Idle Hands revisited

nuvz · Aug 15, 2003

Ever since I read the thread around wroghtn_harv’s musings about a dump trailer that would dump without hydraulics I have been thinking about a system that might work and be safe, simple and cheap to build. The other day, as I drove through the beautiful Wyoming Mountains on my way to Colorado, it dawned on me…. Why didn’t I think of it before…. Use the axel! No, not really the axel, but get an automotive axel for the trailer axel. They are cheap. I am guessing that a standard car differential would spin the driveshaft at about the right rate to twist a couple of cables to pull the scissors lift that BigEddy described…. Two cables, both twisting on the driveshaft pulling up the scissors just like a car scissors jack! I would guess that you could build a lever activated cog that would activate the lift. Of course the weight on the axel would have to be sufficient for it to lift far enough to dump. I would think that all of that would be o.k. Also, the driveshaft would follow the center of the scissors up because of the U-joint. The only problem would be how to make sure you didn’t twist the driveshaft so far that it broke either the scissors lift or the cables….. Any thoughts?

dmftoy1 · Aug 15, 2003

Are you talking about how to avoid breaking the u-joints on the driveshaft? On jeeps that are lifted they get around this problem by using what's called a CV driveshaft. These can handle a pretty decent angle. There's a company called high angle drivelne that makes version that can run at 90 degree's althrough I don't think i'd make a habit of it. I'd talk to Tom Woods and see what they say.

FWIW.

Have a good one,
Dave

slowrev · Aug 15, 2003

This would work but be a bit tricky as you would have to have the trailer moving to raise the bed. Where would the load wind up ?
You will also need some kind of clutch or engagement cog.

When I was younger ( much ) I used a pulled hay rake that used the turning action of the wheels to raise the tines to release the hay. You had to learn when to activate it to be sure the hay all wound up in a row for the baler.

mountain_man · Aug 15, 2003

Here my 2 cents. How ''bout a boat winch and cable setup with some mechanical (i.e. lever/scissor) advantage? Alternative attaching a sprocket to a wheel and use a chain drive (similar to a drive wheel manure spreader).

slowrev · Aug 15, 2003

My father in law made a trash trailer just like you said ( I think).
His has a 3" steel mast in front of the bed, mounted securley to the frame. On the mast he has a hand powered boat winch with a cable goint thru a pulley on the top of the mast and hooked to the front of the bed. The bed is hinged on the rear. Works very well, just a fair bit of cranking, but an electric winch could be used as well.

OkeeDon · Aug 17, 2003

Your thinking kicked off a bunch of my thinking - I can think of several ways to make it lift, but how do you get it back down again?

nuvz · Aug 17, 2003

yeah, that is like the problem I pose in how do you make it stop? I think it would work, but may be more trouble that it is worth. Probably stuck with the good ol', hydraulic option. Makes you think though!

wroughtn_harv · Aug 17, 2003

I have a confession to make.

Ya'll are making me smile. Almost to the point of getting the fuzzies.

It's good to know that there are lots of folks out there who not only ask the why but also ask "why not?"

Sometimes that's just as important. And it can be just as much fun.

Joe1 · Aug 18, 2003

What about the electric screw jacks used on large tow behind travel trailers. They lift up to 2,000 lbs, and if that's not enough, you could use two, one one each side for a 4,000 ob lift. You might not get enough height out of it, and you would need to be able to have the top attached ba a hinge to the tilt bed and the bottom to the framealso by a hinge to compensate for the change in the angle. The screw may not be long enough to get an adequate angle to get the load to dump. They are not that expensive.

Just another idle mind for idle hands.

Slamfire · Aug 18, 2003

I think gravity in the case of a mast and winch setup would be sufficient. Just be sure to get out of the way of the spinning winch handle, if it gets out of control. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif