Dump Trailer Questions

[Panik]

Dump Trailer – Talk me out of it, or not…

I think need a bigger trailer. I have 2 trailers, a 16’ stock trailer and a 10’ x 5’ wide light duty trailer single axle.

What I do with what I currently have:

Buy bulk mulch and only make one trip

I suspect it’s that way nearly everywhere and people just have a false sense of saving money by doing it themselves. Locally I can get a 22 ton load hauled for $100 haul bill. Trying to haul it 4-5 tons at a time is laughable. You’re only $20-25 per trip at that point and having to buy fuel out of that. I can haul 10 tons or a little better on my truck but I still won’t do it for $50.

This doesn't answer the question about dump trailers, but on the idea of doing things cheaper and easier......make friends with one of your local tree services if you are using large amounts of mulch for personal reasons and don't need the pretty colors that are commercially offered.

I inherited way more mulching responsibilities that I could ever want/afford when we purchased our current home in 2012. As long as I'm not real picky about timing the local tree services will generally swing by my house when they are on the way back to the shop a drop a relatively clean load of the day's mulch for me. Saves them on dump fees and saves me a whole bunch of headache and cost. The hidden benefit is that I am able to put down thick enough layers of mulch that it lasts for a couple of years. Any log sections hidden in the mulch get split and used for my shop stove.

 

[woody]

There is a lot of good information and I think all of your questions have been answered, but I will share my experience I had a smaller dump trailer and could not haul my tractor in it so I bought a 14 foot 14K Dump with ramps and a scissor lift and I have no regrets. I did find out the hard way that the 7 pin plug can burn up if you don't disconnect when dumping, I wired up a simple relay cause I'm forgetful. I also carry a battery jump box with me and have used it many times to help the trailer battery dump a load. If I had it to again I would probably go with a goose neck but the one I have does everything I need.

 

[3Ts]

Rather than parroting the ever popular"go big or go home"philosophy,I'll give you suggestions that help you to make calls which fit your situation. Check to see what annual registeration cost's for 12&14k trailers. See what type annual inspection and insurance is required for various weight classes. The difference in above and below 10k Lbs is huge in Texas but states vary. If you are stopped for burnt out tail light,expired registeration or other minor traffic violations and have a clean driving record,below 10k usually results in a warning whereas above 10k is a different ball game. Cost of legally operating a large trailer in Texas exceeds what it cost's for 3 or 4 light duty.
As for keeping battery charged. If you follow the suggestion of jerry-rigging a system that eliminate's trailer battery and alow's using truck battery,you might be s-o-r-r-y. If trailer seperate's from hitch there will be no break-away brakes and things rarly end well. Even if there is never an event where brake-away brakes come into play,you risk a stiff fine and possible high risk insurance requirements if a trooper find's the cobbled up wireing.
This is about the point where drugstore cowboys and short haulers accuse me of Chicken Little behavior. Ask any long time cross country truck driver how they would be treated for disabling automaticly applied trailer brakes. Point(s) being even if your state isn't strict on commercial vehicles,the adjoining states might be if you have occasion to use their roads.
I'm not discouraging you buying a dump trailer,just advise going in with eyes open and/or possibly going with a sensiable size and spending savings on other toys.
For mulch and other light weight material,look at this

Depends on how the trailer is licensed. I have a 16' 14K gooseneck dump trailer that has just come up for license renewal. It is rated at 15700# GVW and the total fee is $9.75. ($5 registration, $0 local fees, $0 inspection, $4.75 processing & handling) It is licensed as a farm trailer. You will have to consider maintenance costs though, such as tires, battery, etc.

And I agree with the on-board battery. I'd keep it separate from the truck.

So far I've only hauled mulch which I can get 25 miles from here at $30/yd. Or I can drive 50 miles and get 8-10 yards at a time for free (except for cost of fuel). I am looking at getting rock for my driveway and am seriously looking at how much I need and whether I can haul that cheaper than having it trucked in. At the moment, I will probably have it trucked in (some will spread others will not) then spread it myself.

 

[Randy Gann]

Has anyone discussed cost versus convenience? Looking at the cost of the trailer will you really save anything hauling your own gravel? Or is more about the convenience of doing it on your own timeline? Another consideration is a larger non dump trailer for less money than a dump trailer. Maybe one large enough to transport your tractor with the ability to add sides to haul mulch or lumber and fencing. You could also haul gravel with this trailer but would have to unload it manually. But if you are just doing patches on your drive then manually unloaded may better utilize the gravel. Basically put it exactly where you need it.

