I am trying to figure out a way to carry 200L of vegetable oil from pickup location to my home with my Excursion. I have been doing it with buckets in the back but its messy. I was wondering about welding a 50G barrel to a hitch extender and plugging that into the receiver. I wondered about welding a barrel dolley to the hitch extender and then tying down the barrel to that. The weight would be right around 500lbs. I believe the receiver is rated for 500lbs. I wonder about torsional forces etc. I could strap the barrel to each corner of the hitch to minimize rocking.

Is this a ridiculous idea full of risk? Any engineers out there who could speak the the wisdom or foolishness of this idea?

Thanks

Torie

 

You'll have to find a good way to attach the barrel to your part that would fit into your hitch since those barrels generally aren't very thick and will probably rip around the welded area of the base. I'd get 2 bands that fit around the barrel, 1 with a base to hold the bottom of the barrel and another with stiffener bars that fit in the middle of the barrel and come down and somehow attach somewhere onto the frame to hold it from either smashing the back of the Ex during braking or ripping off during acceleration...

I'd also think the bottom of the frame would have to be used because if everything is attached to the hitch those ~415lbs of awkward weight swooshing around will undoubtedly cause some sort of twisting damage eventually.

 

Get a receiver hitch cargo carrier, strap down the 200L drum laying on its side, or better, buy a horizontal tank and strap it on. Most of the platforms will easily handle the 400lbs that 200 liters of vegetable oil weighs.

 

I don't see a problem if you follow this:

Get a standard hitch cargo rack rated for at least 500 lbs. make sure it has a decent floor. Get one that has two or more crossbraces across it in addition to the main tube crossbrace. It also needs to have as high and strong perimeter rails as you can get. Lastly, since 55 Gallon plastic drums are roughly 23" X 35", you need a carrier that is at least 23 inches wide. In addition, you would want to look for one that has a clear opening in the center of the side (very important)

This one would be my pick:

Pro Series 24x60 Cargo Carrier for 2" Hitches - Black Powder Coated Steel - 500 lbs Pro Series Hitch Cargo Carrier 63153


Get a blue 55 gallon drum (closed top) and put a standard brass faucet in one of the bungs with a extension pipe between it and the bung. This should be long enough to allow the fauct to hang outside the edge of the carrier. ( A ball valve assembly would be better.) Make up a bung cap with 1 1/4 inch iron to make a L shape with the iron and screw it on and put a pipe cap on and screw it into the other bung.

Put the Cargo carrier on the truck receiver and put the drum assembly on the cargo carrier sideways with the faucet at the bottom position and pointed down. Center it left and right with the faucet hanging just off the edge of the carrier, Have the iron pipe positioned to point up. Make up 4 wooden wedges out of some 4x4 to position and center the drum in the carrier on the bottom. Place them directly over the secondary crossrails. Get four (4) really good ratchet straps. Strap across the drum with 2 straps to the top of the rails and two straps to the bottom of the rails (main perimiter beam).

Making sure the bottom valve is closed, take off the pipe cap and put in a LARGE funnel in the pipe.. Pour the oil from the buckets into the drum.


When you get home, just loosen the pipe cap as a vent and start pouring out the oil from the faucet into buckets to be treated.

Try to only drive it when completely filled, nearly filled, or empty. The shifting of the weight in a partially filled drum could cause rather severe issues.

 

Great detail! If he does have to drive with less than a full tank a simple fix to help baffle the movement of liquids is to drop in a large number of wiffle *****. They will provide a damping effect on the movement of water, I assume they would have a similar effect on oil. Someone more knowledgable than me on the different hydrodynamic properties of oil versus water may call me out on that.

Alternatively - just go get a fuel tank and attach it. They have built in baffles and are made for the application you're considering.

 

Laying it on it's side didn't occur to me

 

I have two similar to this mounted to a utility trailer in Colorado I use to haul
water to my barn/camper during our vacations..

Your local farm supply place should have a selection to choose from.
Some places have a 55 gallon version as well..

65 Gallon Horizontal Leg Tank

http://www.plastic-mart.com/product/...k-crmi-50vtfwg

Google water tank and grab a drink and sit....

 

I'd just like to mention that you're certainly not gonna hurt the hitch with that kind of weight. The 500 lb limit is for vehicle stability and not for the hitches sake. If you carry more than 500 lbs on that kind of contraption you might consider some counterweight in front of the middle seat.

 

Search craigslist or the like for a small, cheap utility trailer would be my suggestion. Less swinging on the hitch. the tubes on these hitches love to spread as it is. And the ability to haul more if needed.

 

500 pounds of static weight on the receiver should be a non-issue. But putting a 500 pound liquid weight behind the receiver, as any extension would do, raises some concerns with me.

500 pounds at the receiver is downward force. 500 pounds 2 feet behind the receiver is torque at the receiver. 500 pounds 2 feet behind the receiver over any rough terrain (railroad track, pothole, etc.) is thousands of pounds of torque at the receiver. 500 pounds 2 feet behind the receiver around a corner over rough terrain is thousands of pounds of torque in several directions.

I think that I'd opt for a small trailer. It keeps the mess out of the truck and doesn't subject it to forces that I believe would cause long term damage to the truck.


~Bass

 

One way is to attach a couple of ratchet tie downs on the back rail of the cargo carrier and hook the other end up to the roof rack cross members to support it some and reduce the torque. If you prefer, you could also hook it to the gap between the lift hatch and the body.

 

I wouldn't want to support any kind of constantly shifting load (liquid) on the mostly plastic load rails, or especially the fiberglass hatch or doors.

 

^^^ Agreed.

If the load has the potential to generate enough torque/force to damage the truck through the receiver, you can imagine how little chance the luggage rack would stand if used to secure that load.

 

From your original post, this doesn't sound like a one-time problem, so you need to think about a long-term solution, not just some way to take a chance on doing it once on the cheap.

A hitch extender rated for 500# is going to cost you at least $130, more if you want something good. You can get a small trailer for around twice that NEW, and often for a lot less used.

If you decide to use the hitch extender, the drum would typically need to be laid on its side. That will keep the center of gravity low, but it does mean that any sloshing will be side to side relative to your Ex. If the drum is really really full, that won't be any problem. But if the drum has any airspace left in it, the shifting weight and shifting center of gravity is going to be a serious problem. (The wiffle ball idea someone suggested would work, but ONLY IF you completely fill the drum with wiffle *****, so they can't shift around - that's a lot of wiffle *****.)

The BEST answer would be a trailer and a plastic or metal tank like those sold at farm supply stores for hauling water.

Again, however you choose to haul 50 gallons of liquid, you want to ensure that whatever container you use is either empty or full. The shifting weight and CoG when the liquid sloshes will be a LOT worse than you can imagine.

 

WHile I think I agree with the consensus that the receiver should easily hold the 500#'s, I think that a small lawn trailer or little uhaul type trailer for a few hundred bucks would be the best idea, you might even be able to haul 2 of these oil barrels

-The Great