Dump trailer project

[atgreene]

I managed to get this trailer from an accident scene.

Original owner let someone borrow it.

Borrower had wrong size ball

Trailer had no brakes

Trailer had no safety chains

Borrower had no clue

Borrower loaded it with shingles and headed out

Trailer parted company with the truck

Shingles went everywhere

Wrecker operator calls me to clean-up shingles with excavator

(begining to see a pattern here)

Wrecker operator doesn't get paid for tow once DOT CVE is done with the guy.

Wrecker operator files with the state, sells me the trailer for $50.00 tow charge.

So now I have a project.

We started last summer and didn't get it done as we had a busy winter. My welder built a whole new tailgate. We came up with a new tailgate latch set-up (yup, that's a piece of pto shaft for the lever lock:wink).

Put a new hitch on.

Working on the ram. I need a 36" ram as the 24" ram they had on it didn't dump high enough.

I still need to do all new brakes and wiring, but it should make a nice 6 yard dump trailer for me. :wink:popcorn2

[atgreene]

A few more.

Anybody good with hydraulic ram geometry? I'm trying to determine where the ram needs to be to get the most out of it.:beatsme

[snowjoker]

Cant you leave the ram in the same position and put the longer one in its place ? You might want to think about using 2 cylinders to lift it to prevent twisting. Nice score. Looks homemade with a couple mobile home axles.

[Fastjohnny]

Best thing you could have done is switch that to a pintle.

I lost one off the correct size ball a few years ago, coupler was still pinned. I won't trust a dump on a ball hitch, as coupler wears bad from all the jarring and backing up a dump trailer does.

[atgreene]

Walt, I may leave the ram in the same place, but we want to experiment a little. The guys who built this thing screwed everything else up, so I have no reason to doubt that they mounted this wrong. Even the axles were mounted upside down.:huh

[nick13]

its looking good i dont know how bad it was when you got it but it really looks like its comming along. make sure to post pics when you finish it

[EIB]

You could mount it on the front. My dump insert has it there. Also alot of big dumps have mounted on the front.

[atgreene]

I scored a good find today. Found a twin ram set-up, pto pump, hoses, plates, pins, cab consol and assorted extras from a 14' stake dump.

BTW, the rams are 5" x 36":eek:. Looks like they are in excellant shape.

I'm thinking one of those bad boys for the dump trailer, but I may need a larger hydro resevoir. Thats a lot of fluid.

The other ram may get retro'd to the 5500 with the pto pump mounted to the allison and the consol controls installed in the cab.

Not a bad find for $500.00:D

[Alan]

Alan, are those double acting cylinders? If they are you only need reservoir capacity greater than the difference between the volume of the push side and the pull side. DA cylinders return almost as much oil to the tank as they use to extend. SA cylinders need tank capacity greater than the volume they need to travel a full stroke.

[atgreene]

A little update!

Those rams are telescoping! And btw, if I failed to mention it before, THEY'RE FREAKING HUGE! 3' ram that extends to 8' 6", life is good:D.

Here's a few pics of the install. This thing will dump a house when we're done.:eek:

[DanG]

i didn't see any safety in place to keep that from dropping and crushing you.
i hope it's there and just not in the pic.
You hear horror stories all the time about dump bodies falling in hurting or killing people.

[chipsearthworks]

WOW!!:eek: I think you will bend the trailer in half before you exced the capcity of the ram! Dam that thing is big.

Oh and I am sure he has something to hold up the bed..... Right Alan??:wink:wink

[chtucker]

Don't worry that is not Alan.... thats the welder:D

[Alan]

Alan, I'm not trying to be smarta$$ here, but will the frame withstand the ultimate power of that cylinder? Sure would be a shame to get it (over)loaded and find out the cylinder could make a horseshoe out of the frame.

What's the set of disks in the pictures? Wondered if maybe that was some sort of device to break up compacted gravel as you spread a new layer on top.

[EIB]

Alan,

I'm thinking the disk are for counter weight. To prevent the trailer from tipping. Might even have a tractor hook to them.

[atgreene]

That is my welder, and yes, he had welded some struts in place to keep it up.

The disks were on the tractor, we used the hydro quick conect remote to power the ram, that's why it's parked next to it. I'm re-doing a portion of the field in front of my house.

The frame for the trailer is 6" I beam, no danger of bending, she's heavy.:D

I need to replace the axles now, they are cambers the wrong way and are a one spring set-up. I have some heavier ones to put under it.

As for pump, I'm not sure. The ram takes 2 1/2 gallons of fluid at full extension, but it only needs to go 3/4 the way up to dump anything in the body. My truck dump hydro/elct pack may work ok. The pump that came with the rams will bolt right up to the pto on the Topkick, which I bought last year and never installed.:mad: All things in due time.