Loading gravel

Not sure which thread to post this, frankly, no category seems to fit a general loading question.

So I picked up some 1.5" crushed stone from this gigantic quarry. 1850lbs worth, a bit much for my 4-cylinder SR5 but she took it in strides.

Anyway, arriving home, I quickly discovered that I could open my tailgate only partially, as the stones happily filled the gap underneath the tailgate and jammed everything together. What a mess, not to mention I am sure I lost a lot of paint in the process at the underside of the tailgate.

What's a good solution for this problem? I am thinking next time I would remove the tailgate or leave it in the down position, but it would be nice to have something holding the gravel in place. I had to drive a section of highway with all of this gravel and I would not want to lose any on the highway! Maybe a piece of 2x12" would be ideal to replace the missing tailgate, if it could be affixed in a way that it would come off easily from the outside with a few bolts. Any other ideas?

 

Electrical tape the gap?

 

You could put a tarp in the bed

 

Rent a trailer for hauling gravel. 30 bucks to save your paint.

Don't know about you, but I don't trust a 6 foot bucket dumping into a 5 foot bed.

 

Have it delivered, best solution.

 

You are way over your max weight. Driving with that load is dangerous for you and other people on the road. Good chance with a load like that you’ll break your suspension - springs, shocks, axles etc. also possible tire failure. Braking with that load is a major concern. If you have to stop quickly it ain’t going to happen. That puts other people’s lives in danger. The whole thing is a bad bad idea. Have the gravel delivered or rent a trailer that can handle the weight.

 

6' bucket where do they use such little equipment ?

Maybe A garden Center for sure not a quarry 8'or 10' would be small

You hang most of the bucket off the rear of the bed clean up the mess later.

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A tarp folded over outside of the tail gate extending 2 ' into the bed should work fine.

 

Respectfully disagree. Ive been around more than enough operators to know all the ways things can go wrong. Ive seen way too many forklift operators hit an open tailgate, and way too many bucket operators dump material onto the cab roof, and Ive been around more than a few that refuse to pay attention to the spotter's directions. Not every operator has the spatial reasoning to visualize whats going on behind their blocked line of sight, and I for one am not willing to risk my truck to be anywhere inside of that red zone.

Industrial loaders and personal vehicles don't mix. Potential damages are a lot cheaper to deal with if they happen to a trailer. Doubly so if that trailer is an insured rental.

 

Not sure why your upset we have nothing to disagree about . I never thought it was a good idea .Things are different all over country '.

Forklift drivers I have 3 impacts in the side of my truck I really miss the old days When I could Yank the idiot off and do what needed done myself .

If I need stuff hauled I just borrow my neighbors Tri -Axle .Much easier to haul 3 loads then 30

Just from some of the things I saw in the years I spent in quarries fixing there mishaps

 

Nah. S'all good. I ain't upset.

I just like to spout opinions as usual.

 

Trailer or delivery.. The closest I've seen my Dad to crying is watching the skidsteer drop 3/4 crush down both sides of his pickup bed..

 

Really if your Hauling Stone you have to know things like that happen.

The loader operator keeps dumping till all 4 tires explode only then remembering he was loading a tiny truck not a trailer.

Me and some friends watched that happen you just kind of zone out load the bucket dump the bucket on repeat all week long.

 

No doubt, there's probably fine print on the receipt that covers them as well..

 

Wow a picture of my Truck I will be famous

 

Thanks all.

The loader operator knew what he was doing. No damage to my truck, he loaded it very gently and he put in what I had requested. Will ask for a little less weight next time for sure. I have the four leaf spring upgrade and the truck handled it fine, brakes and all. My old 2-wheel Ford Ranger got all soft on me with 1200lbs but the Tacoma was still perfectly solid. I shoveled the load closer to the cabin before I drove home so it was well centered and the truck was still level and with normal brake and steering feel.

I checked into delivery but it would have been a couple hundred bucks and minimum delivery way more than I needed, this way it costs me $15 and I had what I needed an hour later. I will definitely entertain the tarp idea or see what I can do instead of the regular tailgate. If anybody has replaced the tailgate with wood I'd still be interested to hear about it and how to best attach/detach it.

 

To answer your question without all the other observations about what is right or wrong or best or worst, just throw a tarp down that will keep gravel from sliding through and filling the gaps. I have a nice heavy canvas tarp I use for stuff like that. Works pretty well.

 

Thank you! I'll do this. Makes sense that it should be heavy so it doesn't rip or get pushed into the gap. Do you wrap it around the top of the tailgate and tape it there somehow, so it won't fold in on itself?

 

I recently hauled gravel like this... the operator told me they would watch my springs and fill the appropriate amount for them, but the load ended up being 2000 lb of gravel! I only had a couple slow miles to drive, so turned out fine, but in the future I will request a smaller load (I believe the official haul capacity in the bed of my truck is closer to 800 lb). Or just get the 5 ton minimum delivered - always more uses for a bunch of gravel!

 

Nah I just leave it draped over the sides and it’s stayed in place for me