Chip box ?

[coolbrze]

I'm looking into building a chip box for our truck below. It's a 12' landscape dump (12' long x 4' tall x 8' wide) and thinking of making the box 2' above the sides and 8' long from the front of the bed. Was thinking of using plywood & pressure treated Pine lumber for the frame & painting w/ black fence tar after a year. In terms of the design, we're thinking of using three (3) 2x4s bolted into each side w/ 2 bolts/ea. w/ runners sitting on top of the "bed rails" to hold the box on. I'm hoping we can make it removable (w/ a pully of course) as we use this truck for landscaping a lot also but need another chip truck.

Is an 8' chip box long enough for a 12' bed? Should we add a mesh vent (front or sides?) so chips don't blow back out when chipping? How about a steel plate backing board so the chips don't ruin the plywood? Any tips/suggestions/ideas are greatly appreciated!

 

[2dogs]

My first suggestion would be to convert to a Swap Loader and add a stand alone chip box for it and also keep the current box. But then I like spending other people's money.

Chips will eat up the plywood front of the box up high. If you keep moving the discharge around you will help the life of the plywood. Vents are needed!

 

[ASD]

you don't need a Swap Loader but a steller hoklift would be nice LOL

 

[coolbrze]

Is 2' above the sides for a total chip box height of 6' ideal? Where & what size vents should I place in the plywood?

 

[treevet]

We put a plywood top 8' long (2x4by8's) on top of our mack that is completely removable with 4 pins. You need a metal structure for the plywood to keep it from sagging and collecting water and sagging some more.

 

[treevet]

without top

 

[coolbrze]

Since the sides on this landscape dump truck are 4' tall, is 2' above the sides good enough or should we go 3' above?

 

[Mikecutstrees]

You need the height of the chip body to be higher than your discharge chute optimally. If its higher its easier to chip into the truck and fill it up. Also there will be far less chips on the ground around the truck. I'd say a foot higher or more would be best. I'd make the body go all the way to the back of the truck to avoid chips blowing out too.

On the negative side a 12' body on an F-450 is pretty large. measure your chip space, say 12'x6'x8'=576 cubic feet= 21.3 yardsx500 lbs per yard=10,650 lbs + weight of the body and truck..... I'm pretty sure you will be way overloaded. Something to keep in mind. Mike

 

[coolbrze]

Here she is, what do you think? The box is built out of all pressure treated lumber, is 2' higher than the sides, 10' long & we designed her to be removable but still need to add the eyebolts. We'll paint her w/ fence tar/paint when she dries some.

 

[appalachianarbo]

I have a similar steel box and built an add on box like you did. Initially, I only had the box on the front 6' of the box, but some chips still missed the box, so I made a full 12' box. I also cut down the back doors to about half their height, so I can chip into it without having to open the doors. I haven't had a problem with things falling out.

 

[Bowhunter01]

I like it! I'm doing the same thing this weekend, but my chip box is smaller. I've got 4' sides on my 550, the top two feet are treated 2x12's. I've only got a 9' bed. I'm making a removable lid for it out of treated plywood. Probably won't go any higher with mine.