6 Best Pickup Bed Racks For Hauling Garden Tools On a Homesteader’s Budget
Organize your homestead truck bed on a budget. Our guide reviews the 6 best pickup racks for securely hauling shovels, rakes, and other garden tools.
You’ve been there. The bed of your truck is a jumble of shovels, rakes, and a post-hole digger, all tangled together after a bumpy ride to the back pasture. You need to grab the pitchfork, but it’s buried under a T-post driver and a 10-foot section of PVC pipe you forgot was in there. A good pickup bed rack isn’t a luxury; it’s a tool that organizes your chaos, protects your equipment, and doubles the hauling capacity of your most important farm vehicle.
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Why Your Farm Truck Needs a Good Bed Rack
A standard pickup bed is great for hauling loose material like mulch or feed, but it’s surprisingly inefficient for long, awkward items. Everything just gets thrown in. Long-handled tools slide around, scratching your bed and getting damaged themselves. Lumber, ladders, or pipe have to be precariously flagged and tied down, often sticking out at unsafe angles.
A bed rack solves this by creating a second level of storage above the bed rails. This immediately frees up the entire bed floor for things that belong there—coolers, toolboxes, bags of soil amendment, or even the family dog. You can carry 12-foot lumber for a new chicken coop and a load of compost in the same trip. It’s a simple concept that fundamentally changes your truck’s utility.
More than just creating space, a rack brings order and safety. Strapping tools and materials securely above the bed prevents them from shifting and becoming dangerous projectiles. It also makes you more efficient. When every tool has its place, you spend less time untangling and more time working.
Key Features for a Homesteader’s Truck Rack
Before you buy, think about what you actually haul. While a contractor might need a 1,500-pound capacity for massive loads of steel, a homesteader’s needs are usually more modest. A rack with a 500 to 800-pound capacity is the sweet spot, strong enough for a serious load of lumber for a shed build but not over-engineered and overpriced.
Look for adjustability and ease of use. Can the rack’s width be adjusted to fit your specific truck model? More importantly, how easy is it to take off? Some racks bolt on permanently, while others use clamps for quick, no-drill removal. If you need to haul a round bale or a big water tank one day and lumber the next, a removable rack is non-negotiable.
Pay attention to the material. Most budget-friendly racks are made of powder-coated steel. It’s strong and affordable, but any scratch in that coating will invite rust. Aluminum racks are lighter, won’t rust, and are often easier to handle, but you’ll pay a premium for them. For a farm truck that sees its share of weather and abuse, the rust-resistance of aluminum or a very high-quality steel coating is worth considering.
Build a DIY Lumber Rack for Ultimate Savings
For the homesteader whose budget is tighter than a new fence line, the answer is often to build it yourself. A DIY wooden truck rack is the absolute cheapest way to get long tools and lumber out of the bed. The materials list is simple: a few 2x4s or 2x6s, a box of carriage bolts, and some wood screws. You can find dozens of free plans online to get you started.
The primary advantage is cost, which can be next to nothing if you have scrap lumber lying around. You can also customize it perfectly to your truck and your needs, building in specific holders for shovels or hooks for hanging ropes. It’s a satisfying project that gives you a functional tool you built with your own hands.
However, the tradeoffs are significant. A wooden rack is heavy, making it a pain to install and remove. Its load capacity is entirely dependent on your design and construction skills, and it requires regular maintenance to protect it from the weather. This is a fantastic solution if you need a rack right now and have more time than money, but it lacks the durability and convenience of a steel or aluminum model.
Erickson Load Extender for Long Lumber & Tools
This isn’t a traditional overhead rack, but it solves a very common homestead problem: how to safely haul something that’s way too long for your bed. The Erickson Load Extender is a T-shaped steel support that plugs directly into your 2-inch hitch receiver. You lay your long material—be it lumber, PVC pipe, or even a canoe—on your lowered tailgate and support the other end with the extender.
This tool shines for its simplicity and single-minded purpose. It’s perfect for those occasional runs to the hardware store for 16-foot boards or bringing home a new gate from the farm supply. When you’re not using it, it breaks down easily and can be stored in a corner of the garage, taking up almost no space.
