# 20 foot bri-mar dump trailer



## codog (Dec 21, 2008)

Been wondering for some time about trying to do some smaller jobs without my chipper. Put my smaller skidsteer on the dump trailer and assume I can get whole tree on trailer with very little labor or time needed to get in and out of job. Most of my jobs are close to various dump sites I use. 
Can you please tell me your thoughts on this?
It seems like any wood over 4 inches can be left for the people I have wanting it for firewood, so there is much that I leave for them minimizing what I will need to haul away. 
Thanks


----------



## arbor pro (Dec 22, 2008)

Using a dump trailer and skidsteer is how I've operated for years. I just bought a chipper this year to try to become more efficient and it's listed for sale now because I'm more efficient with the dump trailer. Some listers will argue that a chipper is teh only way to go if you're going to be a 'serious, professional' tree service. I've been doing this for 24 years now and have tried various equipment combinations throughout those years. As a one-man show, a dump trailer is a more efficient way of doing work because you don't have so much equipment to shuttle back and forth and you're not always working on equipment.


----------



## John464 (Dec 22, 2008)

there was a guy in the TCIA earlier this year that had a profile of his company. He had what I recall were 24ft dump trailers equipped with knuckle booms. He pulled them with dually pickup trucks. Had a bunch of rigs setup like this. Normally Id say this type of operation is silly, but if the trailer is large enough to fit all your debris without making multiple trips it could turn into an efficient setup. If you have to go back to the jobsite you cancel out that efficiency and would be bettter with sending two trucks out, one with a chipper attached to it.


----------



## redprospector (Dec 22, 2008)

If you've got a place to dump it that would be the way to go.
We don't have a "tree dump" anywhere around here, so pretty much everything has to be chipped, or ground. But the few job's I've done where we could just dump in a pit were way more efficient.

Andy


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 23, 2008)

This is my trailer rig . 7 ton hoist side dump box. Morbark chipper behind with Vermeer 252 stumpgrinder along side.Saw storage on side. I store it in my 2 car garage. Built it in my car garage 4 winters ago. I am in the market for a mini-skid steer and plan on building a 3 ft. wide ledge at the back of the trailer to carry the mini. All my jobs are close to a dump, and the dumps here are free!


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 23, 2008)

Here is another picture. This is an old pic of it without the side tool box and being pulled with my old 1992 F150 1/2 ton pickup.


----------



## treecycle (Dec 23, 2008)

*Nice Combo*

Hey Holman, nice combo. Great idea to package the grinder/chipper side by side. Just wondering what kind of folding ramp that is and how do you like it?
I just built a nice super-low flatbed on a Npr cabover to get our grinder around town and am looking for a better ramp alternative. Down here in Seattle more times than not it is really nice to use the truck-mounted ramp to gain height onto a retaining wall above the street. Stay warm out there.

thanks Peter w- www.treecycleseattle.com


----------



## thejdman04 (Dec 23, 2008)

I would say get a goooseneck. Wood and a skid steer will add up weight wise quickly.


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 23, 2008)

thejdman04 said:


> I would say get a goooseneck. Wood and a skid steer will add up weight wise quickly.



The trouble with the 5th wheel gooseneck is you loose the use of the truck box. I got the trailer balanced just right ,there is only about 500 lbs on the trucks pintle hitch. If I was to put a 2,000 lb mini skid [Vermeer 400TX] on the back then there would have to be an adjustment moving the Tandem axles back a little. Our GVW laws here in Manitoba are not all that strict, only for the bigger trucks and trailers.


----------



## gr8scott72 (Dec 24, 2008)

treecycle said:


> I just built a nice super-low flatbed on a Npr cabover to get our grinder around town



Let's see some pictures of that NPR please! I want one to put my Carlton 7025 trx on so badly. That would be so much better to have just a truck instead of a truck AND a trailer trying to get in and out of people's driveways.


