Dump Trailer Questions

[MOTractor]

I love my dump trailer. 14k. We use it to haul 4 to 5 yards of sand, gravel or fill dirt. Where I pile it is in the pasture and large trucks can not get back there. My son also uses it to clean up the tops from trees that has fallen or been cut. Great not having to unload by hand.
I have used to the transport my tractor but only once. We do plug the charger up about once every 2 months. Just a great addition to the farm.

Great point: I will be building a pad for a new addition to my pig pen area soon I hope - no way a dump truck could get there, but a dump trailer and my tractor I can.

 

[MOTractor]

Check to see what annual registeration cost's for 12&14k trailers. See what type annual inspection and insurance is required for various weight classes. The difference in above and below 10k Lbs is huge in Texas but states vary.

I'm in Missouri and I just checked DORs website and annual registration looks to be about $15 a year, no size or weight was mentioned - I did not search for commercial. No inspections that I know of. $52 will get me a permanent license plate and registration

As for keeping battery charged. If you follow the suggestion of jerry-rigging a system that eliminate's trailer battery and alow's using truck battery,you might be s-o-r-r-y. If trailer seperate's from hitch there will be no break-away brakes and things rarly end well. Even if there is never an event where brake-away brakes come into play,you risk a stiff fine and possible high risk insurance requirements if a trooper find's the cobbled up wireing.

So do the breakaway brakes need a battery?

His truck and a 14k trailer won’t exceed the 26k mark so I don’t see any pros with going with a 10k other than the upfront price.

I think I have talked myself into the 14K

There is a lot of good information and I think all of your questions have been answered, but I will share my experience I had a smaller dump trailer and could not haul my tractor in it so I bought a 14 foot 14K Dump with ramps and a scissor lift and I have no regrets. I did find out the hard way that the 7 pin plug can burn up if you don't disconnect when dumping, I wired up a simple relay cause I'm forgetful. I also carry a battery jump box with me and have used it many times to help the trailer battery dump a load. If I had it to again I would probably go with a goose neck but the one I have does everything I need.

Is scissor lift stronger than the ram?

Has anyone discussed cost versus convenience? Looking at the cost of the trailer will you really save anything hauling your own gravel? Or is more about the convenience of doing it on your own timeline?

For me I MIGHT save a tad on gravel, but it more about convenience and being able to schedule on my timeline. Doing mulch in one trip will save me a half days time or more.

 

[MOTractor]

The bigger trailers get my vote! -- BUT be sure you have a CDL! --- check your area for the regs! Here I have to have a CDL, yes even for my own use, cause loaded I am over 21,000 total weight.

Reading the MODOT CDL manual on weights and lengths made my head hurt. My Certificate of Origin for my F250 says my GVWR is 10K, the trailer i advertised an 14K. Class A and B were 26,001 and over, class C was less than 26,001 hauling hazmat of 16 or more people. I think I am good, i hope

Before you buy a trailer,---see how the wiring is routed in it!!! YA!-- I have a useless 14' Sure-trac that the factory put the wires inside the frame so rodents could have a field day in there!

As for spreading,---that depends on what kind of tailgate you get on one! mine is ONLY barn door half doors, so spreading very good is out with it.

I will look at the wiring route, field mice have ruined more than one of my days!

 

[nikerret]

Reading the MODOT CDL manual on weights and lengths made my head hurt. My Certificate of Origin for my F250 says my GVWR is 10K, the trailer i advertised an 14K. Class A and B were 26,001 and over, class C was less than 26,001 hauling hazmat of 16 or more people. I think I am good, i hope

I will look at the wiring route, field mice have ruined more than one of my days!

I was never an authority, in Missouri, but I did just go check the Missouri resources. From what I’ve read, you only need a Class F, as long as you’re only using it, for personal use. If you decide to go “for hire” you need a Class E (not a CDL until OVER 26,000 AND the trailer is 10,001, or more, of the 26,001).

https://dor.mo.gov/forms/Driver%20Guide.pdf

 

[nikerret]

So do the breakaway brakes need a battery?

Yes. The battery is what powers the brakes, when the break-a-way is used. When the trailer is plugged into the truck, the truck powers them. Some people have used their break-a-way as a parking brake, then wondered why their battery was dead.

I think I have talked myself into the 14K

Hard to go wrong, with a 14’/14k. If you were regularly hauling equipment or had other specific needs, other sizes might be better suited. For general use, the 14’ is a good choice. Most will have around 10k of payload capacity without going over any ratings.

Is scissor lift stronger than the ram?

In general, the best is a telescopic lift, but those are expensive. Unless you’re using it a lit, the telescopic isn’t likely worth the extra cost. The scissor lift is generally better than the Ram/push type, but design has a lit to do with it, too b

 

[chris.benjamin1]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this. Can’t just register it at a lower rate. I picked up a 7x12 Bri Mar earlier this month. Have used it several times it came with ramps and a combo gate $7399. Plus tax & registration. I was happy with price

Trailer has been great so far. Only downside so far is one of the cutouts for extending the sides us too small. I will have to remove a little material. Dealer is 90 miles away. Too far to travel for a piece of equipment that gets used

 

[nikerret]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL.

Not in Kansas and from the information I found, not in Missouri, either. That sounds similar to how California is, but I don’t have a working knowledge of their laws and application.

 

[4570Man]

Some of the smaller trailers just have a single stage cylinder under the bed. There’s nothing wrong with the setup it works for the capacity of the trailers. Some trailers have duel cylinders under the bed. No comment since I’ve never dealt with one. Most trailers will have a scissor hoist. They work for the advertised load but they’re not going to dump an overload. The best trailers have a vertical mounted telescoping cylinder in the front of the bed. This is how most dump trucks are setup and it’s by far the strongest of any option.

 

[MOTractor]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this. Can’t just register it at a lower rate. I picked up a 7x12 Bri Mar earlier this month. Have used it several times it came with ramps and a combo gate $7399. Plus tax & registration. I was happy with price

Trailer has been great so far. Only downside so far is one of the cutouts for extending the sides us too small. I will have to remove a little material. Dealer is 90 miles away. Too far to travel for a piece of equipment that gets used

That is a nice price!
Combined weight of 26,001 seems to be the magic number for CDL in Missouri, HazMat and 16 or more people excluded. Missouri also has exclusions for weight and oversized for farmers hauling grain, feed and equipment... I did not look them up

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

From what I’ve seen, it’s very regional. The only dump trucks that even get close to hauling 22 tons (legally) are all in the big cities. In my area, if you want 22 tons, in one load, it‘s either coming from a semi trailer or a guy with no insurance running very overweight.

It seems to vary state by state. Federal highways and interstate highways are regulated by the FMCSA manual that would put some of the numbers I've seen here in the grossly overweight category. My state has adopted the FMCSA statewide. Other states may allow the extra heavy loads on state and county roads. Here, 18 tons was what was put in a 4 axle pup trailer, some 5 axle trucks could hit close to 17. To get 22 tons in a single load would require a super solo with 3 drops plus a tailing booster totaling 7 axles.

(Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this)

The FMCSA agrees with this statement but only for trucks over 26,000 gvw. It seems to be intended to force a driver to go from a class C CDL to a class A in order to pull the heavier trailer. States vary, but I limited myself to a 10.000 gvw trailer because of the ambiguity of state and federal law.