How much does a cargo bed weigh?
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:12 pmOn another board (www.steelsoldiers.com) a post was asking the weight of a cargo bed.
Many people posted 2000-3000lbs (!) for a sheet metal bed. I had just sold one (a drop side which would be a little heavier than a straight cargo) and said 500lbs. I based this on the fact that I could lift the thing about 10 inches off the frame myself (we were feeding through loading straps).
So when it came time to sell the dump bed, I also tried to figure out the weight of the bed, piston, pump, and subframe. Now, looking at the TM and doing some basic math I came up with 3500#. That's 75% more than my gantry crane should support (its a 1 ton HF gantry).
SO what it my point? Well, my one ton gantry had a dumper bed, the subframe, the piston, AND a guy craning the hoist (chain hoist) the frame 5 feet in the air and it never creeked. I had cut the frame just in front of the front of the bed (with an oxy-torch), and unbolted the rear dual axles. I don't know what the TMs were using when they got the weights they did, but the TMs are either on the heavy side, or my 1 ton gantry crane is really a 2 ton model.
I did not have a load cell to weigh the load, but I do not think that 3500lbs was right. Its a good planning number, but not real world.
Many people posted 2000-3000lbs (!) for a sheet metal bed. I had just sold one (a drop side which would be a little heavier than a straight cargo) and said 500lbs. I based this on the fact that I could lift the thing about 10 inches off the frame myself (we were feeding through loading straps).
So when it came time to sell the dump bed, I also tried to figure out the weight of the bed, piston, pump, and subframe. Now, looking at the TM and doing some basic math I came up with 3500#. That's 75% more than my gantry crane should support (its a 1 ton HF gantry).
SO what it my point? Well, my one ton gantry had a dumper bed, the subframe, the piston, AND a guy craning the hoist (chain hoist) the frame 5 feet in the air and it never creeked. I had cut the frame just in front of the front of the bed (with an oxy-torch), and unbolted the rear dual axles. I don't know what the TMs were using when they got the weights they did, but the TMs are either on the heavy side, or my 1 ton gantry crane is really a 2 ton model.
I did not have a load cell to weigh the load, but I do not think that 3500lbs was right. Its a good planning number, but not real world.