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 24, 2008)

treecycle said:


> Hey Holman, nice combo. Great idea to package the grinder/chipper side by side. Just wondering what kind of folding ramp that is and how do you like it?
> I just built a nice super-low flatbed on a Npr cabover to get our grinder around town and am looking for a better ramp alternative. Down here in Seattle more times than not it is really nice to use the truck-mounted ramp to gain height onto a retaining wall above the street. Stay warm out there.
> 
> thanks Peter w- www.treecycleseattle.com



It took me almost a week to figure out how to build that ramp LOL, with nothing to copy from I was on my own, I guess the whole trailer was that way. Its hinged in the middle [top when folded] and at the bottom. Used 1" square tubing, 1 1/2" angle and screen.It attaches to a pin on the stumper.


----------



## treecycle (Dec 24, 2008)

*Cab-over-RIGS*

Hello Holmen and thanks for the info. To you Gr8 Scott the only way I will show you pictures is if you get your rates up! 

Grinding is not the thing to do for cheap. But if you do it sure helps to have a dialed set-up( your driveway to theirs and back again). The only pic I have of the flatbed is the one with 3 trucks in it, I will try to get some more soon, Thanks 

Peter w- www.treecycleseattle.com


----------



## arborworks1 (Dec 24, 2008)

What gvw are you running on those cab over trucks. Are those beds custom built? I like the idea of the tie downs on top for winching, Starting to see that alot more now.


----------



## codog (Dec 24, 2008)

*time*

It's feedback from guys like you that keep my 2 sons and wife telling me I spend way too much time on this site. I tell them I'm communicating with the experts. They roll their eyes like I'm crazy. 
I often wonder if the guys I'm bidding against visit this site.


----------



## custom8726 (Dec 24, 2008)

HolmenTree said:


> This is my trailer rig . 7 ton hoist side dump box. Morbark chipper behind with Vermeer 252 stumpgrinder along side.Saw storage on side. I store it in my 2 car garage. Built it in my car garage 4 winters ago. I am in the market for a mini-skid steer and plan on building a 3 ft. wide ledge at the back of the trailer to carry the mini. All my jobs are close to a dump, and the dumps here are free!



Nice setup!! How long is it? how much does it weigh? Any pictures of the dump side? I like the idea but I would prefer a gooseneck myself. Definetly a well thought out and engineered setup you got there.


----------



## STLfirewood (Dec 25, 2008)

HolmenTree said:


> Here is another picture. This is an old pic of it without the side tool box and being pulled with my old 1992 F150 1/2 ton pickup.





That is a great setup. I think you need to build another one and sell me that one. I'm really kind of surprised that the big chipper companies haven't started selling something like that yet. I know bandit had something similar but not to that extreme. So what's your price an when can I get it  

Scott


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 26, 2008)

custom8726 said:


> Nice setup!! How long is it? how much does it weigh? Any pictures of the dump side? I like the idea but I would prefer a gooseneck myself. Definetly a well thought out and engineered setup you got there.



Length is 20' and 6'-6" wide,6'-9" high. Weighs approx 6000 lbs. The weight of the chipper and stumper at the back takes alot of weight off the hitch, There is a little more then 500 lbs on the truck hitch. I like the pintle hitch setup I have, I can fill my truck box with blocks, with the gooseneck you can't do that. You can't beat the strength of the new 3/4 tons frames so I am not too worried about frame bending etc. You can click on the other picture below to see it dumping .
Willard.


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 26, 2008)

STLfirewood said:


> That is a great setup. I think you need to build another one and sell me that one. I'm really kind of surprised that the big chipper companies haven't started selling something like that yet. I know bandit had something similar but not to that extreme. So what's your price an when can I get it
> 
> Scott



Sorry Scott from all the hairpulling it took me to build it I'm not too anxious to build another one. If I ever did build a second one I probably would go 8 ft wide ,make the box bigger,run a bigger chipper and stumper and have a mini-skid sitting sideways on the back of it and pull it with a 3 ton truck. Yes I had to build this thing 4 years ago because there wasn't and still is nothing on the market like it. Sometimes you have to built something to fit your needs and this rig does it for me. One truck for work and family use and everthing fits into my 2 car garage at home. I don't know if I could make any money building and selling these things, I would sooner be out running the tree service and have only that to worry about.
Willard.


