Dump trailer question.

Shield Arc · May 1, 2016

I have a 12-feet long PJ dump trailer. The factory powder coating is a joke

. It just flakes off in big sections:shocked:. Now this is on the outside of the box! Inside the box the powder coating lasted about 30-seconds

. Couple years ago my brother-n-law who is a retired body and fender man told me to paint it with DP-40 paint. Well it didn't last long at all either

!
So my question, I'm thinking about having the inside of the box sprayed with Line-X. About all I haul in the trailer is gravel, because we live on a dirt road. Never haul any sand. Anybody see a problem with Line-X inside a dump trailer?
Thanks for your opinions!

KenB2920 · May 1, 2016

I'm curious to hear suggestions. It appears most trailers tend to flake paint, rust etc. I actually am happy with my paint job that I purchased a few years ago. It's not powder cost and I just touch it up with tractor black paint from time to time and it blends well.

As for your dump, the guy around the corner from me out a thin piece of plastic on the floor of his dump trailer. I think it's 1/4" but I forget what he paid.... He said it makes it nice and slick for material to slide and it protects the metal floor. Maybe do this on the floor and X the rest

rankrank1 · May 1, 2016

I own a 2015 Hawke 6x12 dump trailer. My thoughts are I think the Line-X would likely work okay for hauling gravel or scrap metal.

However, I think Line-X would be a hindrance for hauling dirt. I have been mostly using my trailer to haul free dirt. Clay soils or damp soils do not want to dump unless conditions are ideal even with its current perfectly smooth powder coate finish. The grippy Line-X problem would make this problem even worse. I soon learned that getting damp inferior soils out of a trailer dumper was more work than I wanted to put into it. If I had to do it when wet I would be rigging a board and chain to hook to the tractor to help drag the damp stuff out. Since I am not a business, I am afforded the luxury of simply waiting until conditions are better to haul soils. Spreading some straw on a trailer floor can help em dump better on paint, powder coate, and even worn smooth unrusty metal. Not sure this little add some straw trick would work all that great on Line-X though.

I want to be able to haul anything I desire in my dump trailer and still be able to have it dump to the best of a trailer's more limited dumping abilities. Most trailers only have a dump raise heights of only 45 to 50 degrees in most cases as compared to a real dump truck which can raise their beds to darn near vertical (or close to 90 degrees). I do not look forward till the day when my powder coate also starts failing. When it does, I expect it will see the typical Rust-Oleum rattle can gloss black touch ups. I could care less how it looks. I simply want to keep it from rusting away.

I will not Line-X mine.

Shield Arc · May 1, 2016

When I built my gooseneck adapter, the local powder coater wanted $2,000.00 to paint it

. Line-X did it for $1,100.00.

Luke'sScreenName · May 1, 2016

You probably know this already but line-x makes 3 or 4 different products. The best (most expensive one) is supposed to be something like 400% tougher (resistant to mechanical trauma). Seems advisable in this application.

Seems like, as you said, it would be fine with gravel but might hurt resale value (if that matters to you) as it will likely really hinder dumping of substrates with higher friction coefficients (did I sound smart? :laughing

bdog · May 1, 2016

You don't want a rough surface like that on the inside. On our dump trailer when we had one and on our dump trucks we try everything we can to slicken the bed so material moves easier

The floor of a dump body is a wear surface much like a disc blade, shovel, box blade edge, etc. With much use it will get shiny and with a ton of use it will wear out.

Personally I wouldn't worry about it much just make sure the bed is clean and doesn't hold standing water when it sits. The quicksilver liners are nice an work well if you want something to protect the floor and help material move faster but they are not cheap.