About Dump Semitrailers
Dump trailers are a type of specialized semitrailer designed to haul debris, building materials, logs, boulders, rough matter, and other payloads that can be hauled and then dumped en masse. Dump trailers are commonly constructed of steel plate, especially those designed to haul rough materials such as large stones and demolition waste, where durability is a key factor. However, aluminum alloys are an increasingly attractive material choice for many load types due to their greater corrosion resistance and 10 to 15% lighter weight, which translates directly to bigger payloads, fewer trips, and vastly increased operational efficiency. Aluminum trailers may have a higher initial price tag and generally cost more to repair, but for a variety of job types they are a superior option.
Mac Trailer MACsimizer Half Round End-Dump Trailer
There are several dump trailer types and they come in a variety of sizes, making them a good option for use on construction, large-scale demolition, energy, and other industrial jobsites. (Note that hopper and grain trailers
are typically placed in a separate category.) They are most often differentiated by their dump mechanism and may have anywhere from two to as many as six rear axles, depending on their rated payload capacity.
Belly-Dump Trailers
Also known as “bottom-dump trailers,” belly-dump trailers
are designed like a hopper on wheels and are typically loaded from the top and unloaded by opening one more gates situated along the trailer’s bottom. This allows gravity to do most of the work, resulting in a simple, low-maintenance design. Dump gates are often opened and closed using air cylinders, and in many use cases, unloading is done while the truck and trailer are in motion, allowing the driver to create a long windrow that is easily accessible rather than a vertical pile. Belly-dump trailers are often used to haul sand, rock, and other aggregates for large construction projects including road construction.
End-Dump Trailers
Much like a dump truck, an end-dump trailer
unloads by extending a hydraulic cylinder beneath the payload in order to tip up the front end to an angle up to 45 degrees, causing loaded material to slide to the rear and exit the trailer through a gate on its end. Of course, an end-dump semitrailer can carry much more material per trip than a standard dump truck, which makes these trailers a good fit for large-scale material stockpiling in the construction, agriculture, and mining industries, among others. They can also operate within tighter space constraints than can bottom-dump trailers, but can be less stable during unloading due to the need to elevate the load, especially when unloading on surfaces that aren’t level.
Side-Dump Trailers
As their name implies, side-dump trailers
offload their contents by tipping the entire payload to the left or right along a central pivot point. These trailers are typically semi-cylindrical in shape and use hydraulic cylinders to tilt the payload to one side. Although side-dump operations require a little extra route and placement planning, side-dump trailers can offload their entire, massive payload in a little as 30 seconds and are considerably more stable than end-dump options. They can also be used to transport much larger materials than can belly-dump trailers that usually unload on the move and therefore must be able to easily move through or over their former contents.
Find Dump Semitrailers
You’ll find thousands of new and used dump trailers for sale on TruckPaper.com from leading manufacturers such as Armor Lite
, Arne’s
, Construction Trailer Specialists
, East
, Mac
, Manac
, Ranco
, Travis
, and many others.