hockeyhead
Gold Member
I agree with bigtiller we are talking 2 yards, shovel it in the bucket, have it delivered, or come up with a dump trailer,
Using FEL to dump trailer?
- Thread starter npaden
- Start date
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Your trailer looks like the axles are mounted fairly close to the back. This create a smaller increase in force on the tongue if the wheels come off the ground than if they were farther forward. (That is a good thing /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) Also seems like you got a support bar running diagonal to the front center of the frame which would decrease the chances of your tongue bending during lift.
Other options:
If you some sort of incline somewhere, put the trailer on it (rear would be downhill) and chock the wheels. You wont have to lift as high to get the dirt out. Maybe could keep it on the wheels this way
I see you have a scraper, maybe you could use this to pull some of the dirt off and lighten the load before dumping. (Or take it all off) Not sure how much weight your trailer can hold, so careful with how much down pressure you use with that or the FEL if you choose that route.
Watch your fenders!
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Good luck
Other options:
If you some sort of incline somewhere, put the trailer on it (rear would be downhill) and chock the wheels. You wont have to lift as high to get the dirt out. Maybe could keep it on the wheels this way
I see you have a scraper, maybe you could use this to pull some of the dirt off and lighten the load before dumping. (Or take it all off) Not sure how much weight your trailer can hold, so careful with how much down pressure you use with that or the FEL if you choose that route.
Watch your fenders!
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Good luck
tlbuser
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blueclass=small">( I am going to get 2 yards of pea gravel to put in my pond.
Nathan )</font>
</font><font color="blueclass=small">( Try it with dirt at home first. Tongue weight should be 10% of the total so two tons of rock (including the trailer weight) )</font>
Big difference between the two:
2 tons = 4,000 lbs.
2 yards = ~ 5200 lbs.
Nathan )</font>
</font><font color="blueclass=small">( Try it with dirt at home first. Tongue weight should be 10% of the total so two tons of rock (including the trailer weight) )</font>
Big difference between the two:
2 tons = 4,000 lbs.
2 yards = ~ 5200 lbs.
daTeacha
Veteran Member
The weight will vary a lot depending on the rock of which the pea gravel is made. I can easily carry a level bucket of crushed limestone with just a back blade in place on the rear, but 2/3 a bucket or less of igneous stuff with 900 lb on the rear is a little toward the spooky side.
Have you ever seen those roll up tarps for unloading pickups? They cost about $25. Think of heavy duty window shade with a crank on it. You stretch the tarp on the bed, put your load on it, and then wind up the tarp to unload. They're not big enough for the trailer bed, but the idea might be.
Put a heavy tarp or maybe some connected sheets of OSB or something on the bed. Attach chains or similar to the back end. Have some lengths of rope or small diameter dowel across the bed under the boards. Attach the chains to the tractor or a tree, and then pull the trailer out from under load or pull the load off the trailer. That should get most of it off easily.
Of course, you could always have it delivered for a lot less hassle, but that wouldn't be any fun to talk about. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Have you ever seen those roll up tarps for unloading pickups? They cost about $25. Think of heavy duty window shade with a crank on it. You stretch the tarp on the bed, put your load on it, and then wind up the tarp to unload. They're not big enough for the trailer bed, but the idea might be.
Put a heavy tarp or maybe some connected sheets of OSB or something on the bed. Attach chains or similar to the back end. Have some lengths of rope or small diameter dowel across the bed under the boards. Attach the chains to the tractor or a tree, and then pull the trailer out from under load or pull the load off the trailer. That should get most of it off easily.
Of course, you could always have it delivered for a lot less hassle, but that wouldn't be any fun to talk about. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
<font color="blue">Of course, you could always have it delivered for a lot less hassle, but that wouldn't be any fun to talk about.</font>
Exactly! I actually have a guy that lives down the road from me with a 8 yard dump truck that would probably deliver it for $20 but where's the fun in that?
Exactly! I actually have a guy that lives down the road from me with a 8 yard dump truck that would probably deliver it for $20 but where's the fun in that?
Well I called the guy up with the dump truck and he wanted $50 to haul the rock for me. Kind of odd because this is the same guy that sold me fill dirt that he had to load and haul about the same distance for $60 for an 8yd load. He wouldn't have to load the rock and I would be paying for the material apart from the hauling. The gravel only costs $25.
Looks like I'll probably be doing the trailer thing.
Looks like I'll probably be doing the trailer thing.
_M_
Member
<font color="blue"> (The only caveat I can think of with this senario is the possibility that as you raise the loader, the ball won't pivot properly as you get higher. You may get a binding before the trailer is high enough to dump.) </font>
<font color="black"> I thought of this too, but I intend to dump the bucket as I lift so that the tongue won't have to pivot on the ball. I'll also do this down hill as someone else pointed out. My loads won't be very heavy and the trailer is sturdy and aluminum. Soon we shall see. </font>
<font color="black"> I thought of this too, but I intend to dump the bucket as I lift so that the tongue won't have to pivot on the ball. I'll also do this down hill as someone else pointed out. My loads won't be very heavy and the trailer is sturdy and aluminum. Soon we shall see. </font>
It didn't work for me. I tried picking the front of the trailer up with chains and that didn't work at all. I'm not sure how the physics work but I couldn't pick the front of the trailer higher than 3 or 4 feet.
I put the bucket under the tongue of the trailer and that worked better but I still couldn't get the front of the trailer up high enough to really dump the rocks. It was pretty scary and I was trying it with barely any rocks in there at all. I got all of the trailer wheels off the ground but it still didn't really dump.
I took some pictures. If anyone is interested I'll post them.
I put the bucket under the tongue of the trailer and that worked better but I still couldn't get the front of the trailer up high enough to really dump the rocks. It was pretty scary and I was trying it with barely any rocks in there at all. I got all of the trailer wheels off the ground but it still didn't really dump.
I took some pictures. If anyone is interested I'll post them.
Okay. First picture is where I hooked chain around the tongue of the trailer to pick it up. Something funky was going on because I could BARELY pick it up at all. My rear tires were floating and the trailer was only about 2' high and both sets of tires were still on the ground.
Believe it or not, this is the highest that I could lift it this way:
I barely had any gravel in the trailer so I figured what the heck and tried to just pick it up with the bucket under the very end of the hitch. This worked amazinly better but still not good enough. If there had been a real load of gravel in there I'm not sure I could have picked it up much farther than the chain picture.
Here it is with the bucket under the tongue. Both sets of tires are off the ground.
That looks impressive from that angle but with a 16' trailer it really wasn't enough of an angle to dump the gravel. Here is another view of it at the same height.
I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and pay $50 to get a load of gravel delivered to me. It was a pain in the butt shoveling that tiny bit out by hand and I'll have pea gravel stuck in my trailer for the next several years.
I would rate this as a failure.
FWIW, Nathan
Believe it or not, this is the highest that I could lift it this way:
I barely had any gravel in the trailer so I figured what the heck and tried to just pick it up with the bucket under the very end of the hitch. This worked amazinly better but still not good enough. If there had been a real load of gravel in there I'm not sure I could have picked it up much farther than the chain picture.
Here it is with the bucket under the tongue. Both sets of tires are off the ground.
That looks impressive from that angle but with a 16' trailer it really wasn't enough of an angle to dump the gravel. Here is another view of it at the same height.
I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and pay $50 to get a load of gravel delivered to me. It was a pain in the butt shoveling that tiny bit out by hand and I'll have pea gravel stuck in my trailer for the next several years.
I would rate this as a failure.
FWIW, Nathan