Score! A dump cylinder! Let's get to work...

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Isaac Carlson

Minister of Fire
Nov 19, 2012
1,131
NW Wisconsin
I have been planning a dump bed for at least 6 years now. I get the bug now and then and look at the parts and see that the price gets higher every year.
Well, this week I checked on the cylinder I have had my eyes on for a LONG time and it was a little more expensive than it was last year. I checked amazon and there it was on sale. The exact one I needed too. I showed my wife and she said "you better get it before it changes", "you've been planning and needing this bed for a long time. It's time you built it. Push the button!" So I pushed the button and it should be here in a few days...

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I'm so dang nervous! Now I HAVE to do it. I mean, my current bed is not very serviceable anymore. It has been welded and re-welded countless times.
It has been ripped in half, tugged on by loaders, and smashed by careless operators while loading. It has had a very hard life, hauling millions of lbs of wood, rock, hay, animals, compost, and furniture over the years. It is held together more by the straps on the load than by the welds.

The new one will be ~7'x8.5' and will have a vertical telescoping cylinder right up front with a dumping angle of ~60*. I didn't want a scissor or twin cylinder because of the pressures/forces involved. A vertical cylinder fits my needs nicely. I will run it from my power steering pump, since it will only take 4-500 psi to dump a full load. It'll be nice to simply pull a lever and have the truck unload itself. I will be able to move 2-3 times as much wood and will be more efficient hauling everything else too. The added bonus is being able to hang a pig/deer from the front corner of the bed.
 
Dumpers are very nice. Have had a dump trailer now for 7 years. Very versatile. Love pushing a button and its dumped! Second the "need pics".
 
I haven't started it yet. The cylinder is supposed to be here on Thursday. I will get some pics of the old bed before I rip it off and will try to get pictures of the progress. I am not good at documenting progress, as a lot of my builds have been spur of the moment or I post and say "I'm going to do this" and then post pictures of it finished. I will try to keep up on this one, since it's a bigger project. I'm sort of juggling a few things right now, but I am hoping to get things whittled down very soon.
 
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The cylinder got here in one piece. It's a heavy beast, but lighter than a scissor and the forces are lower, which I like.
I made a small scale model of the bed out of cardboard for better visualization and thinking. I have been crunching numbers and am almost ready to start. I have to trench new power to the shop and then it's go time.
 
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Subscribing... I also wanna see the pig hanging from it ;lol
 
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