Dump for tractor vs. dump for truck

[Scooby074]

Spring is coming and im thinking about this seasons projects. Most of them from ditching to landscaping require moving dirt from A to B. This leads me to dump trailers.

Last year i dug a bunch of ditches, and the evidence is still there is spoils piles around the perimeter of the property.

These must go this spring. I moved a bunch last year, but moving a lot of dirt with the BX sucks. Too small of bites and much time spent in travel. Not to mention increased rutting along the traveled path.

So a dump is the answer.

Currently i have a Deere 17P trailer and while good for grass, its absolutely miserable for dirt (or anything else heavy) because it wont dump completely due to the "tail". When you dump you end up having to shovel 1/2 of the load. Not Deere's best design.

I currently have a bid in on a well used Pronovost P503 off road trailer. There is a thread discussing that here :http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/237441-whats-worth-pronovost-p-503hs.html

Other options are a NEW King Cutter XB 4'x6' $2400

or some left over Normand 1920-8 4'x8' for $3000.

Obviously if i miss out on the beat up Pronovost, the Normand is the best deal in an offroad trailer.

Compare that with on road trailers:

Used 5x8 Hawke trailer at $3000. Hawke arent high end and dont really seem to last up here paint wise. 2008 Hawk Dump Trailr - Halifax Cars & Vehicles For Sale - Kijiji Halifax Canada.

Up to

New 6x12 Triple Crown brand (no idea of their quality in person but southern US made trailers generally dont hold up to our climate very well) for $5500 New 6'x12' 10K Dump Trailer - Halifax Cargo, Utility Trailers For Sale - Kijiji Halifax Canada.

And even higher

7x12 geterdumped for $6995 2012 12K DUMP TRAILER/TRAILERS - Halifax Cargo, Utility Trailers For Sale - Kijiji Halifax Canada.

I know that its comparing apples to oranges (sort of) but if i have to buy a new dump trailer, an offroad at $3000 is could get me a used On road. I dont want to pay 6-7K right now for a new onroad trailer.

But if i go On road, would the BX handle it offroad, on hills? It would certainly be harder to manage close to the house and possibly tear up the lawn due to having less floatation. It would also be harder to hook up to for cleanup duty as well.

I always wanted an onroad dump for trips to the dump and the quarry, but if i bought one it would have to be big enough (and have ramps) so i can carry the BX which means a larger trailer that the BX might not be able to handle.

Gahh. Decisions. :mur:

 

[bcp]

The on-road trailer will probably have brakes, which would help if you can make them work with the BX. Will you be loaded downhill and empty uphill, or the opposite?

If I remember right, the BX2360 was rated to tow about 1500 pounds.

Bruce

 

[Scooby074]

loaded both ways potentially.

I honestly think that the off road would be the more practical and correct solution.

I think that if i go on road, im going to end up having to use the truck to move which opens up a whole new mess.

1500 Lbs eh? I spoke to the dealer and he said that he has several of the 4x8 off road's out. They are 3000 Lb capacity and he said there is no issue because of the dual wheels and the fact that most of the weight is carried by them. It definitely was something that crossed my mind however.

 

[dkizerian]

What about changing the tail of your Deere trailer so it dumps correctly?

 

[Scooby074]

What about changing the tail of your Deere trailer so it dumps correctly?

I would but its plastic. And it has the crappy lever lock to lock the dump, which usually fails when there is a full load on back.

I could raise up the dump by installing MUCH larger tires and improve the locking mechanism, but after all that $$ it would still be a lawn cart.

Hopefully ill win the auction and i wont have to think about this anymore

 

[Oldtractorfixer]

I would give serious consideration to that used on highway. You can use it for other things. If you only put as much in it as you would put in the off road you can probably handle it and it will have larger tires than the off road. Just only load it half way! (Do hook up a brake contoller if you have hills though)

Roy

 

[Scooby074]

I would give serious consideration to that used on highway. You can use it for other things. If you only put as much in it as you would put in the off road you can probably handle it and it will have larger tires than the off road. Just only load it half way! (Do hook up a brake contoller if you have hills though)

Roy

Hawke doesnt even show that 5x8 anymore so i have no idea what its weight is, but the 6x10 is 2700 lbs, so a guess at the 5x8 would be 2000?

The off road Normand above is only 866 lbs in 4x8. This could be significant with a small tractor such as a BX.

 

[deezler]

I am having similar thoughts about dump trailer acquisition for moving dirt piles around on my land.

Because I am poor, I was leaning more towards something like these:
Country Lawn & Garden equipment, off-road dump trailers, lawn carts and dump wagons.

Does anyone have any direct experience or general predictions about reliability of more lightweight trailers like these, as opposed to the heavy duty all steel ones scooby listed above?

For instance, the 7340 trailer lists a 2000 lb capacity. With the optional hand crank hydraulic dump, it's only $900... so much more affordable. But NOT if it snaps in two as soon as you pull a full 2000 lb load of dirt over rough terrain.

 

[Scooby074]

Those country lawn trailers seem to have a decent reputation on here. I dont think one would snap in half with a load on it. But it is made considerably lighter that the ones i posted.

My concern is the wooden deck. You'd have to cover that with something here or the clay mud would never slide. I also wonder if the dump angle is high enough.

