Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

That is living here too - centrally isolated.

 

If I buy new I’ll have to come up with more money, which I don’t have

 

Sure is nice

 

This is intriguing me.

I've built 1, 7 x 14 bumper pull dump trailer, 4, I think tilt bed car haulers and 200~ utility trailers.

The dump trailer was the hardest. I did all the fab and welding myself on those trailers. It pulled horrible empty or full.

I won't build another dump trailer to sell.

I've always wanted to build 5 x 12 goose neck or 5th wheel dump trailer. This way I could pull it it with one of the Tacomas or one of the tundras. Obviously the 5th wheel hitch sawhorses would have to be cut down to work with the Tacoma trucks.

Having the running gear ahead of time is the biggest expense. You already have the hitch another win.

If I had someone that wanted to work with me, I'd build that trailer asap. If your boy is expressing interest in fabrication and will help, that's another win. If he can MiG weld it's gonna go even faster. These days I have no problem doing the fabrication work and handing the whip to someone that has good knees and is ache free.

As for the hydraulics:

I've been using electric over hydraulic for all my trailers.

Giving this some thought and spending a lot of time around hydraulics, I want to try a gas engine for powering the ram.

I'm curious if a Hydrogear pump will power a ram with a big diameter piston and short stroke.
I need to research that.

The 8 hp Honda clones from HF are under $200, less if you catch an inside track sale (I may know someone that is a member).

All the trailers I have built have suffered from break downs because of connection failures at the battery or the hydraulic motor.

Having your own trailer means it's gonna sit a lot. I want to get away from batteries.

In addition, the trailer would not need to be connected to the truck to operate it.

As for buying new, I'm not impressed. They use only the thickest iron they have too. They use thinner iron so lighter duty trucks can pull them. There are a lot more 3/4 ton trucks out there than 1 tons.

Just my random thoughts.

I really don't see a down side to modifying that flat bed into a dump trailer.

I really like the fact that you are moving away from remote work. There is plenty of ways to get work that comes to you

Sorry about the rambling, kinda wanting to get back to my shop and my projects.

Kirk

 

I say sell it for a profit and put that money towards a new one. How much time and money are you going to spend on converting it to a dump trailer? I also bet once you convert it the value of it will be less than a factory dump trailer.

 

Like I say at work all the time: this is no place for logic.

 

Is this for the crazy neighbor? If so, you're being a whole lot nicer than I would be

 

Having the running gear already is a huge part of it. Cole loves to help, fab, and weld. This would be a great teaching process for him to learn more on.


Here's everything needed to make it dump and it comes with a hat

https://a.co/d/6f4igHG

 

I wouldn't be doing it to sell, I would be doing it to use. I don't count my time on my own projects, if I'm not paying someone to do it for me I'm saving money

 

I've stopped being caring to the neighbors. After the whole farm leaser shooting incident and the guy now being a total Richard Cranium, I give up. I'll still be nice to the actual land owner for reasons, but I'm done being neighborly...

 

After everything else and now the mower, I'm done as well. She continues to mention me trimming trees on her abandoned fence. I haven't even trimmed the trees on our land yet.

 

Respond: I'll get to it one of these days

 

Will jump right on this for you......
NO you are not being stupid.
YES a 5thwheel mount pulls heavy easier than a bumper mount.

That is a real nice trailer & it would be a shame to cut it up & repurpose.
you can do it for sure. Few things:

What's the axles under it? How much could you really haul on it after building a dump bed?
Cause if you shorten it but add hydro/bed.... You are dropping capacity.

As a guy who uses dump trailers a lot? Id do a 6or7x14 as its big enough for your skid steer or mini ex & you can still usually do 12K in them... That's 6 tons of rock or stone. Which is real close to small dump truck load of 8 ton.... So you gotta have a good heavy cylinder to do this much.

IF your trailer axles are heavy enough for that & so on...

Trailers are funny, its why I recently changed. Just had no use for the other one and the shorter fits the equipment better.

Honestly though? You could sell yours & just put the 4K with it & get a new one with no work needed.
But if you really wanna build it? Just so you can say you did? I get that & do it all the time... Its not always about the money verses the sense of pride that you did it yourself!

 

My trailer has two 7,000 pound axles under it. I think I'd be able to haul 5 ton of gravel with no problem. Maybe I'll put this one for sale for a high price and see what happens, I don't know yet.

 

After searching marketplace, it's loaded with gooseneck flat trailers for less than I'd take for mine and tag along dump trailers. Not many gooseneck dump trailers and close to new price on those.

 

Just got prices on steel, 3/16" for the floor and 1/8" for the sides, front, and back and some 2" square for the top and uprights/side braces/tailgate, 1 1/2" X 3" for the outside dump frame. If my calculations are right would be right at $1,600


All I need to buy is steel, dump mechanism, and paint. The rest of it is already there. Plus I have the title and permanent tags.

 

Copy that!

If you shorten it to about 14' of box.. W/7k axles.... Its gonna weigh about 3600lbs with the steel you mentioned.

5 ton is gonna be a safe but full load for it.
Same on equipment: you be able to haul anything under 10k safely.

Tip: be sure to put anchor/tie downs inside if you gonna do equipment.

 

i like that. when i do private work its referral only. hourly only. cash only. if my last job is my measure people are eager to have me, seen my work, and promptly pay. its tough to make an honest buck. i also pay/tip well when i ask for help. wish i had some of the talent you fellas have.

 

Of course if you have customers that end up being more challenging, making them too much of a hassle to deal with you can always use your work order to lay out conditions and requirements of them that make contracting you a pain in the ass to the point where they decide not to use you. So you never have to "decline" their business but if they do want you to work then the extra conditions make it so you can at least tolerate working for them. Tactics might include a quote that is higher than what you might quote a "good" customer. Or requiring a hefty deposit before you will complete the work. Or maybe it takes you longer to complete their work in the estimate you give them so they go elsewhere to get it done sooner.

A parent once told me that when their kids were growing up they always wanted them to have friends that were nice, kind and would not lead their children towards the bad behavior end of the spectrum. They knew that if their child asked to hang out with one of these "not the greatest behaving" kids and they said no that their child would resent being denied that friendship and try that much harder to be friends with the less than desirable kid. So every time the kid asked to spend time with a kid who wasn't that well behaved they would be busy or not be able to have the time to get the kids together. But if they wanted to spend time with a friend that was a good influence and would encourage good behavior they made sure that they made it happen.