I've been doing some work with this dude and he has a little 3 ton Fuso tipper. It has an automatic two way tailgate and this is where I have an issue... I had to dump some concrete the other day so I rings him up and says hey mate where's the switch to release the the little things so I can swing open the tailgate... he says there isn't any and to just start tipping until tip body is a quarter way up to and then get out and open tailgate... That can't be right can it? It doesn't seem very safe.. This is pretty much a brand new truck...
The little hook things on the bottom of tailgate in photo are the things im talking about... When it tips they automatically open, but it seems there's no way to release them to open gate when tipper is down. Or is there?
Not familiar with that setup but looks somewhat similar to the 2- way gates we have across the pond. Basically the tail gate can function like a normal dump for dirt, gravel, etc and hinge at the top and open at the bottom. For chunks of concrete or other bulky items the top releases and either swings around and pins to the side of the bed or folds down to dump. That bed doesn't appear to have hinges on the side so I would assume the tailgate swings down to dump bulky items. Had custom built 14' flat bed dump one time with 2-way tailgate. Normal dumping had an air valve and a manual swing gate for bulky trash items. Worked great.
That's the same exact design on my Yanmar C60R-2 dumper tailgate. Once the bed is up about 6" or so, the locks are released. When I want to remove the tailgate, I lift the 2 handles in the upper corners until the release is open - hold gate with a chain & excavator, lift bed at least 6" and drive out from under the tailgate. These auto locks are slick and require no maintenance with the exception of hitting the grease zerks on a regular basis. Everything is tucked out of the way and it's hard to damage the mechanism.
ahh ****, yes, i didn't realise, our gate has a hinge.. the photo i posted is similiar... i didnt realise at first i was too focused on the hook things. lol Our gate definitely has a hinge.
i just realised i posted wrong photo of gate, the one i posted didnt have a hinge, although the locks are still the same...
this is what the hinge on tailgate looks like, the locks at bottom are the same though.. Surely there's a way to release the locks without lifting bed????
If the lock mechanism works on the striker plate system like mine does, only removing the striker plate would allow the bed to remain unlocked. Or, you could adjust the throw rod to keep the lock open at all times. I would suggest looking at the mechanism and see how it works and just how far you have to lift the bed before it is completely freed. At 6"-8" lift to unlock, I've never needed mine to be unlocked due to lift height. I expect to run mine later today - I'll take a closer look to remember how the system is designed. Sometimes, if I don't pay attention, the locks won't engage properly and the gate won't be locked. If this is what you want, just put a block of wood between the bed and gate to keep the lock from properly engaging. It only needs to be off by 2" or so to keep the locks from engaging. Being that this dumper is on rubber, I doubt you will be trying to empty on a 30 degree side slope like I've done with mine numerous times. It's a handy rig when I need it.
You mean, It swings like a barn door or a regular talegate. You have to put it up a bit before you can swing it open it. Do the locks move, or are they solid, and the box going up moves the gate away from them like a rock truck.
Assuming that your lock mechanism is the same as is what is on my Yanmar: You can see the striker plate with the round rust colored spot where the sealed bearing rests when the bed is closed. You should also be able to see the basic principle of how this system works. The locks remain in the open position until the bearing rests on the striker plate which then transmits force down the spring loaded rod assembly to the locking loop. The spring inside the thrust rod makes sure that there is enough force to close the lock yet allow give if a rock or other obstacle keeps the lock mechanism from closing properly. This is the amount of lift required to release the locks on my bed. It's about 5"-6" of lift off the frame. Doing the trigonometry for 6" lift over a 10' bed gives me less than 3 degrees of lift to unlock the gate. 3 degrees should not spill anything out unless you are facing the bed downhill. So if you need to unlock your swinging barn door 3 degrees to unlock the gate, I would think that is a reasonable amount. Even 5 degrees would be reasonable. This is a view of a worn lock mechanism on the top of the tailgate. Dust & debris tend to get caked up within it and make it a pain to move it unless it gets cleaned out well. That spiffy new truck should work well but age and use will end up looking like what I have. But, it still works and I can remove my gate when required. This auto-lock tailgate is a great system in my opinion. I rarely ever have to work on any of it, even after long periods of usage.
I think you are right, that's exactly the same system on the truck.. when i look underneath I can see those little rods and springs... .. still strikes me as strange, but I mean, now i understand how it works it's not so bad... It is still a pain in ass to lift and then hold whilst i open gate but i guess that's the tradeoff for an automatic system.
it swings open like a door (manually) when dumping bulky ****. and it also swings out from bottom (automatically) if just dumping dirt...