Haul Goodman

Haul Goodman is my DIY tractor utility bed: a carry-all and ballast box that mounts to a Category 1 three-point hitch. It’s made from 100% US steel and weighs about 400 pounds, with a 48” x 29” bed. The carriage, top frame, and tailgate are all removable.

It’s sized to carry a standard pallet with the tailgate open. Mostly it moves tools and random bulky things around, and it doubles as ballast when I’m using the loader. The rest of this page is the build.

Design

It started with a basic plan in CAD. For a fab project like this I don’t model every tiny detail, just enough to work out the major dimensions and how much material to order.

Lower frame

The frame is cut and prepped from 2” x .25 and 1” x .120 tube. My extensive engineering analysis (staring at it while drinking beer) predicted it would be “pretty durn strong.”

All of the welding on this project was done with a Hobart 190 MIG and .030 wire.

Bed and upper frame

The bed and upper frame are mostly 1.5” x .25 and .75” x .120 square tubing. About 90% of the time spent welding is not actually welding.

With the bed frame welded out (and liberal use of the grinder to conceal shame), I hit the “look how far I’ve come, but look how far I still have to go” part of every good project.

Three-point mount

The three-point mount brackets are plasma cut from 3/8” x 4” hot roll. Several brave hole saws gave their lives here before I finally ordered carbide ones.

The center reinforcement uses more of the same hot roll. It’s there to hold suitcase weights for extra ballast, or maybe to mount a winch for skid-style loading later.

The upper frame detaches if I want it off, and bolts in at each upright.

Tailgate

The tailgate is pretty straightforward, but the fiddly bits like hinges always take time. The hinge pins and the tubing they ride in are 4130 for extra strength and durability.

As a great man once said: like… a… glove!

More fiddly bits: the mounting plate and catch for the tailgate latches and limiting cables.

Carriage

The last major piece is the carriage, which lets the carry-all be moved around and stored easily when it’s off the tractor. It’s detachable and rides on 10” pneumatic casters. I initially thought three wheels would be enough.

Test fitting and cleaning up before the sheet metal goes on. But first, about those three wheels…

Adding a fourth wheel was easy: a couple more tubing bits, another caster, and a mounting plate. The carriage hooks onto the underside of the carry-all with an angle iron hook at the front and heavy-duty door latches at the rear.

Sheet metal

The floor and tailgate are 10 gauge for durability, plasma cut to size and welded on over weld-through primer.

The sides are 18 gauge, bent to shape after cutting. I thought about riveting them, but ain’t nobody got time for that, so they’re welded in.

That wraps up the fabrication. Modelo tallboy for scale, because I’m classy like that.

Finishing

Prep for paint: cleaning, removing mill scale, and a bit of filler on the sheet metal seam.

Painting is a pain and I’m not great at it. Two coats of self-etching primer and two coats of two-part acrylic urethane. I don’t know what happens if you breathe this stuff in, but I’ll bet it’s really bad.

The inside of the bed is finished with a couple of coats of two-part spray bed liner.

Name plate

I like to finish my fab projects with a name tag. This one is etched aluminum: laser printed, a few attempts at transferring the mask, then into the “probably not OSHA approved” etching setup.

A bit of the mask peeled at the edge during etching, but overall it came out pretty well.

In use

Off to the next project, although maybe a quick lunch break first.