tc35dforme
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Not really a dumper....but a 'cheap' miltary surplus 1 1/2 ton trailer. Maybe ???
Dump Trailer
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Anonymous Poster
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I purchased a small 3000lb dump trailer last fall and I have to say that next to my tractor it is the most usefull piece of equipment I own. Although they are somewhat expensive if you have a small farm the stuff they can be used for seems unlimited. For instance, I built a stake rack for mine and use it for getting hay. I switched from burning wood to coal so I can pick it up myself and save on delivery. I do not have to make as many trips to the feed store. I have been using it with my tractor to clear a logged off field of stumps and branches, this is where the dump feature really shines as with this type of material it is harder to unload than to load. Picked up some stone for my driveway and saved a lot. Also it is big enough to haul my B7500, got me a set of ramps and back her on. I have only had the thing for nine months but it seems like I am using it almost every day for some thing,I love it. Al
fractal
Gold Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( All I want is something that is almost as easy to unload as it is to load. Anything that could carry more than one bucket-full of dirt or one rake-full of brush would increase my speed of moving things on my property by an order of magnitude, if it didn't take so long to unload it at the other end. I can build it myself if anyone has a clever ideas... )</font>
I just sold a 1989 chevy s10 pickup for 1400 bucks. I replaced it with a 1991 ford f350. One advantage the S10 had over the F350 is it was the same width as the tractor. Thus I could drive it through the trees to where I was working with the tractor. The obvious advantage to the F350 is it can carry WAY more and can tow a bunch more. Then again, the s10 was cheaper than most of these dump trailers you guys are talking about.
Anyway, I briefly looked at dump trailers. While they have obvious advantages when working with sand/gravel/rock, their advantages with other materials is less obvious. I use the "pull off" technique for unloading at the county yard. Tie both ends of a 50 ft length of rope to the bumper and drape it through the bed of the truck. I then lay down a tarp but many yard workers don't bother. I then load up the truck with the FEL or by hand. Another tarp over the top and pull the rope back over the load. When I get to the county yard I remove the top tarp and the big county yard tractors hook onto the loop in the middle of the rope and drive backwards. 30 seconds later the load is on the ground. Lemme tell you, folding the tarp and sticking it in the truck is a LOT easier than unloading by hand and sweeping out the back of the truck.
You may be able to adapt this technique to your needs. Maybe a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the bottom of the truck or trailer. Maybe hooking rope to far end and pulling off with tractor. Maybe hooking rope to near end of the board, tying it to a handy tree and driving truck/trailer away then moving the load off the board with the fel. How about one of those dirt cheap 4x8 utility trailers you can get at the box store. Load 'er up and drive where you want to dump. Unhitch and drive truck away. Block the wheels, sneak up on it with the tractor and lift the hitch with the fel, or block the wheels and hook a rope/chain to a tree with block and tackle. Tie end of rope to truck and as you drive away the hitch gets lifted and the trailer stood on end.
Lotsa ways that don't involve thousands of dollars of new toys. Dunno, just thinking outside the box /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I just sold a 1989 chevy s10 pickup for 1400 bucks. I replaced it with a 1991 ford f350. One advantage the S10 had over the F350 is it was the same width as the tractor. Thus I could drive it through the trees to where I was working with the tractor. The obvious advantage to the F350 is it can carry WAY more and can tow a bunch more. Then again, the s10 was cheaper than most of these dump trailers you guys are talking about.
Anyway, I briefly looked at dump trailers. While they have obvious advantages when working with sand/gravel/rock, their advantages with other materials is less obvious. I use the "pull off" technique for unloading at the county yard. Tie both ends of a 50 ft length of rope to the bumper and drape it through the bed of the truck. I then lay down a tarp but many yard workers don't bother. I then load up the truck with the FEL or by hand. Another tarp over the top and pull the rope back over the load. When I get to the county yard I remove the top tarp and the big county yard tractors hook onto the loop in the middle of the rope and drive backwards. 30 seconds later the load is on the ground. Lemme tell you, folding the tarp and sticking it in the truck is a LOT easier than unloading by hand and sweeping out the back of the truck.
