The Harbor Freight Truck Mattress Cargo Unloader, priced at $54.99, presents a cost-effective answer for unloading as much as 2,000 kilos of stuff from the again of a pickup truck. Nonetheless, earlier than speeding out to purchase one, there are some issues it’s best to know.
Truck tailgates have modified quite a bit over the past 100 years, and most significantly for our functions right here, they’ve gotten quite a bit thicker lately. Most of the 1-star critiques left on Harbor Freight’s Truck Unloader product web page talked about remorse that the product wouldn’t match newer-model tailgates. This was primarily because of the mounting brackets solely extending to permit a 4-inch opening.
Different complaints centered across the unit’s design and construct high quality. Some reviewers report breaking the deal with or separation of the load mat from the curler through the first use of the product. These studies are few in quantity in comparison with the 1,400+ 4- and 5-star critiques given by glad patrons, and so could possibly be person error or remoted manufacturing defects.
The Truck Mattress Cargo Unloader operates on a easy idea. The curler meeting mounts to the highest fringe of the tailgate with a 170-inch-long by 50-inch-wide “heavy obligation polypropylene dragsheet” wrapped round it. Earlier than loading cargo, the tailgate is opened and the dragsheet prolonged to the entrance of the pickup mattress, taking care to not prolong it previous the “STOP” labels on the sheet. The cargo is then loaded on high of the dragsheet, and when able to be unloaded, the crank is just turned clockwise.
Find out how to have the most effective expertise with Harbor Freight’s truck unloader
Harbor Freight lists the capability of its Truck Mattress Cargo Unloader at 2,000 kilos. Whereas it is marketed as being designed for a wide range of vehicles, together with these with “1/2 ton, compact, and step-side pickup truck beds,” some standard pickup vehicles, just like the Ford Ranger, have payload capability rankings decrease than 2,000 kilos. Pickup truck beds have shrunk lately, and whereas the product will work for smaller vehicles if it matches over the tailgate, bear in mind that it does not improve the truck’s payload ranking.
Some critiques additionally talked about issues unloading landscaping particles corresponding to brush and sticks; the truck unloader works finest with supplies that make agency contact with the dragsheet’s floor. The equipped proprietor’s handbook recommends that supplies ought to be positioned on the center of the load sheet and cautions towards permitting materials to spill into the truck mattress recesses not lined by the sheet, corresponding to across the wheel wells. Nonetheless, user-submitted video critiques typically present some materials left behind in these areas.
The handbook additionally recommends cleansing the truck mattress and the load sheet earlier than every use and between hundreds, as any dust or particles underneath the sheet may cause harm. It additionally cautions towards utilizing it in truck beds with sprayed-in mattress liners, rubber mats, rusted steel, or different high-friction surfaces.
