# Build a portable freezer unit for my Dodge p/u short bed



## Faith Farm (Dec 13, 2004)

I would like to build a portable freezer unit for my Dodge p/u short bed
to haul several hundred pounds of frozen meats from the processor. 
A light weight easy to lift off by small hoist unit when not in use and could
be plugged into standard house current. Any ideas, does some one have 
something like this?

We also need to build an 8 x 8 walk in freezer in an existing 20 x 21 farm 
building, wood frame with floor and is over 170 years old.

I thought of a square bale room lined with heavy plastic cooled by a heavy
window A/C unit. 

I know nothing about refrigeration. :shrug:


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## liveswithinlogs (Dec 18, 2006)

As for your vehicle, how about utilizing a commercial chest-type freezer, or even a couple smaller ones placed side to side in the bed of the truck, one in front of the other? A couple of that size would be easy to handle by hand individually for loading and unloading, and are already all set up and ready to go without resorting to constructing anything.


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## Faith Farm (Dec 13, 2004)

I already use two freezers which hold 2 beef and one hog but I cannot put 
the meat in individual boxes. The meat fills both freezers loose. This damages
the vacuum packed packages. The weather is hard on the units and utilizing
a trailer with more freezers is more of the same except my wife cannot back up 
a trailer period. 
The purchase of a used refrigerated truck is undesirable for cost purposes and
mechanical requirements.


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

PLZ. Check with Thermoking and Carrier they both Sell the refridgeration units that are for Commercial use. And they may have A small unit for sale. There are 24 volt units for P/U trucks that are made they cost $5,000.00 NEW. but you might want to look at the equiptment sales on line. I beleive Jenna had A unit like you are thinking of A few years ago. Or she was looking for one at that time. Also try the Semi trl shops they may have one for sale..


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

A window AC will not freeze an 8x8 room. It may freeze it's self up if the controls were rigged to cool lower than designed. Strangely enough freezer coils have heater in them to defrost the coils when they are not cooling. All a walk in is made up of is insulated pannels and a coil and evaporator with a compressor. And a freezer door which has a heated gasket (or non freeze seals) Remember the most loss in a freezer is through the floor. These things are usually available fairly cheap as discarded or upgraded equip. Used refrigeration equip is not worth much. To make a regular freezer portable I'd look at either a small gas generator or an inverter running off a second battery (with an isolator) but expect the freezers to draw on the battery heavily so it won't be good for long sessions parked with no charging! I see them at the farmers market all the time.


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## JackDeePeyton (Aug 1, 2005)

Faith farm

We had kinda the same situation a couple years back and what we did was what "Liveswithinlogs" said. We used a couple small chest freezers and had a generator runnin at the same time, in the back on the truck. Where we had our processing done was a four hour drive. It was a family member thing, going on and thats how I got into it. Needless to say, it worked out great.


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## Faith Farm (Dec 13, 2004)

I hope to build a 4 x 6 x 3 unit into my p/u bed, plug into an inverter to run off my 
truck battery while in transport. Could I strip a used freezer of it's refrigerant unit and 
install it into the truck unit I build?

The units I found online so far are a few thousand dollars. ThermoKing, Carrier and
a few others. Ebay has several for auction but I have no idea what to look for.

I figured for a few hundred dollars I could build a well insulated walk in box in the
old out building. Which unit to get and what attachments I don't know.


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