You may be able to adapt this technique to your needs. Maybe a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the bottom of the truck or trailer. Maybe hooking rope to far end and pulling off with tractor. Maybe hooking rope to near end of the board, tying it to a handy tree and driving truck/trailer away then moving the load off the board with the fel. How about one of those dirt cheap 4x8 utility trailers you can get at the box store. Load 'er up and drive where you want to dump. Unhitch and drive truck away. Block the wheels, sneak up on it with the tractor and lift the hitch with the fel, or block the wheels and hook a rope/chain to a tree with block and tackle. Tie end of rope to truck and as you drive away the hitch gets lifted and the trailer stood on end.
Lotsa ways that don't involve thousands of dollars of new toys. Dunno, just thinking outside the box /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Anonymous Poster
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RoyJackson
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"How aout one of these?"
Boy, that might make a nice dual purpose implement: As designed for a dump box, or, as a counterweight for the FEL work.
Although the website gives a cubic capacity, it doesn't list the weight capacity. Might want to ask about that.
Boy, that might make a nice dual purpose implement: As designed for a dump box, or, as a counterweight for the FEL work.
Although the website gives a cubic capacity, it doesn't list the weight capacity. Might want to ask about that.
Youare
Platinum Member
I made a dump trailer from one of those dumping hoppers that attach to lift truck forks.
I think this one holds 1 1/2 yards of material. I had an axle from another trailer that I attached
to the frame of the hopper added a tongue pole and coupler.
The hoppers are not cheap, I got mine free from a company that I worked for afrter they stopped using it.
The only thing you have to be careful of is when it dumps is that your hands and feet are not near the
track it rolls on to dump. Also there is little control on the speed that it dumps especially if the load is a
little heavy towards the back. I attached a length of rope to the top front of the hopper back to the
tractor seat area so one good pull latches the hopper back in position.
Mine is a little higher off the ground than is sometimes comfortable, but that is a small price to pay for
not having to unload it by hand.
Randy
I think this one holds 1 1/2 yards of material. I had an axle from another trailer that I attached
to the frame of the hopper added a tongue pole and coupler.
The hoppers are not cheap, I got mine free from a company that I worked for afrter they stopped using it.
The only thing you have to be careful of is when it dumps is that your hands and feet are not near the
track it rolls on to dump. Also there is little control on the speed that it dumps especially if the load is a
little heavy towards the back. I attached a length of rope to the top front of the hopper back to the
tractor seat area so one good pull latches the hopper back in position.
Mine is a little higher off the ground than is sometimes comfortable, but that is a small price to pay for
not having to unload it by hand.
Randy
CTyler
Veteran Member
If you just need to do small stuff around the house/farm that 2 ton wagon is ok. I have one and have been using it for a several days now. When I first put it together I had some doughts. The bottom frame is box tube as are the wheel assemblies. The dump box is made from channel and seems to be fairly solid for what it has to lift.
The parts that concerned me were the axle and dump pins. they are 7/8(?) pins all around and no grease zircs. However pulling the pin for the box or the wheel isn't hard. I was a little concerned about some twisting dump bed on the rear pin.
I put a 3 1/2 cylinder on it a loaded her up and it dumped just fine full of damp dirt. No twisting or anything and it has a steep dump angle as well.
I have a L3130 with a Woods 1016 loader and 72" bucket. The bucket hold about 1/2 yard and I can put four buckets of dirt in the trailer and its full. You could probably get a 5th one on there if you really tried piling it up. With four buckets full your at or past the rated capacity anyway, I didn't try a 5th one just carried it in the bucket.
The boards are all 1x4 treated except for one 1x2 on the bed. The sides are 1x4 as well. The front and rear are light metal, not sure of the gauge maybe 16 or 18(?). Strong enough for the trailer anyway.
The weak points IMO are the side supports and no dump gate.
There are two supports on each side for the boards. while these hold ok it allows the boards to bow a little when full. One or two more supports would probably stop this but its not a big deal. Both the front and rear metal pannels are of the slide in type(top down). If you were to load it with dirt or rock your gonna have a tuff time getting it back out again.
