Dump trailers

[scesnick]

I am thinking of buying a dump trialer to pull behind my pickup.
I have a 2.5 mile driveway that is in dire need of some serious repair. i will need 730 ton ( roughly) to do the last 1.1 mile to my house. If i get it delivered i will have about $22,000 in it.
If I haul it myself It will cut that price by at least half of that.
I need some advice on which dump trailer, what to look out for etc..I would like to stay in the $3,000-$5,000 range for the trailer, if possible. (I would really like to find a used one.) I will be pulling this trailer with a Dodge diesel. The quarry is only about 10 miles from my house so I think it would be worth it to just go get it myself.

 

[jpm]

the dump trailers only hold 2-3 yards a dump truck is 14 to 20. That's 7 to 10 trips vs. 1 dump, but you still have the trailer
good luck

 

[scesnick]

I thought of that, but as you said, I would still own the trailer when I was done. If the quarry was'nt so close It would not pay to buy a trailer. Now i just need some input on which one to buy and what to stay away from.

 

[AB4D]

I purchased a new Holmes 5k single axle dump trailer last November for $2800. I went with a new 5K becuase my SUV is only rated for 6500 pounds of towing capacity and all the used trailers I looked at, IMO, were overpriced for their condition. As a rule of thumb, I would try to get a trailer that closely matches the towing capacity of your truck. Your truck is probably rated a lot higher than 6500 pounds, therefore, you can probably get away with a 10k tandem axle dump trailer. The last time I checked, the place in town here was selling new 10k tandem axle dump trailers for about $4200.
I hope this information is useful, good luck.

Jim

 

[755inNY]

<font color="blue"> The quarry is only about 10 miles from my house so I think it would be worth it to just go get it myself. </font>

You may save $$ but it will cost you a lot in time.

Assume a 12,000 lb gross trailer that weighs 4,000 lbs empty. That's 8,000 lbs per load. 730 tons (1,460,000 lbs!) means 183 round trips or 3650 miles.

How long do you estimate for each trip? Drive 10 miles, weigh truck and trailer, wait to be loaded, weigh truck and trailer, drive 10 miles, position trailer, get out of truck and dump load, lower dump box and secure rear gate, get back in truck and repeat. Real quick might be 30 minutes but reality says more like 45 minutes. So that means between 91.5 hours (3.8 days) and 144.75 hours (6 days) of just hauling stone.

I'm not sure hauling it yourself, 4 tons at a time, will be the best deal unless you have lots of time and are not in a hurry to complete the project.

Don't forget you will need time to spread out the stone too.

Good luck.

Jeff

 

[_RaT_]

I'm with you Jeff. The wear and tear, the time etc would offset the value of owning the trailer in the end. The quarry being close also should make the delivery charge much less, which around many places exceeds the cost of the material. A transfer of crushed rock is about 22 tons. The spreading is free and a good driver does a superb job of spreading it requiring very little effort on your part. If it was me, I'd get a dump truck to do it.

 

[tawilson]

Dump trailers have become pretty popular, so it may not be too easy to find a good used one, and you may pay close to retail for it. I bought one of these: Cam Superline
Very well made trailer with a lot of features you may not think of till you see them, like: adjustable ball mount, molded wiring harness with fuse block, heavy duty safety chains with spring locks, and more I can't think of right now. It's been discussed before so a search would get you lot's of info. I paid $4500 for a 12 X 6 #12000 low profile 2.5 years ago. If I had to do it again, I think the deckover would be better. The extra height I think would be nice for dumping some things like firewood. I don't blame you for wanting the trailer. For the quantity you need, you can justify the cost even if you decide you need to have some hauled in by someone else. Haul enough to pay for the trailer, then if you are sick of it, hire it out. Plus, you have a diesel, it's happier when hauling a load.

 

[jim_wilson]

There are a few other things I would throw into your decision making process. Getting a trailer will probably save you some money over getting it delivered but I wouldn't count on it. Before making the decision as to whether to buy a trailer or get it delivered I would try talking to a few different gravel pits. I got a number of truckloads of 3/4 sifted gravel delivered to my house over the last couple of summers for a (much shorter than yours) driveway I was putting in. I found that the local gravel supplier was not the cheapest and I was actually better off going with somebody who was a big further away. They gave better service too. With the amount you are looking to use you might be able to work a deal with the gravel place for a bulk purchase or maybe find a trucker who is willing to do the hauling for you on his off time. In my mind the big benefit of the trailer is that it gives you the ability to do the work at your own pace and MAYBE save some money. The amount of time and diesel fuel and wear and tear on your truck will cost something in the process too. Having a trailer that is your own will allow you to use it to redistribute dirt on your property too which can be a benefit - it's a lot faster to use the trailer than carry it FEL load by FEL load.

 

[scesnick]

I'm really in no hurry at all to fix this road. It has been a mess for 20 years, no hurry now. The quarry is on the way home from work so I figure I would hook up the trailer once or twice a week and grap a load on the way home.
Half way up the road I maintain is a very large pile (mountain) of what we call groundhog shale that was left over from a coal mine. I have been dipping into it with the backhoe for a few years to fix potholes but as it was mentioned here, it is a pain in the *** to haul just one FEL load at a time. With the trailer I could grab a bunch of it for a good base. Then add the gravel.

I am actually asking which trailer to buy and which one to stay away from. Although the thoughts on the price are appreciated. Anyone have any thoughts on which one is the best one? If any/

 

[Mayhem]

I bought this about 5 months ago. The 7x12 12k GVW is a nice rig, I like it alot. Good fit and Finish. I don't like how the wiring was done, but they all seemed just as bad. It was $5900 with an electronic brake controller installed.

http://www.sure-trac.com/condump.html