Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

RW.., they are a little higher, price- wise here,around $2200 mounted is what a driver told me in line the other day. i am 42 so i'm not hardly as young as you,but at that price, i can still climb out for a few more years! tell your dad i was in one of them 1 load a day lines at DeBruce, friday! they had a cardboard sign on the scale when i left that said,(call before coming back) so they were gettin full too. i was talking to a Grant Farm driver that said he spray painted a hand full of beans orange and said he hauled them same beans around all week! i'm leaning toward staying with Wilson and trying out the strap doors,talked to 6 or 7 drivers in line the other day and they all liked'um. i wonder what a rebuild kit costs on straps? have a good weekend everbody!

 

To all the experienced grain haulers, whats considered the better hopper trailers? Around here Timpte and Wilsons seem to be the most popular , but shopping the net there seems to be alot of Cornhuskers out west, anyone have experience with the cornhusker ultralight?

 

Heres my take on a hopper truck as I have pulled everywhere from east coast to AZ, UT and CO... Set-back axle for turns, 450+ HP 1650+ tq and a 13spd, 230"-260" wb, and Light weight... My 9200i witha 2010 Timpte 100gl fuel weighs 28400. I can pull 51k /25.5 tons. Hopefully the addition of aluminum wheels will allow me to get 26tons.



Currently under the lightest load ever with a slam full trailer at 69700.. Sunflower seeds.. Pulled a load of road salts from UT over the rockies to Colorado springs... Thats never gonna happen again at least not until I get a 13spd and more HP/tq in the ol'girl.... This truck was spec'd for vans and east coast NOT the Rockies.

 

Thats funny. I use to work for an outfit years ago in eastern Colorado pulling a hopper and would haul corn over the rockies to Fruita, CO and then reload in Moab, UT back across the mountain. It took seven hours to go from Denver to Fruita fully loaded driving an old 84' Freightliner hood that had a 315 Cummins and a 9 spd. It was a long trip but a pretty one. Those pretty Tri-State large cars pulling hoppers out of Greeley would blow my doors off going up the hill.

 

Thanks wheathauler, how old are you talkin? do you know where they are saving the weight over the other brands? Curious as to what they are doing different than the others.

 

The busiest time is definitely right now during harvest. Then probably after the first of the year for grain, when they start moving whats in storage. Depends on the markets and the weather though.

Our trucks just have the basic interaxle differential lock. Hauling off the farm, its almost inevitable you're going to get stuck at some point. But most farmers I've hauled for have some common sense, and won't put you in an impossible situation. Just make sure you're carrying a tow hook to use.

I have some elevators around here I haul for in the off season, and an old drop deck I can use once in a while. Our trucks are older, but paid for, so if they sit for a couple weeks, its not a disaster, I just work on projects around the shop and house.

You can just buy the individual straps, they're not too expensive. Not too hard to change either. The older ones used plain steel u-bolts and hardware, if you go to change those, there's a good chance you're going to break them. Our newer trailer appears to have stainless stuff on it, never changed any of them yet, but they haven't turned rusty.

 

Thanks , thats the kind of info I was looking for, I'll look at the other brands instead. I thought they may be sacrificing strenght for weight reduction, just needed to hear from someone whos been around them.