TILT TRAILER CONVERTED TO DUMP TRAILER

npalen · Oct 24, 2013

I use this little 4'x8' trailer to haul lawn clippings and debris to the local landfill. Added the 3000 LB winch to tilt the bed up to 40 degrees to make easier work of dumping. The "training wheels" in the back are to allow pulling the trailer ahead to finish the dump. It worked OK without the little wheels but had to get in and out of the pickup several times to switch the transmission between park and neutral to let the pickup roll back when dumping.

xtn · Oct 25, 2013

Hey that's pretty clever. I've never seen a dump trailer with that sort of design.

npalen · Oct 25, 2013

Thanks. The drop down lever under the tongue is there to add leverage for the winch at the start of the lift. The leverage increases as the bed tilts back and the winch cable moves away from the end of the lever. The lever pivots up under the tongue when not being used and the cable holds it in place for road travel.

I've had some trouble with the 3-way toggle switch in the hand held remote control. It quit working a while back but I was able to switch the wires to an unused second pole on the switch. Worked for a while but is starting to act up again. I don't understand why the switch is failing as it should just be switching enough amperage to operate the up and down solenoids. Is 12VDC that hard on switches?

Sysop · Oct 25, 2013

npalen said:
Thanks. The drop down lever under the tongue is there to add leverage for the winch at the start of the lift. The leverage increases as the bed tilts back and the winch cable moves away from the end of the lever. The lever pivots up under the tongue when not being used and the cable holds it in place for road travel.

I've had some trouble with the 3-way toggle switch in the hand held remote control. It quit working a while back but I was able to switch the wires to an unused second pole on the switch. Worked for a while but is starting to act up again. I don't understand why the switch is failing as it should just be switching enough amperage to operate the up and down solenoids. Is 12VDC that hard on switches?

You're likely drawing more current with that winch motor than the switch is rated for (amps not volts). Many times such things are activated through a relay.

Very clever design.