I've got a Kodiak 7500 and normally haul rock. But, ocasionally I go to the county transfer station with a load of construction material, brush, etc. that won't dump under the tailgate, so I set the chains and unlatch the tailgate from the top and let it hinge at the bottom. After I've dumped the load, I can't get the 4-500 pound tailgate lifted back up to close by myself. What does everyone else do to close the tailgate back up? Thanks, Greg
Try keeping a come-a-long, handy?
I have wanted to mount an electric winch with a couple of pulleys. It’s in my to do list.
fix the hinge`s
Put hinges on the side of the tailgate.
That's my solution as well. Put 2 side hinges and make it a swing gate. Like this one from Ox Bodies.
I like that idea better.
Unhinge the tail gate from the top & let it hang out the back on the chains when hauling debris . Like a pickup truck tailgate .
Unsecured load ? Had a piece of road debris slice through my radiator years ago on I20 in Georgia. Could have killed me if it was a few inches higher.
How do you get the gate down in the first place?
Take smaller loads that will clear the endgate. Im not a big fan of the pins removed from the tailgate and then packing in the debris with an excavator. Sooner or later the sides of the dump body will get pushed out and then the tailgate won't fit back in. I'd rather make another trip then to push the sides of my box outward.
Around here it is like DOT central. Wouldn't even think of hauling a load with the tailgate down anymore. We have always used a loader to lift tailgates off or on etc.
A good friend of mine is in the demolition business. His semi- trailer has both, barn door hinges and the standard hinges at the top of the trailer. He loads huge pieces of concrete in it and it works very well. He has not damaged the trailer body yet. But, he is very careful when he loads it.
I just push it out at the top and let the chains catch it. Greg
It would have to swing all of the way clear, around to the side of the dump bed, to keep from hitting the ground at full dump. I'm having a hard time imagining a hinge that would allow both? Greg
that's what I'm doing now, but after dumping the load I have to close the tailgate to travel home. I can't lift it back closed by myself and there's no equipment available to help. Greg
That style tailgate does. Swings all the way around and pins to the side of the bed. Pretty common around here.
I have never seen one that didn't get chained to the side either. Very common in Illinois too !
I had a 14' low sided single axle dump that had an OX Body with 2 way gate. You could swing it open to dump trash - worked great. Wish I had that truck back...
Any idea where I can find more information on that type? Does anyone sell a conversion kit? I googled it but haven't come up with anything where I can get a close look at how it works.
Search; "Consolidated Truck Barn Door Kit"
thanks, doublewide. I'll put in a call to them.
Sorry amp , missed that somehow . We lay the tail gate down & hang off the chains when hauling trees in the dump trailer . Gains you an extra 5 feet , throw the heavy butt end at the front the bed & let the branches hang out the rear to freak out the car people behind ya . Set the tailgate back in place with a farm tractor & loader .
Sorry about that .
As long as your bed is empty I don't now of a reg that requires the tailgate up. We do like td25c with our dump trucks but usually chain them so they are tipped up a bit. No knife edge if someone tries to drive under you. Whatever we are hauling slides out with the box fully up.
That's interesting. I'd always been told that the tailgate had to be up, but never saw or asked for anything written. If I could legally drive with it down, I could get home where there's equipment to close it. I'm in Tennessee, anyone familiar with the requirements here?
Safest way, ask your local motor carrier / commercial enforcement officer. We are a county highway department but the local motor carrier / commercial enforcement officer is domiciled at our yard. He won't ticket us but will warn us if we are out of compliance. By tipped up a bit it's 30 to 45 degrees from flat. It's not worth it for us viability wise to operate out of compliance. I found this in the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code but i don't think it applies since the tailgate is part of the truck and designed to be "hung" from the chains. We also have our "under ride" protection just short of the end of the box.
The problem with them, is if you ask 3 of them, you'll likely get 3 different answers. I always end up explaining to the officers why the truck cranes don't have plates in Missouri. No titles, no plates, they are considered "special mobile equipment". If its a old timer I don't have to tell him (they don't usually pull you over), but usually its some new kid just out of school, and they don't know what they don't know. They are usually just excited, because they found someone driving around "THIS HUGE TRUCK WITH NO PLATES OR ANYTHING!" I'm sure the $ signs are rolling in their mind.... When I say "special mobile equipment" their eyes light up- they've heard that phrase before in class, and now they have seen one. They are really good about- it once I tell them what it is. Our local dump has a backhoe operator who "isn't supposed to help". But if you ask nice, he will.
I used to (<< operative phrase) drop my angle gate to haul brush. I had to eye by cables made so the gate was pitched up a little. Drive the top pins out, push the gate out of the hinge a little put one eye in the pin and the other eye in a shackle through the eye of the gate hinge do both sides push the gate out. No muss no fuss. Putting the gate up, I would usually back up to a pile and raise the box then chain it from the top chain ear on the gate to the chain cutout by the pin. It usually worked out that with the right combination of words usually reserved for recruits in boot camp and enough grunting and groaning I could muscle it back up to remove the cables. I would be a little hinky about running gate down or off these days... seems everybody is looking for a bag of cash.
