I am wondering when the first on road belly dump trailers were made , me and a buddy have a little wager going , I say they were first made in the late 50's early 60's he says they werent made until the mid 70's, anyone know when they were made ? anyone have pics of them? Thanks
I have seen quarry pictures here in SoCal from the 50's and there are bottom dumps in some of them. They go back at least that far. I think they go back into the 40's, or maybe even earlier.
We were doing a job down in Hobbs, New Mexico about 5 years ago, and if I'm lying I'm dieing, one of the belly dumps that was hauling base rock to me had a hand crank to open the door! A guy riding shot-gun would get out and start opening the gate while the driver moved ahead. I'm sorry to say I never got a picture of this, as I didn't have my camera that day, and it was the only day they worked for us. I asked them not to come back. The truck was always getting stuck, and they were slowing down the other 6 bellys. Jason
I pulled belly dump's in the late 50's early 60's and they had been around for a lot longer than that !!
here is a pic of a 1963 spomac with air operated cross gate.
Thanks everyone , sandnsnow , thanks for the pics thats a good looking KW , were cross gates more common back then? and how long was that trailer? I have never seen them working , only heard stories about them, how many yards would a belly dump typically carry back then?
I dont think cross gates were more common back then. They tend to be used in building logging roads where there grader runs are long and you have acouple of trucks running. They are shorter then windrows and we really overload them on the back roads. They can get turned around easier being short and you dont have to cross over your windrow, and get hung-up. I think the trailers are about 28 feet long and can carry about 18 yds legal and we load them to about 24 to 26 yds. you can really spread smaller rock with them to where very little clean up work is needed or a grader is needed. My spred is about 10' wide and even. I have a friend who just bought a brand new three axle cross gate so they are still made. They work well for us but most grader operators hate them because they like to roll the meterial over to place it.
Darn machine operators are never happy, you'd have thought they would be pleased to have a truck driver run it out for um and make it easy. Nice looking rig you have there. I have never heard of a cross gate before, but the way you describe it I understand perfectly. :yup
I would think that the cross gate trailers would get stuck more often then center gate trailers because they are spreading the material, or is it the same pulling either style and you just have to know what you are doing?
The first true belly dumps were made many years ago. They were used on railroad grades in the 1800,s. They were a horse drawn wagon with a trap door. The operator of the belly dump would pull into the cut and drive along and a line of men on each side of the cut would throw in a shovel or two as he drove along. When he was full he,d head for the fill area, and dump his load out the bottom and then return to cut and cycle again. Thats about the first belly dumps that i know about.
A cross gate spreads the meterial out evenly causing the trailer tires to ride on the spread meterial. ( Nice and flat) The only problem you have is if you stop then you have a pile to pull the trailer and tires over. Center dump only the trailer has to drag through the pile. Even a new driver will only do that once if he can help it. We really never get them hung up anymore, mabey two or three times a year due to tractor getting stuck or having to stop.
you could not find 1 in a thousand men today willing to work like that nowadays:beatsme:usa
What some here are calling cross gates we called V-bottoms in the early sixties in Michigan. Turbo probably remembers the Fisher Sand & Gravel Company out of Midland and Mount Pleasant, they had a lot of these and they were all shop built. They were excellent haulers for pit run that was taken to a crusher and screen plant in town. They could stop on top of a hopper and dump directly into it, not something you can do with a standard belly dump in most places these days. I did see one V-bottom in use last year someplace, can't remember where. Rare! We also used them to spread road gravel. Just set the gate chains to the thickness we wanted and let er' rip. Cut way down on blade time. I've seen very old and well worn bottom dumps constructed out of wood and designed to be pulled by a brace of mules or horses. They had a gate trip system powered by a chain and sprocket from the rear axle. The gates were more like conventional designs of today. After dumping, the gates had to be closed by hand. I think these and wood manure spreaders were very similar in design and operation with the chains and sprockets. I would suppose that some of these were likely built in the 1880's give or take a little.
They still have a lot of cross gate trailers here in SoCal. You never see them on road jobs though. They are all lightweight units and haul to the ready mix and asphalt plants from the quarries. The cross gate units dump into the drive over hoppers better, and the design is less complex, so it is lighter. Hauling tonnage, they all want as light a trailer as possible. It has been a long time since I seen a cross gate on a construction site.
SandnSnow, how long is that belly dump? The 2 cross gates I've seen in KS were 36'-40' and had 2 hoppers.
I have a 63 Spomak double bottom belly dump. 28 ft we load it up with 20 yards and use it to rock our dirt roads. I am trying to get a picture to load but will have to wait till tomorrow when I get back to the office computer. :usa
Correction, it is a 1960 model, truck is set up to dump gates individually. Helps when dumping on a hill. :usa
I have a Cross gate belly dump and do mainly township work and think it is the greatest thing since sliced cheese. And if any one knows where i could pick up a used one please email me it would greatly appreciated and it can be in any condition
do the gates on your trailor plug when you spread material like base or crusher run rock
That one is about 30Ft end to end.
Ours have box viberators on them. This makes it easy to spred base with. I will not haul pit/jaw run in it because its a pain if they plug with a 24" or larger rock.
i see ours don't have vibrators and our are clam style not single gate but we have been looking at some similar and i was wondering if it would be an issue
OH, yes. If you are wanting to spread a 6" lift and have some larger stones in the load it will definitely hang up. And screw up your spread even in the dump trucks. Our pit has a few larger (12-18") stones but we try to keep them out of the loads. My next purchase is a separator. :usa
Does anyone know how much they usually pay belly dumps owner operators. Do they pay by the mile or by the ton or by the hour?
Mostly by the hour, unless it is a set run, then by the ton-mile.
Thanks Thank you I am getting into the business and need to know how they pay.