# moffit loader



## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

A neighbor has several of these. They are heavywork horses. Lots of lifting capacity in the 3000 pound range. Apparently they can get stuck easier than a Swinger ot Hummerbee out in the fields. They are slower to maneuver. An advantage is you do not need to drag a trailer around. You would for sure need a tandem axle truck so that once the machine is loaded you still have some payload left. You defin itely need good access roads to go and place the hives in pollination. I think this has mostly played out to his advantage. They no longer go in the middle of field if the road is full of potholes and ruts. That just means that next time it rains your cannot get through. I think they can also reach across the deck to grab the pallets from the other side.

Jean-Marc


----------



## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

I have 3, wouldn't use anything else. There are several option, Moffit Princton, spyder, and donkey being the main one. 
If you can get all wheel drive(3 wheels usually) do it. I run a spyder and a PB50 mostly. 2 minutes to put on the truck. no trailer...... and super smooth.


----------



## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZdmNGCpGXk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIRzJ-aAcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6KmNVLU1a8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQFAK8Utqe0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbIrWjK2IkQ

Who coulda thought! I will say, that its obvious in some that they have a counterweight as a load which helps in more traction, but still impressive! Maybe thats what you need to do is just build a counterweight and take it with you and load on top of the hive then fork the whole load so it adds more weight to increase traction?


----------



## dunbarb (Jan 23, 2015)

Wow impressive. What are approximate costs for these things? I would only need to lift 4 way doubles, so 600 lbs or so.


----------



## acbz (Sep 8, 2009)

dunbarb said:


> Wow impressive. What are approximate costs for these things? I would only need to lift 4 way doubles, so 600 lbs or so.


Try to find a Donkey Beekeeper, they are lighter than a Moffit and can go on a single axle truck, plus can still lift 3000 lbs.


----------



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

acbz said:


> Try to find a Donkey Beekeeper, they are lighter than a Moffit ....


That would be this Donkey Beekeeper ...








more from here: http://donkeyforklift.com/applications.html


... not this donkey beekeeper ...








from this thread: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?278398-A-beekeeper-s-burro


----------



## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

When I worked in the commercial poultry industry, we ran a lot of Moffett loaders. They are very good machines, but they are a PITA to work on.


----------



## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> That would be this Donkey Beekeeper ...


From the looks of that picture i'm not sure if the donkey loader is lighter.


----------



## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

Donkey.has his own bee suit, I am sure there are others...lol


----------

