Truck Bed Loadhandlers Can Save Time And Your Back!

Have you ever had a pickup truck full of landscaping material that was going to take you 30 or 40 minutes to unload with a shovel? How would you like to cut that time down to 30 seconds?! Get yourself a Loadhandler truck bed unloader and give your back a break! They attach to your truck in minutes and can save you a bunch of time.  I’ve got one and I love it!

The Loadhandler is basically a one way, manual, conveyor belt that attaches to the tailgate of your truck. Before you load your truck you unroll the “drag sheet” to cover the bed of your pickup box and then you put your load on top of the drag sheet. When you are ready to unload your material you insert a manual crank handle into the shaft and start cranking. If the material in your truck is loaded properly, you can easily unload the truck and save a lot of wear and tear on yourself.

What Can I Use A Loadhandler For?

Almost anything you put in the back of your truck will come out easier with a Loadhandler! Whether it’s bagged, boxed or dumped in by the tractor bucket full, you will benefit from using one. Just using it for pulling material or bags from the front of the box to where you can reach them, will save a lot of climbing up and down. Below are just a few examples of what it can be used for, but you are only limited by your imagination.

• Bulk landscaping materials - black dirt, sand, mulch, stone, blocks.
• Bagged materials - landscaping materials, fertilizer, grass seed, animal/livestock feed, wood pellets, water softener salt and so much more!
• Stump grinding shavings - In most cases grass will not grow in the stump grinding shaving. The Loadhandler makes it easy to haul it away and to bring black dirt in.
• Firewood - Works great for unloading wood. Firewood is one of those items that you can easily overload your truck with and be sure to watch the “locked load” areas, which I’ll talk about below.
• Deer feed - Sugar beets, carrots or pumpkins come off easily. Much like firewood, watch the weight and “locked load” areas. Also, know your local deer feed/baiting rules. They seem to change frequently here in Michigan!

Loadhandler Limitations

The Loadhandler does have a few limitations, but they are still well worth the money! By knowing and understanding these limitations I think you can easily work around them and still get excellent results. Let’s take a look at some of the limitations.

Locked Load

I would say the biggest limitation is that you can’t just completely fill your box with material and get the 30-second results that Loadhandler claims. What happens is you get what Loadhandler calls a “locked load”. In a fully loaded truck, most materials have the tendency to bind together. When this happens the material on the cab side of the wheel wells gets wedged against the wheel wells and the load will not move.  Can you still get a full load of materials? Sure.  Just remember, you may have to unload some of the material around the wheel wells by hand.  The Loadhandler will still unload the bulk of the load for you. That’s still better than unloading the entire load by hand!

Tailgate Caps

Many of the newer truck have the wider tailgate caps. A new Loadhandler will fit up to a 4” tailgate cap. Loadhandler has a good “application guide”.  Click on the blue link if you have any questions or concerns.

Truck Bedliners/Mats

Why do truck owners like bedliners or bed mats? They protect our nice, shiny truck beds from damage and they also help keep cargo from sliding around in the back of our trucks. Well, you guessed it, the additional friction between some bedliners or mats can present a little problem for heavier loads with the Loadhandler. Some spray on bed liners are rough enough the could damage the drag sheets prematurely too.

For the spray on bedliner owners, all is not lost. Loadhandler has come up with a solution. It is their “double bed mat”. It’s a 4’x8’ bed mat that one side has a smooth surface that allows the drag sheet to slide easily. When the Loadhandler mat is not being used, you can flip it over to expose a ribbed surface.  This helps protect your truck bed and keeps items from sliding around. This works great for the spray on truck beds or it makes a good stand alone bedliner too.

A Little Bedliner Good News

The good news is on the hard plastic shell bedliners the Loadhandler actually works better. They have even less friction than the normal truck bed, which allows the drag sheet to slide easily. Obviously, the best solution for the rubber bed mats is to remove them when using the Loadhandler. Believe me, the time you save using the Loadhandler will make up for it!

Load Size

I’m sure you can load enough material between the fender wells of your truck that “you” and the Loadhandler will not be able to move. You can probably even break your Loadhandler by trying. For example, if you have a pallet of chimney blocks loaded between the fender wells, there is a good chance you will not be able to move them. The problem may not be with the Loadhandler, but more with the size of the load itself. Let’s take a look.

Excessive Load Example

I found that on average a chimney brick weighs approximately 7 pounds. If you’re wondering, paver blocks are very similar. They normally come in a pallet of about 500 bricks. That makes a load of 3500 pounds! With a load like that you should be using a 1 ton truck with the LH3000, which is rated for 3000 pounds.  You may want to make a couple trips too!

Too often in our quest to save time we all make the mistake of overloading our trucks. Guilty as charged!! That can make the vehicle hard to handle, it increases our stopping distance, and can do significant damage to your vehicle. If we can keep the size of the loads down to a safe limit, it’s much safer and easier to handle all around.

What Size Loadhandler Do You Need?

Loadhandlers come in several different sizes and fit most trucks. Below are the most common Loadhandlers available. Clicking on the blue links will take you to Amazon where you can get more information and pricing. If you need more help on what will fit your truck, the Loadhandler application guide, mentioned above, should be able to help. The information below should be enough to pick the Loadhandler you will need.  Again, the biggest concern you may encounter is the width of the tailgate cap.

• LH2000 - 2000 pound capacity designed for full-sized pickups.
• LH2200 - 2200 pound capacity model for standard, full-sized pickups.
• LH2200M - 2200 pound capacity model for mid-sized pickups.
• LH3000 - This is their commercial grade unloader. They are made of heavy-duty, steel construction. It fits 62-69 in. wide tailgates The LH3000 is not designed for stepside pickups.
• Load Handler Double Bed Mat - The load handler double mat is a two-sided mat that can be used with the load handler in certain situations.

For Best Results

To get the best results out of your Loadhandler here are a few items to consider. They will help speed up the unloading, save wear and tear on you, and help keep your Loadhandler working great for years.

• Give your truck bed a quick cleaning before rolling out the drag sheet. This does two things. It will allow the drag sheet to move easier and will help prevent wear or rips too.
• Look for damage to the truck bed. Gouges, rust holes and rough edges can damage the drag sheet and prevent smooth unloading. If the truck bed is in rough shape, this would be a good place to use the “double bed mat”.
• Spray on bedliner uses; you will probably be ok for a light load.  The “double bed mat” should be considered for heavier loads. The Loadhandler will work smoother, last longer and be much easier for you to use.
• Keep the load between the fender wells. Avoid letting the material accumulate in that “locked load” area ahead of the fender wells.
• Don’t overload your Loadhander or your truck.  They are both designed to for certain loads; be aware of how much weight you are putting on them.

A Loadhandler is a great tool for anyone who is hauling and unloading cargo in their trucks. They can save you time and wear and tear on your body. Get the correct model of Loadhandler for the type of work you’re doing, and by following a few practical steps, the Loadhandler can make your job and life a whole lot easier. Get one today, you’ll love it. I love mine!

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