Tips and tricks to loading a hopper

Make sure the top is open and bottom is closed before you start loading. Sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed...

 

I used to hate loading out of a chute. The material falls out at different rates, depending how full the silo is, so timing is out. It's going to take some time until you see where the top of the material is for a legal load. Far as axle weight, make a mark on the wall, or a beam, or the ground, and once you get a legal load, remember where you lined up with. Some places, I loaded right on a scale, naturally, that's the best, but otherwise, it's trial and error. That's why you never see a dump truck or hopper at a state scale, unless a DOT pulls them in.
Sometimes you can see on the inside of the trailer, when to shut it off.

 

Wait, you say you have air gauges? Well, that's a horse of a different color. I had a gauge on my drives, and 62 pounds was about 34,000. Your life just got easier, my friend. What, the gauge on the trailer doesn't work? I'd have that fixed today!

 

Load the truck to around 40 psi (assuming 60-ish is around 34k) in the front hopper, then pull forward and watch the trailer gauge. Stop when trailer is at its legal max. Should put you close...then adjust from there. If you were too heavy on the tractor, pull up a little sooner. If too light, let it go a little longer before pulling forward.

 

The gauge on the trailer should work off the air bags, there will be no separate line for the gauge from the truck, unless you have a gauge and spring ride,,,