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Anybody have a dump trailer?
I am thinking about getting a 10 or 12 foot dump trailer.... not a farm type but a street legal deal.
I have narrowed it down to a 7000 pound GVW/dual axle.
Anything to watch out for? Any words of advice?
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
A deck between dumper is nicer to haul equipment with lower deck height and it is more stable, but a little more difficult to dump since deck gets closer to the ground, but if I were to buy one, I think I would go for that rather than the deck over. I have an off road deck over by Pronovost with 3 way dump, and they make some neat ones for on the road too, but a little salty.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
I have a dump trailer I use for my construction business. I would say for my work it probably the handiest trailer I own.I have 6'6" wide by 12' long box, it has 14,000 lb. gross weight rating. The manufacturing company is Sands out of MN. I purchased it 5 years ago from a dealer in Grantsburg WI. I belive he still sells the same brand. It has a battery to run the hydraulic system. I would recomend this type since even with daily heavy use its been trouble free.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
If you are going to actually use it as a dump trailer on a regular basis, most people don't, there are a few small things that will make it more usable.
First of all, go with one that has a post hoist as opposed to the scissor lift style, the post type lifts better if the load is front-end heavy and will not twist up. Scissor mechanisms are notorious for buckling sideways under big, or unbalanced loads, an expensive oopsey.
Secondly, as Denwood touched on, be cognizant of the distance between the bottom of the box and the ground when it is all the way up. I have seen some that the rear overhang was long enough that a) it bent the frame rails, and b) lifted the trailer off the suspension when all the way up on uneven ground.
Third, be sure it has the 'two way' doors, they swing open to dump, and drop down as ramps. The straight 'barn doors only' type are a PITA to use as a float because you have to mess around with ramps.
Fourth, if you plan on using the dump as a float, be sure to order tie downs, or better still, little flaps over openings in the front corners and tie rings outside. Chaining inside the dump with a CUT in there also is an exercise in acrobatics best left to younger folks than us. To this end, unless you will be constantly hauling lots of light, bulky stuff, order fairly short sides with stake pockets on top. Lifting out a board or two sure beats trying to fold your lunch over the side to reach the binders.
Fifth, and most importantly, resist the temptation to get a 2 & 5/16" ball coupler on it, go with a lunette ring & pintle hook coupler setup. Dump trailer get VERY light on the hitch when you are either loading or unloading (dump or drive) something heavy. My dump, which is basically the same as you are contemplating (just visible on the brown truck in my picture # 5) will almsot lift the back of the truck off the ground when loading the 'Bota or SSL or dumping a heavy load.
Finally, if possible, spec. it out with either 16" or 16.5" tires NOT the 14.5 UTG (mobile home) type tires, they run down the road WAY nicer, and will not fall off the rim when a little soft. UTG's are wORSE than underinflated R4's are for coming off the rim.
Best of luck.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
Mark:
I have the deck over style which is higher for better dumping. I upgraded mine from 3,500 pound axles to 5,000 pound that comes larger tires which I thought (and is) better if driving over soft terrain. It is a little bouncey driving down the road empty. The deckover style is narrower if you need to get in tight spots. The tongue is high and I use a solid receiver bar with inverted 4" drop and 2 5/16" ball.
Mine has a single cylinder that has trouble lifting at times although I'm prone to overloading. Check out the diameter size of the cylinder(s) for lift capacity. I am overloading it which is common for me especially toward the front.
You can get several options and I don't know the correct terms. Suggest getting one with a taller headboard than the sides. That way if you like, you can install a 2 x 6 on the sides to make sideboards which help with cubic feet capacity when hauling lighter materials. It also helps to build a taller pile of heavier materials directly over the wheels which helps not only in trailering but also ease of dumping. Third reason is when you miss and hit the sides with your loader, etc. you can through the board away and get a newone. With mine, the deckover will tilt very tall, like 80 degrees or more.
You can also get a built-in roll-up fabric mesh cover/tarp that mounts on the headboard to meet highway transportation specs for hauling sand/stone/woodchips, etc.
