Dump trailer

[Pat]

Egon, My limited experience and visualization ability prevents my understanding what you are describing.

I don't understand the inverted V or the opening side plates.

I thought about something like a five sided box with easily attached/detached hinges at the rear (opposite the ram assy.) The tailgate would be hinged at the top and could be manually latched and unlatched at the bottom like the 10 wheel dumps I used (hinged at top not the bottom like a conventional pickup.)

If you think what you were describing is simpler or easier or cheaper to build or would work better then please try me again. Mabe a simple sketch if you have a scanner or post a snapshot of your sketch.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Egon was describing the "fixed box" side dump rig, where the interior of the box has a mountain range running the length of it and the ridge of the mountain range runs front to back forming two separate valleys, one on each side. The valley is formed by the side of the box and the slope of the mountain range. The material is held by little gates that are in the vertical walls of each side of the box. By pulling the slides out you can dump the material out of the sides of the box; over the edge of the trailer, and onto the ground. There are actually quite a few applications that use this system. Some have the entire side of the box on a hinge at the top and a lengthwise bar holds the bottom from opening until the operator throws a lever and the bar flops down, letting the lower edge of the hinged side flip out, releasing the material. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] In point of fact, a side-dump "box attachment" would be a pretty good way to go with your existing trailer since you would have full control over the exact position on the trailer that you want the load to be. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] How about this: You make a setup which has two supports setting crosswise on the trailer, with a hinged dump box which has a floor that slopes to one side at about a 1:4 rise, and then on the high side have the dump cylinder. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Dave, Thans for the clarificatiion. As soon as you made the inverted V a 3D idea and mentioned dumping on both sides, it was obvious. I'm sure that approach is simple and low tech/maint/cost BUT I guess I'm expecting to put the load into a pile like with a 10 wheel dump truck. Your description of a hydraulic side dump reminds me of one of my first candidates.

In that mental design exercise I put a sloping side on the box on the side where you dump so you don't have to elevate the box too radically to get the material out. I was considering stabilizing jacks for the dump side since the one side's wheel bearings and tires hold almost all the load when you are elevating the box but the material hasn't begun to dump seriously yet. Not really outriggers, probably just something simple, mechanical and vertical with decent sized feet to spread the load. I had originally thought a couple innexpensive pivoting tongue jacks with "overshoes" to increase their footprint.

It still bugs me that I was so sure I had bought a dump truck, having agreed to price and indicating I would pay and pick it up at the owners convenience. I never heard anything to the contrary but the truck is parked in his yard now for a couple months having been returned from the auction location where it did not sell. I see this guy as much as 2-3 times a week and he is the pumper who handles the 2 oil wells on my property (NO I DON"T GET ANY THING FROM THEM) so he is around frequently and only lives 1/2 mile away. My best guess is that his wife decided the price wasn't high enough or something similar. Still, I'd expect to be told something like he changed his mind or SOMETHING not just silence. OH WELL...

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

ahh-- just dump one side, turn around and dump the othersid on the first pile. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Egon, Gee What was I thinking? What a clever solution.

Thanks,

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Naw; It's not a solution if it's not in the desired range or does not meet expectations.

For a dump trailer it may be easier to build one from scratch so the weight distribution is proper. This trailer would also have a much smaller pyhsical size. A slide on unit will invariablly be built too large and then filled.

On an exsiting lowbed trailer:
Side dumping will partially balance over the wheel wells making for a few small inconveiniences. Belly dump means you will probably be dumping onto the axles. Rear dump is too far back.

Look; the house is finished, you need another project to wind down!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Actually the dump isn't finished. I am still moving along. My wife estimates 3 more years as she recons my progress.

Short trailers are more manuverable, perhaps too much so. I was just hoping to be able to use the existing trailer platform since it is a sunk cost and is fairly robust. As small trailers go,12000 lbs gross is about as far as you can go with 2 axles and I have that plus electric brakes with breakaway system. I think adding a dump capability should be a fairly small percentage of the total cost of a another, purpose built, trailer. I don't need more tires to replace as they rot off, more bearings to pack, more lights to fuss with, etc. I'm willing to take a compromoise for the simplicity.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Nat]

I finally took some pics of the finished trailer. I painted it black, cause I had black paint, and put the sideboards on it. I have used it several times this week. I bought another house to fix and sell and it needed a new roof. We pulled off 28 squares of shingles and I hauled them to the dump. The first load was just under 2 tons and it didn't even change the sound of the pump.
I stopped at the local wood recycler on the way home and got 5 yards of mulch. Here is the trailer when I got here.

[Nat]

I made a split tailgate for it. The tailgate frame is 1" x 1" tubing with 14 gauge metal panels. A piece of 5/8" rod down thru the end tube and into a 3/4" hole in an angle bracket welded to the rear crossmember makes the latch.

[Nat]

I really hate to tell this, but one mess-up is the tailgate. I had 2 pieces of metal that I was going to use as the filler panels for the gate. I cut them to the length I needed and as they were a little taller than I needed I just left them the height they were and made the bottom hinges to fit them. After I had them pinned in place I opened them up and they won't swing flush with the sides because they hit the tires. When I unload it I swing the gates open till they are close to the tires and use a bungie cord to hold them open. I am going to make a permenant chain to hold them open, but havn't had the time.