Just Bought a Trailer today

[argentus]

You want to talk us through that dump trailer?   For those who want to haul vicariously through you.  

I bet you can haul a heapin' mound of cut brush.

[FlyingClayDisk]

You want to talk us through that dump trailer?   For those who want to haul vicariously through you.  

I bet you can haul a heapin' mound of cut brush.

Box is 7' wide by 14' feet long.  Overall trailer is about 22' feet long.  Sides on box are 24" tall, and it will haul crushed concrete road base piled right up to the top edges, about 7 tons per load.  Yes, you can haul a whole lot of just about anything in one of these trailers (if you can haul this much stone).  Tailgate on the trailer operates two ways; it operates like a regular dump truck where you can chain the bottom so it only swings open from the top hinge by the desired amount so you can regulate the flow of what you are dumping (road base, sand, topsoil, etc.).  The tailgate also swings open like two barn doors (side hinges) so you have no obstructions while dumping (for dumping trash, construction debris, brush, etc.), and you can pin the doors back to the sides to keep them out of the way.  Bed lifts with a 20,000 lb. hydraulic scissor lift.  Tandem 10k axles and 14ply tires.  The back end of the trailer also has stabilization jacks you can put down, and slide out ramps so I can load our 9,000 lb. skid loader inside of it.  Inside bottom of the bed is 83.5" wide, and the bucket on my skid is only 79" wide so I don't even need to take the bucket off to load the skid in the trailer.

Takes a min. 3/4 ton truck to pull it, but I tow it with our 3500 RAM 1 ton.  They come in two hitch styles, gooseneck and frame hitch pull.  I got the frame hitch pull style.  I generally like the goosenecks better, but they wanted $5k more for the exact same trailer with the gooseneck.  This trailer is all business and tows like a dream.  Hauled 7 tons of rock home with me on the way home from the dealership after picking it up (had to pass my gravel pit on the way, so I stopped in and grabbed a load on the way home).

We've got about (4) miles of road to maintain at our place, (2) miles to get out to the County road, and about (2) miles of roads on our place.  I'm already really pleased with how much stone I can haul per load.  This thing is going to work great for all sorts of things around here.  The road maintenance was one of the big reasons for getting it, but being able to haul the skid is a big bonus too.  Plus, now I don't have to rent roll-off dumpsters anymore for my twice annual cleanup activities.  We'll just load the dump trailer up with all the brush, pallets and construction debris and haul it to the dump ourselves.  Lastly, our manure pit is about 1,200 feet away from our main corrals; I used to just haul manure by the bucket load over to the pit, but now I can pile the trailer up with about 15 yards of manure and go dump it all at once (huge time saver).

I've been wanting to get one of these trailers for about 5 years now, so finally just broke down and did it.  Only regret is not doing it years ago.  I used to just rent them, but the rental fees have gone up to like $300 bucks for 10 hours.  Using that math, I'll have this trailer paid off before the snow flies this year, and I get to keep the trailer at the end.  (We paid cash for it, so no payments anyway, but if I was making payments,. that's how the math would work.)

I'm happier than a pig in sh!t with this trailer!

[Lysergic]

I just bought a new shovel.

[FlyingClayDisk]

I just bought a new shovel.

I avoid shovels like the plague if I can get away with it.  I opt instead for a skid loader bucket, front end loader bucket or backhoe bucket whenever possible.

I try to observe the...'work smarter, not harder'...principle.

Shovel falls under the Boy Scout mantra of...'Always be prepared'.

[argentus]

I am in process of designing a small trailer made from aluminum alloy, that I hope to pull with my little SUV.    Much smaller than yours for hauling our inflatable boat and the occasional cut bush, and/or lumber.   Have rims and times, and some aluminum I-beam.   It will have to have trailer lights and everything.   Not my strong suit, wiring, but what one person can do I can do also most of the time.   

Your dump trailer sounds magnificent.  You drop terms so casually of things that are out of my reach, such as 'front end loader', and make me realize how much I miss the U.S. at times.   I could not legally import such a thing, and probably just as well, because I could become truly dangerous then (twirls moustache) 

[FlyingClayDisk]

I am in process of designing a small trailer made from aluminum alloy, that I hope to pull with my little SUV.    Much smaller than yours for hauling our inflatable boat and the occasional cut bush, and/or lumber.   Have rims and times, and some aluminum I-beam.   It will have to have trailer lights and everything.   Not my strong suit, wiring, but what one person can do I can do also most of the time.   

Your dump trailer sounds magnificent.  You drop terms so casually of things that are out of my reach, such as 'front end loader', and make me realize how much I miss the U.S. at times.   I could not legally import such a thing, and probably just as well, because I could become truly dangerous then (twirls moustache) 

Sounds nice.

Well, if it's any consolation, my front end loader is mounted to our tractor, so it serves multiple purposes when you include the boom and the 3 pt hitch assembly on the back of the tractor also.  The boom on the front end also has the universal skid steer attachment system, so any implement I can mount on the skid loader, I can also mount it on the front of the tractor.  The 3 pt hitch on the rear can attach our mowers, discs, augers, grader, seeder, and harrows.  On the front we can use our bucket, pallet forks, and hay spear. 

We've tried to structure all of our equipment buys to be able to serve multiple purposes.  I'd like to think we've largely accomplished this.

[Velvet Elvis]

Takes a min. 3/4 ton truck to pull it, but I tow it with our 3500 RAM 1 ton. 

I was just going to ask what you're towing  that beast with.

[FlyingClayDisk]

I was just going to ask what you're towing  that beast with.

We're really impressed with the 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel in the RAM.  Truck doesn't even act like there's a trailer back there at all when we're pulling the foothills with a 20k lb. load back there!  And the spring setup on the 3500 doesn't even really squat when they load the trailer either.  We call the truck "The Hammer", and it really is a beast!

[RookQueen2]

I wish you would post a pic of the trailer (if you don't have time it's cool). My son and I were talking about buying one this morning because we get sick of borrowing  and seem to need one frequently. Anyway, he mentioned that he might like to get one with the dump on it as well. We are looking at 80 acres with timber that we may buy and the dump would certainly come in handy.

[FlyingClayDisk]

I wish you would post a pic of the trailer (if you don't have time it's cool). My son and I were talking about buying one this morning because we get sick of borrowing  and seem to need one frequently. Anyway, he mentioned that he might like to get one with the dump on it as well. We are looking at 80 acres with timber that we may buy and the dump would certainly come in handy.

Sure!  I'll post a picture.  I've got the truck hooked up to it right now (was going to get some rock on Friday, but my meetings ran too late).  I'll snap a pick here in a few and edit this post to share a picture.  No problem.

Edit...Here they are