Dump Trailer Questions

[LD1]

The straight push cylinders on my sure trac are not big enough to lift the bed, so you have to either load tail heavy or carry the long arm jack to start the lift.--loader works too if you have one handy. I always have one of the skidloaders at the dump site. Quicker than messin with the jack! lol!
Also the cylinders are 2-way, another dumb idea! no wonder the new batteries only go for a couple loads. Gravity down would save on battery drain.

I think part of the reason for DA cylinder is fluid capacity. The small pump/reservoir combos don't have enough capacity to lift a pair of cylinders without running out of oil.

 

[4570Man]

I think part of the reason for DA cylinder is fluid capacity. The small pump/reservoir combos don't have enough capacity to lift a pair of cylinders without running out of oil.

That’s the main problem. The other thing is they hold the bed down. That’s not usually a problem unless you’re loading something on the ramps. Overall I’d rather have gravity down with a bigger reservoir and a turn buckle to hold the bed down. The power down really slows down the cycle time. I doubt it does much for battery capacity since it’s not under load but it doesn’t help. The other problem is they’re prone to exploding reservoirs or puking out fluid if the battery gets weak and doesn’t adequately pump fluid back in as it’s going down.

 

[nisaacs]

I ordered the 3 way pump on my PJ, $225 option. Power up/power down and gravity down. I don't like/use the gravity down. It is too slow, especially if it is cold out. Then, if you let it down with a partial load it overflows the tank, even with restrictors in the line. They do make larger tanks for the gravity down systems.

I am looking at a double pump kit to speed up the dump cycle. They are expensive so I am also doing some research to see if I could just add a second pump, way cheaper.

KTI Hydraulics Dual Pump Motor Hydraulic Pump w/ Remote | Fayette Trailers LLC

 

[LD1]

I ordered the 3 way pump on my PJ, $225 option. Power up/power down and gravity down. I don't like/use the gravity down. It is too slow, especially if it is cold out. Then, if you let it down with a partial load it overflows the tank, even with restrictors in the line. They do make larger tanks for the gravity down systems.

I am looking at a double pump kit to speed up the dump cycle. They are expensive so I am also doing some research to see if I could just add a second pump, way cheaper.

KTI Hydraulics Dual Pump Motor Hydraulic Pump w/ Remote | Fayette Trailers LLC

The reason it overflows even with restrictors is you have no fluid going back to the rod side of the cylinder.

I think my trailer has a pair of 3.5x24 cylinders. That about 2 gallon of oil in the cylinders if it is raised all the way. The plastic think just ain't that big.

Gravity down tries to put all 2 gallon in there. Power down pumps as much as it can back in the rod side of the cylinder. With 1.75" rods 1.5 Gallo's of the two will fit back in the cylinder....so the plastic tank level only fluctuates 1/2 gallon

 

[nisaacs]

The reason it overflows even with restrictors is you have no fluid going back to the rod side of the cylinder.

I think my trailer has a pair of 3.5x24 cylinders. That about 2 gallon of oil in the cylinders if it is raised all the way. The plastic think just ain't that big.

Gravity down tries to put all 2 gallon in there. Power down pumps as much as it can back in the rod side of the cylinder. With 1.75" rods 1.5 Gallo's of the two will fit back in the cylinder....so the plastic tank level only fluctuates 1/2 gallon

The cylinder will vacuum some oil back into the rod side, just not enough. If the bed is empty, it drops slow enough that is wont overflow but it is just too slow. Not sure why they even offer it. They make larger tanks for the power up/gravity down systems but some manufactures don't know how to size the tank. I had a 6'x10' Parker that only had gravity down, it was really fast on the down but no control if the bed had weight in it. At the time, I wasn't aware of the safety valve/restrictor that I could have installed.

 

[jaxs]

Gravity down is a cost cutting decision that work's for some but not others. In some ways it's similar to a fel with trip bucket,room for improvement but beat's no bucket by a mile.