# Billet Ezyloader



## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I need to find something too. I blew out my back Saturday loading a hive that I should have gotten help lifting.

Thank God for Percodan and being able to take a short day at work.

Bill


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Maybe you need to change over to all 8 frame boxes with shallow frames.







Hope it heals soon. Backs can be about as bad a pain gets.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

I don`t move many hives but the first time I did I knew that I was to old to do that much.
I have a hoist for the back of the pickup that will only handle one hive at a time but the old back likes it!!
Ed


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## skruzich (Oct 9, 2003)

I have a trailer that i can use, I plan on setting my hives up high enough off the ground so that i can back right up to the hives and use a hand truck to wheel them onto the trailer. it also tilts so i could actually do it that way if i had to.
steve


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## danbeeman (May 16, 2003)

I have just completed building a single hive loader for my 12 foot flatbed. (I built a loader many years ago, so this is my second.) This is a 14 ft boom loader with a rolling winch using a heavy duty barn door track and roller rated at 500lbs. 
The winch handles 1500 lbs, but the boom is really built for one hive at a time and will only handle about 250 pounds at the end. It will lift high enough to stack doubles, so I can carry 72 hives on my 12 ft truck with it or 36 hives one high. (I don't have that many yet, but just bought 200 hive bodies today, so am planning to have 100 hives by next year.)

I think I've put about $1200-1500 into the boom and had a lot of fun building it, especially researching and coming up with solutions for the winch. I am just starting to use it and so far it seems great. I mounted it on the tail of the truck so that it would reach around behind the truck and unload a trailer as well as the truck.
It is easily removable from the truck (although you need a strong back or a hoist(preferable) to unload the boom frame from the truck. 

I have worked with forklifts, bobcats and boom loaders in the past as well as done a lot of heavy lifting. (My back is good, but I am 57 now and want it to stay that way.) 

If you do not need automatic leveling (required for yards that are steeply sloped), a small boom loader can be fairly easily built from readily available materials. (You have to be able to do all the welding or have a friend who will.)

I like a boom loader because you can lift a single hive at a time, take off honey supers, load supers on/off a truck, and do inspections by lifting the top boxes off a hive. 

With a forklift, you still have to take honey, move colonies on and off pallets, lift full honey supers, etc by hand so you end up with a bad back anyway, AND you have to tow a forklift, which is a REAL hassel.
(Ever get stuck in a filed with a forklift on a trailer and not be able to get it off the trailer?) 

The neatest thing about my loader is that I used a remote wireless winch, which has a small hand actuator like your car's remote door loack that lets you operate the winch without being wired to it! This is very cool, no wires to the hive cradle and your hands are free to guide the cradle!

I've heard from a few others recently and would be happy to take pictures and complete the plans I made if anyone has an inclination to build one. Some of you could probably add to my design and improve it! Right now I can't find a lot wrong with it, so I'm not sure what I would improve.

I mounted two lights right on the rolling winch so the light follows you around while you work, and doesn't create shadows (since the lights are directly overhead and there are two of them). This is also very cool! because you don't trip on stuff while you are working at night.

This might be a good forum for developing plans for an inexpensive single hive loader that could be shared with others. We could even develop plans for a couple of sizes of loaders for different sized trucks.

I have had pickups, 14ft and 20ft trucks in the old days and now like a smaller truck that is easier to manueveras well as cheaper to buy and operate. (There are a lot of 12 foot flatbeds around.)

Hope this helps a bit.

Dan the Beeman


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

>I've heard from a few others recently and would be happy to take pictures and complete the plans I made if anyone has an inclination to build one.

Oh yeah, I'd love to see the plans. I have been thinking how to build one for quite a while now, perusing the tool catalogs and WW Grainger book I haven't found the materials I'd like yet. The remote control sounds like a great idea.

Bill


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## Mark Carden (Apr 30, 2003)

Dan the Beeman,

Please post photos, and plans would be great. I live in central Georgia so auto leveling is not an issue. I would also like to see the winch, voltage required, etc. You had the same idea I did about loading from the back of the touck or trailer. Look forward to seeing your invention.

Mark


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## danbeeman (May 16, 2003)

I'll get to this, but it may be a few weeks as I am leaving the country for ten days.


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## danbeeman (May 16, 2003)

Bill,

The winch I used is a T1500 Super Winch with a Ramsey remote control. The Super Winch runs on 12 volts, so I just ran it off my truck battery and leave the truck idling while I use the winch. The winch needs #10 wire, and I found some 10-4 flexible electric cord to run it and the lights that are mounted on the winch in one cable. This is overkill for the lights, but keeps it tidy.

I looked all over for overhead hoists and the only ones that made any sense were 110V. One could use an inverter, but I decided to stick with 12 volts.

The T1500 is an ATV winch and is small and light weight and cheap ($125 on the web).
The Ramsey remote control will work for pretty much any winch and I got it for $135 on the web.

Whatever you use has to have internal braking and the right speed to make it managable. I just moved bees tonight and it was the easiest move I've ever done! These were heavy hives that would have been a struggle any other way.

On the way back, I realized that I misspoke in my above post. If I had 72 heavy hives (over 100#), my truck couldn't handle the weight, so it will probably not be practical to haul more than 36 at a time (one layer).

Dan


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## kimberjim (Oct 8, 2002)

I look forward to seeing what you have done with the loader.It may just be what I need to save my back...

