Designing Electric Dump On Trailer

Xfaxman · Apr 11, 2013

I don't see how the winch pulls the lever down to the starting position, or do you have to push it down by hand?

Notice the black line that I added, you are losing mechanical advantage once the cable gets above a straight line.

But it may not matter, because after the back of the trailer hits the ground, you will have to back up the tow vehicle to get more dump angle, since the winch won't drag the back of the trailer forward.

Winches are rated on the first layer.

npalen · Apr 11, 2013

The lever does have to be pushed down by hand. I realized after running the cable thru a hole near the end of the lever what you're saying on losing leverage and may do that differently. I'm thinking that the winch will drag the back of the trailer forward provided it has enough power. Thought about putting a couple washing machine rollers under the trailer tail end to make it easier on the winch but may just leave the tow in neutral so it can roll back. BigMike50 mentioned that no way the 3000 winch is going to handle the load and he may be right. May have to go to a heavier winch. My biggest concern at this moment is whether or not I'm going to get enough dump angle when the end of the ball hitch bottoms out on the front side of the 2" ball mounting surface on the bumper.
This is one of them "design as you go" projects and it sure helps to have input from you guys out there.

Edit: Would it work to mount a sheave at the front of the tongue where the cable is now attached and then run the end of the cable back to an anchor point next to the winch? That should double the power but cut the speed in half, right.

npalen · Apr 15, 2013

I did a test run yesterday with a near full load of grass clippings. The winch seemed to handle the load easily and the dump angle of about 33 degrees did the trick. Anxious to see what it does with a full load. Had to leave the pickup in neutral so it could roll when dumping as well as when letting the trailer bed back down. Worked OK but still might look at putting rollers under the tail end of the trailer so the tow vehicle could be left in Park when dumping.

Xfaxman · Apr 15, 2013

Glad to hear it worked. How is the hitch ball clearance?

Have you thought about splicing more wire on the winch control, so you could sit in the truck with it in reverse, and help the winch a little?

petegoud · Apr 15, 2013

Have you thought about using a couple of rollers similar to those used on boat trailers in the back of the trailer. Leaving the brakes off during dumping is asking for trouble.

npalen · Apr 15, 2013

Good ideas, guys! Would be easy enough to splice on to the remote. Yeah, I figured I would hear about leaving the brakes off during dumping

Hadn't thought of the boat trailer rollers though. I had thought of washing machine rollers but that's telling my age.
The hitch ball clearance is just enough. The 3000 pound winch seems to be adequate so far so the rollers might be the cat's meow.