Dump Trailer - start to finish

[Renze]

This top hinge design is a (PAIN) when you're transporting materials like straw manure or branches. It all plugs up behind the tail gate, and if your trailer is big enough it would go sit on its back, lifting either the front of your truck or the rear end of your tractor. There are lots of pictures of that situation in the net.

 

[EddieWalker]

Holy Smokes man, what about my windshield and paint job?
I know that statement is only true of you while your on your property - right?

Larry,

My dump truck isn't street legel. My lights are either missing or not connected. I've been thinking of getting it registered just so I can drive it half a mile down the road to get gas. Right now I use 5 gallon cans.

If I ever get it registered and drive it on the streets, I'll have the tailgait locked shut. hahaha

Eddie

 

[patrick_g]

With inside dimensiions of 50 X 100 inches you have 34.7 sq ft of area so every foot of depth gives you 1.286 cubic yds of material. Or alternatively you get a cubic yard for every 9 1/3 inches of depth. You could certainly overload the axle with heavy material before you would overflow the container but I would never suggest the container should be smaller because it is so handy for loads of lighter materials such as the cord wood. Water for comparison weighs about 1685 lbs per cu yd. Dirt, rocks, or cement is about twice as heavy as water. (multiply by specific gravity of the material)----------------Pat

 

[jjcc246]

beautiful job, looks like it was time cunsuming but the end result makes it all worth it. i built a trailer a while ago and it was a fun project. no plans, just winging it as you go. excellant post by the way

 

[cleatus]

Renze, I've seen the results you talk about when gate is chained to only open a couple inches to spread gravel. The trick for that is to chain the front so it can only raise part way. With straw and manure I would pull the top pins before dumping. I saw two guys fired the same day for not chaining the front of their beds. Of course the firing happened after they shoveled enought out that truck could be pulled dovn on all four.

 

[Nuru]

Good work, very good work and inspiring.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Great job on the trailer, One thing to do to the gate is like on our roll off trucks you could make the gate swing one way. Or like an old International Pay Hauler that had the big apron tail gate thats uses one articulating dumps. Theres a pivot in the middle of the bed and it has chains down to the frame. when the bed raises the gate opens super wide.One of the Moxy rucks I ran had one that we loaded brush and shot boulders never hung up.

 

[Greenhouseray]

John,

Thank you very much,

The leaf springs being rigidly connected - yes that is one of the issues I struggled with in my mind for a long time. As you are so observant to notice, I mounted them rigid. My decision to do it that way reduced the height of the bed by at least 6" and of course allowed me to use the end of the spring for the tilt hinge. But of course the draw back was loosing a lot (most) of the spring action. I have seen quite a few commercial trailers where the springs were rigid mounted, as well as most all Semi Trucks.

Top bracing for the cylinders - good point too. The angle iron that they are attached to at the top is 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 3/16" (very stout), plus the floor is bolted to it and the cylinders are close to the edges where the I beams and the diamond plating for the sides are. I figured it would work, and so far so good. As far as bracing for the bottom, the 3" channel does not even budge when the bed is lifted. The bed ID is ~ 50"X100" and the load capacity is around 2500# max. In the video there was about 1500# of wood in it.

What a terrific Job. The trailer is great because of the extent of recycling you did, but what is much better is the way you shared it with us. Your narrative and pictures made me feel as if I had participated in building the trailer and had been with you as you built it. What is your profession? I think you must be a journalist with a degree from the best Journalism school .
Greenhouseray

 

[mboulais]

Nice Trailer. It looks like a very profesional job all the around. I especially like the wood deck.

 

[jmcalli]

Very nice project. Can you answer some questions?

I know very little about hydraulics and would like to know which hydraulic cylinders you chose, and why. What is their diameter and stroke? What is their rated lift capacity? Could the hydraulics be powered by a 12V battery-operated pump in the absence of tractor hydraulics?

I see commercial dump trailers for $8,000.00 and up. If I could build one to haul behind my pickup truck for $4,000.00 (or less) I would definitely consider it. What do you think it would cost to build one if you had to buy all the materials, either new or from a metal salvage yard?

I have some welding equipment and experience (stick, TIG, and gas) but would probably get a MIG for a project like this. I've been looking for a good excuse to buy a MIG outfit . I have access to some shop equipment and could fabricate the spring mounts, cylinder mounts, etc., as you did.