I have seen the Aussie loader you are talking about Mark.It's a very neat tool and they come in several sizes. There is a big time bee keeper up the road from me who has the sole importation rites for them....

kj


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

>The T1500 is an ATV winch and is small and light weight and cheap ($125 on the web).
The Ramsey remote control will work for pretty much any winch and I got it for $135 on the web.

Thanks, Dan!
I get started on some web searches to see if I can find some more information and the same pricing as you did.

I appreciate the head start.

Bill


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Yep, Northern Tool
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTE_shopbybrand?KEYWORDS=superwinch&PHOTOS=ON&storeId=6970&langId=%2D1 

Sorry about the link, when I tried to pull it over from my favorites it wouldn't drag.

They also have the Ramsey wireless remote for $169. that's $34. higher, but if you order it together you could save on shipping.

They also have the next size larger winch, the ATV 2000 for $169.

Bill


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

>>Maybe you need to change over to all 8 frame boxes with shallow frames.

I think that would make more work for the hives worked and honey extracted. Lifting lighter boxes, but more of them, and spending twice the time in the honeyhouse. 

Ian


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## danbeeman (May 16, 2003)

Bill,

Yeah, Northern Tool is where I got the winch. I'll look up where I bought the remote. I don't see any reason to have a larger winch since the T1500 handles 1500 lbs, which is WAY more than the boom could handle. In fact, I was searching for an even smaller winch that would be limited to 300-500lb so you would be sure not to screw up the boom, but I could not find one. Be aware that larger winch means more amps means bigger cable to the winch means stiffer wire which is a problem when the winch is mounted on the roller. I built a wire handler for this that works well, but heavier wire could be more a problem.

Dan


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## danbeeman (May 16, 2003)

Ian,

I'm with you on the 8 frames.

At least where I am, it's hard to get all of the bees in two 10 frames. The hives I just moved in double deeps are stuffed with bees, pollen and honey so I just gave them 3 boxes to run in.

I also use full deeps for supers so that I can exchange comb up and down when I need to get new foundation drawn. I've had a lot of bees that wouldn't work a full box of foundation, but move a couple of brood frames up and foundation down and they'll go right to work and fill out a box like crazy.

Dan


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## walt (Apr 18, 2004)

would like to see that hoist. are u going to picture it on this site, do u have plans yet?
also 57 years and sore back. 80 hives and expanding. thx, walt


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I picked up my trailor Friday and hauled my first load of hives and gums.

It turned out very well. I have six mounting points for the boom which also has a mounting place for it to store in when not in use. When the boom is in it's storage rack, the boom is still useable to pull heavy objects up onto the trailor.

I don't have the boom wired yet but have consulted an electrician friend and we decided to install a battery box on the front on the tounge. We made it large enough to also store ratchet straps too.

The tounge is also removable to prevent thievry. It is buildt like a reciever hitch in a square channel and is both lockable and removable.


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## dickm (May 19, 2002)

I'll never need a winch but would enjoy building one. Did you all see "Ulees Gold" a movie with beekeeping in it? What was that piece of equipment that he used to load his hives? I thought that was the greatest.

Dickm


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## wfarler (Jul 9, 2003)

Does a winch work okay when using it as a hoist? Doesn't a hoist have a more positive braking action? It's my understanding that the winches rating is only horizontal pulling power which they are stating quite differently than vertical lifting capacity.

The T1500 is supposed to lift less than 500 lbs vertically (which should be enough) even though it is rated to pull 1500.

Not sure I understand this stuff. Does you winches braking hold a full load without slipping?


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Dickm that was a Kelley boom loader.You wouldnt think it was so neat after loading a few hundred hives with a boom loader but they do make it possible for one man to load and move heavy hives by himself.
Did you notice they ran their bees in a single deep with an excluder.Smart beekeeps....


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Did you notice they ran their bees in a single deep with an excluder.Smart beekeeps....

I thought that was pretty standard for migratory beekeeping. Isn't it?

It's a lot different if you have to move them all the time.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I think its pretty standard in Florida and other parts of the South ,but in the West I see lots of double deeps run with no exluder.I like the single deep with excluder,with lots of empty drawn comb right over that at the start of a flow.But my hive configuration changes during the year to match conditions.I wouldnt say its best for ALL areas as each region is different.But where I operate,most queens dont need more than a single deep to raise brood.I will find brood even on the outside combs at times,and the frames will have more brood than if she is allowed to scatter or stovepipe the brood through 2 or 3 deeps.I will move the medium food chamber back down in late summer and put the excluder above that so that it gets filled with as much pollen and honey as posssible before winter.


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

Unfortunately Kelly no longer makes their loader.

Billet sent me good info on their loader. Came with a CD that showed the boom in action. Pricey, but you only get one back. I would like to see one work. Contact Billet to get your CD and info. It came from Australia and took a long time.

Hey Dan the BeeMan, or whoever built one: where are the pics? Could this be a sideline business for you?


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Does anyone make boom loaders in the USA anymore?


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Bump. I thought this was an interesting thread. A couple of guys on here were clever enough to build their own boom loaders, but sadly there are no pics. 
I thought the thread deserved an airing in case anyone was looking for a winter project.


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## PerryBee (Dec 3, 2007)

I always thought the kind of boom loader Peter Fonda used in Ulee's Gold would be handy. Don't know who made it but looks like it would be fairly easy to use. Guess they don't make them anymore?

Perry


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## slickbrightspear (Jan 9, 2009)

i would like to see those plans


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