Dump trailer #?

[CoyoteDrt]

I spent the evening and into the wee early morning searching this forum. I started on page 131 and stopped on 40 or 39 when I got the dreaded "Interner Explorer encountered a problem and must close" message. I did find several helpful posts.

dirtnut on 3/13/2005
garybdavis on 5/6/2005
harleyscooter on 3/27/2006
Nat on 2/25/2006 - my favorite

And I saw dumptruck frame trailer, a yellow trailer, and a blue trailer. All great posts but I'm still left with the question I started with...how is the cylinder mounted? I can't get it out of my head that if the cylinder were laying at 180*...it would push the box clean off of the trailer or bend a whole bunch of critical stuff. I see where the cylinder is mounted with pins allowing it to pivot but I'm stuck on the angle.

I'm looking to build a 6.5 x 12 or 14 tandem dump trailer. We just bought a "fixer-upper" house and it comes with it's own very large mess. I'd also like to have it to collect all the grass clippings from a weeks worth of mowing 40 yards along with other debris so I can keep it at the house and dump it once a week.

I started adding up parts from tractor supply. Axles, brake kit, fenders, wheels/tires, lights, jack, and coupler. Total: $1054.55

Then I went to northern tool and went way overboard on the cylinder (4" dia. - 48" stroke $339.99) and I think I can reduce that. Suggestions?
The pump, hoses, and valves with the above cylinder: $718.92 and like I say, I figure I can save on the cylinder.

I picked an 8HP Briggs engine for $379 to run the hydraulics. I need an engine to run the other hydraulics I may add later. I might build a small boom that rotates on a low speed/high torque motor (if it will turn under a 1000lb max load) with the same functions as knuckie boom/cherry picker to pick up large rocks, stumps, and heavier scrap steel. I'd like for this to rotate 360* so I can load/unload the pickup bed if I have to.

All said and done with a guess on steel prices the total is hovering around $3500 for a 7k tandem dump trailer. Still stuck on the cylinder both size and placement. Looking for feedback and instruction. Sorry for the long post, thanks for your time.

Doug

My daugther (almost 6) has said "knuckie" instead of knuckle ever since she learned to talk. Now my son (2) is saying it too. I reckon I picked up on it. "Knuckie Head" is a common phrase around here.

 

[tlbuser]

Maybe something like this would help?
Pierce 7.5 Ton Trailer Dump Kit

 

[AlanB]

For us, it was cheaper to just buy a trailer then too build my own, and I have the axles sitting there quietly.

That said, I was looking at the lift kits from Surplus direct, and they look like absolutely the best way to go in my opinion. The scissors mechanism just has better mechanical advantage.

That said, the direct link ones (like mine) do not sit exactly flat, as you know, they start with a bit of tilt in them. Even then, it is an uphill battle till you get some elevation and get the cylinder pushing in a nice arc.

I would definetely go with a scissor if I was building my own.

Surplus Center

 

[sandman2234]

I would say that if you could pile the stuff up until you reached a pretty good amount, then rent a dump trailer ($80/day around here) you would be better off. However, I went ahead with my build project despite that, but I had plenty of time, a lot of help and most of the items to build mine with. My total investment in actual cash was about $125, so you can see I had most of the stuff.
My dump part of the trailer is 12' and uses a 5 " cylinder. I wanted to go with a 6" cylinder because of the weight I wanted to haul, but ended up using what I had. (Mine is a scissor lift arrangement) Calculate the amount of weight you can lift and you will see that a single 4" probably isn't enough for a 12' bed. You will have to put the cylinder pretty far forward for it to have enough strength to lift, and that requires a longer cylinder.
My clinder mounts at the bottom of an 8" channel, and attaches to the top of a 5" channel, so realistically about 12" of height change on what is probably a 4' cylinder(?). Mine is mounted further back than I wanted it, but there wasn't room for clearance with the triple axle setup where I really wanted it. The mounting was mostly two people with a welder setting up what we thought would work, tacking it in place and giving it an unloaded try to make sure everything worked. Only had to move it once, lol, but I did have a couple clearance items that had to be accounted for that were found in the testing stage.
Mine was built from a used trailer, 45' shortened to a 20' bed so I could haul my tractor on it, but the rear 12' of it dumps. I am still looking for a piece of aluminum to finish the front section, as I didn't have enough to make the whole thing aluminum deck, so I put aluminum on the dump, and put my ear to the ground to find some more.
Good luck with the project, and keep your camera handy, as we love pictures.
David from jax

