Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??

   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #31  
I had an uncle who used to manufacture ensilage gates that were automatic. No hydraulic or latches required . These gates were constucted with the hinge set a foot or more ahead of the rear of the dump bed. An 90 degree angle iron frame positioned the gate at the rear of the dump The gate's weight against the bottom held it closed. As the bed was raised, the center of gravity moved rearward causing the gate to open. The function of the gate relied on a pretty step dump angle. He sold a lot of those gates and many people copied them. I will try to find a picture. May even try to make a drawing, but it will probably be pretty low grade. You may be able to see on the drawing (if I got it attached) that the longer the distance between the hinge point and the back of the dump box the higher the gate will raise. Also height of dump box will matter also.




ENSALAGE GATE.jpg
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#32  
I like that idea and it would be easy to accomplish. Then I would only need the one cylinder to dump it. Keep the ideas coming
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#33  
I measured the cart today, Its 3 x 5 feet
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #34  
is there a way to get the pusher to run the length without using a 4 foot cylinder ?

You can take two 24" DA cylinders and bolt/weld them together but opposed. Kind of a poor man's two-stage cylinder.

I have a TV also...watching this thread with interest;)
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #35  
Have you thought about a scissor jack. Small but expands.

HYD motor turning a threaded shaft.
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #36  
How does an earthmoving scraper unload? It's been years since I looked at one, if I remember correctly they used a hydraulic cyclinder to moved a cable and through a series of pulleys to move the back wall forward to push the load out and retract to move the wall back in place. They also used cyclinder to open the door, think they called the door an apron.

Donnie
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #37  
How about something like a manuer spreader where it has chains and cross bars to pull the material out the back. Maybe something with a hydr. motor so you could run it forward and backward. You say a pusher, but do you just need something to give it a little help to dump, or do you want to empty it without tilting it up.

I am curious about this dumping issue I have seen about Trac Vacs. I wonder if they changed the design at some point. I have a very old model 560 and I just remove the blower hose, remove the back door and tilt the trailer. Then I either back up to push the leaves over the hill and pull forward and the leaves just slide right out. Leaves a kinda tapered square bale of leaves. Never had to drag or dig them out even a little wet. Just this year I got my wife to help with the FEL and I just back up dump and drive away. Once I have dumped a couple of loads she just pushes them over the hill with the bigger tractor and FEL. Saves me time fiddling with pushing them back with the dump cart and stressing it's axle since it is getting pretty old.

Good Luck ! :)
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#38  
Ok guys to answer a couple questions. #1 Yes it dumps with very little effort and most of the time 90% , The load slides right out. I don't really need to do this , I thought it would increase my cycle time if I didn't get of the seat of my tractor to dump . # 2. DONNIE you are right on , Yes a ( Pan ) or Scraper empties that way. They have kind of been replaced by the excavator and 6 wheel off road dump trucks. But you can move a lot of dirt with a pan , especially when they are being pushed by a large dozer. Through use of a cylinder or combination of a cylinder and cable this is what I was trying to design.
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #39  
I am curious about this dumping issue I have seen about Trac Vacs. I wonder if they changed the design at some point.
Dunno .....

I have a very old model 560 and I just remove the blower hose, remove the back door and tilt the trailer. Then I either back up to push the leaves over the hill and pull forward and the leaves just slide right out. Leaves a kinda tapered square bale of leaves. Never had to drag or dig them out even a little wet.
Green - and therefore very wet/moist (and heavy) - grass is generally more of a problem than are leaves ..... all the individual cut blades become intertwined and matted - and it's worse the longer the grass is ....

Occasionally, for one reason or another, my lawn won't get cut regularly .... this year was one of those times .... it didn't get cut for the first time until sometime around the beginning of June .... it was close to 3' tall :confused2:

Ease of dumping isn't a very big issue if, when you are using your TracVac, you only have to empty it once when you mow your yard .....

I mow probably around 4 or 5 acres ...... at 3' tall, I think I stopped counting and keeping track after emptying the 15th load or so .... :(

One thing I did do was make the initial cut as tall as I could, without using the TracVac, and then let the grass dry for 8 to 12 hours in the sun, before running over it again, cutting lower and picking it up with the TracVac - that probably reduced the weight of the loads by at least 50%.

On mine, which is one of the largest ones (model 1080 I think) there just isn't enough angle to get the thing to dump easily ......

I think it's largely a matter of poor design on the part of Palmor Products (makers of the TracVac) - they probably figure that the majority of their customers will only be dumping the unit once or twice per mowing, or just using it occasionally - like for fall leaf pickup .... so they can get away with not coming up with something better ...

The units are certainly not commercial grade equipment - homeowner quality at best ..... and depending on your home, maybe not even that ....
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #40  
Yes your correct, it dumps. The lexan is an excellent idea !

The construction is real light sheet metal , less then 1/16 of an inch. My goal is not to leave the seat on the tractor while unloading the trailer.
 

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