Dump trailer build 14K lbs.

[fnieto]

The dump trailer frame was built to fit an existing bed that was built back in 1998. The frame is 6" channel with duel 7K axels (electric brakes). The hoist kit was purchased via ebay for $1295 (free shipping) which included the pump,battery cables,safety bar, hinges and hydraulic lines. The company that sells the kit gets around $1400 plus shipping, so the ebay deal was a no brainer.

I work alone so things go a bit slow at first as I built the main frame upside down on the floor. Once the axels and welding was was complete the frame was flipped right side up the welding was completed and we had a rolling frame. A sub box frame was built from 1/4"x2"x3" to accommodate the 3" "pocket" needed for the hoist. This allowed me to safely cycle the system and double check the dump angle I was looking for without the box. The hoist system was only tacked at this point.

 

[steel 35]

I thought mine was heavy! My wife could not understand (why) when I was building it, kept saying it over and over now she guards it like a first born

 

[volleyball]

Up here there are frames that survived but not many boxes. You might have gotten one for the price of the hydraulics.
Who did you get the hydraulics from? Do they have light duty models?

 

[fnieto]

Up here there are frames that survived but not many boxes. You might have gotten one for the price of the hydraulics.
Who did you get the hydraulics from? Do they have light duty models?

The power hoist was purchased from Premium Supply, The model I'm using is
PH516. They do offer lighter models PH310-416 and more robust from PH520-630. The bed/box I built in 1999 is all 10 ga. with a one piece floor.

 

[fnieto]

The Hydraulic lines and frame penetrations where all done with out any oil as I knew I needed to paint the frame and did not want to paint/mask off lines and wiring.

 

[fnieto]

oops, forgot the pictures.

 

[larry_g]

I have a similar trailer and found one thing missing ,for me, is a support leg at the rear to hold up the trailer when loading things with the ramps. I also find that the box for the hydraulics unit is to small to store straps and bungy cords.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[fnieto]

The frame penetration for the hydraulic line was framed in with 3/8" round bar to prevent chaffing. Hinges,safety bar and hoist tacked in for operational check and verification of desired dump angle.

 

[fnieto]

I have a similar trailer and found one thing missing ,for me, is a support leg at the rear to hold up the trailer when loading things with the ramps. I also find that the box for the hydraulics unit is to small to store straps and bungy cords.

lg
no neat sig line

lg, thanks for the input, The concrete contractor used a one ton with utility bed so he has more storage boxes. This trailer has will have no ramps as his machines are on heavier trailers. My dump trailer has the ramps haha.

 

[kerrynzl]

Your engineering is great! Nice build.

Just curious about the axle placement
It looks reasonably central to the deck [which is ideal for a car hauler]

On a tipper , when the deck is 1/2 tipped up, all the weigh is transferred to 3 points [the 2 pivots, and the base of the ram ] which are behind the axle centreline

My Brother is halfway through doing his dump trailer or the second time [after a few differences of opinions] because it tries to lift off the towball

Dump trucks have the axles placed rearward.

 

[ishiboo]

Your engineering is great! Nice build.

Just curious about the axle placement
It looks reasonably central to the deck [which is ideal for a car hauler]

On a tipper , when the deck is 1/2 tipped up, all the weigh is transferred to 3 points [the 2 pivots, and the base of the ram ] which are behind the axle centreline

My Brother is halfway through doing his dump trailer or the second time [after a few differences of opinions] because it tries to lift off the towball

Dump trucks have the axles placed rearward.

I think his looks about right, they're pretty far back. There is only so much you can do, when full if they are too far back it'll ride like ****, unload the front axle of the tow vehicle, and have too high of a tongue weight for the hitch... only thing you can do is have it get a bit light in the front when dumping, or make it really long.

 

[ishiboo]

Looks GREAT OP... I have an EZ-Dumper, looked to replace it but new ones are not made the way the EZ-Dumpers are and they no longer make standalone trailers, so this coming winter I'm probably going to strip it down and have it painted, refresh the hydraulics, etc. It's structurally 100%, just looking a bit tired.

 

[fnieto]

Your engineering is great! Nice build.

Just curious about the axle placement
It looks reasonably central to the deck [which is ideal for a car hauler]

On a tipper , when the deck is 1/2 tipped up, all the weigh is transferred to 3 points [the 2 pivots, and the base of the ram ] which are behind the axle centreline

My Brother is halfway through doing his dump trailer or the second time [after a few differences of opinions] because it tries to lift off the towball

Dump trucks have the axles placed rearward.

Thanks,
the base of the hoist is actually fwd of the front axel. I have built a few dumpers and have had pretty great towing and dump performance. The actual dump angle is determined by the center line (CL) of the hinge pins to CL of hoist pins. The measurement for this angle (45 degree) was 76 inches. The bed over hangs 24" past the frame. It should dump with out being coupled to the tow rig.

 

[fnieto]

Some welding securing the hinges. The channel tacked to the sub box frame was simply to conduct an operational dump check. The bed will be skip welded to the sub frame.
I felt the need to beef up the hinges with gussets. The iron worker made short work of this.
The front gussets for the tongue where broken offset with the break attachment on the iron worker as well.

 

[fnieto]

Looks GREAT OP... I have an EZ-Dumper, looked to replace it but new ones are not made the way the EZ-Dumpers are and they no longer make standalone trailers, so this coming winter I'm probably going to strip it down and have it painted, refresh the hydraulics, etc. It's structurally 100%, just looking a bit tired.

