Question on gaining ground clearance for a pneumatic trailer

You can get a taller 5th wheel that will ad around 3 inches or so in height. A lot of trucks that pull liquid end unloading tanks use them.

 

A company I used to work for tried that. If you raise the 5th wheel and leave the stock tires, the back of your discharge line will actually sit lower, since the tandems will act as pivot point - like how the rear of an end-dump drops down as the front of the bed goes up.

Get bigger wheels/taller tires for the trailer, and lift the 5th wheel. Or carry extra swingaways, bolts, wingnuts, rubber couplers, and band clamps.

 

First, raising your fifth wheel will not lower your bottom dump valves since they are between the axles. Second the correct way to raise your trailer is to increase the air in your suspension (adjust linkage). Or change your springs or add a spacer to the spring pads. Next I do not understand why you would have a pnuematic tanker near a loading dock. We do not use loading docks like a van.

 

Yeah and cusomers place unloading connections in the wierdiest of places...

 

We had to suck a lot of plastic out of totes for GE. Most places brought them to the dock. There was a place on Long Island where Chevron sent their out of spec plastic. We had to blow it into totes there, again on the loading dock. And there was a place in New Hampshire that was too cheap to put up a real silo. They had grain bins sitting inside their warehouse where we had to run the hose under the loading dock door.

 

I've loaded a bulk tank in loading docks a number of times. As a previous reply stated, vac'ing plastic out of boxes

 

I've filled Gaylords at a loading dock, the company had a little cyclone they hung from a load lock w/ a chain. One guy would direct the plastic into one tote and cap it off w/ his hands while he swung it over the next one. As it filled his co-workers would forklift away the full gaylord and slide another MT one in place...suprisingly they spilled very little resin.

 

I do not do plastic, so I stand corrected. In long beach ca, we unload stright into warehouses onto the floor. Cal Portland has loaders with buckets that load belts which in turn loads the silos. Dust so thick you cannot see thru it.

Now I service occidental oil fields andpump it onto sludge-ponds. I like bulk would not consider anything else, unless the money change my mind.