Friday, October 23, 2009

New dog topper


Shortly before I left for Nebraska in mid-September, I completed my dog topper project - a four-holer with room for extra gear. Above photo - Ted is modeling on the tailgate of the Ford with the completed topper in place. This is a Ford F350 crewcab with a short (6' 8") bed. 

This topper was inspired by the ones made by Bob Welch of WingWorks in Hailey, ID. Instead of the aluminum sheet that Bob used, I chose to make the interior of Baltic birch plywood, which was then sprayed with Line-X bed liner. This made an inexpensive, durable and stable solution to floors and dividers.

Here is Tommy trying out his new digs. He seems dubious, but all the dogs are happy to travel on warmth and comfort with hay bedding. The boxes in the bed of my F350 are each 24"W X 32" L X 27" H and the floors are insulated with 1" of styrofoam sheet under the Line-X coating - this has proven very successful.

I will make a PDF of rough plans and some photos when I get back from Saskatchewan. More updates to come in about a week.

3 comments:

Matt Ortiz said...

Nice topper! Looks like it was made by a commercial outfit. Looks like it will last you a while.

Dale Hernden said...

Your topper is one of the nicest I've seen. You ought to start a new business manufacturing them.

mdmnm said...

Nice rig!