[leolav]

I saved a older utility trailer from the trash last weekend. I had a great idea.

I am going to make the utility trailer into a dump body. I was using it to move firewood this weekend and thought that it would be great if it had a hydraulic cylinder to dump its load.

I plan on starting this weekend on reinforcing the bed to accomodate the piston. From there, I hope to have it finished by spring.

Anyone have any thoughts or things I should look out for?

 

[bontai Joe]

Make ABSOLUTELY sure that your pivot points (ie: hinges, hinge pins, and cylinder mounting pivot pins, etc) are ALL strong enough!! Do not use soft steel bolts commonly sold in hardware stores and Home Depot. Get at least 1/2" dia. (5/8" dia. is better)grade 8 bolts to mount your cylinder. It would be a very bad day to have this trailer tilted 45 degrees with 2000 pounds of stone on it and have a pin break, dropping it all back down unexpectedly:rough:
Are you gonna use a hand pump jack for the lift?(easiest) or tap into the tractor hydraulics?(more fun)

 

[Old_Nodaker]

A dump trailer is on my list of things to do too. I like the basic idea John Deere has with the attached photo, going wide and short. Greatly reduces the stresses Joe is talking about and wouldn't need a real big cylinder as it would almost dump itself.

 

[leolav]

All good comments. I am planning on using an electric cylinder to do the heavy work. I have never seen a hand pump, but I never really looked either!

I know about the hinge and pivot points. I have already reinforced the frame so it won't buckle from the weight.

My biggest concern if I do go electric, will it have enough OMPH to get the load up.

Lee

 

[Argee]

A hand pump would be the same as a bottle jack. Could you rig this to utilize a bottle jack? You would need to engineer a platform for the bottle jack to rest on and make it easy access to use the handle to pump it up.

 

[leolav]

I found a hand pump on Northern Tool's website. Looks like it would be really easy to use and setup.

I will let you know of my progress.

LL

 

[Chipmaker]

I made a utility trailer for use behind my at then the JD317, and later used it on my 180 but now its mainly used on my Ford 1720. It is really over built, but then again I use what I have on hand that will do the job. It has a siderail frame of 3" x 4" angle of 3/8" thickness, and has 2 x 2" x 1/4" thick wall cross pieces on 12" centers joining the sideframe rails. The axles are set into a piece of 2 x 2 x 1/4 sq tube and rated at 4000 pound, and it does not have any springs. The floor in the trailer is made from a single sheet of 2025 T6 1/4" thick alauminum, and the sides are 3/16" thick 2024 T6 aluminum, that extend down overe the steel angle siderail and up 12" for sideboards. I have had a Ford 1972 IIRC cocuntry Estate or Squire or something or other station wagon setting on top of this trailer, and the station wagon was full of scrap engines and parts, and actually used it to haul it to the scrap yard to dispose of it. It worked fine when it was loaded, but with 10 ply tires, and no springs its not fun to tow on the open road empty. The trailer bed itself is only 4' woide by 80" long, and the wheels are under the bed. I had originally designed and made it to utilize hydraulics from the tractor to dump, and during the time I had the hydraulics operating on the 317 it worked fine, however I do not have hydraulics on my 1720 that are remotes. I used a scissors type arrangement with the cylinder mounted between the scissors frame to raise and lower the bed, as I had problems with ground clearance etc and length of the cylinder not working right when mounted like a JD cart is.

Since I did not have hydraulics on the Ford I have since utilized the hydraulic cylinder (after fooling with a hand pump unit for awhile) on a log lift platform on my log splitter. The hand pump units may develop sufficient pressures, but they lack in volume and was slow going, at least with the sized hydraulic cylinder I had used.

 

[Ingersoll444]

I know you are probably done, or way on your way, but I just thought of an idea that might work. Mount a longer hydr jack on the toung of the trailer verticly. Mount a bracket on the front of the dump box. The jack would lift it up strait, like thhose REAL big dump trucks do. Now on these small dump trailers, you realy only need to lift it a few inches before the load shifts, and dumps the trailer the rest of the way. I would bount some kind of a sliding, or flexable bracket on the dump box, so the load whould dump on it's own, when it reaches that point. So that would give you the lifting help of the jack, but the speed of the box, dumping itself.

 

[Old_Nodaker]

Mr. Chipmaker: (Well, actually Mr. Chipmaker's wife) Any chance you've got pictures, especially of the scissor jack arrangement? Did you build it or buy it?

I'm trying to visualize an arrangement that would raise the box above the wheels, while at the same time pulling down on the back of the box to dump it. Then, make the box easily removable and the setup could be used as a toolbar carrier for ground engaging equipment. Well, we can dream can't we:serta:

 

[Kevin Beitz]

Go to the junk yard and get a unit that lifts the cab of a 18 wheeler... Simple...Small... Works great...

 

[Ingersoll444]

Originally posted by Kevin Beitz
Go to the junk yard and get a unit that lifts the cab of a 18 wheeler... Simple...Small... Works great...

GREAT idea Kevin. How are they powerd?

 

[leolav]

Not a bad idea Kevin, How are they powered?

I have a scrap yard about 1/2 mile from work.