It's the time of year to stock up on heating fuel for the winter. Usually I use a 5'x8' utility trailer to get a load of wood pellets, but I had just loaned it to a friend to use for moose hunting and won't get it back till the end of the week. (A moose will fit in it nicely and I'm hoping for some fresh meat )
Anyway, I called the local hardware store to see if they got in the brand of pellets I was waiting for. They said they did on Friday but only had two pallets left and they were going fast.
Well.....this past July I had approximately1,850 pounds of hefty in-laws in the back for a family reunion photoshoot. The springs seemed to handle that just fine.
So I took a wicked big chance and headed to the hardware store with my F2 and no trailer - distance about six miles away. It turns out the only person who had a forklift license on duty was this young gal and she knew how to operate the reach truck. She did a perfect job loading.
The pallet weighs 2,000 pounds. The pellets are in 50 bags that are 40 pounds each. With the pallet itself, a tool box, and a spare tire I'd say that I had 2,200 pounds in back. I was worried about popping a tire on our crappy local roads.
I have stock drum brakes, stock springs and a 226 inline flathead six.
The truck was a bit light up front and squatting very low in the back but it handled it well.

Here are some pictures...

 

Very cool!!
It looks like it handled the load pretty well. I sure would have been nervous watching the forklift driver try to slide that into the bed. Heck, I even get nervous when they are trying to set the pellets in my trailer.


Bobby

 

More than just a pretty face, eh?!

Does your truck have the steel bed floor?

 

It doesn't look as if the truck was straining at all- way to use it as it was intended. It looks fantastic!

 

Should have handled that with ease. Looks like you had the tires aired up well. Thanks for sharing the story.

 

A beautiful working Ford Truck

That loaded stance doesnt look bad

Looking at the 1948 Ford salesman information book
the F2

6.50x16 6 ply has a payload (equiment etc approx) of 1162 lbs

7.00x16 6 ply """" 1530 lbs

7.50x16 6 ply """" 1908 lbs

 

Your truck handled it very well. It barely went down in the back. I am sure we all have stories how our Dad's or Granddad's over loaded their pickups hauling coal to the house or feed to the farm and the trucks handled it.

I remember that pic you had from the summer... that 'load' was a test run for your truck!

I was thinking the same thing about the forklift operator and her skill. I had a pallet of soccer field paint loaded onto my truck several years ago. Now it didn't weigh as much as your load did but I was nervous as well. I made sure they didn't slide the pallet on and didn't hit my tailgate as it was hanging down. Here is a picture of it. It only weighed 1100 lbs though.

 

That's fantastic! It looks like she handled it well. Both the truck and the forklift driver. You need to put that picture in the working trucks thread. Great Job!

 

Yes, a diamond plate one-piece. The original floor structure on the donor bed was kinda thin after sandblasting. I have some oak boards planed down and some day perhaps next year I'll try to make a 'show' floor over it that will still drain rain water through the plate.

The pictures don't show it but the tires were PEAR shaped in the rear.

I wouldn't dare have put another pound in there, it was freighted right to the point something could have let go. But I was too stubborn to borrow a trailer and didn't want to lose out on the good brand of pellets. Last winter there was a shortage in the north-east due to the long cold winter and every producer ran out of capacity and stock. Everyone in town here is hoarding them this fall. The cheapazz low quality pellets are the only ones that are in good supply right now but they burn like a fresh goose turd. I bought the last two pallets they had of the kind I wanted.

And of course...just wanted to see if I could get away with putting all that in there. As I was leaving for the hardware store my wife said 'bring your phone'...meaning....'your gonna need AAA to haul your squashed truck home'.

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Back in the day my dad had a 48 F1 and we broke out a driveway and loaded it up. He had a utility box on it, one with all the storage boxes and high sides . On the way to the dump he could hardly make a turn without the frontend bouncing a bit . Taking off from a stop was an instant wheelie.Definately built Ford tough.

 

Toby if you still remember that it must have been quite a load! The guy at the dump must have some good stories to tell......probably saw crazy maneuvers on a regular basis. "One day this guy came in with a whole driveway broken up in the back of a pickup...he could change a front tire without a jack...."





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Sweet. Gotta love it. And here i thought maybe you had another family reunion or something! Hahaha.


So how fast did you get up to with the load?

 

Built to work, built to last. I love it!!!

 

Hey Pinecone,
That's a beautiful truck! I think the lines on the F2 with that longer box look great! (That's the same one you drove down the driveway with no sheet metal & your niece strapped to a lawn chair?)

So for us Southern folks ... What do you do with all these wood pellets?
Is it that much more efficient than natural gas or fuel oil? Do you shovel them into the furnace & have to get rid of the ashes?

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Josh, you're close....on Saturday the truck was used for a prop in a wedding. I'll have some pictures to share as soon as the photographer releases them to the bride.
As far as speed...I still have the 4:86 rear gears so load or not it doesn't go fast. Yesterday with the pellets I went about 40 max. No highways involved.

Hi Ben, Thanks.
Yep, same truck that I was taking the chair & frame rides in.
As for the wood pellets...well I burn about 8000 pounds per winter season. That is four pallets worth. I fired up the stove as my primary heat source last week and it will go pretty much non-stop until late April.
The pellets are the most economical form of heat. The price is $239 per ton. Although the oil prices have come down this year it is still cheaper to use pellets. They aren't as efficient as a modern natural gas heater or a world-class heat pump. You get a stove that makes fan motor noise right in your living area and you have to pour a 50-pound bag into the top loading hopper up to twice a day. The bag loading isn't for everyone, it's heavier than sticks of firewood. But it is cleaner and only have to empty a small ash bin once a week. No centipedes and spiders coming out of the pellets and walking around your dining room. I did a wood stove and firewood for 15 years and don't miss it.
Tom



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