Dump Trailer and TLB Conundrum

[BigAl]

Jim ,
With all due respect ,you are wrong about the "jack kniving" problem . Once you get the hang of it ,you will never pull backwards again ! I move my trailer a few hundred yards quite often over some very ,very nasty terrain . Not only can I see much better but you will find you can put that trailer in places you never thought was possible .It will go right over rocks or piles of dirt with " no problem " . Try it before you start hanging steel and welding on you hoe . All it takes is one small 3/4 " hole in the cutting edge of your front bucket to find out .
Big Al

 

[tractorman71]

bigal, well at least the parking brake works /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

I'm with Al. Either pushing or pulling that trailer is very easy. Your tractor at best probably goes 20 mph and you will be going probably half of that with a dump load full. In five minutes you can have a hold drilled, ball installed and on your way to loading and moving dirt. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

First of all, to BigAl, I don't have to worry about a lake at the "bottom"; I don't have any hills. Other than the drainage swale outside my fence by the highway (about 4' deep), the steepest hill on my place is the slope going up to my raised roadbed -- about 12".

Jim for the same reason, pushing my trailer may be easier for me than for you. Also, I only have 18HP, can only push in low range, so can't go more than 5 mph.

My U-Dump is the high-rise version, trailer bed over the wheels, which are well positioned for pushing. It's really easy to see what's going on. I haven't pushed it into a tree or anything, yet. The low-profile model, in which the bed fits between the wheels, might be a little harder to drive backwards (the trailer going backwards, that is) than mine, because it might be harder to see around it, and it's wider, so it can catch more obstacles. Our property is about 400 yards long, so I've pushed it almost that far. It takes a while at 4 or 5 mph, but it's still a LOT faster than using the bucket, alone, especially since I only have a 4' bucket.

I will say that if I'm just dumping at the other end, and don't need the tractor to consolidate or something, I leave the trailer hooked up to my Dakota and jump off the tractor, drive to the other end, dump, and pull it back for another load. That's a lot faster than using the tractor as a towmotor.

 

[tractorman71]

looks like a perfect reason to buy a second tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MFChief]

Everyone,

I hope I'm doing this correctly, I'm trying to add a link to a post in the Build-it-yourself forum.

A gent there has done what the original post was talking about, adding a receiver hitch to his backhoe for various attachments.

Terry

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/buildit/Number/593287/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o//fpart/1#Post593781 " target="_blank">LInk</a>

 

[DavesTractor]

I agree on the second tractor idea. A full size older machine with no loader can be bought fairly cheap, and resold at a later time. Or an old beater pickup to pull the dump trailer. I don't think youi are going to want to hook and unhook the trailer on every load, even if it is just a couple of minutes.

 

[willfick]

That's what I did. Got a mostly restored '46 Farmall H and a new 4000# single axle dump trailer. Very handy. Load it with the TLB, dump it where I want. The narrow front tractor and single axle trailer makes for an amzingly manueverable rig.
The attachment shows Goldie helping me put crushed asphault on the lower driveway. It was a gift from the people repaving Highway 601.
Wm

 

[tnuke]

I agree with some of the other guys. I'd go to trucktraderonline.com and look for an old working dump truck. I'm doing that right now in my area and there are a couple of them.

Here's a good example.

http://www.trucktraderonline.com/caddetail.html?/ad-cache/4/9/7/78267897.htm

Have fun,

Tim

 

[OkeeDon]

I looked at similar dump trucks before I bought my dump trailer, but the difference is that I need something I can take down the highway. I use to dump trailer to take loads to the land fill, and will be picking up loads of shell rock at the pit to put on my driveway. The trailer requires only a license plate and no increase in my insurance. Even if I could find a roadworthy dump truck for a decent price, it would cost more than the cost of my dump trailer to insure and license it, plus if it is over 26,000#, I'd need a CDL. I may have to make more trips with the trailer, but it's affordable.

 

[AndyMA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( looks like a perfect reason to buy a second tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
)</font>

I'm one of those guys with 2 tractors and yes it does make it easier /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I have towed many items including trailers hitched to my backhoe dipper arm and bucket. I don't like it one bit. The stresses on the backhoe arein unnatural directions and it tends to bend the backhoe arms and pins. The backhoe bucket being so far out behind the tractor goes up and down a lot when you are on anything but very level ground. The tongue of the trailer spends a lot of time far up and also scraping the ground. Also one other thing I don't think has been mentioned is loading an unhitched trailer. A dangerous no-no unless it has the geometry of a hay wagon with 2 axles far apart and the front one steering. When loading with heavy material it is ever so easy to have the tongue on the ground or totally up in the air, regardless of whether you have dual axles or not. The worst situation is when you have the trailer loaded with the unsecured tongue at normal height and you go to attach it to the tractor. Sometimes it's just barely stable and pops up fast and other times it drops fast when you perturb it. Good way to get hurt. I tow with my TN by using a long arm that goes under the backhoe into the normal drawbar assembly. Just my thoughts.

Andy