Dump Trailer

[jeffster]

We will agree to disagree on this topic. Whether ford (or my plates) says im "safe" or not has little to do with the actual situation.

Example:
Im driving with the maximum "safe" load that ford recomends (or my plates) in a blizzard running the maximum speed limit typing away on my cell heading down a 6% grade. I am legal, but am i really safe?? Of course not, and its silly to think otherwise. People put wayyyy to much stock in these numbers and too little in common sense.

Edit:
You are definitly correct about the sue happy people. Thats not the case in IN. We are quite a bit different than most of our neighbors. Think texas almost.

Who are you disagreeing with? Me? I totally agree with you. Common sense should rule over everything. My point was that common sense should tell people not to overload and not to put themselves and everyone else in a position to get hurt, but if they do, don't expect people to be so kind, regardless of what state you are in. There is a huge difference between "accident" and "negligence", just ask a lawyer looking to make a buck.

BTW, in your example, you aren't legal in my state if you are talking on your cell phone...but, you would be if you were eating, combing your hair or petting a dog on your lap.

 

[texasjohn]

QRTRHRS , my trailer has the double doors...wish it had the dump tailgate so I could meter the dump out as I drive along... I made an extension to the control switch so I can operate it from the cab and drive up slowly while dumping...works reasonable. It's amazing.... when I'm carrying a full load of dirt (lbs) the trailer looks like it's at best 10% full.... I have ramps which are dandy and increase the function of the trailer beyond just dirt dump.

Daryl, the real answer to your question lies totally in how much material you plan on hauling.... if it's a few yards, then a small trailer, 1/2 ton pickup, staying within legal and intelligent load limits and very numerous trips will get the job done with a brake controller, gooseneck (don't fool yourself, this is critical to your safety). However, it will really, really, take lots of loads.

So, if you are truly going to haul a lot, you are going to need to haul about as many pounds per trip as you can.. and this simply puts you into a 1 ton class pickup, dually wheels, 4wd if at all possible, and a dump trailer rated for 20,000 lbs, brake controller and gooseneck.

 

[wushaw]

QRTRHRS , my trailer has the double doors...wish it had the dump tailgate so I could meter the dump out as I drive along... I made an extension to the control switch so I can operate it from the cab and drive up slowly while dumping...works reasonable. It's amazing.... when I'm carrying a full load of dirt (lbs) the trailer looks like it's at best 10% full.... I have ramps which are dandy and increase the function of the trailer beyond just dirt dump.

Daryl, the real answer to your question lies totally in how much material you plan on hauling.... if it's a few yards, then a small trailer, 1/2 ton pickup, staying within legal and intelligent load limits and very numerous trips will get the job done with a brake controller, gooseneck (don't fool yourself, this is critical to your safety). However, it will really, really, take lots of loads.

So, if you are truly going to haul a lot, you are going to need to haul about as many pounds per trip as you can.. and this simply puts you into a 1 ton class pickup, dually wheels, 4wd if at all possible, and a dump trailer rated for 20,000 lbs, brake controller and gooseneck.

If I were in the market for a one ton it would be 4X4 just for the reasons you stated, I had to use my tractor to get dirt out of the trailer once since I had no tounge weight and I was on a slope to boot.
The one ton I had would not back it up a particular slope but my Pete will with no problem.
Weight is king in the right places and 4X4 is when you don't have it.

I also put in a 4 prong trailer plug dicsonnect with enough cord to reach the cab, I can regulate the dump somewhat when spreading it out and I have the barn doors.

 

[Blackhammer]

My personal opinion is that dump trailers are heavy duty trailer... You need a heavy duty truck min 3/4 ton. Yes the new 1/2 tons are rated to tow 10k. Not the point. Once in a while you could get away with towing that much weight. With a 3/4 ton you can do it daily, all day long with no problems. I have owned several 1/2, 3/4, and 1 ton trucks. The big jump in component(brakes, axels, transmissions) size occurs in 1/2 ton to 3/4 ton and again in 1ton to 1,1/4 ton(450, 4500). I own a 14k dump trailer that I pulled every day with a 1 ton and didn't know it was there, my buddy borrowed the trailer with his 1/2 ton and the truck was hurtin, and the trailer was empty.

 

[dodge man]

I just want to thank everyone for the comments. I have been kicking around buying either a small dump truck or a dump trailer. The comments have really helped. I think I am better off just paying someone to haul for me. What I would really be buying is another toy to maintain, and I think I wouldn't be happy with the amount I could haul in one trip.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I think you are making a smart choice for a 1/2 ton truck. A 1 ton Diesel with 4x4 is a different story. In reality if you could only haul say 3 tons and the trailer cost $5000 it would take you more. You can get 50 load at $100 a load with 24 tons per load to earn back your $5000 investment. It would take you 400 loads of hauling it yourself at 3 tons per time to break even on the trailer not to mention wear and tear, gas, and your time.

