"J T" wrote in message

Now that you mention it, when I was a kid, I don't think I ever saw
a farm without at least one dirt ramp for loading trucks. A lot of the
barns were either built into theside of a hil or had a dirt ramp leading
to an upper floor also. Just because its low tech doesn't mean it's a
bad idea.
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Yep, dirt ramps were everywhere where I grew up as well. We always kept
some planks around as well to augment the dirt ramp.

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Somewhere too I've seen plans for a homemade loader on the front of
a farm tractor. Seen some made without plans too. Never heard of any
of them not working.
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That would have been an easy modification to the lift bucket on the front of
our tractor.

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Low tech for loading a truck tho, you can't beat a dirt ramp, some
kind of a low bed mover, easy to load, then when it gets up to the
truck, easy to slide the load off. Low tech, low buck, works.
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OK, I have to make this comment. It probably won't be implemented by
Morris, but I have seen it done.

I have known three different people who have built hovercraft. One guy
built his when he was 15 years old. It worked well and he ended up donating
it to a school. The other two guys were backyard inventor types. But they
made platforms that could lift some impressive weights. One ultimately was
used in a shop setting.

They just wheeled the stock onto the platform, fired up the hovercraft
engine, and the whole thing just floated a few inches above the floor. Then
the material was pushed to the new location. Shut down the engine, wheeled
the stock off, etc.

It was noisy but impressive. So Morris, how about it?? A dirt ramp and a
hovercraft would be an elegant solution.