To provide a load conveying mechanism configured to reduce an installation space and simplify the structure of a moving mechanism, thereby saving time and labor for maintenance and control.

A load conveying mechanism 1 includes: a plurality of fixed pawls 3a to 3d arranged along a load conveyance path 20 at intervals corresponding to the forward feed distance (d) of a load (10); a pair of movable frames 4L and 4R arranged so as to face each other across the load conveyance path 20 such that they can be reciprocatively displaced in a vertical direction along the conveyance path 20; a plurality of movable pawls 5a to 5e provided on each of movable frames 4L and 4R at intervals corresponding to the forward feed distance (d); and reciprocating motion mechanisms 6L and 6R configured to repeatedly perform an operation of displacing respective movable frames 4L and 4R upward by a distance larger than the forward feed distance (d), thereafter, returning the respective movable frames 4L and 4R to the original height position. The respective fixed pawls 3a to 3d and the movable pawls 5a to 5e are supported in a freely raised and laid state such that each pawl becomes a horizontal attitude in a natural state where external force is not applied thereto, and becomes a raised attitude when upward force is applied thereto.