Truck bed extension

Looking back at a successful season of growing alfalfa and selling hay, Boaz Wipf knew their operation he’s on near Winfred, South Dakota, had hauled a lot of hay bales. “The capacity to carry four more bales would save us some extra trips,” he says.  

Wipf worked on the design for a bed extension for the hay trailer with his father, Levi, in the spring of 2020. The two collaborated with a metalworking professional to build it. During construction, they also added 2½-inch-diameter round tubing to the trailer sides to keep hay from falling off. 

While the trailer is dedicated to transporting hay, Wipf says it wouldn’t be too difficult to remove the extension for other purposes. 

Two features are key to the extension’s structural integrity:

• Support braces that run from the back end to sit on top of the trailer’s steel frame. 

• Center rails that extend about 5 feet into the trailer bed. These center pieces were a later addition, after their first attempt at an extension broke.