RollTideRam said:
AlanB, How do you like your trailer other than the problem you are having? I have a Homesteader dealer nearby. He has a few for rental but they were both out when I needed one. I had priced one a few months ago and he told me on the heavier duty trailers (10K axles) they came with power up/down. JC
Do I like the trailer.
Yes with Caveat's.
I wish I had heavier axles. I have tandem 5200 lb axles. That has 15" load range D tires, 6 bolt wheels. I haul 4 tons regularly rated for 7500 lbs.
I chew tires off pretty fast.
I wish it was bigger when hauling mulch, smaller when a worker goes to haul gravel or dirt.
It is topheavy with the tires under the body, and it is tall. Often I wish my wheels were outside the bed and the bed was lower, then just about as often I wish that the bed, and particularly the dump height was higher (particularly when doing mulch)
I redid my back gate, made it into two swinging gates. The drop spread deal is almost worthless for me, if you only haul grain or clean rock or sand, maybe it is fine, we usually haul clean stuff one way, then debris back the other. Debris out the standard gate is more work then it is worth. There is a thread on the trailer section where I modified mine.
Would I buy it again?
As I like to tell stories, here goes, I usually like to build stuff, so I wanted to build a dump trailer. Started collecting peices, I have the axles (given too me by my dad) and wheels and tires (picked up along the way) a little of this and a little of that to build one. Got to the point of wanting one real bad (about 5 years) and decided to buy everything I needed. Realized I was going to spend as much (even including what I had on hand) as I could just go buy this unit for. While "mine" would have the scissor and some personal touches, I would still have to buy it.
Took the checkbook one night and bought the Homesteader, probably a bit against SWMBO..................
SWMBO said I was just lazy and wanted to buy another toy. A common theme around our place, and I must admit, maybe right more often then not
About a month after she had it, she comes up and asks me why I had waited so dang long to buy the thing, I should have just bought it 5 years ago
It stays hooked to the dually about 80% of the time, it was used all day yesterday, and today, and will go back out Friday.
Yes, I would like some things different, but they would all be tradeoff's Thinking again of building another (still have the axles) that would do some things better then the one I have.
Edit, you far from Ft. Rucker? There is a place just outside mother Rucker that had a huge selection of dump trailers, thought about going and picking one up sometime last time I was there TDY. If I had been in a Truck instead of a car, one would have probably come home with me. I do not remember the name, but it looks like a junkyard, it is a big auction house, on the right as you go to Rucker from Uhhhm, enterprise I think (East). LOTS of variety there to choose from and good prices.