The limitation is obvious: it doesn’t free up your bed for other gear, and it can’t be used for hauling a bunch of separate items like rakes and shovels. It’s a specialized piece of equipment. But for its low cost and effectiveness at its one job, it’s an incredibly valuable tool to have in your arsenal. It’s not a complete rack solution, but it might be the only one you need for specific tasks.
MaxxHaul 70423: Heavy-Duty Steel on a Budget
If a DIY rack isn’t for you, the MaxxHaul is often the first step into the world of manufactured racks. This is a no-frills, all-business utility rack built from steel. It’s designed to do one thing: hold up to 500 pounds of gear above your truck bed without breaking the bank.
Its design is simple and effective, with two upright supports and adjustable crossbars to fit a range of truck bed widths. The uprights have built-in anchor points, which are crucial for securing your load with ratchet straps. This rack is a workhorse, plain and simple.
The biggest consideration here is the installation. This is a drill-in model, meaning you will be drilling holes into your truck’s bed rails to mount it securely. For an older farm truck, this might not be a concern. But if you’re hesitant to permanently modify your vehicle, you’ll want to look elsewhere. For the price, however, its strength and simplicity are very hard to beat.
TMS Utility Rack: An 800lb Hauling Workhorse
The TMS rack is a direct step up in strength from entry-level models, targeting the homesteader with bigger projects in mind. With a load capacity of 800 pounds, it confidently handles heavier loads of lumber, ladders, and other building materials. If you’re planning on building a small barn or a large greenhouse, that extra capacity provides a significant margin of safety and capability.
Like many budget-focused steel racks, this is typically a drill-to-install system. The design is straightforward and rugged, prioritizing strength over bells and whistles. The steel construction is robust, but you’ll want to keep an eye on any scratches in the powder coat to head off rust before it starts, especially if you live in a wet climate.
Choosing the TMS rack comes down to a simple calculation. Do your hauling needs regularly push the limits of a 500-pound rack? If the answer is yes, the modest increase in price for this 800-pound workhorse is a smart investment. It’s the right choice for the homesteader who consistently hauls heavy, demanding loads and needs a semi-permanent solution they can rely on.
AA-Racks APX25: A Versatile No-Drill Option
For many people, drilling holes in their truck is a deal-breaker. The AA-Racks APX25 is one of the best and most popular solutions to this problem. Instead of bolts, it uses a set of beefy C-clamps to securely grip the underside of your bed rails, making installation and removal a quick, damage-free process.
This rack is typically constructed from aluminum, which offers two major advantages: it’s significantly lighter than steel and it’s completely rust-proof. This makes it easier to handle when you’re installing or removing it by yourself, and you never have to worry about it looking like a forgotten piece of farm equipment after a few hard winters. The 800-pound capacity is impressive for a clamp-on system.
You’re paying a bit more for these features, but the value is clear. The no-drill installation preserves the value of your truck and provides incredible flexibility. You can have a heavy-duty rack on Saturday for hauling lumber and a clean, open bed on Sunday for a trip to town. For the homesteader who values versatility as much as strength, this is an outstanding choice.
TracRac SR: The Last Rack You’ll Ever Buy
If your budget allows, the TracRac SR represents the pinnacle of truck rack engineering and flexibility. This isn’t just a rack; it’s a complete cargo management system. The core of the system is a pair of rails that are mounted to your truck bed. The rack uprights then slide freely along these rails, allowing you to position them anywhere you need them—or remove them entirely in about 30 seconds.
This sliding capability is a game-changer. You can bunch the racks together at the cab to get them out of the way, spread them far apart to support a long, flexible load, or take them off completely for full bed access. The entire system is built from aircraft-grade aluminum, making it incredibly strong (often rated for 1,250 pounds) and impervious to rust.
This is, without question, the most expensive option on the list. It’s a serious investment. But for the homesteader whose truck is their primary tool for everything from farm chores to family outings, the "buy once, cry once" philosophy applies. The unparalleled versatility, durability, and ease of use mean the TracRac SR is likely the first and last rack you will ever need to buy for your truck.
Ultimately, the best rack for your homestead truck is the one that matches the work you do. Don’t overbuy for capacity you’ll never use, but don’t cripple yourself with a solution that can’t be removed when you need an open bed. Whether it’s a set of 2x4s you screwed together yourself or a high-end sliding system, the right rack will make your truck work smarter, not just harder.
