| Overall Rating: |
|
5
/ 5
|
A great equalizer,
April 23, 2008
By GardenDiva
from Boulder, CO
|
"The Load Handler is one of several tools that I refer to as my great equalizers. They allow me, a middle-aged woman and professional gardener, to do the work of a young man without breaking a sweat! Great for hauling and spreading compost, unloading yard waste, mulch, or about 1/2 cu yard of rock. The Load Handler could handle more rock I'm sure...but that's about how much I can crank without straining. Ditto what another reviewer mentioned...the load has to be centered and not too much over the wheel wells. With really full loads, I just hand shovel a little off the sides until it unloads easily."
|
|
What is your level of technical expertise?:
Professional
|
|
| Overall Rating: |
|
5
/ 5
|
load handler,
April 14, 2008
By jam2008
from NY
|
"This is my second load handler. 1st one lasted 6 years of hard use. Unloaded many loads of fire wood, sand, stone, and leaves from around the yard. I do not know what i would do with out it."
|
|
What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
|
|
| Overall Rating: |
|
5
/ 5
|
A Great Tool,
January 14, 2008
By webted
from Western Washington
|
"Simple and effective, it pretty much works as described. I've used it to unload over 0.5 yards of gravel and sand (~1500#) at a time from my Tacoma. My wife is strong enough to crank out the gravel, however, I have one of the silicone bed mats which probably makes it easier. Dirt and bark is child's play with this.
The mat only handles the area between the wheel wells, so it helps to have the bulk of your load centered. Even if it only gets 75% of the material out, you're WAY ahead of the game.
Overtime, the edge of the bed fabric has frayed, but this has not compromised the performance. I occasionally cut the frayed edge clean with a utility knife."
|
|
What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
|
|
| Overall Rating: |
|
4
/ 5
|
Does everything advertised.,
October 31, 2007
By JimmyZ
from Bellingham, WA
|
"This item was purchased to assist on a landscaping project with hauling fill dirt/rocks in my Ford Ranger small pickup, approximately 25 loads. It greatly speeds unloading, replacing 5-10 minutes of shoveling with 30 seconds of cranking. It had no problems moving the entire mix, which included some 100+ lb rocks. It was worth the money for this project, and I would recommend it to others.
It was used on the painted bed of the truck with no bedliner. After the project, the truck tailgate had indentations where the Loadhandler brackets attached. If a plastic bedliner insert had been used or the Loadhandler mat, then these dents may not have appeared. Although the dirt loads weren't weighed, I don't believe the 2000 lb capacity was exceeded. The truck was loaded so it still had some spring travel on the stock springs and shocks.
When using the Loadhandler, make sure the straps are secure. On the Ranger tailgate, there was approximately 2 feet of excess strap hanging out the buckle after tightening. On one unloading, this excess strap wrapped around the tarp pole, and I broke the bracket. I was able to tie the strap through another hole on the bracket and continue with the project.
I did experience a bracket failure on the other side through normal use. Since it was at the end of the project, I was able to unload the last couple of loads by holding the bracket in place with my hands. The Loadhandler company promptly replaced both sides of the bracket when I called their customer service folks. Based on this experience, consider purchasing the 3000 lb rated Loadhandler if you plan on unloading a more dense material like rocks and dirt.
I've installed a spray-on Full Metal Jacket bedliner, and it is stickier than just paint. I have used the Loadhandler since with grass and bark, and it still works like a champ. I would likely buy the Loadhandler mat if I decide to move dirt and rocks again."
|
|
What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
|
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
|
| Overall Rating: |
|
5
/ 5
|
It works well,
October 8, 2007
By DomTomac
from Ohio
|
"I have a small Kabota tractor with Front-loader so it's easy to load my Dakata Pickup. However, unloading is allot of work! I'd love to have a small dump trailer but it's not in the budget. I"ve seen the Load Handler advertised but didn't think it would work. Last X-mas my (now-X) brother-in-law said he used one and it worked well. This summer I had allot of gravel to move so I thought I try one and it REALLY WORKED! I overloaded the truck too, which it says you shouldn't do.
I used my Load Handler on the bare, painted steel bed. The bed is in good shape since I always had a rubber mate in it. I did clean it well before using the load handler and sprayed it with silocone lube. If the bed was rusted it probably wouldn't slide to well. If you had a had plastic bed liner that would probably be best or buy the option bed liner. I have a rubber mate bed liner and it won't slide at all on that.
I also used the load handler to pickup 3 load of 25 bags of concrete mix, 80 lbs each (total load 2000 lbs per load). I was able to load the truck from the sides, dropping it in on the Load Handler mat so it was evenly distribute it over the whole bed length. Then to unload, I lowered the tailgate and cranked the bags onto the tailgate. So it made for less lifting - no lifting over the sides or crawling in the bed and manually sliding each bag to tailgate."
|
|
What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
|
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
|
|
