The Importance of Tilt Trays in Today’s World

Moving vehicles, heavy machinery, and oversized equipment is no easy task. But one way to make this easier is by using a tilt tray. As you can probably guess from its name, a tilt tray is a tray that is mounted onto a truck where it tilts at an angle for loading and unloading heavy equipment. When the tray tilts, its rear end touches the ground, thus facilitating the loading of containers and other heavy objects that are due for transport.

A tilt tray is an efficient way of loading equipment onto the tow truck’s bed. There’s no need for a boom or crane as the winch in the front of the truck pulls the equipment onto the tray. A tilt tray is powered by a hydraulic system at the base of the truck, allowing the tray to tilt when loading and unloading equipment. Once the equipment is positioned properly, the hydraulic system positions the tray horizontally back on the truck.

Load handling operations are much more seamless when a tilt tray is utilised. Today we’ll be taking a look at the importance of tilt trays and how they function in today’s modern world.

Operating a tilt tray

Tilt tray truck operators undergo extensive training before they become competent. The main reason is that a tilt tray can damage the cargo, the vehicle, and other surrounding objects if it is not used properly. Trained and experienced professionals know how to safely load and unload heavy equipment by using the hydraulic system and the winch in the correct manner. Here is a brief instruction on how to operate a tilt tray:

1. Position the back of the truck to the front of the cargo and park it. Leave enough space between the cargo and the truck (10-15 feet depending on the size of the cargo) so there’s enough room for the tilt tray to slide down.
2. Slowly slide down the tilt tray. You want the end of the tilt tray to be as close to the front of the cargo as possible.
3. Once the tilt tray is in the correct position, unwind the winch until the hooks and chains face the front of the cargo directly.

4. Attach the hook to the cargo and make sure it’s latched on snugly.

5. Slowly pull the cargo towards the end of the tilt tray. You want the end to slide just a bit underneath the cargo.
6. Reverse the tow truck slowly until the front end of the cargo lifts off the ground.
7. Start winching the cargo up to the tilt tray until it’s close to the front of the tray.
8. Secure the cargo with straps and chains so it doesn’t slide off before repositioning the tilt tray.
9. Position the tilt tray horizontally and winch the cargo one last time until it’s positioned squarely within the truck’s frame.
10. Now you’re ready to drive off and transport the cargo to its desired destination.

Typical loads that get transported with tilt trays

Tilt trays are designed to facilitate the loading and unloading of oversized objects. Basically, any load that’s difficult to pick up from the ground requires a tilt tray so it can be loaded to a tow truck and transported. Here are the typical loads that tilt trays are used for:

• Shipping containers – If you don’t have a large crane to move around shipping containers, then tilt trays are an ideal solution. The key here is to use a tilt tray that’s rated for the correct load of the containers. You’ll be surprised as to how much faster you can load a shipping container when the appropriate tilt tray is utilised.
  

• Heavy machinery – A regular truck might not be able to accommodate heavy equipment because of its weight. However, a tilt tray truck can handle oversized machines and equipment with no problems at all.
  

• Vehicles – Boom towing and wheel-lift aren’t ideal for transporting vehicles, especially luxury ones. A tilt tray allows the vehicle to be loaded onto the bed of a truck where it can safely be secured and taken to point A to point B with minimal risk of damage.

Advantages of tilt trays

Aside from making loading and unloading tasks much easier, tilt trays provide a whole host of other benefits. For starters, large and heavy loads can be transported on the go and any damaged vehicles that can’t be towed can be transported to the junkyard. It’s a cheap solution to towing which is ideal for specialist industries like recycling and construction. Because tilt trays use a hydraulic system, they can handle loads of up to several tons.

Large amounts of weight can be safely loaded onto the tilt tray and it just takes a push of a button to horizontally position the cargo. If you have precious loads that are quite heavy, tilt trays are an ideal choice. There’s minimal risk of damaging your load and is secured from the moment it’s loaded until it leaves the tilt tray.

Tilt trays can move any type of load in a practical and efficient way. They are ideal for most load handling situations and is perfect if you don’t have boom cranes lying around. Tilt trays open up a whole new world in the load-handling industry and you can certainly make use of it in a number of loading and unloading tasks.