I have not used the rear panel/gate other than to make sure it fit. Its hanging on the wall all clean and pretty. Without the rear gate/panel very very little falls out the back when I dump the 4th bucket in there.
All in all this is going to be extremely usefull!!
I still have a short term use for a large dump trailer in the #12000 range this fall after the crop is out. However I may just rent a CAT 613 or something to build berms to keep topsoil from washing into the creek. I need to haul crap dirt to the bottom and good dirt to the top of the property as well. Since there is about 20-30' of topsoil at the bottom or the property according to the well report. The upper part only has a couple feet of topsoil with brown looking dirt underneath. There is a 1000'+ seperating the areas.
Anyway enough rambling...thats my report.
The parts that concerned me were the axle and dump pins. they are 7/8(?) pins all around and no grease zircs. However pulling the pin for the box or the wheel isn't hard. I was a little concerned about some twisting dump bed on the rear pin.
I put a 3 1/2 cylinder on it a loaded her up and it dumped just fine full of damp dirt. No twisting or anything and it has a steep dump angle as well.
I have a L3130 with a Woods 1016 loader and 72" bucket. The bucket hold about 1/2 yard and I can put four buckets of dirt in the trailer and its full. You could probably get a 5th one on there if you really tried piling it up. With four buckets full your at or past the rated capacity anyway, I didn't try a 5th one just carried it in the bucket.
The boards are all 1x4 treated except for one 1x2 on the bed. The sides are 1x4 as well. The front and rear are light metal, not sure of the gauge maybe 16 or 18(?). Strong enough for the trailer anyway.
The weak points IMO are the side supports and no dump gate.
There are two supports on each side for the boards. while these hold ok it allows the boards to bow a little when full. One or two more supports would probably stop this but its not a big deal. Both the front and rear metal pannels are of the slide in type(top down). If you were to load it with dirt or rock your gonna have a tuff time getting it back out again.
I have not used the rear panel/gate other than to make sure it fit. Its hanging on the wall all clean and pretty. Without the rear gate/panel very very little falls out the back when I dump the 4th bucket in there.
All in all this is going to be extremely usefull!!
I still have a short term use for a large dump trailer in the #12000 range this fall after the crop is out. However I may just rent a CAT 613 or something to build berms to keep topsoil from washing into the creek. I need to haul crap dirt to the bottom and good dirt to the top of the property as well. Since there is about 20-30' of topsoil at the bottom or the property according to the well report. The upper part only has a couple feet of topsoil with brown looking dirt underneath. There is a 1000'+ seperating the areas.
Anyway enough rambling...thats my report.
Anonymous Poster
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I agree with you Airedale. I kind of equate the dump trailer with the FEL in terms of usefulness. At first you wonder how much you will really need an FEL to move dirt around. Once you have one you find so many uses for it you wonder how you got along with out it. The cost of the dump trailer is certainly more than an equivalent capacity utility trailer but the versatility of the dumper makes it worth the added cost. The "little" jobs are where I really appreciate the convenience. Need a yard or two of top soil. Go get it. Save the cost of delivery. Get a small load instead of a minimum of 5 yards. Get it when you want it. Use the pick-up truck or tractor to move the trailer and dirt, or whatever, right to the spot where you want to use it. It sure makes life a lot easier for me for so many things.
Jeff
Jeff
Hoeman00
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One way I'm looking at is a cheap used dump bed from a truck and build a trailer frame to set it on but for offroad use a wagon running gear would work too.
Most of the smaller beds have scissor hoists already under them.
Most of the smaller beds have scissor hoists already under them.
40Kchicks
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One of the advantages of these trailers is that you can use your truck trailer combo as anouther implement. Next year I hope to be looking at a 14k gooseneck dump. I will be using it to load chicken manure out of the barns instead of a manure spreader. Also I sell chicken manure compost to people in the area for their gardens. I always feel sorry for the people I'm loading, knowing that they will have to shovel the stuff out when they get home. I think most people would gladly pay for delivery. I hope I'll be able to sell my 20' gooseneck to help pay for it and use the new dump trailer to haul my tractors instead.
Eric
Eric
