Winch adapted to raise dump trailer

[California]

I posted this in the Harbor Freight thread but I thought it might be of general interest.

Here's a different photo:



I'm not lifting a lot of weight here. This trip was 650 lbs on the dump's scale, and the capacity of the trailer is 1500 lbs payload. Adding this lifting device makes unloading much easier.

[from my other post:]

I used the HF camo remote winch to make a lift for my dump trailer. It works great.

This is real simple: aluminum channel for a mast and a HF 3" block (pulley) hooked to the top of the mast. The mast has a inch-deep notch at the bottom to stay on the trailer tongue. Power is a HF 650/1200 amp jump start battery.

[Link to full size photo].

This little winch is easily worth the present $50 sale price.

Hard to see in the photo - I added a two ft rope to the winch's hook to pull out cable so my hands aren't near a pinch point. This is not a tool you want to get close to.

The winching assembly is detached and carried separately when not in use. I should make a simpler version of the chain that attaches to the trailer.

 

[tglass]

I like it. Cheap, simple, easy & quickly made that could be added to a trailer. Should be a forum on here for cheap and easy. Wait, maybe I phrased that wrong.

 

[DavidNPro]

Thats a neat setup you have there. Looks like it works pretty good for what you are hauling. When you bought the trailer was it just a regular dump that was manually activated? Or did you have to do some modifications to it for the bed to dump like that?

 

[Deadman]

Still looks like alot of shoveling, because the trailer doesn't tilt high enough.
Good idea tho.

 

[California]

Looks like it works pretty good for what you are hauling. When you bought the trailer was it just a regular dump that was manually activated? Or did you have to do some modifications to it for the bed to dump like that?

looks like alot of shoveling, because the trailer doesn't tilt high enough. Good idea tho.

Thanks for the comments. The trailer is made to pivot. You pull the pin that holds the front of the bed down on the drawbar. The back end of the drawbar is pinned to the middle crossmember for a hinge.

This is a Snow Bear from Home Depot. It's from Canada and I expect it is marketed as a drive-on snowmobile trailer up there. It's light and small, 4.5 ft x 8 ft.

This trailer has great features. The front and back panels can be installed backward (into the 45 degree holes that their feet slip into) to make 3 ft flat deck extensions front and rear. Then the drawbar can be extended 3 ft to clear the front extension.

Its 2000 lb GVW matches my Subaru's tow specs. I also pull it around the orchard with my small tractors, for example the last photo shows taking 225 gallons of water to some new trees.

Deadman - Yep, it's kinda low but loading the ivy prunings with a pitchfork I wouldn't want it as tall as say a 4x4 pickup or a contractor's dump trailer. It worked well to tip the trailer at the dump and slide the load back with the pitchfork until it dragged the ground, then I drove forward and the mass of ivy slid back some more.

I learned last time to not stomp a solid load of ivy prunings down in the trailer with the backhoe. .... don't ask. This time was easy to unload.

I like it. Cheap, simple, easy & quickly made that could be added to a trailer. Should be a forum on here for cheap and easy. Wait, maybe I phrased that wrong.

Heck I'll acknowledge cheap and simple. Just ask my wife.

 

[California]

Still looks like alot of shoveling, because the trailer doesn't tilt high enough.
Good idea tho.

Lifting the whole trailer works fine - if I haven't left the ranch. The portable winch lifter is for dump runs.