Bought the wife a dump trailer ...

[nikdfish]

We finished our last chore in WV and the trailer did real well. The tarp wasn't in yet, so I put a section across the front to match the sides. The trip is 250 miles, one way, and the trailer pulled very nicely. Steep grades made the 2000+ lb. weight evident, but on the flats it had much less resistance than the 6x12 box trailer we had used while moving furniture, etc. The lugs stayed tight and the brakes worked well. On a sand coated intersection (recent snow treatment), I noticed there was one wheel that grabs a little early, but I had already figured on doing a brake adjustment/synchronization after the 500 mile round trip.

It took three trips to the local transfer station/mulch yard, with the trailer loaded to the top of the new sides to finish off the pile (16 cu yards total?) weighing a total of about 1800 lb. Unloading was much easier than loading! Probably 5 minutes total, including backing in & closing up.

Nick

 

[GManBart]

Nice trailer and a handy size!

I went with a 16ft Load Trail that is very similar (Load Trail and PJ are owned by brothers, and situated across the street from one another as I understand it). I love it, but there are times when a smaller version would be easier to manage...size is always a compromise.

I always wondered why so many contractors run around with dump trailers...now I know. They may not do everything perfectly, but they do a lot of things really well.

 

[Code54]

They may not do everything perfectly, but they do a lot of things really well.

GmanBart - you sure are right there! I have to say we use our 10 times more than I ever thought I would. Handy as a pocket on a shirt!

 

[sixdogs]

GmanBart - you sure are right there! I have to say we use our 10 times more than I ever thought I would. Handy as a pocket on a shirt!

This has been a very good thread and has me thinking I should look into a dump trailer. It's like forks for a loader that get used for everything but pallets. Any pics of a favorite dump trailer?

 

[Travelover]

You could always use expanded metal. Or just two pieces of 1/2" rod in a + shape would be a significant improvement.

Partial shading will kill the performance of a crystalline panel. If it is an amorphous panel, you could get away with it.

 

[Ford850]

Partial shading will kill the performance of a crystalline panel. If it is an amorphous panel, you could get away with it.

Then maybe a hinged cover would be best. It could provide full protection when the trailer is in use, and be flipped up for charging when not in use.

 

[Travelover]

Then maybe a hinged cover would be best. It could provide full protection when the trailer is in use, and be flipped up for charging when not in use.

A better idea, me thinks.

 

[nikdfish]

I'll resurrect this thread with an update. Originally, the dealer was supposed to get a tarp kit for me & do a no-charge install. After a month of "maybe next week", I started looking for alternative sources. The first try was the PJ Trailers parts web site, unfortunately they did not have the model I needed & after waiting a week, they still didn't know a restock date. I finally had success with another dealer who had stock on hand. (BTW, the tarp kit is a third party item that PJ standardized on - it is actually made by Buyer's Products)

This is Monday's delivery - the 5'x14' tarp kit for D5 trailers consists of bearings, a roller bar assembly, crank with sprocket & latch, tarp, anti-sail bar, tie-down, pull cord and mounting hardware. They also include some unneeded weld-on hooks to retain the anti-sail bar, which are already present on PJ dump trailers. Unfortunately the box was damaged & a few things were either mis-packed or lost. The supplier was very good about immediately shipping out replacements.

The missing items were a sprocket, one of two rubber tie-downs, and the inner roller bar shaft (they were supposed to send one driver side outer, one passenger side outer & one inner that nests inside the outer bars - they sent one driver & 2 different sized passenger side but no inner). I got all those missing items in today (Wednesday) so I could finish the install.

Installation is simplified on a PJ Dump as they include the tarp roller bearing mount on all production. For some other models, you would need to either weld or drill & bolt on mounting plates.

After trimming the passenger side roller piece to fit, the two outer roller pieces are joined by the nesting inner piece and then secured with self tapping screws

The driver side bearing/sprocket/handle assembly gets installed along with the spring loaded latch. Set screws secure bearings & sprocket to the roller shaft.

(unlatched)

(latched)

... and finally the handle is on

The roller gets threaded through the tarp end pocket

and the passenger side bearing installed. Note the angle between shaft & bearing housing. They are "self-adjusting" bearings that can shift the angle of the race in the mount.

Then more self tapping screws w/fender washers to bind the tarp to the roller.

After getting trimmed to length, the anti-sail bar gets threaded through the smaller pocket at the far end of the tarp & caps secured with set screws.

Last step was to wind up the tarp & secure the anti-sail bar in the front storage position.

All said, it was a pretty simple install with a few hand tools & is a lot easier to store, transport and use than a loose tarp & bungees.

Nick

 

[nikdfish]

Just an update. The other day we were taking some tree trimmings (piled to the top of the side extensions) to the stump dump & used the roll up tarp to keep small stuff from flying off. As I snugged it into place, I noticed the vertical uprights on the front wall extension were putting stress on the tarp mesh. I had some foam sheets from the solar panel packing materials, so I cut a couple of squares to protect the mesh at those areas.

That was fine for that trip, but I wanted to do something more permanent.

I ended up using a 60" length of 3" PVC pipe, cutting a 2 1/2" slot & fitting that over the top edge to serve as a mesh friendly surface when moving or snugging up the tarp.

Nick

 

[Diamondpilot]

Nice fix