Uhauling a 4 post

[FNM]

After months of waiting for my lift it’s finally arrived. I’m going to the freight terminal to pick up and there’s a Uhaul next door to it.

I tried to find trailers to rent but after weighing options and Googling I’m convinced my best bet is a 20Ft box truck from Uhaul.

The lift is a Direct Lift part 8 plus with rolling jack.

Has anyone picked up theirs in a box truck? Wondering what the best way to tie down / secure it is? I live up quite a significant hill so worrying about it sliding back and flying out if it would indeed move.

Any advice and experience would be welcome on the box truck.. much thanks in advance!

 

[wssix99]

If the people at the cross dock haven't already destroyed the lift, they most certainly will trying to get it in a box truck. (They will want to pick it from the side.)

I recommend going to get it right away. (With the supply chain stuff going on right now, there is a high liklihood that your lift is constantly being moved around the facility and ...handled.)

Getting a pickup truck with a flat bed trailer from an industrial rental (ie: Sunbelt) will give you something easy to manage the lift with and easy for the dock to load up without damaging the lift.

 

[jbfsr]

I brought home my Atlas 9K on a tilting equipment trailer. It was like 27' long and 2400 lb. I unloaded by attaching a strap to anchors I already had in the floor and pulling the trailer out from under it in one piece. Worked out very well. The rail with hydraulic rail is like 500 lb or more. That will be tough in a box truck.

 

[wssix99]

The rail with hydraulic rail is like 500 lb or more. That will be tough in a box truck.

+1. My wife complained a ton when I asked her to lift that part and bring it in the garage... Fortunately we had the trailer and could move it a short distance over and down on to furniture dollies to wheel into the building. (I ended up helping.)

 

[FNM]

Damn Google - I’d read some did it in a box truck but alas..

I’ll see what trailers are available locally.. last time I looked there’s was little to nothing

thanks for advise

 

[wssix99]

Get a construction trailer: https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/detail/1411/0241035/16ftdeck-tandem-axle-trailer-10k/

These places can change the hitch to a ball hitch if you need them to and/or give you a pintle reciever to use the heavy duty hitch.

 

[FNM]

Thank you again. Of course there isn’t a sunbelt anywhere near me but there is a United rentals doing the same trailer.
Now I have to work out if my Explorer Limited can tow one of these (should be able to has a max distribution weight of 5000lb)

 

[aggie113]

If you can't get a trailer then you might try a truck with removable bed sides/posts.

 

[FNM]

16ft bed right?

 

[finn]

Might want to call the terminal and see what equipment they have.

I picked up my four post Advantage lifts at their warehouse south of St Paul. It was a general warehouse that handles all sorts of cargo, lifts being one of them. One of my lifts was still in the container, backed to a warehouse door. They forked it from the end with no issues. The forks were probably eight feet long.

My two post Bendpack was scheduled to come to my house. Twenty minutes outside of town, the freight driver called and asked if he could call in a favor and ask a local business if we could use their dock and forklift (with driver) and put it on my car trailer. Took maybe five minutes to pull it off his semi trailer and place it on my car trailer.

You guys saying it’s impossible to put a lift in a box truck forget that it was shipped overseas in an end loaded container, unloaded into a warehouse, loaded on the common carrier dry van, unloaded at the terminal, and so on.

 

[FNM]

I’ve shot them a message to ask if a box truck is possible as they literally have one next door. I’ve asked them what they’d recommend and what typically people pick up.

my pickup location is their own (Derek Weaver) warehouse rather than a regular freight terminal

 

[HeadsUp]

Do you have the means to get it out of the box truck at the destination?

Had my 4 post lift delivered to a buddy's automotive shop. He had it strapped down really well on top of the rails of one of his landscape trailers. My 1/2 ton pickup handled it with ease. Having a couple furniture dollys and engine hoist worked out well for removal and assembly.

 

[FNM]

Yeah I was resigned to the fact I’d have to break it down piece by piece and have dolly’s and engine hoist (lots of friends) if needed. The box truck rentals are two days / 48 hours so figured that’d give me enough time (in my original plan) but my main issue other than the new one of loading it would be to tie it down in a box truck as I don’t want it moving.

I found the post where I got the idea of uhaul from - https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/f...st-loft-with-u-haul-car-trailer/135562/page1/

 

[wssix99]

You guys saying it’s impossible to put a lift in a box truck forget that it was shipped overseas in an end loaded container, unloaded into a warehouse, loaded on the common carrier dry van, unloaded at the terminal, and so on.

No, we've just hung around cross docks enough to see these types of thigns bungled. The average lift truck driver I've come across at these terminals can't pull this type of thing off without very close expert supervision.

 

[FNM]

I always assumed they went dead straight rather than sideways like this:

but I’m only coming from the school of YouTube

do they put a pallet underneath when they sideways it?