----------



## Cowboy Billy (Dec 26, 2008)

Howdy Holman

Awesome trailer. Original and well thought out!! Thanks for sharing 

Billy


----------



## custom8726 (Dec 26, 2008)

HolmenTree said:


> Length is 20' and 6'-6" wide,6'-9" high. Weighs approx 6000 lbs. The weight of the chipper and stumper at the back takes alot of weight off the hitch, There is a little more then 500 lbs on the truck hitch. I like the pintle hitch setup I have, I can fill my truck box with blocks, with the gooseneck you can't do that. You can't beat the strength of the new 3/4 tons frames so I am not too worried about frame bending etc. You can click on the other picture below to see it dumping .
> Willard.



Thanks, I would not worry about any frame issues on the truck with a bumper pull (class 3 hitch), and it sounds like you have it balanced very well. I could see that set-up being very handy, For me though I would like to build it taller and wider like you stated above with a bigger chipper. I am picturing a 12" chipper and a gooseneck. Utilizing a goosneck allows more turning flexability and distributes the weight alot better over the axle. Im sure you already know that and I see your point on loosing the bed of the truck but you could make up for it on the trailer. For instance you could build a box on-top of the goosneck and not loose any trailer space and it would put the weight over your axle just like if you loaded the bed. Make sense? I would love to have something like that for smaller clean-up jobs or a second trimming crew. How much do you figure you have invested, time and money wise if you do not mind me asking?


----------



## STLfirewood (Dec 26, 2008)

I might have to try and find a good fabricator here local. I really see a market for a trailer like that. Think about it. Stump grinder, chipper,10yard chip box, and a dingo all wrapped up in one. Pulled by a truck that gets 10-12mpg towing. That is a money saving setup for your smaller operations. I'm going to buy a Genie boom this winter or next spring. I would pull a trailer like that with a 1-ton flatbed for the wood and the Genie with my Yukon. That would be a great set up for my dad and I. I bet a guy could sell quite a few unit like that also. 

Scott


----------



## HolmenTree (Dec 26, 2008)

The stump and Morbark chipper were both $30,000 total new. The trailer I spent approx $5,000 to build and about 4 months during my winter off season ,the hoist unit alone was $1,100. The frame and axles with electric brakes were like brand new from a wrecker yard. I T'ed the hoist into the chippers auto feed forward/reverse contol bar lever. Forward is up, reverse is down. Never had a problem with it. I sheeted in the box with the same plywood they use to make traffic signs along the highways ,tough, waterproof and smooth. I used Lexon for the windows. Galvanized 1/8" steel on the floor.
If I was to build a larger unit like I said earlier I would go 8' wide and mount a 12" Bandit chipper with the 140hp ,these [model 250 I think] is a narrow chipper that would fit alongside a 3' wide 50hp+ stumper on a 8' deck.Better yet have that chipper with tracks to do land clearing etc. The mini-skid steer I would mount sideways over the hitch in front of the box with a curb side folding ramp,then everthing is easily accessable. I would then pull this with a 2-3 ton dumpbox truck with a grapple picker.


----------



## custom8726 (Dec 26, 2008)

HolmenTree said:


> The stump and Morbark chipper were both $30,000 total new. The trailer I spent approx $5,000 to build and about 4 months during my winter off season ,the hoist unit alone was $1,100. The frame and axles with electric brakes were like brand new from a wrecker yard. I T'ed the hoist into the chippers auto feed forward/reverse contol bar lever. Forward is up, reverse is down. Never had a problem with it. I sheeted in the box with the same plywood they use to make traffic signs along the highways ,tough, waterproof and smooth. I used Lexon for the windows. Galvanized 1/8" steel on the floor.
> If I was to build a larger unit like I said earlier I would go 8' wide and mount a 12" Bandit chipper with the 140hp ,these [model 250 I think] is a narrow chipper that would fit alongside a 3' wide 50hp+ stumper on a 8' deck.Better yet have that chipper with tracks to do land clearing etc. The mini-skid steer I would mount sideways over the hitch in front of the box with a curb side folding ramp,then everthing is easily accessable. I would then pull this with a 2-3 ton dumpbox truck with a grapple picker.



Diversity is key, once again nice job!!


