Off-loading material from a flatbed trailer

[Captain Dirty]

Your original proposal sounds like a variation of a parbuckle. (Google "Parbuckle" for images.)
My son uses a similar system for moving woodchips in his pick-up, He covers the whole truck from hood to tailgate with a tarp; after loading he takes the hood edge of the tarp back over the load to the tailgate to cover his load; at his house he ties the top rear corners of the tarp to 2 trees and drives away, rolling the chips onto the ground. (Disclaimer: Considerations of the density/weight of the chips, strength of the tarp and ropes, and speed of driving away are the responsibility of the practitioner.)

Your idea of using chain link as a "Mat" for its strength and a tarp to keep the stone, soil, or whatever from sifting through the chainlink has merit. Obviously, the load will be much more dense than woodchips and require strong lines. Also be aware that once the load at the front of the trailer has been rolled past the axle, the weight will be concentrated on the rear of the trailer, tending to bow the trailer, and the tongue weight will be negative, tending to lift the rear axle of the towing vehicle. Winching the load off may prove better than "driving away". Start light and experiment with incrementaly heavier loads.

 

[S854]

Parbuckle… who’da thunk…

Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve envisioned… thanks…

Maybe I’ll continue collecting material for the bed parbuckle for heavier loads… keep the IBC totes for lighter items…

 

[rScotty]

I use that set up on my trailer. Your right, the handle is too long. I JB Welded a socket in the end of the bar that the tarp wraps around and use a rachet with a cheater bar to unload. Works great on my 4x8 trailer that I use to haul dirt and firewood at the camp. I did staple a scrap piece of vinyl to the deck to reduce friction. My deck is wood. If yours is aluminum, it should not be needed.

I actually had hopes that my Milwaukee Impact Wrench would do the job, but not enough torque.

I had a similar problem with a long handle on an anchor winch on a sailboat. We solved it by using an cordless Milwaukee right angle drill and machining an adapter bit. Lots of people using that or similar setup now as a cheap & universal power winch for all sorts of marine chores.
It depends on finding the right high torque/low speed cordless right angle drill.

 

[2manyrocks]

Your original proposal sounds like a variation of a parbuckle. (Google "Parbuckle" for images.)
May son uses a similar system for moving woodchips in his pick-up, He covers the whole truck from hood to tailgate with a tarp; after loading he takes the hood edge of the tarp back over the load to the tailgate to cover his load;

In Tennessee, an individual hauling loads of gravel has to tarp the gravel or have it fully contained in a truck bed at a height below the walls of the bed.

Could calculate the weight, but I suspect an IBC tote full of gravel would be too heavy to move with a FEL on many tractors.

The HF unloader solves a lot of issues. 1. the material used for the sheet is pretty strong stuff unlike a lot of tarps; 2) the unwinder mechanism is hand powered, but uses a crank handle with enough leverage that it's easy to operate; 3) the price is right compared to DIY ; 4) it essentially winches the load in gradual steps; and 5) there are enough YT videos and reviews that you can see it works. It worked for me unloading gravel a month or so ago. I just unrolled the load of gravel from my truck bed into my loader bucket. Took about 5 or 6 buckets to unload the entire truck bed, but very manageable and no shoveling required.

If you could find an old truck bed with a tailgate converted into a trailer for sale for cheap, that along with the HF unloader would be a cheap way to haul a few loads of gravel in a contained, manageable way without tearing up your nice alum trailer.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

This is what I've come up with:

I picked up the IBC totes from the company where I work... they, at one time, contained chemicals... I did a quick SDS search on all the available totes and came up with these two... the chemicals they contained were virtually innocuous, so much so the SDS listed their toxicity to water animals as zero...

The forks I spent much hand-wringing time on are coming in handy...

I started with mulch as it was lightest... compost is next... someday, when I'm feeling adventerous, I may try sand, rock or road base... although I don't think I'll fill the totes quite to the top with those... my trailer is rated at 2,000 lbs.

One other thing, next time I'll remove the loading ramp and remove both totes from the back... probably should have done it that way from the beginning... live and learn...

Sand and rock weigh approximately 2700# per yard. Each tote about 1/3 full (or less) would equal about what your trailer can haul.