 

[dodge man]

I have a cart similar to what Deezler posted. The one he posted a link to looks a little better than mine. Its O.K., and it dumps most of the load if you load it correct, maybe a little more toward the back, and than drag it forward a little bit after you dump it. Since I got my BX, I hardly ever use it, but if I had a bigger piece of property I might. For a BX, I would look for a larger trailer, like the OP is looking at. I thought the BX was rated at something close to 2000 lbs for towing.

 

[rtd]

I have the two-ton 4'x8' tandem axle model. It comes set up to allow the addition of a cylinder, which I did. It works well for what I use it for, mostly hauling boards from the sawmill and firewood.

The side stakes aren't the heaviest so it might not be best choice for hauling dirt or stones unless you only do partial loads.

 

[jenkinsph]

How about using the dump trailer behind a pickup and use the tractor to load it? Seems a pickup if you have one would be better suited for towing than a small tractor.

About the dump trailers I would look for a good used one. I found this 14x6.5x2' 14,000lb PJ three years old for about $4000. Very good shape except for the lid on the front box. I pull this with an F550 when fully loaded but can still use it with a 3/4 ton with a lighter payload. The larger tires would help alot with floatation in a field making it easier to pull. This would be much safer than using a small tractor with a dump trailer.

I would recommend trying to find a 5x12 used dump trailer for this work.

 

[deezler]

How about using the dump trailer behind a pickup and use the tractor to load it? Seems a pickup if you have one would be better suited for towing than a small tractor.

Sure, if your truck is a one ton, 4WD, with 33" tires, and your property is wide open to drive around on. In my case I'll be following generally narrow trails through muddy terrain.

Oh, and I don't have a truck. haha.

 

[Scooby074]

How about using the dump trailer behind a pickup and use the tractor to load it? Seems a pickup if you have one would be better suited for towing than a small tractor.

About the dump trailers I would look for a good used one. I found this 14x6.5x2' 14,000lb PJ three years old for about $4000. Very good shape except for the lid on the front box. I pull this with an F550 when fully loaded but can still use it with a 3/4 ton with a lighter payload. The larger tires would help alot with floatation in a field making it easier to pull. This would be much safer than using a small tractor with a dump trailer.

I would recommend trying to find a 5x12 used dump trailer for this work.

And if i buy an on road trailer it would be something like this.The only way i can justify it is to be able to haul the BX around too.

However its ALOT of trailer for around the house. Too big in honest assessment. And too heavy to be pulled by the BX, so that leaves moving it with the truck. That's going to make for 40' of truck and trailer to snake around the property.

I think im down to either the bought off road trailers or perhaps building my own.

Still no word on the auction results.

 

[jobguy]

I have a 3 yard off road dump I up-graded to on road use (lights, Lic). I found going to pick up dirt, gravel and mulch at the local Nursery as needed, to be a useful option. I may still replace the one large heavy duty axle with two axles for safety on the road. I also have looked at trading it in on a road-able dump but have not made a decision yet.
If I were you,,,, I'd get something I could take down the road. You should be able to find something used for little cost.
My trailer is 4X8 with about 36 inch sides.

 

[jenkinsph]

I work in tight quarters all the time, if you can park the truck and trailer 100 ft away from your "tight quarters work site" that still beats running up the trails and road with a bucket full at a time.

I have already tried the scenario where you have a small trailer the little tractors can handle, not much capacity. Besides, you need the tractor free of the trailer to load it.

 

[LBrown59]

1*How about using the dump trailer behind a pickup and use the tractor to load it?
2*Seems a pickup if you have one would be better suited for towing than a small tractor.

3*I am having similar thoughts about dump trailer acquisition for moving dirt piles around on my land.

I*I put a load handler in this.
Then loaded it with this
2*It's even better if you can haul the dirt in a pick up rather than using a trailer .
3*I loaded this truck 35 times with my BX and drove 5 miles hauling and dumping it.
Worked much slicker than a trailer.

 

[Leejohn]

Here is what I made for my BX2660. Its 3'3" X 6'5" with 17" sides. I have had it over filled with gravel and sand, dumps good but it is all the weight I think I would want to pull with the bx. It pulled just fine, but if on hills the stopping might be trouble (haven't tried yet.)
In picyure #6 you can see where I put another draw bar up higher so the trailer would be level. The tires are the ones I'm going to use, but the off set in the wheels are way off, so I have to find different wheels.
The trailers with the wheels under bed is to high for the BX's

 

[easygo]

Leejohn, That is a great looking trailer and the perfect size for the BX. Do you have to shut the engine down to connect/disconnect the hydraulic lines? I'm asking because I plan on building a 4x8 dump trailer for my B7800. That being my only tractor I plan on diving up to material (manure, rocks, firewood, ect.) disconnect hoses, unhook, load trailer using the tractor, re-hook trailer and drive away to dump site. I hope I would be able to connect/disconnect the lines without having to shut off the engine.

 

[Scooby074]

Just received an email for the sale amount on that worn out Pronovost trailer $750 :laughing: Im betting it was bought without seeing it in person, as i was at the viewing and there was only one other guy there who was not interested after seeing it.

Goes to show there is one born every minute, for comparison , I bid $250, and i thought that was too much considering all the repairs required.