Dump Style Trailer

[lakngulf]

I have some great top soil at some family farmland that has been well "fertlized" over the years. I have hauled a couple of trailer loads home to use in my garden, primarily for tomatoes. They seem to love the natural compost.

Problem is even though I have a tractor at both ends of the trip, I have found no good way, other than manual shovel, to get the dirt off my 16 foot trailer. I have reached the age where the shoveling is just no fun anymore. Also, I have to borrow a tractor on one end of the trip.

What experience does anyone have with the dump trailer? I have researched them a bit on internet, and found some possibilities. I am not sure I would use one enough to justify purchase, and rental is a possiblity. Do the hydraulics work well? For what jobs do they come in handy?

 

[Redneck in training]

Look at this:
Unload a pickup.com - Loadhandler, the easy way to unload your pickup

 

[Airedale]

I purchased a small dump trailer to use around the farm a few years ago and for me it has been one of the best and useful pieces of equipment I own.

I use it all the time for hauling feed, hay, wood, gravel-soil and plain old yard debris.

Al

 

[Freds]

I would love to have a dump trailer, the problem is, it would be my least used piece of equipment, but it would sure come in handy when needed. There are some nice ones out there that come with their own hydraulics and battery, which is perfect for those of us that don't have rear hydraulic hookups on our tractors. I was trying hard last year to talk myself into getting one...

 

[lakngulf]

I was trying hard last year to talk myself into getting one...

Yes, I think that is what I am trying to do.

 

[Couple of Achers]

I have reached the age where the shoveling is just no fun anymore.

I hear ya. All though, I reached that stage a few years back. So I bit the bullet and bought one. I wanted one that I could safely pull with a half ton pick up. So I bought a 5x8, single axle, 6,000 lb. gvw. I also opted for the double rear swinging doors in the back. And I'm glad I did. The standard option was a spreader tailgate. I couldn't quite see the usefulness in that. Since a spreader gate is designed to be used while in motion. You can't run the dump and drive the pick up at the same time. The swinging doors also allows me to load the trailer with a fork lift for loading pallets. I have to say that this has been one of the most useful trailers I own. Forget the dump feature for a moment. I use it to haul almost everything else. From seed corn, to fertilizer, pallets of anything can be loaded straight in the back. And with a 6,000 lb axle, I can easily haul a couple tons. Got a big load of sheet rock or plywood to haul? You're not going to overload this trailer. I added a 2x12 all the way around the top for hauling things like wood chips, mulch, or lawn clippings.
As far as the hyd. They couldn't be simpler. Electric over hyd. with a single acting cylinder. Power up, and gravity down. The battery on board also is used for the break away break controller so you don't have that little battery that always seems to be dead to deal with.
This one happens to be a Maxi-Dump out of Janesville, Wi. I am not affiliated with them in anyway. I'm just letting you know what brand this one is. I ordered it over the phone and they delivered it to my front door. It has been a wonderful assets here for the farm and gardens.

 

[bigtiller]

That's gotta be one of the cutest little dumpers I have ever seen.

 

[JFS2295]

Time for me to get the "Most whacked out idea" here on TBY.

What I did was get a used section of chain link fence from my local yard before they threw it in the trash, tall as wide as my trailer and of course as long with extra length. I had some 2.5x2.5x1/4 angle iron and cut four pieces to the width, then doubled the angle on both ends so they sandwiched the chain link (after I cut the fence to final length of my trailer) with through bolts.


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I also ran cable intertwined on the edges of the unsecured chain link between the angle sandwiches and one down the center, all secured to the angles. And of course two large forged eye-bolts through the pulling end angle bars.

This would be laid on my flatbed trailer and a tarp placed on top before the dirt would be dumped on. At the receiving end I was able to pull the dirt off the trailer with my fence section, then once the trailer was pulled away lift up the fence end with the FEL and roll it and the dirt half over. I then came around to the other side, re-hooked my FEL and eyebolts, then continued to roll out the fence and tarp so I could get another load.

 

[lakngulf]

Time for me to get the "Most whacked out idea" here on TBY.

You might just have a decent idea there. If the chain link will "slide" the load off the trailer then it is a decent idea. My problem would be that I would have my tractor at the loading area and not at the unloading, so retrieving the chain link/tarp for the next trip would be difficult. A few months ago I took my trailer for a big load of hardwood mulch. I placed a tarp on the floor of the trailer, and had enough tarp to wrap over the top. Then I unloaded one FEL bucket at a time, and had to do a lot of shoveling. In the end I had more mulch than places to put it, so I wanted to get the remainder off the trailer. I hooked the FEL to the tarp and pulled it off. To this day the tarp is still there loaded with mulch, that I will have to shovel into the FEL bucket.

 

[foggy1111]

Time for me to get the "Most whacked out idea" here on TBY.

