Dump Trailers, Frame Vs. Frameless

I have a Lufkin ULD, and I net 24-26 tons payload but with this new truck I bought i can net 24-24.75 now. I've never had a problem with the trailer siding, leaning etc... and I have turned it over on a windy day once. All you got to make sure is that if you're leveled at the beginning and make sure that 10-15 feet in front of your dump point is pretty leveled too. Pull up slowly and always check Tires, Ubolts/ springs, or airbags. make sure to dump the tractors air bags also, I've popped lots of them that way.

 

so here are some european tipper semi-trailers


here is german Schmitz-cargobull 24m3 (31.5 cubic yard)
it has 9ton axles (20000lbs)
5th wheel load is 12ton(26500lbs)
empty weight is avarage 6250kg ~13800lbs
they are used for construction materials like sand gravel soil and rocks it has steel frame and steel round body( to prevent material to be sticking to sideboards( soil)

i am not fan of schmitz trailer but it was easy for find picture)

in my country it is usually really overloaded people load 100 000-105000lbs or even more depending of cargo on them ....


lightest similar steel trailer is 10850lbs



this is schmitz-cargobull trailer ( it is largest european manufacutre of trailers )
chassis is made of steel and body of ALU......
also same volume there is several alternative volumes on option but generally they are all same
average weight is 5000kg 11000lbs
lightest is 4460kg 9830lbs


each manufacturer have their own way to product those trailer someone offer both round and square steel body´s with steel or alu chassis

other produce alu chassis with steel or alu round body and variation of this

also some manufacture use steel body with alu sideboards and steel frame



this is meierling trailer with 2axles body is combination of steel floor and part of sideboards and ALU (and upper part of sideboards) it is 4750kg 10450lbs

usually those all steel trailers are 6000-6250kg 13200-13800lbs ( same as 3axle reason is because those 2axle trailers are used on shorter distance and more loads /day and lighter trailer would not be durable for this....

those 2axle trailers are not good for overloading





this is schmitz trailer for lighter bulk material like korn wheat and other agricultural goods they offer them from 37-70m3
body on this one is from ALU they also offer steel body for scrap metal

other manufacture offer up to 92m3 (122 yard cubic)

those trailers are highly modular you can chose lenght height of trailer chassis different body rear door .....

usually 3in 1doors are really popular ( can be opened from bellow aside/sepparatly or only part of door can be opened also they can be opened to allow to loading pallets)

this one is probably about 60m3 and weight 6500-7500kg




this is Benalu trailer ( they are all from ALU) they are lightest in EU this one is 50m3 66 cubic yard and 4700kg 10350lbs but it is allowed to be used only for light bulk loads so no construction at all and no pallets



this is 3side tipper trailer by Austrian manufacture Schwarzmueller it is 22m3 and heavy 6900kg(15200lbs) their Alu same trailer is something like 5300kg (11650lbs)
those trailers are not best for huge overloadings




this is 2side tipper( left and rear) trailer by Schwarzmueller it is about 6500-7000kg heavy about 45-50m3 of load they are really flexible vehicles
left side can be complete opened

those trailers can be from 6000kg 13300lbs




this is austrian Lendhard

it is also 2side tipper they are 55m3 (72yard cubic) they can be from 6700-7100kg





also some of those trailers can have coil trough inside to make it even more flexible

this is trailer for scrap metal by german Kempf it is 48m3 (63q yard) it is 7300kg empty 16100lbs) and it is probably lightest trailer on the market for that usage





this is 3axle 3side tipper trailer by Schwarzmueller it is 13.6m long ( 45ft ) and looks almost like normal trailer but it is tipper they are pretty heavy (8600kg 18950lbs) and floor of trailer is pretty high from ground ( their competition is 4inch lower)






like this one





persoanlly i am fan of those vehicles as truck +drawbar trailer they are lighter and stronger than long tipper semitrailer as three above and better for ride

 

I like Floor, Kogel and Krone more then Schmitz.

Schmits is rated well becouse lightweight and capacity, but it is for good roads. Tippers generally work on terraine.

The best axe for dump trailer is ROR (Meritor), of round profile, quare BPW weaker. SAF are good too.