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...highlight=ugly+trailer#post1257419post1257419

 

[wushaw]

Mine is at a 10ï½° angle. The cylinder is 3.5 bore and 1.75 rod dia. I haven't tried it with weight yet but I am not finished with the tail gate, fenders and a few other items besides paint.
I did like Sandman did on placement of the actuator...guessed, although I did look at alot of other trailers to see where they did their placement.

Something I did in my research is go to a local trailer sales place with my camera and tape measure and took many pictures of how they did it and made several measurments, although that trailer was much bigger than what I built the process are still the same.

 

[CoyoteDrt]

After reading the replies I fiure I need to do one of two things:

1) Buy a dump kit for my pickup - $1299

2) Buy the 5 ton flatbed kit - $1399

Both available at Northern Tool. Decisions, decisions. I guess it's cheaper all the way around to just put the kit on the truck.

Thanks everybody.

Whoopsie! The link above is direct to Pierce Sales - $200+ savings!

 

[sandman2234]

You will find that most of us don't mind helping you spend your hard earned money...
Unless you have a reasonably heavy duty pickup, I would go for the trailer dump. Plus filling up a pickup has the tendency to make dents in the bed and break out the rear glass. Trailers don't have rear windows to break when your loading general junk and SWMBO won't mind you pulling a beat up trailer, but she won't want to ride to town in a beat up p/u.

David from jax

 

[AlanB]

Be aware as well that it can change your insurance perspective on your truck if you have a dump bed.

Something you will have to weigh the risks out for yourself on.

 

[yankeerider]

I put one of those Northern dump kits on my '93 F-250. Was not at all unhappy with it, but wouldn't do it to my new pickup. I got a lot of use out of it, hauling dirt, mulch, firewood, and building demolition debris. Here's a few things i didn't like about it:

There's no provision to secure the front of the bed to the chassis. So, when unloaded, you could see the front of the bed bounce up and down as you drove. Never did any harm that I could tell, but i didn't like it.

I had hoped to be able to fill the two fuel tanks through the filler doors by locating the fill hoses just inboard of the body. The curved shape of the bed made this impractical, and I typically raised the body to fuel. (it was cool, though, to see the reactions of some people when the bed rose.)

The manufacturer provided a worthless piece of cable to support the cylinder/scissors mechanism from hitting the rear end when the bed was down. I fab'd a substanial support out of angle iron that was far superior.

They recommend you fabricate a bracket to weld the rear bumper support to the bed hinges. I was afraid if someone ran into the back bumper it'd screw things up, so I located the bumper lower and further forward so it could be attached directly to the frame and not interfere with the tailgate when the bed was raised.

I wasn't concerned about the insurance implications, although others here have been. It was still just a 3/4 ton pickup being used non-commercially.

 

[CoyoteDrt]

Yeah, it's gonna have to be a trailer. The truck is beat up as it is and probably woudn't take take much to render it parked.

Besides, the trailer won't have to me moved until it's loaded.

I certainly can't afford a $5000+ trailer but I'm not sure how much I will save if I build my own. A hydraulic kit is $1500 which includes a scissor lift and a complete trailer kit (2 axles, fenders, lights, etc.) is right at $1000. $2500 plus material - whatever that will cost.

Material options help please:

Square Tubing?

Channel?

Both?

Anybody near Roanoke, VA with advice on where to shop?

Thanks everybody.