What I did was get a used section of chain link fence from my local yard before they threw it in the trash, tall as wide as my trailer and of course as long with extra length. I had some 2.5x2.5x1/4 angle iron and cut four pieces to the width, then doubled the angle on both ends so they sandwiched the chain link (after I cut the fence to final length of my trailer) with through bolts.


| |
| |____
|_____======================================= ??

I also ran cable intertwined on the edges of the unsecured chain link between the angle sandwiches and one down the center, all secured to the angles. And of course two large forged eye-bolts through the pulling end angle bars.

This would be laid on my flatbed trailer and a tarp placed on top before the dirt would be dumped on. At the receiving end I was able to pull the dirt off the trailer with my fence section, then once the trailer was pulled away lift up the fence end with the FEL and roll it and the dirt half over. I then came around to the other side, re-hooked my FEL and eyebolts, then continued to roll out the fence and tarp so I could get another load.

Pretty resourcefull idea, I'd say. I can feature it.....and, I'd like to see that work. :thumbsup:

 

[Small farm guy]

What experience does anyone have with the dump trailer? I have researched them a bit on internet, and found some possibilities. I am not sure I would use one enough to justify purchase, and rental is a possiblity. Do the hydraulics work well? For what jobs do they come in handy?

I found one a year and a half ago in the local swap paper. I was watching for a dump trailer for 6 months when I found a 6X12 dual axle with brakes. Has the self contained hydraulics and battery. They only had it listed for a grand so I figured it would be trash but I called the guy and went to look anyway. Turns out it just needed a new tire and some tail lights. I have been thrilled with the thing since I bought it.

There is a horse rescue about 20 miles from my place that will load composted horse poo for free. I pull the trailer in and take off in 15 minutes loaded down. My wife and I are trying to carve a small farm out of the jungle we bought a couple years ago. We have hauled in tons of compost. The garden did MUCH better in year 2 of our efforts!

I use the trailer as I clear the property. Any tree over 4 inches or so gets cut into firewood lengths. I tow the trailer over and fill it up and it is so nice to drive over to the fire wood pile and just dump the load. I used to ferry wood around in my 6 foot bucket a lot or get my truck stuck back there. Now I toss into the trailer or fill the loader and ferry it a short distance to the trailer, saving a lot of time.

When I need dirt or gravel it is great. I have the double door in the back also. It is great for hauling tops and limbs off to a burn pile too. I have even hauled it 70 miles to my father-in-law's turkey farm and hauled a load back several times. (If you ever got stuck behind a truck with a trailer full of turkey poo on I-20 near Columbia, it wasn't me!)

Sorry to ramble, but a dump trailer at a good price is somethiong you will find a zillion uses for.

Joel

 

[JFS2295]

You stated you had a tractor at each end, I took it as having an FEL at both.

It did work and I unloaded about 6 loads that way. The steel chain link and plastic tarp slid well enough on the PT flooring. That was about a dozen years ago and I know I didn't take any pictures of it.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have a 6 x 12 lo-boy dump trailer that I bought last year when I started the rebuild on my burned-down house. It has been a real workhorse. It has paid for itself just in avoided rental costs, not to mention the convenience of just parking it on-site and collecting debris until I have a full load to go to the dump.

It has hauled flagstones, lumber, sand, gravel and road base into the site.

No, it isn't a real dump truck, but it doesn't cost near as much as one, and insurance is very inexpensive compared to a motor vehicle.

The only warning I have is that it is very easy to overload a dump trailer with rock, dirt, gravel, sand, and even manure. Anything other than wood debris requires that you estimate the weight in the bed. Gravel is about 100 to 110 pounds per cubic foot, and wet dirt can be even more. About half way up the sides is max load with heavy materials.

 

[lakngulf]

You stated you had a tractor at each end, I took it as having an FEL at both.

Sorry 'bout that. I did state that, but I am losing the borrowed tractor at the loading end. Forgot to mention that "small" detail. I will have to haul my tractor to the topsoil site, load the trailer or truck, and then get it unloaded without a tractor at the unload end.

Your method would certainly work for one large load, as I could just chain the angle iron to a tree and drive forward, then go get my tractor and get to work.

So, combining some of the ideas I could (1) get one large load on the trailer with the chain link fence slide and (2) haul some pickup loads and unload with the load handler. That is what I like about this site. So many folks have "been there, done that". Is there an offical TBN T-shirt yet?

 

[Ken45101]

We have had a small (6x10) dump trailer for a while. It definitely comes in handy. Ours however, does not live up to it's ratings. It's a 4 ton Bri Mar (10,000 GVW). But if I get over 3 or 3-1/2 tons in it, the bed won't start to lift. The angle for the cylinder is horrible starting out. I have to keep my loads down and often have to use a 2x4 to pry it and get it started.

Mostly I use it for hauling gravel.

Ken