"The problem with them, is if you ask 3 of them, you'll likely get 3 different answers. I always end up explaining to the officers why the truck cranes don't have plates in Missouri." I should have qualified that with an old timer - experienced guy. And have him show you in the regs where it's legal / illegal. A friendly I'm looking for info, not an adversarial confrontation along side the road. Our local guy gave me lots of pointers of what to carry with me ie paperwork, documentation (the special equipment issue stuff you referred to) with my privately owned tractor / lowboy so I wouldn't get pulled over by some local cowboy on weekend and have my truck impounded in BFE by one that thinks he knows the regs. Our guy is a pretty nice guy, took time in the evening to do a presentation on the regs to our ATHS chapter, answered any and all questions etc. However, he doesn't hesitate to pull violators into our yard and red tag them. Argue with him, give him some lip and he offers to try the silver bracelets on you. I spent an hour with him before I bought my tractor trailer as a private individual. I didn't want any surprises AFTER I bought it.
APM you can also call these guys, a little closer for shipping - http://www.childersburg-truck.com/ Childersburg Truck is our local OX Body dealer and carries all the parts as well. I just finished up a big chain auto parts store a mile or so away from them.
No further comment required ... Montgomery county sheriff https://www.facebook.com/MOCOsheriff/photos/a.1591718271136832/2029407594034562/?type=3&theater
A high lift gate works good for brush. They started ordering them for hauling rock with dump trailers. Have a couple tandems with them and they open up wide and don't hold the brush in.
Also try : https://www.oxbodies.com/contact/general-information
I had a HardOx round demo bed with a high lift gate on a Mack tri-axle before the depression, unfortunately had to get rid of it in '09, it was an '06 Granite with Allison Auto and MP7. Hoss of a truck. The high lift gates work the best IMO but would be expensive to retrofit an existing dump bed. I would like to have another dump truck but struggling justifying not only the purchase price but the insurance and other O&O costs that go along with it.
Don't " tailgate " trucks or anyone else for that matter . You aint got any control over it ….. Best to hang back & give yourself a back door when it go's wrong . Drive Defensive .
Yeah, this truck is just for personal/farm use. Maybe used a couple of times a month, so the high lift option is likely way over budget. A retrofit kit to convert from what I've got to swinging barn door style would probably be just the trick. If the kit hardware is reasonable, there's plenty of solid metal to weld it up. For the short term, I guess I'll weld a couple of loops onto the tailgate and the bed and use the come along for now. Greg
I am shopping for a Class C dump truck presently, and one of the first projects I intend to use it for is to load and transport burnt trees to arroyos on my property. This looks like a good place to ask this question. Will the dump trucks tailgate have an option to open as the tailgate on a pickup truck does? So that when I raise the bed to dump, it will all slide out? Seems to me if the tailgate were to pivot at the top and open at the bottom as you’d want for dumping top soil, sand or gravel, the trees would hang…….
https://images.app.goo.gl/kptB5Y3DJCM9kTww6 And the kit. https://images.app.goo.gl/4NwX4eQkKpEgML2S8 . Just about every tip truck, trailer and semi tipper has this set-up in Australia. The latch on the right hand side would go on your left. The original tail door is used and for DOT purposes the truck remains at the same length.
Hmmmm, ok so I could buy a kit to put on it and then it would pivot, or hinge at the bottom like the tailgate on a pickup truck?
Welcome to the Forum Yes trees are going to get hung up unless they are loaded lightly and carefully to slide under the gate on property hauling you take the gate off or use the chains to the top slots and pull the top pins using the bottom latches as the hinge point If your going down the road you can do the same thing but you have to put the gate back up after dumping I have rigged a small winch for that when a loader isn't available Or you can buy or modify with that hinge kit to have the gate swing to the side for easy dumping that would be the thing to do if you are constantly needing to go down the road and dump bulky items
No the hinge goes to the top and the latch is on the otherside on the top. There are 2 pipes 1 is welded to the tail door, the other is welded to the bin so with the pin through both of them becomes a hinge. To swing the tail door insert the pin, release the latch and release the hooks that normally hold the door shut and the door swing around and hook to the side of the bin. Like this https://images.app.goo.gl/64bFwLaYQJvwqzF86
Jonas, thank you for the welcome…. That sir is exactly what I’m after, and will speak to my concern perfectly. I won’t need the winch set up however as I intend to simply move from the point of loading a 1/4 to a 1/2 mile in repeated turn arounds on my own property….. What trouble if any is it to pull those top pins? Greased and driven out, or do they just pull rather easily?
Thank you for your time Tones.
I’ve seen that CE, looks like it would be better than nothing, but not the best scenario. I find what Jonas posted as the best option so far as the tailgate won’t be in the way when loading and the added length it will provide to the dump bed is a plus for the trees which will be longer than the bed….
I drop my gate to dump loads of stumps and brush. I carry a hammer, come-along, turning block and a bar. I can drop my gate in about 5 minutes and have it back up in about 7. Much easier than having a stump get caught up with the bed up. “Barn door kits” are about 2500$$ around here plus fabrication to install. That’s just too steep for me.