A few more dump truck questions

I will make a habit to remove from PTO as soon as the load drops. As far as the hydraulic tank. I cant say for sure but I believe I found it with a fill cap on top of the pyramid.

Pictures attached below.

 

I guess i need more advice sooner than I thought.

I called around a bit today to some of the hydraulic shops to see if I brought the truck what they would charge to work on these leaks. I don't mind being under the truck but obviously it may not be much more expensive to have them do the whole job.

What i found is that none of the shops want the mechanic end. They all want me to pull whatever part and bring it to them to repack of reseal. So until I find someone who is in all in one at a fair price I will be doing my own mechanic work on my truck.

This leads me to a few more questions. I have read enough of the OSHA reports while searching all with the common dump truck killer of guy climbing under the bed to make a quick repair or get a better look and the bed coming down because it was not propped up or locked out so it couldnt come down or it came down because of lock out or blocking failure.

With this considered I see my chassis has two pipes on each side in holders welded to the side of the chassis. I'm pretty sure this is the lock out pipes to lock the bed out. I even came across some real fancy things that will accomplish it that was part of an OSHA study. I would rather be double safe and not depend on the old pipes than be extra sorry.

I would like some feedback from all of you on how you lock your beds pout when making repairs. What steps do you take when repairing items such as removing the ram to have repacked. Apparently I will want to raise the bed and block it out using the pipes or other methods but what do you all do if different? If I needed to remove the RAM and.or open the hydraulic system will those lock outs hold the bed in the air or is that dangerous to do or depend on? I'm just not sure how dependable the lock outs are alone when you remove something such as the ram and that bed coming down looks real unforgiving.

 

Yeah I see those dump lok things but they are pricey 750.00 plus but certainly worth your life.

I'm going to kick it around some more but the other issue I have is not having anything that high to hoist on so I may have to rely on getting the dump lok and keeping a close eye on my hydraulic system so I can lift and repair at the first site of trouble.

 

I appreciate your advise. However jobs around here for dump drivers without experience are few and far especially on a part time basis as I have a full time job also with a schedule that allows me to do extra work on the side. I'm not a new driver in the sense of driving heavy oversize trucks. I'm new to dumping and loading dump trucks and the repair and maintenance of them on things that would be similar but different from the trucks I'm used to. For several years I operated a 100' aerial ladder truck that was 1 and half times the length and almost double the weight. I'm familair with watching for overhead obstructions such as power lines and trees operating the ladder truck from the street working in areas that has mostly trees and powerlines along the curbs.

My inexperience on dump trucks comes from maintenace and repair that I'm sure others here may not do on their own. I will take suggestions from anyone who is willing to give it and obviosuly need to gain knowledge of judging ground conditions when being loaded and dumping. While I'm positive I have a lot left to learn I think those willing to give me pointers here have taught me more than what an employer would have taken the time to teach me or tell me.

I have a few places of my own along with several family members who need fill in different types of settings. I plan to use this chance of being loaded at the pit and dumping at a site to get the basics.

I again thank you for your input but the opportunity just does not exist in my area. I'm also not sure what I would gain from driving someon elses truck if they are not with me opposed to driving my own. However being new to the game in that sense will not doubt that they may be some benefit along the way if I had the chance but I don't. At this point I bought the truck. I have 5 years experience driving so far and hope to be able to pick up the ins and outs of the dump business. At this point Im in for a penny in for a pound.

 

Luckily enough today I found 2 places that will do the mechanic end of it and also repair the hydraulic system. I still need to determine if it is the line or the ram that is leaking oil but it will be a two people job and I'm waiting in a buddy to come work the control while I look. This issue may be as simple as the line going to the Ram leaking or it could be the seal at the top where the cylinder comes out leaking. It seems as if it is spewing a little hydraulic fluid when the bed is lowered and then it stops spewing drips then stops leaking all together. The control vavle is certainly leaking where I mentioned before. So if it is a matter of just the line and the control vavle I will keep the bed lowered and pull it myself bring it to have it repaired and then put it back in. If it is the Ram then I my have them do the entire repair.

One said they couldnt give a price without looking at it. The other said they couldnt tell me the price on repacking the ram but generally the labor to pull it out and put it back in runs about 400.00 plus whatever the parts and cost to fix the ram itself.

So I'm not overly scared even if it is the worse case scenario with the Ram but hoping its the line that goes to it.

 

Ok from what I can tell the cylinder ram has three parts when extended all the way up. The case then there is the first cylinder (larger cylinder) and then one that comes out of that one that fits inside the larger cylinder that is the small cylinder that mounts to the dump bed itself.

When the cylinder is raised to elevate the dump bed it leaks at the top of the small cylinder where it mounts to the bed. When the bed is lowered it drips for abut an hour then stops. I guess my first question is what seal is at the top like that that would leak fluid? Next could the system be overfilled? I remember a few days ago the leak was worse and seemed to spew fluid as if it was under pressure and coming out. Today it was more of a steady stream when the bed was elevated and as I said slowed to a drip then stopped once the bed is lowered.