Dump Trailer Purchased - now questions

[tradosaurus]

Good catch. I did not have a 2-5/16 ball so I picked one up at our local farm store. What I did not think about was the base of the ball was bigger, so it would not set properly, so in the pic the ball is tilted. Between me, the salesman and shop supervisor we decide i was good to get it home. It has already been replaced with a BW, 2-1/2 shank

That's the exact setup on my 2014 F250.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Thank you! I think I just found another use

just dont try to dump with the trailer downhill or sideways. I know a guy that did just that, tried dumping large rock downhill next to his pond. Ended up flipping tractor and trailer in the pond, his KTAC did replace the tractor.

 

[ddbackhoe]

When in the pits , if you hear a backup beeper your head should be swiveling to see where it’s at. We just had a loader operator smash the box in on the dump truck I run. The owner was waiting in the line to get loaded for probably 10 minutes. A careless operator just flying around not paying attention. You are in a much smaller vehicle then a tri axle dump or trains.

yea, that 5 yd loader at our local gravel place could roll right over it and probably not even notice

 

[nyone]

Dang you guys suck, I want to gouge my eyes out after seeing your prices you pay. Here in SE Michigan 24 yards (1 semi lead ) of what we call 21a “driveway gravel “ is around $680 !!! Our pits charge $21.50 a ton. The local place that has it shipped in by water charges $16.80 a ton.

I was paying $500 for 24yrd of item4 pre covid. Now $800. But that's like 2days of hauling material in a dump trailer and I'm only 4mi away from the quarry.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Dang you guys suck, I want to gouge my eyes out after seeing your prices you pay. Here in SE Michigan 24 yards (1 semi lead ) of what we call 21a “driveway gravel “ is around $680 !!! Our pits charge $21.50 a ton. The local place that has it shipped in by water charges $16.80 a ton.

Ha, blue stone is the only thing now available at the local yard @ $45.00/ton +~200 delivery. Bankrun or washed will run ~$950/load now because we have to get it from farther away.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Congrats! Great looking trailer! I will have one, one of these days.

 

[Peter 315]

How to you like the front mount?

Nice works good. power up, gravity down, and manual down if the battery is dead.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I started my dump trailer research in 2020 and I posted here in October 2021 and got a LOT of great information, but then prices started to go up and I put off the purchase. Prices have finally dropped and I bought the dump trailer last week. I purchased the Delco, 14’ x 83”, 14K. I bought this to be a multi-purpose trailer – if it will not fit in my 2017 F250, this will haul it. My use is homestead/farm/hobby – not commercial. This is my first dump trailer.

For those interested in buying your first dump trailer my original post from October 2021 has tons of good info about battery life, CDL requirements, bigger vs smaller, and general info about choosing a trailer - thos forum is great!
Dump Trailer Questions

If you have a dump or knowledge of dump trailers and know of their strong points or low points – please chime in. Any “best practices” information would be greatly appreciated. I will be dragging this trailer with a 2017 F250, 6.7 diesel on the road – once home it will mostly be moved around with a 40HP tractor with a 3Pt trailer hitch. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated – not just the questions I asked.

How do you route/secure the electric brake break-away cable? All the trailers I own are OLD no electric brakes… So this is new.

I was thinking of strapping a few pallets to the inside front part of the trailer to be used when I haul unruly cargo – metal fence post, stuff not on a pallet, things other than mulch and gravel. Anybody else do this? Might have to weld a couple tie downs to the front of the trailer.

Speaking of unruly cargo. This trailer has 4 floor mounted tie downs, two at the front and two at the rear, about 13’ apart. Thinking of adding 2 more on each side. If I am toting 8 foot post, even with the pallets I cannot strap them down when they are 13’ apart. I have welder and my son is the welder Thoughts?

I know I will want a solar charger as this trailer will not be used daily. Any suggestions of brands, amps? I think I need a durable one, planning on mounting it to the top of the tool box. I know nothing about solar chargers.

License plate, how to mount? The Delco license plate mount is on the back left at a 45* angle, just looks to exposed – this trailer will be in the woods. In Missouri I can buy a permanent license plate ($53ish) and not have to fuss with the yearly renewals, I would prefer to not tear it up yearly! Thinking of bolting to the back left barn door. Thoughts…

What do you carry in the trailers battery / tool box? I am putting a pair of chock clicks in there…

Tomorrow or Thursday I am planning on going to the local quarry to find out what they expect of me when visiting to pick up material – before I actually go to pick up stuff. I already checked, they will sell to me as a consumer, not commercial. I’m lucky, the quarry is 13 miles away from my front door! Speaking of questions: Those who have visited and picked up at a quarry: what should I do or not do? Any and all information is greatly appreciated.

This next weekend I am hauling something, mulch or gravel!

Be very, very careful of the tie dows inside a dump trailer. I have 2 tie sown at the very end of the dump and one of the first few loads was a lot of lumber and steel. It was about 2.500 pounds of trash. The dump went all the way up and nothing came out. At this point now I'm holding up the entire line of people that want to dump because my load won't come out. All the material was hung up on those darn tie-downs. It was too dangerous to try and have it break free while I was at the end of the dump because it could have come down like an avalanche. I had no choice but to lower and try and rearrange the now compressed load of trash that was still log jammed on the tie-downs. I couldn't free the log jam, so I had to pull out go back to my ranch, and use saws to break the load free. I dumped the entire pile back on the ground and welded a plate steel
ramp in front of the tie-downs. Now when the trash hits it the material glides over the tie-downs. I'm still thinking of cutting them out of the bed of the dump since I don't use them anyway.

 

[LD1]

I have an occasional use dump trailer to.

First thing I did was set myself up to NOT rely on the dump trailer battery.

1. if your tractor has remotes.....set the trailer to run off the remotes of the tractor. Three "sets" of 1/4" couplers (7241 ISO-B is what I used) and TWO male AG couplers to plug into your remotes. Couple of 1/4" hydraulic hoses about 8' long.

REMOVE the hoses at your little 12v pump. Put ONE male and ONE female on the pump. Do the same for the mating hoses that go to the dump cylinders. Now if you plug the couplers back into the pump....you are setup to use 12v just as normal.

Now the ~8' hoses.....male AG coupler on one end.....and the other end use the couplers that can plug into the trailer.

When using the tractor, uncouple the cylinder hoses from the pump and plug in your adapter hoses and run to tractor. Dumps much faster and no worry of battery drain.

Second thing.....I hardwired to truck. Takes HEAVY gauge wire. I bought 2ga wire with anderson connectors and a 250A breaker. Pre-covid prices I think I had less than $200 in it. Truck battery with truck running can easily dump the trailer even if the deep cycle battery is completely dead.

 

[nisaacs]

LD1, what do you do about mixing oils/fluids? Most dumps use ATF V/S hydraulic/tractor fluid.