Dump trailer angle of the dangle
- Thread starter Artisan
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zing
Platinum Member
Gotcha. Well then since you currently have another project on the go anyway, you may want to take some time to ask around specifically about if anyone has made a dumping wagon. I haven't done it myself, but I see the potential for the hinged wagon tongue to present issues when you are dumping a large or heavy load. The I beams and axles look heavy, so there would be a good bit of weight at the front end to counter balance it, but at the least I would be looking into some calculations to see what weight is going to lift those front wheels off of the ground. It will depend on things like how far behind the rear axle you put the dump box pivot point (the closer to the rear axle the better), how heavy the front end of the trailer frame is, how heavy/high the dump box is, the angle of the dump (maybe have the cylinder top out at 45* instead of going for >50* when fully raised), how heavy your load is, etc.
It may still work fine, but you will want to know what the load limits are going to be and what design things you can do ahead of time to help keep the front wheels on the ground when dumping. Just my thoughts. Hope they help.
Renze
Elite Member
I know the feeling. I got intrigued by building my own jaw crusher again (just because i can) and watched a lot of youtube videos of small crushers and home built things, and found my video comments and questions of 4 years ago on youtube
I didn't see too much about wagon building, so I'll try adding a thought or two onto this thread... I've only recently bought a tractor with a FEL. I'm thinking about a single axle design, but with the axle almost all the way to the rear. In the front would be 2 pivoting 'legs'. When parked with the legs down it would sit level. To dump this, I'd need to unhook the trailer from the rear drawbar, turn the tractor around and hook the FEL to the trailer (there are some posts about welding a receiver hitch to a FEL). Then, just raise the FEL. The trailer would pivot on the rear axle and dump the contents.
npalen
Elite Member
You might consider using the FEL with a mounted ball to tow the trailer as well as dump it. This would probably be feasible only in a short to medium distance situation because you would be either pushing the trailer or pulling it by driving backwards with the tractor. I know this sounds silly but years ago I designed trailers like this to be moved around with forktrucks. The "fifth wheel" was a ball joint attached to a couple rectangular tubes that the forks would engage to pick up the front of the trailer and move it. It's amazing how easily this arrangement can be steered to push and maneuver the trailer and having the wheels toward the back as you mentioned makes the trailer less "squirrelly".
The trailer would have stands on the front, as you mentioned, so that it can be quickly set down for loading with the FEL. When the trailer is loaded, you would again connect with it using the ball on the FEL into the socket on the trailer tongue for moving and dumping. Sound feasible to you?
The trailer would have stands on the front, as you mentioned, so that it can be quickly set down for loading with the FEL. When the trailer is loaded, you would again connect with it using the ball on the FEL into the socket on the trailer tongue for moving and dumping. Sound feasible to you?
zing
Platinum Member
Sounds like it would work better with a pintle hitch than it would with a ball hitch.
npalen
Elite Member
The pintle hitch sounds like a good idea as it would give almost unlimited dump angle where a ball hitch would be limited unless the bucket was rotated as the FEL was raised for dumping.
Probably would be a good idea to latch the pintle before dumping keeping "Safety First" in mind? I'm not real familiar with pintle style hitches.
Probably would be a good idea to latch the pintle before dumping keeping "Safety First" in mind? I'm not real familiar with pintle style hitches.
They have hoppers for skid steers with two front wheels and a quick attach at the rear. The skid steer becomes the drive and dump mechanism. Friction from the belly keeps it from moving while it sits there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4byl0yd7gPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I thought about building one but I'm afraid of tipping my tractor since the front axle is hinged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4byl0yd7gPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I thought about building one but I'm afraid of tipping my tractor since the front axle is hinged.
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npalen
Elite Member
Now that is a cool concept! First I had heard of it.
I hadn't thought of the pintle hitch. My FEL has 7 holes in the bucket. One of them is in the center. I drilled it out so that I could put in 2" ball. However, when I drove up to the trailer that I have, I had to get off/back on 2-3 times to get lined up (can't see the lower lip of the FEL from the driver's seat). I've pushed trailers into the woods and back out, so having it up front would be, otherwise, ok with me.