Chris

 

[ccsial]

There is one consideration for me owning a dump trailer. I have a 12 X 6 I pull with a Dodge Cummins. The main reason I got the trailer is because I couldn't find anyone with a truck that could get into my small trails and spread gravel. The trailer spreads so good I hardly have any tractor work when I'm done.

I also pull it around behind the tractor for tree cleanup. I wouldn't be without it.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Money being a big issue for most of us especially lately, I sure do agree that you need to figure all of the pros and cons. Even though I already owned a dually, when I saw my dump trailer for sale, I thought about it for a few weeks before I made an offer. For me, it turned out to be a real worksaver. Even before I had the title, I put it to work on my property cleaning up tree debris from logging that I did not want to burn where it laid. By the way, the first time I loaded it up, I was backing down a hill in 4 wheel low and it overtook my truck and pulled me backwards until I bumped an existing pile of debris. I was on wet grass so the truck and trailer brakes slowed but would not stop me. This was with wood, not dirt or gravel!

I have a quarry about five miles away but have yet to go there. Other projects are higher on the list. When I do get to it, I will be able to get to places that a tri-axle may not and I will not have to worry about my black top driveway getting overloaded. I use the trailer to haul sawdust home for horse bedding about a load every two months or so. I use the trailer to go pick up a load of hay about once a month. With the trailer, I don't even bother to get my elevator out because I can easily off load most of it into my hay mow. I wish I had ramps or a loading dock to move my tractor to the dealer but that is minimal so no big deal there. I also hauled a couple of loads of treated fence posts home that I had to drive pretty far to get so I had some serious weight on.

Having stated my needs, I want to discuss this weight issue a bit. I am no stranger to trucking or running overweight. I drove for about twelve years then after some schooling, worked in high tech for twenty years until my work went to Taiwon. I ended up going back to driving for over four years until I quit when I relocated last February.

Back in the old 73280 days, max GCW, I used to haul cedar out of Canada. Some of those loads could get heavy when the sap came up, 85-95K. Let's skip the safety and legal discussion and get to the point. This was in the late seventies and traffic on the I-81 corridor through New York state was a lot less than these days and the truck had an engine brake so my brake lining use was near normal. However, while replacing some wheel seals at around 200k, the wheel bearings looked like they had a million miles on them. My point is, repeated overloading may not be so apparent.

My dually 4x4 has a 4:10 Dana 80 rear. At 218K, I still have the original U-joints in my front axle. I have no idea why because I use 4 wheel low all of the time for more controlled backing and for the often rough terrain around the farm. And of course, 4 wheel low is a must for dragging that dump trailer around off road else it gets pretty rough on the clutch as already mentioned by texasjohn. One of these days, I really need to add one of those vacuum front axle disconnects but anyway, I will get to the point about tow vehicles that I am aluding to.

When I have a some weight on my trailer, I really feel the need to be extremely focused on the behavior of other drivers as well as myself. My dually with an aluminum body weighs in at 7600 lbs. Assuming I may be exact at 20k overall for my trailer, that 27,600 gross is marginal at best for my dually. And, I see that amount exceeded all of the time with some hotshots, etc. That is why a medium duty truck is on my wish list. And not a 4500 or 5500 whatever either. I want the better line of sight provided by a higher truck.

This is all of my point of view. Keeping relevant to your own needs and means, I hope that I have helped enlighten on the subject.

 

[PapaPerk]

Gravel gets heavy real quick. I pull a 14K lbs dumper with a 3500 diesel truck. At 7k you are only going to get around 4000 lbs of gravel... which is not alot. I guess it all depends on how much ya need at a time. May have to make alot of runs to the quarry.

Just make sure you have good trailer brakes, good brake contoller and not overload the trailer tongue.

Have Fun!

 

[CurlyDave]

My thoughts of getting a dump trailer for my F-150 went out the window when I had a near death experience.

I hooked up my "redneck hunting lodge", a 6700# toy hauler, to my F-150 and started to drive down my driveway. 15% slope, gravel road. Now this weight is barely legal for the truck, but it is under the rated limit.

I had not plugged the trailer connector into the socket on the truck correctly, and as a result had no brakes. It was all I could do to stop the truck/trailer combo with the truck brakes, even at less than 5 mph, maybe as low as 3 mph. Fortunately I got it stopped and re-plugged the connector. Trailer brakes came back, and all was well again.