James

 

[GuglioLS]

What a terrific Job. The trailer is great because of the extent of recycling you did, but what is much better is the way you shared it with us. Your narrative and pictures made me feel as if I had participated in building the trailer and had been with you as you built it. What is your profession? I think you must be a journalist with a degree from the best Journalism school .
Greenhouseray

Ray,

Thanks, you are very kind. A bit of a stretch about my writing skills though, but very flattering nonetheless.
Anyway my profession ? - my background and real skills are in Electronics & Optics. I service Inductivly Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometers (ICP-MS) and ICP Emission Spectrometers (Google it.) This was a most enjoyable project. And like you said, I was able to recycle a few outdated, unused old projects to create a new usable one. I am honored that you, and so many others have enjoyed it.

Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

jmcalli -........ (James)
I know very little about hydraulics and would like to know which hydraulic cylinders you chose, and why.What is their diameter and stroke? 2.5" Dia x 16" stroke I used 2 on on each side, most dump trailers use one larger dia cylinder in the center.

What is their rated lift capacity? Could the hydraulics be powered by a 12V battery-operated pump in the absence of tractor hydraulics? 2300 psi input to a 2.5" dia cyl = 11,284.375 pounds of force.
A 12v powered pump would work.

I see commercial dump trailers for $8,000.00 and up. If I could build one to haul behind my pickup truck for $4,000.00 (or less) I would definitely consider it. What do you think it would cost to build one if you had to buy all the materials, either new or from a metal salvage yard? Thats a good question I can not answer - I build mine out of 95% scrap I had collected over the years. I would imagine you could build one for much less than 4 grand, depending on size.

 

[JoeJ]

WOW!!! Excellent job!! 3 thumbs up on this.

One suggestion, unless I'm just not seeing something.
When your bed is down, I see it sitting on the back hinges, and I assume the cylinders.

Unless I'm missing something, I'd put bumper blocks on both frame rails for it to sit on when in the down position

 

[GuglioLS]

Fantastic job. Is there a tailgate in your future? I'd be interested in your design.

It's been 3 years since I "finished" my dump trailer now it finally has a tailgate, better late than never right?

The plan is to have it operate as a dump gate and tailgate. In dump mode it will be hydraulically controlled. In tailgate mode it will be manually operated. First was to draw up basic operation of the gate in hydraulic mode to identify placement of the cylinders.

This is the basic concept I started with:



One gate shown in three positions, closed, dump mode, tailgate mode.


Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

First order of business was to make hinges for the top of the gate.
I made some CNC plasma cut parts then bent them 90* on my H/F 20 ton press with the metal bending anvil I made for my landscape rake build. After that it was on to making two mounts for the cylinders.





I'm always looking for new ways to lock hinge pins so they don't rotate with the cylinder and came up with this idea:



Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

The main part of the lower hinge is 1" dia CRS rod, after cutting it on the band saw I wanted to true up the ends. I found a 1" id bearing I had laying around and used it to steady the rod as I turned it in the lathe. I was surprised how well it worked, not only that most impressive was how true that 60" long rod was to begin with:



Now that most of the parts are fabricated it was time to start welding things into place. The cylinder mounts were welded into place at the correct position to allow full extend and retract of the 16" stroke cylinders.




Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

I managed to complete the tail gate fabrication in a day. This is what it looks like after all the welds cooled off:




Next was to design and plasma cut a curvaceous hinge bracket. That component is key in getting the gate to operate as both a tailgate and a dump gate. In the first pic on the left is the a-cad drawing, on the right the real live part that I plasma cut:




Here the hinge bracket is fitted and welded into position. Notice the welded caps on the end of the cylinder cross tube, those further aid in keeping the cylinder and gate in alignment



Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

After a paint job, cylinders installed and a close up of the top hinge bracket used for dump mode:



Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Next was to install a cable to support the tailgate when opened in the tailgate mode. I found just the right thing at Harbor Freight. They carry a stainless steel cabling system used for balustrades and trellises it was just the ticket for what I needed:

Threaded Eye Terminal
4MM cable



And of course a short demonstration video:




That's about it on this project (for now). Maybe next year I'll add a nice set of diamond plate fenders for the wheels. Thanks for checking this out.

Larry

 

[jdmar]

GuglioLS for President...or Senator, or Congressman...or SOMETHING!

What?!?!...He has a great idea and carries it through to success. I just think that is needed now. Good ole Yankee hard work and ingenuity.

It must be a pleasure to use also. Nice Job.
Peter