Dump Trailer: Single lift vs Double lift

[jmanatee2]

All of the dual cylinder hoists I have seen on grain trucks were driven off a common manifold or wye. That does little to keep the bed from twisting. Kinda like squeezing a balloon. If you squeeze one end harder than the other, the other gets bigger.

Dave

I was going to say this, both cylinders are tied together so the pressure will go to the side with the least resistance. I am not sure but what two cylinders could twist it more.


I have a Bri-Mar 10k lb 6 x 10 dump single cylinder,... I love it. Only thing I would change is rear door. Mine only does gate or spreader mode. I have seen rear doors that do gate/spreader and barn door

 

[crazyal]

I was going to say this, both cylinders are tied together so the pressure will go to the side with the least resistance. I am not sure but what two cylinders could twist it more.


I have a Bri-Mar 10k lb 6 x 10 dump single cylinder,... I love it. Only thing I would change is rear door. Mine only does gate or spreader mode. I have seen rear doors that do gate/spreader and barn door

The difference is you are lifting at two points vs one. Think of a see saw. It takes very little weight difference side to side to get it to lean one way or the other yet it transfers that twisting stress to the pivot pin on the cylinder.

 

[crazyal]

The manufacturer of my tilt deck has gone out of business so I have to do the conversion to a dump box myself. I'm not clear on what you mean here. Are you saying to stay away from a double acting cylinder and pump, or to stay away from electric over hydraulic?

If I was going to build a dump trailer I would think very hard about going with a gas engine if I had to buy all the parts needed. A two speed pump like used on a log splitter would work well.

 

[CurlyDave]

Yup I have one too, I'm on my second one. Comes in handy with old garden tractors etc.

I bring mine to the dump also, but where is your battery? Mine is in a box right on top of the frame along with the pump. there's room in there for other odds and ends. Is yours only easily accessible when the bed is up for security purposes?

JB.

My battery is under the bed. Good security, but hard to charge and jump if necessary.

It is possible to access the battery if the bed is lifted, but safety demands cribbing under the bed.

Someday I will bring battery leads to an accessible point.

 

[radman1]

I can get about 8-10 loads from my battery powered, 14K dump trailer. Most days, I don't haul that much. If you want to use it a lot, you can connect your truck to the trailer battery to recharge it.

Mine is a scissor lift and will lift 50 degrees. I have heard and believe scissor lifts are preferred because there is less twisting of the bed. We had a grain truck with dual lifts and that bed would easily twist under an offset load or dumping on a mild side hill. I like power up and down. I need the power down so I can load my Toolcat or CUT in the bed without raising the front of the dump trailer in the air while loading. The power down holds the bed down. Also, power down does not cut the number of dumps you have by half. It takes a lot of power to lift a load and heavy battery drain. Letting the bed down only requires the pump to run with little to no effort and therefore little battery useage. I have had the battery run down to where it could not lift all the way, but there is always enough battery left to lower the bed.

 

[Qapla]

A simple pin/latch solves the problem of the front lifting when loading equipment.

I have used several gravity down dumps and have not had any problem with the loads or the front lifting.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

All the guys advocating gravity down must not use there's in a snow belt in the winter. Gravity downs here often get stuck in the are in the colder months. It also keeps the bed held down while loading. I guess each has it's place but for me power up/down was the only way to go.

Matt

 

[Qapla]

All the guys advocating gravity down must not use theere's in a snow belt in the winter...

Check my location ... of course I don't worry about the snow or the cold temps.

Since a simple locking pin can "keep the front down" power is not needed to do that job. In fact, a power up/down can fail during a load and the front could still come up. A locking pin does not fail during loading.

 

[Dmace]

All the guys advocating gravity down must not use there's in a snow belt in the winter. Gravity downs here often get stuck in the are in the colder months. It also keeps the bed held down while loading. I guess each has it's place but for me power up/down was the only way to go.

Matt

I'm much further north than you and the only time I've had to use the "power down" feature is on my old dump truck with the "scissor" type lift since all the pivot points would get frozen and bound with salt/rust. My older dump truck and newer dump trailer never had that problem with a single lift cylinder and gravity down.

 

[dangier_VA]

I ended up buying a Premier 6 x 12 (10,000), dump a few years ago. It has a single cylinder lift. If the load is full, filled to the front, it has problems lifting the first few inches. Have considered installing a short lift cylinder on the front of the trailer frame (10 or so inches in height), and plumb parallel with the main cylinder. During operation, the short cylinder would start the lift and top out, sending the fluid to the main cylinder and continue the lift. I have had situations where I need to carry a piece of 2" pipe to assist the begining of the lift. Installed a 1000 CCA battery to be able to dump more often.