Tractor-Towable LARGE Dump Trailer

[glennmac]

Is there such a thing as a dump trailer that you can tow with a compact tractor that can hold the equivalent of the bed of a large pickup truck?.........I would like to haul several score tons of gravel and dirt onto my property but I don't want to buy or rent or pay for a truck to do that. Plus a truck probably can't get the stuff onto the part of my property where I want it.........The gravel company is only about 10 miles from me. I'm thinking that I could drive a tractor there if I had some sort of multi-ton towable dump trailer to haul everything back along the roads and onto my property. I don't mean in one trip, of course--but several. I could then find other uses for such a trailer. For example, the town dump is about 8 miles away and I could similarly cart stuff (like old couches and dinosaur skeletons) with a tractor that I currently cannot with my current hauling vehicle--my 1995 yellow Mustang convertible..........Thoughts (or even actual knowledge) would be much appreciated.

 

[pennwalk]

Bri-mar makes nice dump trailers <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bri-mar.com/dumptrailer.html>http://www.bri-mar.com/dumptrailer.html</A> I wonder if you can operate the trailer brakes from the tractor. I guess surge brakes would work with anything. I wonder about hauling a trailer that weighs a lot more than the tractor especially at road speed.

Chris

 

[justractors]

There are several trailer companies that make what you are looking for. The golf course i work at has a very large one with a 7' X 14' X 24" bed.
The load capacity is 14000 pounds,
Your problem with any of the large dump trailers will be towing the safely with the tractor you have listed on your profile.
One of the assistants tried loading the trailer to capacity and pulling it with a JD 5300 and lost it going down a hill. It wasn't a good day for him for sure.
Do a web search for dump trailers and I am sure you find many listed.
Bill

 

[JackIL]

As a general rule of thumb, for safety the weight of the towed trailer should not exceed the weight of the tractor itself. (See the specification sheet or operators manual for almost any compact tractor.) It has to do with the ability to stop the load safely with tractor brakes alone. You need 4wd engaged to maximize braking capacity of a tractor since the physical brakes are only on the rear wheels. With the front wheels connected to the rear through the drive shaft, the front tires are able to contribute to the total tractor braking capability.

 

[RoyJackson]

You need 4wd engaged to maximize braking capacity of a tractor since the physical brakes are only on the rear wheels...

However, driving on hard pavement in 4WD (that 10 mile trip to the quarry) is not advisable!!! That's a good way to screw up your tractor's driveline. That'd be a mighty expensive repair. Read your Kubota's manual on use of 4WD (or, as we tractor types say, MFWD which is not Muthuh F#&king Wheel Drive)

You might be better off just getting a load delivered and dumped where the truck can access your property. Then, you can move it using your FEL. A dump truck can likely carry more tonnage in one trip then you could in three or four trips.
As far as trips to the dump...do you go often enough to justify the cost of a dump trailer? Heck, buy a ragged out old pickup for that kind of work (every tractor owner should have a pick up...it's part of the ambiance especially if it's got a gun rack and Budweiser cans in the bed). Mine is a '92 Ranger...

 

[Mark_in_NH]

glenn,
The Pronovost company in Canada,
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pronovost.qc.ca/rema.html>http://www.pronovost.qc.ca/rema.html</A> Makes some very nice dump trailers with models for both ON and OFF road use. The only downside would be the approximate cost of <-$5000-> to own one.

 

[pennwalk]

Pickup trucks haul trailers that weigh more than the truck but the trailers have brakes. If you could figure how to use the trailers brakes from the tractor maybe that would work.

Chris

 

[RoyJackson]

If you could figure how to use the trailers brakes from the tractor maybe that would work.

The link that Mark in NH posted shows trailers with electric brakes.
Have to rig up a harness for the electric braking system (to the tractor's electrical system, and figure a way to apply the brakes proportionally to the tractor brakes (probably a hand actuated lever of some kind).

Expensive proposition though...

 

[pennwalk]

A surge brake system works when braking when the trailer starts to push the tow vehicle a hydraulic cylinder in the hitch compresses and activates the trailer brakes. It is a self contained system in the trailer. Surge brakes ought to work with a tractor.

Chris

 

[gordon]

All you have to do is wire a plug and install a brake controller. Then the electric trailer brakes will work. But yes your correct you would have to use the hand lever on the controller for the trailer brakes to work. That is the way we had the tractor rigged up at the r/v dealership I used to work at.

That way you could haul a load heavier than the tractor. With alot more safety. You wouldn't have just the tractor brakes. Now the only thing you would have to really worry about is the tounge weight of the trailer when loaded.

Gordon