Built myself a dumping flatbed trailer.

[Spitzair]

Hello all, thought I’d share the trailer I spent the last year building. I wanted a dumping deckover flatbed trailer, but it seems nobody makes them, you can either get a tilting deckover trailer, a dedicated dump trailer with fold down sides or a deckover trailer that doesn’t dump. So I set about building one. I never built anything like this before so it was a learning experience. I built everything including the hoist! Here’s some photos I took along the way.

 

[Spitzair]

Next batch of pictures…

 

[scootr]

Looks real nice. I built a simple single axle trailer once. This is quite an undertaking.

 

[Spitzair]

A few more… I wanted this trailer to be sturdy so I built the main frame rails out of 5/16” 2x6 box section steel and the rest is 3/16” except the drawbar which is 3/8” thick. The axles are 7000lb and I made it so I could easily add a 3rd axle if I need to, and I may yet end up doing that since the trailer as it sits finished weighs 5560 lbs, so it’s a bit heavy… My dad told me it looks flimsy so I got a personalized license plate that says FLIMSY and my wife and I refer to it as the flimsy trailer!

 

[Spitzair]

Looks real nice. I built a simple single axle trailer once. This is quite an undertaking.

Thank you! I’m real pleased with how it turned out.

 

[LouNY]

Nice looking trailer, should be quite usable.
Good looking build.

 

[Rustyiron]

Thank you! I’m real pleased with how it turned out.

You should be
Welcome to TBN.

 

[Gordon Gould]

^^^^ Ditto

Very nice indeed !!

gg

 

[Carl_NH]

Very nice work and quite an intro to TBN!

I see you have the ramp plate storage - how are the ramps attached to load the Bobcat? As you have a tall trailer are they extra long?

 

[Spitzair]

Thanks for the welcome fellas!

Carl, the ramps are about 8 feet long and have hooks on the ends, they're made out of 1" thick steel and I made them so I can hook them anywhere on the rub rail that goes all around the trailer. They are secured in the storage pocket with a lynch pin. I just wish I would have made them wider, they're almost exactly the same width as the tires on my bobcat so I have to be pretty precise driving up or down.

 

[Carl_NH]

Again, very nice - and the foresight to be able to use them on the sides or the back rail is great.

 

[Thomas]

Outstanding.

 

[kf4uda]

Very nice work!

 

[dstig1]

Very nice work! You sure know your way around a fab shop, even if it is the back yard! Looks like stick welding best I can tell. Is that all 6011? That's what it looks like to me on the weld close-ups I saw.

I assume you've used it a while since it looked to be finished before winter, so how does it pull for you?

 

[tacticalturnip]

That's pretty darn impressive!

 

[duffer]

Helluva project to pick when you've never built one before. Great job. Great engineering.

Adding that 3rd axle put you over the 26k lbs GVW?
As an alternative, what about putting some more space between the axles for wider weight distribution, and take a little pressure off the tongue?
Just my 2¢

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Very nice job! Looks very professional.
I wanted to do the same (convert regular trailer to a dump trailer) but gave up on the idea.... just too much work for me to take on....

 

[Spitzair]

Thanks for all the kind words guys!
Dave, it is indeed mostly stick welded, 7018, nothing special… I have used it quite a bit recently, mostly hauling my snowmobile out to the bush lately… pulls real good and it does have a fair bit of tongue weight being as how far back the axles are.
Duffer, I’m up in Canada and the 26k rule doesn’t apply here. You can pull any trailer with a single axle truck as long as it doesn’t have airbrakes with a regular class 5 license… some provinces require a heavy trailer endorsement if the trailer ismover 10k lbs… I have a full CDL anyway so either way I’d be good to go.

 

[davedj1]

Nice looking trailer!
I was going to comment on the axles being kind of far back but I see you found that out. Take notes for the next one
What is your reasoning for wanting it a full dump?

 

[HawkinsHollow]

WOW!! Just WOW!! Drooling over here! She's a beaut Clark!