My dirt wagon

[gabby]

Here's my homemade dirt wagon. It used to be a spray tank carrier for a 110 gallon boom sprayer.

Needless to say, there's a lot more steel there now. New tongue and a-frame, new 6-lug stub axles and hubs scavenged from an auction, new 4x24 cylinder from TSC, new 8' by 8' steel bed, etc. I designed it and paid a welder for the steel and the labor.

Cost me about $1700 for everything but it's great for hauling dirt. It carries 6 buckets per load which I figure is 3-4 yards. It's heavy when it's loaded.

Notice - no springs. I have an older dump wagon that originally had mobile home springs and I kept breaking them. Now it has solid stub axles too.
gabby

 

[gabby]

Another view with the cylinder retracted part way.

 

[DTCOOPER]

Gabby,
That is a true example of ingenuity.. But, I would bet that other trailer did keep breaking axles... Figure dirt on average, weighs about 1-1/3 tons per cubic yard.. 4-5 yards of dirt would weigh about 10 thousand pounds..
Cool dirt hauler though. I may try to build something on a much much smaller scale..

On another note.. since you are so into fabrication and such..
We have an old (1982) GMC 6000 flatbed truck. It has a large steel flatbed on it, with stake sides. We removed the factory side gates, and made some 2x12 (2 boards high) side walls.
The bed appears to be attached to the frame with large U-bolts, with 1x4 boards used between the bed and frame rails.
Have you ever known anyone to make a dumping bed out of one of these?
Thanks as always,
Daniel

 

[gabby]

Hey DT,

It sounds like the GMC truck bed does not already have a dump hoist? If that's the case, that dog probably won't hunt because you will spend more putting a hoist under it than it would cost to buy a junk dump truck and convert it to a tractor dump wagon.

If you could find a junk one with a decent dump bed, it should be pretty simple to run remote hoses to the dump cylinder and operate the dump.

On the other hand, you will have a heavy rig if you do this and it will require a big tractor to handle it.

Here's another idea - find an old cotton wagon or grain wagon or silage wagon and cut the front half off and make a dump wagon out of the rear half. Your axle and wheels are already there, as well as the bed if you're lucky. Make an A-frame from the hitch to the rear running gear like I did, and add a 24" cylinder like I did.

I've bought serviceable old farm wagons within the past year for $100 to $250 with no bed on them. A cylinder will be $200 or less at TSC plus about $40 for two hoses, plus you will have some steel and labor expense.

I paid a stiff labor charge to have mine built, and the sheet metal floor was expensive too. Luckily, it was before the ChiComs bid up the price of steel. My $1700 dirt wagon project would undoubtedly be well over $2000 today.
gabby