 

[wssix99]

I always assumed they went dead straight rather than sideways like this:

but I’m only coming from the school of YouTube

do they put a pallet underneath when they sideways it?

No, they usually don't put anything underneath and that's the big problem. When they do the end lift like is in the picture, they are supposed to block the ends of the forks to protect the lift underneath and they skip that. (Especially when shuffling it around the dock.)

Even if the lift is packaged well with the blocking in the correct places and the lift operators get it right, loading onto the trailer is much easier, (like in the video) solves the tie-down issue, and is easy to unload.

 

[FNM]

Got it thanks.

understand the trailer thing entirely just a tonne more logistics for me. Never been a truck guy but coming around to the idea slowly… but until such time the Explorer is sadly my tow vehicle which is slap bang in the “will it, or won’t it?” zone

 

[Viper98912]

I think the box truck might give you some issues. A 20 footer may not be the right height for them to back into the dock, nor be able to easily lift from the ground. You'd need a 24-26 footer for a standard dock height (which being a Uhaul, might not be standard dock height. You'd need a Penske 26'er).

I rented the Uhaul 6x12 utility trailer (no ramp). With the rear gate down, that's about another 2 ft (horizontal) hanging off the back. I believe my lift was 16 ft long, so I did have 2 ft hanging off the back of the trailer while we were riding down the highway. That was fun. Not sure how we didn't get stopped haha.

The terminal guys did run around to get the long-fork forklift to be able grab my lift from the end and slide it into the trailer. Definitely tilted some. I don't remember if we used a 4x4 block of wood to put underneath it to help stabilize it as well keep it from scraping the paint, but at the end of the day I did get some fork drag marks that took off some of the paint from the lift. Eh, it happens.

Take a closer look at the 6x12 trailer, and definitely see if they have forks long enough to go from the end.

Also, you will need to disassemble the lift piece by piece to get it into your garage. The ramps are heavy, but more importantly the ramp with the cylinder is very heavy. You will need 3 or more strong men/women to lift and get it off. Or, a small engine hoist and be careful as you inch it out and it swings back and forth.

 

[FNM]

Thank you for that experience very useful info!

As the warehouse is company owned and not a generic freight terminal, I’d assume they do the lifting / moving of these lifts day in, day out so I don’t have any worry about their ability to load and carry but I will have one eye on them listening to the feedback about potential damage.

I’ll take a look at the 6x12 too. My runway is 184” / 15.3 ft so I think I’d need a 16 deep without hanging. I don’t care if it hangs off the back so long as I don’t get pulled over or scrape it going up my hill

I have access to a one tonne hoist so I’m hoping we can lift the heavy bit between us or load it on dollys and ramp it down.

I’ll see what Derek Weaver think and report back

 

[rayra]

Rent a truck with a liftgate rather than UHaul's terrible ramps.

 

[speedracerfx]

I rented the Uhaul 6x12 utility trailer (no ramp). With the rear gate down, that's about another 2 ft (horizontal) hanging off the back. I believe my lift was 16 ft long, so I did have 2 ft hanging off the back of the trailer while we were riding down the highway. That was fun. Not sure how we didn't get stopped haha.

Interesting. I'm in the same boat as the OP...I have a Wildfire arriving at my local AFB terminal tomorrow, and I can't find a 16'+ trailer around here to rent. I had thought about the 12' Uhaul and letting it hang out the back.

 

[Bucko]

Another option might be an independent flatbed tow truck driver. Likely cost a bit more but less headache.

My moms husband was a long haul independent trucker and when they moved across the country he paid a neighbor with a tow truck to put my moms car on the flatbed and then he drove it into his semi trailer then paid a guy on the other end to get it back off.

 

[infinkc]

My bendpak lift had stickers on it to only lift from the ends and not from the center. They dropped it off in a box truck with no lift gate. Guess they weren’t thinking that not every place has a forklift with long forks. Landed up hooking a chain to the far end and forking from the other. Lifted it up some and had the truck pull forward.

 

[TruckRed]

I picked up my four post lift with a uhaul car trailer. The distributor lifted it from one end and set between the trailer runways. I tied it down with three straps and drove it 150 miles home. Unloaded it piece by piece with cherry picker. Easy job with no problems, all done in less than 8 hrs.

 

[mike93lx]

Rent a truck with a liftgate rather than UHaul's terrible ramps.

Uhaul ramps are fantastic. I've rolled lots of heavy stuff up and down them, including a 1200 lb safe on an appliance dolly. Traction is amazing and they are very strong.

That said, I would try to find a way to do this with a trailer.

An explorer should be fine towing this

 

[PoorUB]

Call towing company and see how much they would charge to haul it on a flat bed. Have them meeet you there and haul it to your home. Might be the best $200 you ever spent. They can slide the large stuff right in your driveway.

