Steel Door Boxtop For Grain Trucks

Steel Door Boxtop for Grain Trucks GRAIN HANDLING Miscellaneous 14-5-29 The cost of an expensive side-roll tarp, or the idea of fighting with a hard-to-handle bulk tarp, prompted Richard Pilsner, Rockglen, Sask., to design and build a full steel cover for his grain truck. "The metal and hard ware cost about $300, the price of a good tarp without the roll-up hardware. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of using a side roll tarp anyway," says Pilsner. The metal boxtop is 14-ga. metal on a framework of 1/10-in. wall sq. tubing. It's 1-ft. high at center, tapering down to zero at the edge and is held on by 6 bolts. There are two hoops on top for lifting it off as a single unit with a front-end loader or crane. Doors are 2-ft. wide and hinge back, leaving the center open. There's a 2-ft. solid section on each end. The doors are held down with tarp straps. "When it's closed, you can walk on it. There's a safety rail along the edge as the steel is slippery when wet or dusty," he says. Lid joints overlap enough to allow rain water to run off, although Pilsner didn't seal them to make them waterproof because the area is generally dry during harvest. Roof pitch is about 6 in. on each 54-in. side. Pilsner says the slope is about right to completely fill the box. "The tailgate has a double door center section so it's easy to reach in to shovel out the corners," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Pilsner, Rockglen, Sask. SOH 3R0 Canada. Photo and story reprinted courtesy CRAINEWS, Winnipeg, Manitoba

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