New-Style Truck Box Never Needs Tarping

New-Style Truck Box Never Needs Tarping TRUCKS Tarps & Covers 3-5-1 They're calling it the first really new idea in trucking in years - a cylindrical shaped box that opens, and shuts hydraulically with the flip of a switch in the cab. "You get a tighter seal than with any available tarps," says Curtis Penner, sales, manager for New J.; Industries, Winkles, Manitoba, manufacturer of the new "Protector" truck box. "The rubber-sealed lids provide a wind, rain and snow-proof seal, protecting anything you haul." Two small cylinders, mounted across the front of the box, open and shut the lids. They riseevenly the full length of the box by "walking" up three chains stretched tautly up the sides of the box, with sprockets mounted on a small shaft housed under the lids. "The Protector will pay for itself in time saved by not having to tarp," says Penner. The built-in lids operate independent of each other and of the truck's hydraulic system so there's no conflict with hydraulic drill-fills, or the truck's hoist. (The lids have their own self-contained, 12-v hydraulic system mounted on the frame.) You can heap the load and still cover it with the lids. Or, the load can be heaped even higher by holding the lids partially up as an extension of the box. Penner says the circular shape of the Protector makes it stronger than conventional rectangular-shaped boxes, and that its streamlined shape offers less wind resistance. The bed is 10 ga. steel, with heavy-walled rectangular tubing on 16-in. centers providing the framework. Weighs from 200 to 400 lbs. more than conventional truck boxes. You can haul livestock as well as grain in the Protector truck box. It's available with an optional "checkerplate" floor to give animals a better foothold. Lids can be left part way up to serve as livestock racks and, if needed, rear corner panel's on the lids can be removed for extra ventilation. Penner says, however, that you won't be able to haul as many animals as with a comparable-size conventional box because the circular box has a narrower floor. You can use the new-style box to haul silage, too - provided you have a high-dumping hoist on your truck. One lid on the box can be left up when filling to serve as a "backstop". Penner says wet grain and other sticky materials cause no unloading problems. A standard feature on the new truck box is a unique, three-piece, swinging, rubber-sealed endgate. The gate is bolt-free and snap-locks onto the frame for quick removal and installation. Swings open in a variety of ways. Farmers are buying the box, which fits any existing frame or hoist, to retrofit trucks they already own, says Penner. In addition, the company also hopes to sell the idea to truck manufacturers as original equipment. Comes in 14 to 24-ft. lengths, 8 or 81/z ft. wide (8 ft. is the legal limit in U.S.), with 54 in. sides. Prices range from about $2,850 for the 14-ft., to $3,640 for the 24-ft. An 81/2-ft. wide box holds about 29 bu. per foot so an 18-ft. box would hold about 520 bu. of wheat. The optional checkerplate floor costs about $4.75 per foot extra. The company will install boxes at their Manitoba plant, or ship them to farmers, who can have the work done locally. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, New J. Industries, Ltd., Box 2080, 340 Airport Rd., Winkler, Manitoba ROG 2X0, Canada (ph. 204 325-9585).

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