 

[Viper98912]

Call towing company and see how much they would charge to haul it on a flat bed. Have them meeet you there and haul it to your home. Might be the best $200 you ever spent. They can slide the large stuff right in your driveway.

This is a really good idea. Load it onto a flat bed then have them slide it off onto your driveway or front yard, and then unpiece it from there.

 

[rayra]

Uhaul ramps are fantastic. I've rolled lots of heavy stuff up and down them, including a 1200 lb safe on an appliance dolly. Traction is amazing and they are very strong.

That said, I would try to find a way to do this with a trailer.

An explorer should be fine towing this

Cannot agree. using them once, a single object, rested, fair enough. But after doing a couple moves hauling heavy awkward stuff on their ramps with a variety of dollies, no thank you. Lift gates for me. Much easier. Especially for very heavy or bulky items.

 

[mike93lx]

Cannot agree. using them once, a single object, rested, fair enough. But after doing a couple moves hauling heavy awkward stuff on their ramps with a variety of dollies, no thank you. Lift gates for me. Much easier. Especially for very heavy or bulky items.

For residential moves in particular, lift gates add a ton of time

 

[rayra]

For residential moves in particular, lift gates add a ton of time

They don't add ****. You fill the gate up, lift it, moved the goods in the truck.

In the last 19mos I've moved two complete households, I've made 9? 600mi round trips with UHaul 6x12 tandem trailers, 600mi trip with a 24' Enterprise liftgate truck, 8 trips with Enterprise 16' liftgate trucks, 2 with Uhaul 17' ramp trucks and will be making an 800mi trip with another 6x12 trailer within a month. I've moved heavy appliances, large heavy desks, gun safes, rolling tool boxes, large furniture, couches, tables, mattress sets, heavy rollings shelves and about 400+ packing boxes of various sizes with various hand trucks, dollies and carts. LIFtgates have been FAR easier for our exhausted asses to work with. Instead of shoving large very heavy awkward stuff up and down long narrow ramps.
sorry, not interested in debating it any further. I mean, wtf do I know about moving stuff in various vehicles?

 

[glentre]

The best and easiest way is to hire a standard roll-back tow truck. They back into your garage, tilt the bed and slide the crate off onto your wood chocks or dollies as you prefer.

Glen

 

[speedracerfx]

I made a 20 mile drive with my 4 post lift on a 6x12' uhaul today. I wouldn't recommend it. There's not enough tongue weight, and it was a very sketchy 35 mph drive.

 

[mike93lx]

I made a 20 mile drive with my 4 post lift on a 6x12' uhaul today. I wouldn't recommend it. There's not enough tongue weight, and it was a very sketchy 35 mph drive.

That looks dangerous AF.

 

[speedracerfx]

That looks dangerous AF.

It looks that way because it is.

 

[mike93lx]

It looks that way because it is.

Odd being proud of doing something stupid on a public road, I guess.

 

[speedracerfx]

Odd being proud of doing something stupid on a public road, I guess.

Odd inferring something that isn't there just to be stupid on an internet forum, I guess.

 

[Viper98912]

I made a 20 mile drive with my 4 post lift on a 6x12' uhaul today. I wouldn't recommend it. There's not enough tongue weight, and it was a very sketchy 35 mph drive.

Wow, that's very interesting. I wonder if lift was packaged in a way where it was heavier on one side than another? I don't remember my experience being the same - the uhaul was fairly level (or maybe I loaded it backwards compared to you).

Overall I'd continue to agree that a flatbed for taking cars would be well worth it.

 

[csp]

Odd being proud of doing something stupid on a public road, I guess.

Odd to assume that pride was the motivating factor to make the post, given the post actually said "I wouldn't recommend it".

 

[speedracerfx]

Wow, that's very interesting. I wonder if lift was packaged in a way where it was heavier on one side than another? I don't remember my experience being the same - the uhaul was fairly level (or maybe I loaded it backwards compared to you).

Overall I'd continue to agree that a flatbed for taking cars would be well worth it.

You're exactly right. I don't know how other lift companies do it, but Wildfire puts all of the posts at one end. They also mark that particular end as the only one to be forked. Reason being, they put a piece of plywood under the bottom ramp on that end to protect it from the forks. So all that weight is at the back end. Yeah, I would defintely recommend OP to rent an actual equipment trailer large enough for the lift instead of the dinky 12' uhaul.

 

[speedracerfx]

Odd to assume that pride was the motivating factor to make the post, given the post actually said "I wouldn't recommend it".

Thank you! I posted it as a warning. It was incredibly stupid, and incredibly sketchy. And I agreed that it looks dangerous AF because it is. Don't do what I did, kids. lol