Loading farm equipment onto trucks is a lot less of a problem since Thomas Beene, Hughes, Arkansas, built a hydraulic-lift loader that tows behind a tractor.

Beene started with the frame of an old single-axle grain truck and stripped off everything from about 11 ft. in front of the rear axle. He pulled the two side beams of the frame together at the front to make a tongue. Then he added an 18-ft. boom on the frame, mounted on a pedestal he built in front of the axle. He made the boom from a used tillage toolbar.

A pair of 6-ft. hydraulic cylinders about 2 inches in diameter raise and lower the boom.

He cut off the axles so the differential doesn't turn, but left the dual wheels and tires to support his load.

Beene, who farms and runs a used machinery business, says when some of his customers saw his lift, they asked him to make them one like it. He's sold five or six a year since the early 1980's.

Frank Allman, who works with Beene, says they usually keep a couple on hand to use themselves and maybe another one or two to sell. "I make them in the wintertime when it's slow in the shop," he says. "Usually I just make up a few and sell them, but we've also made some to specifications for buyers."

Allman says they usually use a 3 by 6- in. toolbar, but have also made them from 3 by 5-in. bars. So far, they've been able to find used steel for every one they've made, and there's no shortage of truck frames.

He says it's getting harder to find hydraulic cylinders with a long enough stroke for the lift, so they're considering using new ones. They've also made some with just one larger lift cylinder.

Beene says they also have a manlift they can attach to the end of the boom so they can work in high places, trimming trees or working on buildings or grain bins. "We use it behind a tractor and it just plugs into the remote outlet. It's a handy piece of equipment," he says.

As long as they can find used cylinders, they can sell the lifts cheap.