Dump Trailer Experiment

[globalenigma]

With the drought we had here this past summer in Texas it was a good time for my dad and I to dig out some of the ponds. We moved quite a bit of dirt out of the three ponds. One pond in particular we just moved the dirt right out front not thinking that we would dig out as much as we did. Now we need to move the dirt to other areas of our property.

I mentioned to my dad that a small trailer that he built when I was a kid to move extra cargo on weekend trips or vacations could be brought back to life. The trailer has just been sitting and has not been much use to us. We came up with an idea and here is what we have so far.

Sorry I do not have pictures right now of what we started out with but as soon as I find some I will add them in so the progress is better seen.

If you have any constructive criticism it is definitely welcome. Also of note my dad and I are not welders nor are we very good at designing things with metal. Hope you can all enjoy.

 

[Boeing]

I like that......Be careful not to overload that lift cable....they can be lethal if they snap.:thumbsup:
I bought a military trailer last year and added a hyd cylinder to lift it....works good but is SLOW jacking up....and BE CAREFUL if it is AFT loaded....the hyd cyl does not hold it down so it can FLY up....:confused2:

 

[not2old]

If you have trouble lifting the load, relocating the pivot point closer to the rear shackle and cutting off part of the lower frame will greatly reduce the force necessary. This would work best without a tailgate attached.

 

[muddstopper]

I think yor trailer will make an excellent "light duty" trailer for moving debri's, grass clipping and such around the house. For dirt work, I am afraid you could overload it pretty quick. If I had to move a bunch of dirt and that trailer is all I had, I would certainly use it, but I wouldnt load it till the springs sagged. A couple of potential problem areas to address. First, with a heavy load there is the possiblility that as you lift the load to dump with the winch, the weight of the load is tranfered to the rear of the trailer. To much weigh on the rear end can result in that light duty subframe actually bending right at the spring hanger or maybe even inbetween the front and rear spring hangers. Second, as the weight transfers from the bed of the trailer to the rear during lifting, there is also the possibility that the trailer could rearup off of the trailer ball of whatever it is hooked to. If it is hooked to a 4wheeler for example, it could actually raise the back of the 4wheeler off the ground. This would be because the hinge point of your dumpbed is so far behind the axle. That axle will act like a lever pivot point, Your bed the lever, enough lever and you can move the world.

Just a suggestion that might help prevent the two problems I mentioned. Shorten the subframe of the trailer to just behind the springs. The dump bed can remain the same lenght, but move the hinges to the now shortened subframe. The will accompish a couple of things, first, it will make lifting the load much easier, and second it will shorten the lever action of the weight transfer behind the axle. It will help prevent the possibility of the frame bending from to heavy a load and reduce the chance of the trailer rearing up off of its hitch.

 

[globalenigma]

Mudstopper,

Thank you so much for your advice, I will definitely take it into consideration this weekend when we test the trailer. We will put a front end loader of dirt in it at a time and test how it dumps and where any weak parts are.

For testing purposes we will be attaching the trailer to an old 8n that we have. This is what we planned on using to transfer the dirt; so we will have to be very careful as you stated not to lift the rear end off of the ground. Thank you for the heads up.

I understand what you mean about shortening the sub-frame, but could this also be accomplished by moving the springs further to the rear of the trailer? I have not looked to see how hard moving the hinges to a shorter sub frame or moving the springs to the rear of the trailer are. I just like to have more than one solution to a problem so that I can choose which one I would like to do.

Any other suggestions... anyone?

 

[muddstopper]

Simply moving the axle back will only effect the weight distribution on the trailer tounge. It will do nothing to help with lifting and dumping the load and would not lessen (atleast not to any great extent) the possibility of bending the trailer frame.

Your axle looks to be pretty much centered under the bed of the trailer. Of course pics can be misleading, but to me the axle looks close to center. A rule of thumb, move the axle back from center one inch for every foot in lenght of the trailer. This will give you close to a 60/40 weight distribution and keep the trailer tounge weight manageable, and keep the trailer from swaying while being pulled.