I consider disk brakes on tipper money for nothing. For mud and dirt I try to get trailer with drum brakes. EBS is not a good thinhg for tipper. Dies with corrosion and ABS (VCS) unit is twice cheapper. But EBS may be with roll stability system and it is good for trailer with high center of gravity

 

i dont like any of those gigant´s producer i am more for smaller specialised comapny´s

older schmitz semitrailer(with tarpaulinnon not tippers) had many problems with cracking frames above axles mostly on right side above middle axle...)

new Koegel trailer are really bad they are bending and cracking

krone are good but some of them have rust problems

we had 2 german Langendorf tipper semitrailer they are both 2002 we had them 2years and since now there is no problems they have SAF 12ton axles with single tires ( currently 425/65r22.5 usually designed for 445/65) with drum brakes

and 22ton on fifth wheel they are 6200kg empty so you could easy load 40ton in them

those specialised company like carhnel, langendorf.....are better than mass production trailers but more expencive i hate fliegl ones

but Schwarzmueller had best quallity-price ratio

why ROR? mostly people here hate them there are no parts and always some problems

 

Your Trailer frame type should really be dictated by job application. I've pulled dump trucks with pony pups, roll-offs with up to 50 yd bins, 36ft-46ft framed trailers, b-train dumps and dump trucks with frameless dump trailers on a dolly. I've never had a problem tipping any and haven't flipped one. I've also hauled pretty much everything from gravel to demo, grains and fertilizers, scrap to cast iron borings and even slop where we had to put salt and spray calcium on the trailer floor along with lay out plastic. Be sure the ground is level and do not bring the trailer down if it is leaning to far as it will come down on the side it is leaning towards. also, don't stand outside your vehicle when it's dumping like most of the guys I've seen flip and don't be afraid the put your foot in the throttle to get box in the air quicker. Just be aware of what you're hauling and the ambient temperature and you'll be fine.

 

I've owned both a 40ft frameless with 72 sides a 70 yard trailer and a 34ft frame type with 60 sides, both air ride. I hauled demo, sand, gravel and stone with both and i would rather dump the frameless than the frame type. Both have there pro's and con's just depends on what your doing with it. I could dump the frameless trailer in spots i would never think of dumping the frame type. And for a trailer this long i would recommened a liner or a vibrator or both. One more thing stay in the truck when dumping and pay attention to what the trailer is doing.

 

I pull a 36 foot 96 wide 66 high sides. 53.5 yards and that includes the dog house. Its a full frame tri axle with front lift axle. Weighs 16,000 LBS. Tractor is heavy also. Double frame, 46K rears and I can still haul 22.5 ton at 80,000. If I lost the lift axle and the double frame and heavy rears I could scale 24.5 or maby even 25 tons even with the frame. I need the extras though. I haul heavy. Permited for 107,000 LBS. Haul 35 to 36 ton.
I run with guys all the time with frameless trailers and when they are having a hard time dumping I just put the box up and Im gone. Cant for the life of me figure how a frameless could be more stable than a frame trailer. I have three axles on the ground and a full frame supporting any tipping or twisting of the box not one axle and two tiny draft arms supporting the box. Frameless trailers scare the hell out of me. I think they are necessary for the OTR guys because they are lighter but you will never convince me they are more stable dumping. Never. All the construction trailers and most of the dirty dirt haulers I see are full frame so they are more stable on soft ground off construction sights and land fills. Any time I dump at a landfill with my frame type Im on my own but if a frameless comes in they send an excavator over to put the bucket in the box as they dump so they can catch it if it starts to tip. ??????
I think a properly spected frame type could haul 25 ton with out a problem. However a frameless will still be 2 to 3 thousand lighter. Buy the way. Flat sides are heavier than sheet and post. Mines a sheet and post. If It were a flat side It would have been 800LBS heavier. If you haul things that will dent or tear the side up it may be worth it. If not I would get the lighter trailer. The whole flat side fuel milage thing seems to be a sales pitch to me.

 

I have to agree with melpromud on the stability issue. I used to haul the framed btrains into a land fill in Michigan and dump them on auto fluff and never had a problem with swaying. I'm also pretty sure you have to have a welded fifth wheel with the frameless trailer, which limits you to only that trailer.

 

My friends dump trailer set up