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Anybody have a dump trailer
If you are going to actually use it as a dump trailer on a regular basis, most people don't, there are a few small things that will make it more usable.
First of all, go with one that has a post hoist as opposed to the scissor lift style, the post type lifts better if the load is front-end heavy and will not twist up. Scissor mechanisms are notorious for buckling sideways under big, or unbalanced loads, an expensive oopsey.
Secondly, as Denwood touched on, be cognizant of the distance between the bottom of the box and the ground when it is all the way up. I have seen some that the rear overhang was long enough that a) it bent the frame rails, and b) lifted the trailer off the suspension when all the way up on uneven ground.
Third, be sure it has the 'two way' doors, they swing open to dump, and drop down as ramps. The straight 'barn doors only' type are a PITA to use as a float because you have to mess around with ramps.
Fourth, if you plan on using the dump as a float, be sure to order tie downs, or better still, little flaps over openings in the front corners and tie rings outside. Chaining inside the dump with a CUT in there also is an exercise in acrobatics best left to younger folks than us. To this end, unless you will be constantly hauling lots of light, bulky stuff, order fairly short sides with stake pockets on top. Lifting out a board or two sure beats trying to fold your lunch over the side to reach the binders.
Fifth, and most importantly, resist the temptation to get a 2 & 5/16" ball coupler on it, go with a lunette ring & pintle hook coupler setup. Dump trailer get VERY light on the hitch when you are either loading or unloading (dump or drive) something heavy. My dump, which is basically the same as you are contemplating (just visible on the brown truck in my picture # 5) will almsot lift the back of the truck off the ground when loading the 'Bota or SSL or dumping a heavy load.
Finally, if possible, spec. it out with either 16" or 16.5" tires NOT the 14.5 UTG (mobile home) type tires, they run down the road WAY nicer, and will not fall off the rim when a little soft. UTG's are wORSE than underinflated R4's are for coming off the rim.
Best of luck.
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Anybody have a dump trailer
My father told when I was starting my business that I needed to remember to direct & delegate.
Then as I was getting older, and started having back problems, he told me to start working more with my head, and less with my brain.
Now I've pretty much figured out the part I missed.
My back defers to my brain, my brain directs & delegates my wallet on how best to accomplish the task.
The work is not nearly as hard now......  .
Best of luck.
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Anybody have a dump trailer
Dieseltrctr, be really careful with that gooseneck dump, or any dump that doesn't have a pintle hitch / lunette ring style coupler for that matter.
I have seen some really nice trucks really mashed up from coming unhitched while dumping.
The positive lock of the pintle hitch is the only style of hitch that is designed to take an upwards load securely, the rest, ball or pin, are really only designed to take enough upwards load to stay hitched during something like a big pothole. They only 'lock' by pinching in on a very small area on the mating device, ball or pin.
With a surprisingly little bit of wear, or a misadjusted coupler, they will disconnect in a heartbeat.
To prevent this from happening you should place some blocking, timbers, jack-stands, anything, under the rear of the trailer frame, NOT the dump body. This will support the rear and not allow the weight transfer to occur and thus eliminate the possibility of a problem.
Best of luck.
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Anybody have a dump trailer
Mark it's never too late, it's actually surprisingly simple to convert a ball hitch to a pintle style.
The lunette ring and adjustable height bracket together are about 8" deep, all you have to do is cut the tongue off directly behind the existing coupler and weld on the new coupler set.
The nice part about the adjustable couplers is the style of hitch is then also 'adjustable' since the 2", 2.3125" & lunette ring style couplers all fit into the same base plate.
The down'n'dirty version is, as you mentioned, to use the pintle / ball hitch combo unit. While it's not a perfect system, it certainly is better than nothing.
The two big problems I have with those style hitches are that the lunette ring doesn't sit in them as well, you get a lot of banging around in the coupler, and the ratings are significantly lower on those than on traditional style pintle hooks.
If you have (and use) jackstands at the rear of the dump trailer it negates the dire safety need for a pintle / lunette ring combo IMHO.
Best of luck.
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Anybody have a dump trailer
Mark, didn't they teach you about not second guessing yourself? Just go with your giut feeling?  MAO.
Seriously, you brought up two points.
First jack stands, no need to climb in or under, or do any fancy welding. You can use almost anything. It can be as simple as a piece of rope and two wooden blocks. Take two short(ish) pieces of timber a little smaller than the clearance from frame to ground. Put a screw eye in each end of both, tie a rope between them such that when one block is under the frame, the other is too, then tie a piece of rope to each outiside end also. Then all you have to do is set the blocks dwn behind the trailer, back up another foot or two, and then pull the rope till the blocks are under the frame tails. Voila! Best of all it's cheap! .
On the other hand, the pintle, yes they are designed to lock down shut, but only over a lunette ring, they are to stay open with a ball hitch. However, if the latch mechanism is removed (one small nut & bolt usually) and ground down some, it can be set to 'lock down' while still open a little bit, enough for the coupler, but not enough to become unhitched.
The other (slightly more spendy) option is to just have a small set of stabilizers installed such as those used on RV's to auto level them. You can get them in individual components, cylinders, etc., seperately, and since you already have hydraulics and controls, installation (no welding required) would be easy to do yourself. You might want help with the hydraulics if you're unsure of how to do it. I'm sure the bunch here could guide you through it 'long distance', it's actually pretty simple.
Best of luck.
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