Brand advise, hydraulic dump trailers

[Monster5601]

Had three dealers on my visit list yesterday morning, the first stop was a mom and pop place that had recently been bought out by Big Tex Trailer World (Trailer World). From what they told me, Big Tex is setting up their own retail channel with a plan to go public. Anyways, I spotted a Big Tex 14GL-16 foot dump in goose neck.

Back at the office, they gave me pricing on both the bumper-pull (14LX 16) and the goose neck. Goose neck was more mola but went for it for the obvious reasons.

So it has everything expected, it is a stock build (7K axles) but I'm OK with that given my usage. It has the popular features mentioned in this thread, scissor lift, 5" hydraulic cylinder, NOT power coated , power down dump, LED lighting all around, three-way tailgate, etc.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[RyeThomas]

Nice trailer and truck, enjoy.

 

[RichM752]

Nice. Very nice. I was thinking about going to a 16' w gooseneck. Now go get some dirt on everything. Have fun.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

My experience with 25 years of trailers is powder coat is a chip leads to rust which leads to it coming off in sheets. That leads to a full disassembly, sand blast, and paint.

I prefer enamel that is easily repaired with a rattle can of Rust Olem Paint.

There are a couple of really nice things about powder coat:

1. When it fails (everything fails), it usually allows rust to get in behind it, where it can work its way along and also go deep, with the nice shiny powder coat hiding all that damage from your prying eyes, often until the item is structurally compromised.
2. If you do catch it in time to avoid structural damage, you can't really spot-repair it.

There is no doubt it's tougher than paint. I still won't have it on anything I own.

 

[Rara Avis]

I have been happpy with my PJ Gooseneck Dump...haul gravel to the farm and wood to the city power plant and manure to the composting operation...

 

[LD1]

I see you have already made your decision.

But I'll add my :2cents: in case anyone else sees this thread and is considering.

Paint vs Powder coat......

I didnt give much thought to this. More important things I wanted to concern myself with. Power coat and paint can BOTH be done properly and last for many many years. OR they can both be done poorly. Yes, I would have had a slight preference to paint, but WAY too many "good" brands are doing powder coat. It would have narrowed my choices way too much, and made me drive quite a ways to get a decent trailer.
I think from my research that Diamond C has the best coating going right now on a trailer. They actually use a good hard urethane based paint. So automotive quality.

Going that sized trailer, be it bumper pull or GN, you really only have about 3 hydraulic options. Telescoping, scissor, or dual cylinder. Just compare the specs. Make sure the cylinder size and stroke are similar to what just about everyone else is doing and it should be fine.

I have a gooseneck equipment trailer, but wanted the dump to be bumper pull for the single reason of towing behind my tractor. Moving dirt, firewood, logs, etc around the property is alot nicer with the tractor than the truck. I took the cylinder hoses off the 12v pump unit and re-attached them with quick connects. Then I had some hoses made up to go from there to the remotes on the tractor. So in about 15 seconds I can swap from 12v pump to tractor remotes. Which is nice. Faster and never have to leave the seat.

I saw alot of ads for big tex, but no one I could find actually had any of their trailers around here.

Appalachian and kauffman were another two I looked at. But really only economically feesable if you live near them.

 

[Monster5601]

I see you have already made your decision.

I saw alot of ads for big tex, but no one I could find actually had any of their trailers around here.

Appalachian and kauffman were another two I looked at. But really only economically feesable if you live near them.

Yep, I did. To tell you the truth, of all the trailers I looked at, the differences between them wasn't obvious. They all had scissor lifts using 5" cylinders, 7K Dexter axles, Interstate battery, Sand Blasted, Acid Washed, Powder Coated steel, material cover, LED lighting, ect., about the only difference was the decals, they were even priced competitivly.

Of the dozens of manufacturers of 16-foot dump trailers I discovered on Internet searches, I found that when I went to the "locate a dealer" option on their web site, nothing showed up around me, and I mean around me was 200 plus miles. The brands available to me were limited to a few with BigTex and PJ being the most reconizable. I think brand availablilty is dependent on what part of the coutry one is located.

The one feature that did stand out from the other brands was BigTex's three-way tailgate, they were the only brand available here that offered the three-way which I found valuable to my usage.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

View attachment 516287

This is our PJ. Very happy with this trailer, and it is great for hauling the mini ex...

 

[Silvic]

Looking for advice regarding the various brands of hydraulic dump trailers, specifically a 16-foot low profile in either bumper pull or goose neck. I'll be pulling with a one-ton diesel pickup.

Brands to stay away from, brands you would recommend?

Lots of folks seem to like PJ. Lots of folks hate PJ.
Don't know if there are multiple manufacturing sites and that makes a difference but out here they are not liked very much.

I know when I was looking for my dump (which is also multi purposed as an equipment, thus the length) I found that PJ could not compare in quality, features or price.
May not be common in your neck of the US but Great Northern built in Oregon is a great trailer whether dump, equipment or anything else.
I have two - one flatbed, one dump and would not own anything else until you get up to the real big boys with 24K axles and the like.

I can easily overload mine due to the length but it allows me to have a dump while having the weight capability to support one specific piece of equipment. It is easy to calculate what you can carry and put that amount in and no more.

 

[LD1]

Another thing I forgot to mention.....is that I have heard to stay away from torsion axles on a dump. Torsion axles dont take kindly to a static overload condition. Which is exactly what happens when you dump....you overload the rear axle.

Yep, I did. To tell you the truth, of all the trailers I looked at, the differences between them wasn't obvious. They all had scissor lifts using 5" cylinders, 7K Dexter axles, Interstate battery, Sand Blasted, Acid Washed, Powder Coated steel, material cover, LED lighting, ect., about the only difference was the decals, they were even priced competitivly.

Of the dozens of manufacturers of 16-foot dump trailers I discovered on Internet searches, I found that when I went to the "locate a dealer" option on their web site, nothing showed up around me, and I mean around me was 200 plus miles. The brands available to me were limited to a few with BigTex and PJ being the most reconizable. I think brand availablilty is dependent on what part of the coutry one is located.

The one feature that did stand out from the other brands was BigTex's three-way tailgate, they were the only brand available here that offered the three-way which I found valuable to my usage.

I guess you will have to give me an education....what is a 3-way gate.

Mine is the 2-way.......barn doors and spreader that hinges at the top, opens at the bottom. What could possibly be a 3rd way to open and what would be the benefit?