 

[3Ts]

I am of the age and physical ability where ease and convenience out weigh cost. For many years I would haul mulch, sand, gravel, etc with my utility trailer with 2' sides in the stake pockets. I'd unload what I could with my tractor, then the rest by hand. Last load I did the whole load by hand because I couldn't get the tractor in. It took me a week (an hour or so at a time) to unload it. I bought a dump trailer shortly after that.

 

[3Ts]

Oh, by the way. There are some things that I can't get delivered no matter how much I'm willing to pay, the distance is just to far for the truckers to be interested. So, I have to make the drive if I want it, a big dump trailer makes for fewer trips.

 

[Sonny580]

The bigger trailers get my vote! -- BUT be sure you have a CDL! --- check your area for the regs! Here I have to have a CDL, yes even for my own use, cause loaded I am over 21,000 total weight.
I drive semis, so I am covered, AND laws vary from state to state and you probably would never get stopped unless you were in a crash!
Before you buy a trailer,---see how the wiring is routed in it!!! YA!-- I have a useless 14' Sure-trac that the factory put the wires inside the frame so rodents could have a field day in there!
I will have to run the wires outside the frame in sealed conduit to ever get lights to ever work on it again.
Next problem with it is that it wont dump one load on a new, fully charged battery! THATS why mine is getting a gas motor/hyd system installed on it!
As for spreading,---that depends on what kind of tailgate you get on one! mine is ONLY barn door half doors, so spreading very good is out with it.

 

[MOTractor]

Think like this... you use 10% of the battery for a heavy lift, drive back to get filled and drive back to dump site and in that time you recover 5%.

Repeat this 10 times and your at 50% remaining.

Always go bigger if you can afford it. Go with the 14K if you can.


Never load the front heavy, unless you like shovels.

Looking at the other post too, think I'll rule out the 10K. Thank you, had not thought of the lead time between hauls. I hate shovels..

The better trailers use either a resettable breaker or they use a relay/circuitry to isolate the truck battery whenever you dump. But its not hard to wire a cheap relay to do just that and there is actually a good you-tube video explaining about it.

3rd....they are handy trailers. I have a flat bed truck, and while I love the flat bed as opposed to a pickup box.....sometimes I miss having a PU because I have to strap EVERYTING. The dump trailer is like my mobile overzised pickup box. Moving furniture, firewood, lumber pallets, etc. If you get one....you will find lots of uses.

4th. may be a regional thing, but I'd let the dump trucks haul stone for the driveway. The trucking companies and quarries around me that work together.....can deliver stone to me for cheaper than I can even buy it for, let alone having to haul it myself a few ton at a time. Makes no sense to pay more per ton and put the wear on my equipment. I'll just take a bulk load, and always have gravel when I needed. But hauling bulk mulch, or a little topsoil here and there, thats a perfect use.

My neighbor can help with a breaker or relay, he's the electrical dude. I agree about the big box, I love ny long bed truck, most things I cal drop and go. Prices here keep going up and up. I got a load of clean gravel April 2020 and it was $280 delivered, about $165 was delivery - 16 tons.

Here is some good reading, if you’ve missed it.

Art of the dump trailer

Just got a 12' dump trailer to go along with the 16' equipment trailer I've been using and there is definitely a learning curve. I've made about 14 dumps so far and I'm figuring it out. So far all of dumps have been good expect the last two. One before last I loaded too tail heavy and things...

www.tractorbynet.com

How do you keep the trailer backup battery charged. (or do you)

Like most people here, over the years, I have had several trailers. Some have proven to be good and some have not. But every trailer that has had a backup brake battery has been a problem. Every battery has gone bad. Every year. So before long, I quit checking it. I live in Missouri which...

www.tractorbynet.com

Loading issues on Dump Trailer

I got a 6x12 10K dump trailer earlier this year. Due to tow limits of my 1/2-ton truck, I never purchase more than 3 tons of material. When loaded properly, the trailer tows great. But I'd say 80% of the time, the local yards load me with a forward bias, creating too much tongue weight. I...

www.tractorbynet.com

Dump trailer direct wire?

I know quite a few here have a dump trailer. Anyone decide to direct wire to run off the trucks battery? I see it is a fairly common thing cause when googling it, lots of posts on landscape type forums. I only dump the dump trailer with the electric maybe 20-30 times a year. Most of the time...

www.tractorbynet.com

Wow, thank you for the reading list. That will be tonight chore.

