I'm modding another Wii, and this particular friend doesn't have an SD card, and if I can't find an acceptable spare drive, no USB either. Is there a disc loader that doesn't need anything off an SD card that I can put into a channel? I'm not getting paid for this, so I'm not feeling very charitable on this job, lol.

Yes wiiflow can do this. You can put the /apps/wiiflow & the /wiiflow on the USB drive & the newest channel forwarder they have will forward to the USB drive so you don't need an SD card at all for wiiflow. But without an SD card you won't be able to run a lot of emulators. Maybe half are setup for SD & USB but many only run SD & some run on both like the NEOGEO-wii. Tell your friend no to be cheap & get an SD card, many people have a 2gb they aren't using anymore. I have like 5 - 2gb I am not using or probably will use at all. If he asks his friends I bet one of them will have one since many people are going through cell phones like a pair of shoes - yearly. Nearly every phone comes with a micro SD & adapters are everywhere. I sure hope he is a good friend - you don't sound very happy about it.