Mine has a regular tailgate the same height as the sides. It has pins on top to let the tailgate fold down. It also has pins on the bottom to let the tailgate fold up if you want to dump and regulate the amount coming out like to spread a driveway. Some manufacturers have a handle at the left front corner that allows you to trip this function without re-moving pins. Another option is to have a tailgate that has supports and hinges that are about 2 foot above the sideboards. This allows you to dump thicker and loose materials through the bottom release. Often these types of tailgates have solid halves that go to the height of the sides and expanded metal for the upper half. This then also functions as a ramp.
If you have a deckover design it is too tall to attempt to try driving up vehicles/atvs, mowers, etc. If you have a lower model, you can also get a thicker metal bottom which can handle a concentrated load like a heavy tractor.
Most trailers have terrible paint jobs. The paint will wear off on the deck real fast and rust. If you spray it with line-X or whatever, it has a sticky texture that inhibits good sliding and slipage. In Michigan the road salts, etc. have rusted the bottom of the trailer also. I'm planning to sell mine and get a new one and immediately spray the bottom/underneath with line-X.
Allot of trailer manufacturers serving the Mid-West are located around Elkardt, IN. One very larger trailer manufacturer is there that sells from RV's, campers, flatbeds, utility and dump trailers. That is forestriver.com and then you can go to their many divisions. I paid about $3,500.00 for mine with spare, tall headboard, no tarp cover about 4-5 years ago.
Another real popular brand is the "Rascal". Someone on this site has posted a picture of it. In our area Bri-Mar is popular. Beagle once said in a post that Bri-mar's have a bad reputation as not being able to lift loads even with twin cylinders. I don't know about that but Bri-Mars are about as popular as Rascals.
Last fall mine neighbor and I built sideboards for 4' tall sides to haul woodchips, I can get 9 yards on her! Happy shopping!!!
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
If you look at photo 17 under drcjv you will see the rascal which is a model of the Bri-Mar. I had thought they were different companies.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
Dump trailers
I have a 5 foot wide by 8 foot long by one
foot high Midsota Manufacturing with a 3500
single axel. I have no lights or springs
because I only use it on my property. It has
a hydraulic hoist run by a 12 volt battery.
Once you learn how to use it, you will find it
to really be a handy item. I can put close to
2 yards of gravel (unless the gravel is wet or
the land I have to cross is wet). I hauled over
400 yards of gravel (YES-that # is right) last summer. Your dual
axel 7000 sounds right. Not sure what width or
height you plan to fill it to or with what. I
am very happy with mine. I went small because
I have to cross low land to get where I am going.
Also, it takes some power to pull this when full.
I use my WD-45 Allis Chalmers and it handles it well.
doc
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
I have a 12' X 88" W X 4'H dump trailer with dual 7000 # axles and load range G tires. I use it to haul manure and wood shavings for my horses. Make sure hydraulic system battery charges off vehicle. It's a bummer when you go to dump and there's not enough juice left. I should have gotten 3' sides and 14 foot length because my tractor bucket just barely goes over the side when loading and it's hard to evenly spread the load inside. With tall sides like I have, it would be easy to overload trailer if I filled it with sand or rock. Trailer was made by TARGET, an east TX company. Rear doors swing like barn doors to both sides. You must make sure to hook them back before dumping or they will contact the ground and slide off the hinges (voice of experience talking here). I probably should have gotten rear door hinged at top like a tandem dump truck for my purpose but if I had, it would have made loading into the trailer difficult if you ever used it for hauling something that had to be loaded from the rear by forklift or by ramp.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
My biggest problem was I kept trying to figure out how to combine the features of a 16 foot flatbed and a dump trailer.
It can be done..... but not with a 7200 pound towing capacity. The only option was to have two trailers.
I got a locally made 6x10 deck-over yesterday for $4200 plus all the taxes and such. The first load was 4000+ pounds of old concrete foundation chunks.
It dumped that load with no problem what-so-ever. That would have been a serious pain in the a$$ to unload by hand. Geez, I am glad those days are over.
My wallet is feeling guilty but my back is feeling fine.
Thanks to all for the input.
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Anybody have a dump trailer?
My father told when I was starting my business that I needed to remember to direct & delegate.
Then as I was getting older, and started having back problems, he told me to start working more with my head, and less with my brain.
Now I've pretty much figured out the part I missed.
My back defers to my brain, my brain directs & delegates my wallet on how best to accomplish the task.
The work is not nearly as hard now...... .
Best of luck.
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