Triple Threat: A Pickup Body for All Reasons

Image Gallery The Stake Bed

You can expand your truck's versatility with this inexpensive, homemade, haul-all conversion.

By Glenn E. Smith

Most of us would agree that one of the homesteader's first requirements is a truck, and because of its low cost and ready availability, the truck of choice seems to be either the half-ton or three-quarter-ton pickup, preferably of the 4' X 8' box size. There are a great many jobs that this basic vehicle can perform in an admirable manner, such as hauling hay, grain, fertilizer, firewood, cement, soil, the shorter lengths of lumber, 4' X 8' sheets of plywood, and so on. In fact, I'll venture to say that after owning a pickup for any length of time, most of us have asked ourselves, "How did I ever live without one?"

Even so, there are times when the standard pickup box won't do all the jobs that are required when you're converting raw land into a livable homestead. It shows its weaknesses, for instance, when you need to haul 20' lengths of rebar and PVC pipe, the longer lengths of lumber and corrugated sheet iron, livestock, or large loads of firewood, brush, or trash ... or, perhaps, when you wish for a short-stay camper for hunting and fishing.

There are, of course, various commercial and homebuilt answers for all such hauling jobs. For bulk loading or moving livestock, for example, you need a stake bed, while a lumber rack will handle the longer pieces of pipe, rebar, board, and the like. The short-stay camper also can be either commercial or homebuilt (though it's usually expensive either way). But if you provide for your needs by using three separate pieces of equipment, each of the units will require storage when not in use, not to mention equipment or extra hands for mounting and dismounting. (If you've ever had to go out and round up neighbors for chores of this nature, you know what a pain it can be: Jane had to go into town for a tractor part ...Bill's gone fishing ...Bob's on the other side of the hill, cutting timber.)

After giving much thought to the extra jobs I wished my truck could handle, I decided I needed an arrangement that could manage bulk and long-length hauling, as well as serving as a camper. What's more, I felt it was necessary that one person of normal strength and stature be able to erect and disassemble each unit.