. In the lifted position it can be gently tipped and locked in the horizontal position. I am always cautious when tipping open top barrels.

[Beeslave]

I've used a barrel tipper(not the 4 wheel cart/dolley). Make sure you have a good gasket and the drum band that holds the lid on is secured/tightened well. It works very well when you buy syrup in drums and want to transfer it into pails or jars. It works good for transfering honey as well.

[sqkcrk]

Is there a safe manual way to lower or move a steel drum of honey from vertical to horizontal position, on the bed of a truck?
Walt

Drop it on to a rimless tire. But make sure the cover is bolted down well.

[sqkcrk]

I have a drum cradle and have used it to drain a drum of honey into 5 gal. buckets on my small flat bed S-10.
When I buy a drum of honey from an other beekeeper they want to lift it on to the bed in a verticle position. When I drain it I want the honey gate over the edge so I can put in to buckets.
I do not have the mechanical means to remove the full drumb.
I do not want to pump it. Keep things simple! So that was why I asked about a safe way to lower it to horizontal.
Walt

Slide it out to the edge and punc a hole near the bottom of the barrel and then another near or at the top. Have 12 or so buckets ready and switch them around as they fill. It would be a little messy, but it would keep you from having to lay them down.

Here's another thought. Provide the supplier w/ two barrels for every one that you want and have him fill the barrels half way each. That would be easier for you to handle.

[paul.h]

I wonder if any of these would work. I know they are not food grade but...

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=barrel&Submit=Go

[Bob Nelson]

[QUOTE=sqkcrk;488542]Slide it out to the edge and punc a hole near the bottom of the barrel and ...................QUOTE]

Intentional or not a forklift fork works quite well for this

[StevenG]

[QUOTE=sqkcrk;488542]Slide it out to the edge and punc a hole near the bottom of the barrel and ...................QUOTE]

Intentional or not a forklift fork works quite well for this

Oh Bob, you're killin' me! :lpf: And how many wide mouth jars did you have handy? Man, that must have been a mess.... you have my condolences.

[deknow]

well, our purpose is not for syrup.

we bottle honey still somewhat crystalized, so depending on the honey, it needs to get from 80degress to 110 just to pour.

we'd like to go right from the barrel to the bottling tank (we do all the labor ourselves, and transferring honey from the barrel to the bottling tank is time consuming and hard work).

i expect that we need to take the top off the barrel to pour it, and we are considering a bottling tank that can handle the entire barrel at once.

deknow

[sqkcrk]

[QUOTE=sqkcrk;488542]Slide it out to the edge and punc a hole near the bottom of the barrel and ...................QUOTE]

Intentional or not a forklift fork works quite well for this

Yes it does. And so does just dropping it down on its' side w/ a cover that's not well bolted down. I just don't care for scrapping the stuff up off the floor w/ the spacelling trowel. Do you?