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!