Off road dump trailer options

Cord · Jul 23, 2016

Back when I worked on the farm, we had a home made dump trailer that actually worked really well. The trailer was a short hay wagon with a hydraulic sizzors lift salvaged from a scrapped truck. The deck was even made from two layers of wood cross laid. Held up just fine to rocks and gravel. The automotive style steering tended to hunt when going down the road, but it would be fine in the woods. An upgrade would be to find a trailer from a ammonia trailer. Those trailers have a king pin style steering that is much more stable when going down the road.

coolnick73 · Jul 23, 2016

newbury said:
Following with interest because I also feel the need for an off-road trailer.

With only a 2 ton capacity and two wheels how much advantage does one get with hydraulic dumping versus the extra cost?

I've mainly been following surplus military trailers such as:

which sold for $575 in Devens, Massachusetts April 6th, 2016 Surplus US ARMY Tank Automotive Command M105A2 Cargo Trailer in Devens, Massachusetts, United States (GovPlanet Item #79861)

I was figuring I could "dump" it by lifting the tongue with the FEL with an appropriate hitch on the FEL (probably a pintle).

I bought a M105 trailer surplus with the intent to use it as a mobile wood pile. My plan was to pull it into the woods and cut wood and stack it in the trailer and pull it out with my tractor. I found that it was much heavier that what my tractor could handle. Also, when you buy something like this, it may lead you purchasing more military vehicles than you plan on (ask me how I know).

bcp · Jul 23, 2016

M105a2 data plate:

Bruce

Huskerfan · Jul 23, 2016

DR Versa trailer pro with the extensions. I mounted a storage battery in a NT chainsaw case on the tongue and keep it trickle charged when not in use. Galvanized frame and box which can be easily removed to haul logs. Winch is handy to tilt box or pick up heavy items if fel is not available. Outriggers extend to keep it from upsetting when loading. Tongue hitch swivels, so if it rolls, you and tractor won't.

rutwad · Jul 23, 2016

Bigger than what you are looking for, but dang it worked great!

Luke'sScreenName · Jul 26, 2016

If anyone in New England is still looking...

Pronovost off road dump trailer

Piston · Jul 26, 2016

I saw that one too. It's a good deal for someone with a welder and some scrap steel laying around. Too big for what I'd like though.

Gordon Gould · Aug 2, 2016

The day after I pulled my new to me dump trailer around the woods and told everyone how great everything was I unhooked the trailer and found some healthy divots in the hitch pin - a sure sign of some serious binding on the pin. The trailer had a clevis hitch that pinned to the draw bar and the clevis could also rotate. This is what it looked like.

I had never pulled anything but logs on a draw bar before and never even gave the suitability of that hitch a second thought. But after seeing the cut marks in the pin I realized that the hitch could accommodate turns and a rolling motion but any vertical flexing was restrained. If I went through a dip or started up a hill like this something would have to bend or brake.

It needed to pivot in the vertical direction for hills and dips. That original simple clevis hitch is only good for fairly flat ground. I could have converted over to a ball hitch but made a double clevis instead with some scrap 1/2" pieces I had. Here is a close up of the hitch in the picture above. You can see how much flexing is needed on just that little incline. No wonder the pin was marked up - I am lucky something didn't brake.