You are working with what you have, if you where building a new trailer from scratch, i would have other suggestions, but in my opinion, I would just move the hinge point of your dump bed by moving the pivot point to just behind the spring hangers. Not2old made the same suggestion in his post. The most you would be out to do this is a little oxy/act to cut the frame off and maybe another piece of angle to weld under the dump bed to mount your hinges to.

 

[jenkinsph]

Not wanting to rain on anyones parade but the entire build is too light duty. You could move the dirt just as fast with a fel on your tractor without all the complications. I am afraid someone could get hurt with this setup.

 

[rjmack]

Not wanting to rain on anyones parade but the entire build is too light duty.

it does look like it would be handy for yard waste though... leaves, twigs, branches etc.

never hurts to have a dumping deck around, and it's always fun to build stuff. :thumbsup:

 

[swick1]

I think he should go for it. It doesn't look like he could fit much more than 1.5 tons in this trailer. If he welds some I-beam or L channel to the sides of his trailer rails it should hold the weight. He's got 3500lb axles already. I would weld up a tray to go over the cable that lifts it so that if it snaps nobody will get bit by it. His minimum cable diameter should be 3/8" and everyone should stay away from it while dumping. Wire Rope - Strength

 

[shortthrow50]

looks like a catastrophe waiting to happen. get rid of that cable lift all together and fab up a cylinder lift

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I would be more concerned that that mast the lift cable pulley is attached to will bend the first time you try to lift any amount of weight. It will be fine for light duty work around the yard but I wouldn't count on the lift assembly holding up or even lasting for more then one trip if you fill it full of dirt.

 

[swick1]

If you can get us some mast dimensions, i'm sure the engineers on the board could give you a ballpark estimate of how much you can lift with it.

We need:

Tubing diameter
Wall thickness
mast height
mast angle
distance from dump bed attachment point to bottom of mast
distance from bottom of mast to the top of the support brace you built to hold it

mast attachment method (weld, screw, bolt?)

 

[globalenigma]

Thank you swick1 for that advice. I will get you the information that you need to help me figure out how much the mast could lift.

I believe the height is just at 6ft. I know it is 1 1/4 solid stock and welded. I will have to get the rest of the information for you though.

 

[border]

For this to be safe, I think simplest solution is to remake with 4 wheels, and to take care about distance between them...

 

[swick1]

Check out the 2 ton dump trailer here. One axle is okay if placed back further.
Berkelmans Welding Hydraulic Farm Dump Trailers and Manure Haulers

 

[swick1]

Another way to make the trailer work better would be to install your winch on the mast and put a pin through the bottom of the mast so that it pivots as the load is raised and lowered. This would eliminate the bending moment on your mast and increase the lift capacity substantially.

 

[schweizer]

Here's mine. Similar and custom built (but not by me). Currently loaded w/ 2 yards of dirt, no problem. The mast on mine is extendable so I can lift the bed almost 90 deg. When it's set low, I can unhook the cable and use it as a winch to haul in anything into the trailer. I just replaced the electric winch with a manual heavy duty boat winch. There was never a battery or the cables around when I needed to use it. The mast on your build is a little suspect -- I would be afraid it will bend.

 

[bcp]

Lots of the old pre-hydraulic winch-operated dump trucks hooked the cable about a foot below the bed. This allowed a higher dump angle with the same mast height.

Bruce

 

[pat32rf]

Swick has the best idea about the mast, just pivot it so it is free to slide along the front of the box as it raises. (a couple of side guides wouldn't hurt) The winch can still be solidly mounted if you use pulleys.
You can also run the cable from the top pulley to a pulley at the bottom of the box and back up to the top of the mast, thus doubling the winch capacity while staying with the same size cable.
Dirt around here can run 4000lbs/cu yd but you will only be using the winch to lift the front half. The pivots support the rear....

You've made a good start, just watch what happens and improvize from there...carefully