Dump Trailers

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I get a LOT of tough delivery spots and I don't even sell much wood.

I've been in spots where getting my F250 to physically fit was difficult, let alone maneuver it. Not to mention up hill, down hill, busy street, soft ground, etc..

Even single axle, tiny trailer would put me on the street at least half the time. Mine doesn't dump but that's why I went with a full size trailer. It's going to restrict me either way might as well have something I can move cars, skidsteer, etc with.
 
We use an 8x14 PJ trailers deckover for all of our deliveries. Roughly 100 cord this year. I prefer the deckover over a regular dump for 2 reasons. It sits higher so it dumps better. The lower trailers do not dump as nice because they are so low to the ground. With the fold down sides of the deckover, we can use it for hauling materials and load/unload from the side with the forklift as well. Ours is power up and power down with a scissors lift. It dumps wood just fine but if you load it up with gravel that gets heavy in a hurry. How are you loading the trailer with wood. We dump the wood in the trailer from our bags, and the 8x14 is barely big enough to haul a cord of wood. The deckover has shorter sides, only 18" though. We dump 2 bags in and then we have to flatten the pile out before we empty the 3rd bag in the trailer. I like our trailer, the PJ's are known for having crappy paint jobs. The paint is just flaking off ours right now. Ours is rated for 14,000 LBS. A full cord of wood is heavy. We pull ours with a F-350 SRW V-10 Super Cab. Truck handles it fine, stopping is the only real issue that you have to be careful with. We also have our trailer wired directly to the truck battery as well. We can do 8-10 deliveries a day and never have a problem with the battery running low. Before we did that you had to be careful, after maybe 4 deliveries the battery would start to get low. Had to plug it in while loading to get the charge back up. For us the trailer makes more sense than a separate dump truck. This time of the year we are using the hell out of it, but after firewood season it just sits not getting used. During summer you might do 1 delivery a week at the most. We bought ours used, paid 5 grand for it, new I believe they are in the 7-8 grand range now. The picture shows the trailer with a cord of wood on it. Couldn't imagine trying to deliver firewood without one.

View attachment 681758

This is what I’m looking for. Now just waiting on a deal. I know Texas residents can get the trailers un painted. Wondering if it’s worth having it painted by me using quality primer and paint.
 
Steel trailers and salt just isn't a good match. We have sand blasted trailers and used the highest quality paint and salt will take its toll. We have three grain trailers for the farm two steel and one is aluminum. The two steel ones never get used in the winter and stay looking new. I have one dump trailer take sees a little salt and I just touch up the paint every so often. The rest of the dump trailers I have never get used in the winter on the road.
 
I’m betting that’s a $10K to $12K trailer..looks heavy too.
There is a galvanizing plant about 2 miles down the road from me. They do large galvanizing to. They run 24/7, I know this cause I hear them dragging and dropping steel all hours of the night.
I wounder what they would charge to sand blast and dip a trailer.
 
My list of wants when I buy one (or have it made)
6'x12' scissor type lift with adjustable hitch.
Beefed up duel axle with breaks on both axles.
16'' steel rims with 14 ply tires.
4'x4' heavy duty jack.
Roll up tarp.
Expanded sheet metal under the frame so things can be stored under the bed. (access would only be with the bed lifted)
Two spare tire mounts.
Flat bar welded along the entire length of the sides for strapping down cargo.
D-rings mounted on the inside walls instead of on the floor.
Crank up (tong jacks) mounted on both sides at the rear for loading heavy equipment (can also be used to jack up the trailer to change a tire)
LED lights with cold weather wiring and extra break lights with back up lights.
Duel battery set up.
Power up, power down with a third option to gravity down.
Diamond plate fenders with extensions all the way down the sides so I can walk all the way down when securing a load.
Tool box for straps/chains and binders.
Pockets for extension boards on the sides.
And of course bearing buddy's.
Maybe and extendable work/cargo light.
Small crane for lifting loads.
Thats it so far.
 
No paint problems with this brand. I would not buy this brand because they lie in there add. But being galvanized is a plus.




What makes you say this?

I have a N&N dump trailer and love it. 6x12 10k gvw and it cost me about $6k US dollars. I bought it a year and a half ago when the exchange rate was favorable. Drove from Pennsylvania to Ontario to pick it up and had no issues getting it back across the border or titling it in PA. Had to pay 13% Canadian tax but filled out a form to get a full refund (took about 8 weeks).

Telescopic front mount 3 stage lift, tarp kit and adjustable hitch come standard. Aluminum box to house the controls. I got the "light duty" model so no ramps (available but extra and are side mount). Empty trailer weight is 2700#.

Heavy duty version has ramps that mount underneath and the entire trailer weighs considerably more. I didn't want to mess with DOT regulations with trailers over 10k GVW. If I went with trailer over 10k GVW, my local trailer store said I would have to register my truck (2008 GMC 2500 Duramax) and trailer in combination at an annual fee of $400+! I know there is a lot of debate about this but I didn't want to bother. Bigger trailer costs more and is heavier so payload isn't significantly more.

I live in the rust belt so paint/powder coat wasn't an option - most look awful within a few years. I also looked at aluminum from Mission trailer in New Hampshire (IIRC) but a 10K GVW trailer was $10k!
 
I've been reading this comment about poor paint for years. Is there a company that does a good job with prep and paint on their trailers?
My Pequea is 12 years old and has most of it's paint. I've scraped steel on steel in a few places. MD is a salt state and my under carriage is in great shape.
 
And all the extra expense that goes with it.

Like? Need a truck to pull the trailer, so why not have the truck do the job of the trailer?

I just bought another square body dump truck. 8x12ft bed. Gave 3k for it.
 
Like? Need a truck to pull the trailer, so why not have the truck do the job of the trailer?

I just bought another square body dump truck. 8x12ft bed. Gave 3k for it.

Most of these guys probably have a dependable daily pickup they drive. Assuming you have that and don't plan to give it up, the trailer is definitely less hassle than adding another vehicle.
 
And I like getting more then 8 mpg
My old diesel 6.2 Chevy dump gets 16-18 MPG when empty..hell it gets better mileage than my new 6.7 Superduty and it’s doubled as our spare car for the last 15 years. With that said when you get a cord a Oak in the old C30 it’s pretty slow with only a 185 HP dragging 13,000 LBS.
 
Ive got an OLD F600 ('77) that we use around the farm.Trip to the quarry once in a while.6 miles round trip.Dumps 9 tons no problem.Put 8 logs on it to get back to the homestead a while back (3+2+3),bed was FULL.40" log or so.Knotty .Chain and boomer holding it on top.
Better then a trailer for ME,but I'm not in the selling business either.Around 5 mpg...so ,I dont drive it to town for ice cream.Friend has a dump trailer,works great for his use.Paint is mostly gone after 5/6 years.
 
Most of these guys probably have a dependable daily pickup they drive. Assuming you have that and don't plan to give it up, the trailer is definitely less hassle than adding another vehicle.

I agree. I don't mind driving a pickup every day. Today's trucks are as nice as any car and I suppose a 1 ton dully could qualify, but again who wants to go to the grocery store in a dump truck.
Besides a pickup is more versatile then a dumper. To many extra fees go along with a separate vehicle vs. a trailer.
 
My old utility trailer didn't start showing rust until it was 15 years old. I wounder if you painted a trailer before it actually needed it if it would last longer.
Here is my utility trailer after I hand painted it with a brush with barn paint. Looks ok to me.

Before
2l8xhqp.jpg


After
15qd79l.jpg
 
Back
Top