Speaking of adding ramps too.....if you plan on loading equipment make sure it can actually handle it.

The issue is the ramps clip into the swinging part of the tailgate. Some cheaper trailers explicitly warn about loading heavy equipment. The griffin dump trailer...7x14 14k that my buddies landscape company uses has a sticker on the back door in big bold that says MAX RAMP LOAD 5000 lbs.

They tried once loading the 8500# skidloader and it bent the bottom frame of the door cause it was only 2x2 lighter tube. They straightened it and welded it to the trailer because they dont ever have a need for tailgating.

I have a suretrac 7x12 12k and where/how the ramps attach is much heavier. 8k excavator loading is no issues at all.

I had not thought of the ramp ratings - adding that to my list!

 

[MOTractor]

Wow! Thank you for the 20+ replies! A lot to think about!

 

[MOTractor]

I suspect it’s that way nearly everywhere and people just have a false sense of saving money by doing it themselves. Locally I can get a 22 ton load hauled for $100 haul bill. Trying to haul it 4-5 tons at a time is laughable. You’re only $20-25 per trip at that point and having to buy fuel out of that. I can haul 10 tons or a little better on my truck but I still won’t do it for $50.

I can agree with that. I have a wood shop and know I have spent twice the amount building something - i just like to build....

 

[MOTractor]

I love my dump trailer. 14k. We use it to haul 4 to 5 yards of sand, gravel or fill dirt. Where I pile it is in the pasture and large trucks can not get back there. My son also uses it to clean up the tops from trees that has fallen or been cut. Great not having to unload by hand.
I have used to the transport my tractor but only once. We do plug the charger up about once every 2 months. Just a great addition to the farm.

Great point: I will be building a pad for a new addition to my pig pen area soon I hope - no way a dump truck could get there, but a dump trailer and my tractor I can.

 

[MOTractor]

Check to see what annual registeration cost's for 12&14k trailers. See what type annual inspection and insurance is required for various weight classes. The difference in above and below 10k Lbs is huge in Texas but states vary.

I'm in Missouri and I just checked DORs website and annual registration looks to be about $15 a year, no size or weight was mentioned - I did not search for commercial. No inspections that I know of. $52 will get me a permanent license plate and registration

As for keeping battery charged. If you follow the suggestion of jerry-rigging a system that eliminate's trailer battery and alow's using truck battery,you might be s-o-r-r-y. If trailer seperate's from hitch there will be no break-away brakes and things rarly end well. Even if there is never an event where brake-away brakes come into play,you risk a stiff fine and possible high risk insurance requirements if a trooper find's the cobbled up wireing.

So do the breakaway brakes need a battery?

His truck and a 14k trailer won’t exceed the 26k mark so I don’t see any pros with going with a 10k other than the upfront price.

I think I have talked myself into the 14K

There is a lot of good information and I think all of your questions have been answered, but I will share my experience I had a smaller dump trailer and could not haul my tractor in it so I bought a 14 foot 14K Dump with ramps and a scissor lift and I have no regrets. I did find out the hard way that the 7 pin plug can burn up if you don't disconnect when dumping, I wired up a simple relay cause I'm forgetful. I also carry a battery jump box with me and have used it many times to help the trailer battery dump a load. If I had it to again I would probably go with a goose neck but the one I have does everything I need.

Is scissor lift stronger than the ram?

Has anyone discussed cost versus convenience? Looking at the cost of the trailer will you really save anything hauling your own gravel? Or is more about the convenience of doing it on your own timeline?

For me I MIGHT save a tad on gravel, but it more about convenience and being able to schedule on my timeline. Doing mulch in one trip will save me a half days time or more.

 

[MOTractor]

The bigger trailers get my vote! -- BUT be sure you have a CDL! --- check your area for the regs! Here I have to have a CDL, yes even for my own use, cause loaded I am over 21,000 total weight.

Reading the MODOT CDL manual on weights and lengths made my head hurt. My Certificate of Origin for my F250 says my GVWR is 10K, the trailer i advertised an 14K. Class A and B were 26,001 and over, class C was less than 26,001 hauling hazmat of 16 or more people. I think I am good, i hope

Before you buy a trailer,---see how the wiring is routed in it!!! YA!-- I have a useless 14' Sure-trac that the factory put the wires inside the frame so rodents could have a field day in there!