I know the newer frames tend to be lighter and attention to detail lacks.
Your better off freshening up what you have.

 

[fnieto]

The hoist welded in 100%, pulled out to paint entire main frame. I pulled string to pull wire for the Pre-wire as I didn't want to work under the box.

 

[fnieto]

Hoist and support bracing welds

 

[kerrynzl]

Thanks,
the base of the hoist is actually fwd of the front axel. I have built a few dumpers and have had pretty great towing and dump performance. The actual dump angle is determined by the center line (CL) of the hinge pins to CL of hoist pins. The measurement for this angle (45 degree) was 76 inches. The bed over hangs 24" past the frame. It should dump with out being coupled to the tow rig.

The first picture in post #17 helps explain a lot.
I see that the rear pivots are actually quite far forward , the deck is a cantilever at the load point!

Will the fenders be attached to the main frame [so the stay low] ?
This saves smacking your head on the corners of them in the up position.

If you mount them low, have at least 1" of gap between the fenders and the deck [this saves the accidental amputation of fingers]

Over here tipper trailers are used a lot for firewood.
The problem is "too many helping hands" so we need to idiot proof them against people that hang around "touching things"


Nice welding in the last posting

 

[ADSR]

very cool!

 

[fnieto]

The first picture in post #17 helps explain a lot.
I see that the rear pivots are actually quite far forward , the deck is a cantilever at the load point!

Will the fenders be attached to the main frame [so the stay low] ?
This saves smacking your head on the corners of them in the up position.

If you mount them low, have at least 1" of gap between the fenders and the deck [this saves the accidental amputation of fingers]

Over here tipper trailers are used a lot for firewood.
The problem is "too many helping hands" so we need to idiot proof them against people that hang around "touching things"


Nice welding in the last posting

Thanks for the comments, The fenders are mounted to the box as they are also a retrofit the customer trying to save. I have designed a fender mount that also serves as a guide/support against side load.

 

[RickP]

Nice job on that trailer - the owner should be very happy with how you were able to retrofit the existing box.

 

[fnieto]

Thanks Rick,
some detailed shots of painted frame and pre wiring.

 

[Iroc-Z]

How much do you think you have invested? I would love to build my own dump trailer at some point.

 

[volleyball]

I too would like to know what the frame is worth. As I said before, there appears regularly rotted out box dump trailers.

 

[fnieto]

Frame steel around 12-1400.
hoist kit (includes everything to complete dump funtion) 1295 free shipping.
The box and fenders are retrofit.

 

[toofart]

Great build. Thanks for posting.

 

[saceone]

^^ditto on that

my dumping trailer (bought) has the hinge point all the way back, the box doesn't overhang the frame . is it because of this particular hoist kit that you built it that way?

very interesting thread

 

[fnieto]

Thanks fellas,

The hoist requires the hinge pivot point to be a minimum of 3" lower then the center line (CL) of the hoist pivot point welded to the frame. The over hang can be between 12-24". I went with 24" as I wanted the box bed closer to the ground at full dump angle (about 10"). As mentioned, the dump angle desired is achieved by the CL of hinge to CL of hoist (welded to frame end). The twin channel members straddling the hoist makes it easier to slide the hoist back or forth to the desired location. Its important to note, the twin channel used is 5" as I needed to "gain" some room for the hoist "pocket" required to retrofit the existing box/bed. All other frame channel used is 6".

 

[volleyball]

Why such a low dump point? Most I have seen are higher, therefore allowing a taller pile of dumped stuff.

 

[fnieto]

Why such a low dump point? Most I have seen are higher, therefore allowing a taller pile of dumped stuff.

You still achieve unloading, but now your not packing in portions of your load under the rear frame members. Once up, you pull fwd a bit and the underside stays clear.

 

[fnieto]

Got more done on the dump trailer. Paint, on-board battery status/charger, access for plug, and lights installed. All wiring is complete up front and to the brakes.

 

[CNGsaves]

Wow, great work OP !

That's going to be awesome tool to last a lifetime, and then some.

LOVE the embedded lights and wiring setup. Excellent work. Keep pics coming !

 

[volleyball]

Is there going to be a roll up cover?
Looking good.

 

[fnieto]

Thanks guys, no roll up cover, the top "wings" are for 2"x12" wood. The customer wants to utilize the added area for brush etc. It will mostly be used for dirt as the owner is a concrete contractor. The tail lights are totally protected by the doors during dump operations.

 

[volleyball]

Around here, they give you some hefty tickets if you leave a trail of dust, rocks or whatever. I guess a little more blown dust is not noticeable in AZ.

 

[saceone]

thanks for the explanations, it makes sense.


around here in Montreal, no tarp = hefty ticket

 

[The Cobbler]

yeah, our loads have to be tarped here too.
In fact, when I bought my dump trailer, they said the tarp used to be optional, but the Ministry said they had to include it in the price as it is mandatory.

 

[fnieto]

Tarps are not required in Tucson, but if you show up to to county dump they add an additional dump charge for not being covered.

 

[fnieto]

Finished up the wiring and added the sealed wood (2"x10"). Test tow results, nice and straight at 60 mph. This project is done.

 

[volleyball]

Nice. It looks like carriage bolts to hold on the wood. Since I dump brush often, I did my trailer with the bolts the other way. That way the bolts don't get caught up on the material or the tarp I usually put under stuff.
May not matter for the intended use the owner has.