As for spreading,---that depends on what kind of tailgate you get on one! mine is ONLY barn door half doors, so spreading very good is out with it.

I will look at the wiring route, field mice have ruined more than one of my days!

 

[nikerret]

Reading the MODOT CDL manual on weights and lengths made my head hurt. My Certificate of Origin for my F250 says my GVWR is 10K, the trailer i advertised an 14K. Class A and B were 26,001 and over, class C was less than 26,001 hauling hazmat of 16 or more people. I think I am good, i hope

I will look at the wiring route, field mice have ruined more than one of my days!

I was never an authority, in Missouri, but I did just go check the Missouri resources. From what I’ve read, you only need a Class F, as long as you’re only using it, for personal use. If you decide to go “for hire” you need a Class E (not a CDL until OVER 26,000 AND the trailer is 10,001, or more, of the 26,001).

https://dor.mo.gov/forms/Driver%20Guide.pdf

 

[nikerret]

So do the breakaway brakes need a battery?

Yes. The battery is what powers the brakes, when the break-a-way is used. When the trailer is plugged into the truck, the truck powers them. Some people have used their break-a-way as a parking brake, then wondered why their battery was dead.

I think I have talked myself into the 14K

Hard to go wrong, with a 14’/14k. If you were regularly hauling equipment or had other specific needs, other sizes might be better suited. For general use, the 14’ is a good choice. Most will have around 10k of payload capacity without going over any ratings.

Is scissor lift stronger than the ram?

In general, the best is a telescopic lift, but those are expensive. Unless you’re using it a lit, the telescopic isn’t likely worth the extra cost. The scissor lift is generally better than the Ram/push type, but design has a lit to do with it, too b

 

[chris.benjamin1]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this. Can’t just register it at a lower rate. I picked up a 7x12 Bri Mar earlier this month. Have used it several times it came with ramps and a combo gate $7399. Plus tax & registration. I was happy with price

Trailer has been great so far. Only downside so far is one of the cutouts for extending the sides us too small. I will have to remove a little material. Dealer is 90 miles away. Too far to travel for a piece of equipment that gets used

 

[nikerret]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL.

Not in Kansas and from the information I found, not in Missouri, either. That sounds similar to how California is, but I don’t have a working knowledge of their laws and application.

 

[4570Man]

Some of the smaller trailers just have a single stage cylinder under the bed. There’s nothing wrong with the setup it works for the capacity of the trailers. Some trailers have duel cylinders under the bed. No comment since I’ve never dealt with one. Most trailers will have a scissor hoist. They work for the advertised load but they’re not going to dump an overload. The best trailers have a vertical mounted telescoping cylinder in the front of the bed. This is how most dump trucks are setup and it’s by far the strongest of any option.

 

[MOTractor]

Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this. Can’t just register it at a lower rate. I picked up a 7x12 Bri Mar earlier this month. Have used it several times it came with ramps and a combo gate $7399. Plus tax & registration. I was happy with price

Trailer has been great so far. Only downside so far is one of the cutouts for extending the sides us too small. I will have to remove a little material. Dealer is 90 miles away. Too far to travel for a piece of equipment that gets used

That is a nice price!
Combined weight of 26,001 seems to be the magic number for CDL in Missouri, HazMat and 16 or more people excluded. Missouri also has exclusions for weight and oversized for farmers hauling grain, feed and equipment... I did not look them up

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

From what I’ve seen, it’s very regional. The only dump trucks that even get close to hauling 22 tons (legally) are all in the big cities. In my area, if you want 22 tons, in one load, it‘s either coming from a semi trailer or a guy with no insurance running very overweight.

It seems to vary state by state. Federal highways and interstate highways are regulated by the FMCSA manual that would put some of the numbers I've seen here in the grossly overweight category. My state has adopted the FMCSA statewide. Other states may allow the extra heavy loads on state and county roads. Here, 18 tons was what was put in a 4 axle pup trailer, some 5 axle trucks could hit close to 17. To get 22 tons in a single load would require a super solo with 3 drops plus a tailing booster totaling 7 axles.

(Any trailer registered over 10k. The driver must possess a CDL. Trailer sticker & title have to be redone to reflect this)

The FMCSA agrees with this statement but only for trucks over 26,000 gvw. It seems to be intended to force a driver to go from a class C CDL to a class A in order to pull the heavier trailer. States vary, but I limited myself to a 10.000 gvw trailer because of the ambiguity of state and federal law.