----------



## arbor pro (Jun 2, 2009)

HolmenTree said:


> This is my trailer rig . 7 ton hoist side dump box. Morbark chipper behind with Vermeer 252 stumpgrinder along side.Saw storage on side. I store it in my 2 car garage. Built it in my car garage 4 winters ago. I am in the market for a mini-skid steer and plan on building a 3 ft. wide ledge at the back of the trailer to carry the mini. All my jobs are close to a dump, and the dumps here are free!



I'm resurrecting this thread as I'm having a local welding shop look into what it will take to build me a trailer like Holmen Tree's.

I can't seem to find a dump trailer/equipment trailer, chipper truck combo that suits the bill so, I figured it's time to look at building one.

My chipper is a bandit 200+ with 86hp perkins diesel. Runs good and the trailer axle is bent a bit so i figured it's a good candidate for pulling it off of the frame and mounting on a flatbed trailer frame.

I'm looking to do it very similarly to Holmen's except for the following:

1) move the position of the chipper on the trailer to the right (passenger) side as the ignition and clutch are on that side
2) reverse the hinge side for the chip box so it dumps to the driver's side as that would be the opposite of the chipper
3) make the platform or rails next to the chipper accomodate either my sc252 or my mt50 bobcat
4) simplify the chip box a bit by eliminating the glass on front and back and just having the opening for the chip infeed and the hinge side for chip dumping

My chipper is 11' long from end of infeed chute to the front of the engine and 48" wide side to side and I figure it weighs about 4500# without the trailer. My mini skid is 36" wide by 9' long and weighs 2500#. I figured I would make the platform (rear) portion of the trailer about 12' long x 90" wide (inside the fender wells if possible) with a tripple axle and the front of the trailer would be a 8' x 8' or so box by about 75" tall. I figure the box will hold about 12 yards of chips if 90% full and the chips would weigh about 6000# not including the weight of the box and hoist.

So, total, I am figuring a 20' x8' triple axle trailer that will handle 13000# of payload plus the weight of the trailer and box. Three 7k axles ought to work I figure. I think a scissors hoist rated for 3-ton should suffice for the chip box and I am thinking electric over hydraulic like a dump trailer would be set up vs feeding off of the chipper's power and hydraulics that way I wouldn't have to fire up the chipper each time I want to dump.

Oh yeah - pintle hitch, not gooseneck. My two trucks that I will be using to pull the trailer - the one-ton in the photo and my hd3/4 ton are set up for pintle trailers and I do not want to go to gooseneck.

I am figuring that if I can pull this new combo trailer behind the 1-ton with dump bed (I will take the chip box off and put sides back on), that I can have everything short of the aerial lift in one package. I will no longer need to make a second trip to the jobsite with my dump trailer to pick up logs that were too big for the chipper. I will be able to put those in the 1-ton's dump bed.

I just put 60" dual tool boxes on the 1-ton so it now holds all my saws and rigging gear. I might try to add some tool boxes or at least tool holders to the new trailer to hold clean-up tools and other misc stuff.

Any suggestions or comments on what would be the best way to proceed if other than what I am thinking about doing...?


----------



## gr8scott72 (Jun 2, 2009)

arbor pro said:


> Any suggestions or comments on what would be the best way to proceed if other than what I am thinking about doing...?



Only thing I can think of is that it might be too much weight on the rear of the trailer when the dump is empty and would be a fishtailin son of a gun on the highway.

Maybe have a way to load your mini in front of the dump bed when empty and then in the back when full.


----------



## arbor pro (Jun 3, 2009)

gr8scott72 said:


> Only thing I can think of is that it might be too much weight on the rear of the trailer when the dump is empty and would be a fishtailin son of a gun on the highway.
> 
> Maybe have a way to load your mini in front of the dump bed when empty and then in the back when full.



Ideally, I'd like to load my sc252 in front of the chip box but, that's another 1100# on the hitch when loaded and another 3' of trailer length that would need to be added.

I was thinking the triple axle would help with the back-loading issue. If the rear 'bed' is 12' long, I would locate the triples pretty much in the center of that bed so, when the chip box is empty, it will just be the weight of the chip box and frame as tongue weight but, when full, it will add about half the weight of the chips on the tongue and half on the axles (3000# or so on each).


----------



## redprospector (Jun 3, 2009)

Just a little food for thought. A tripple axle trailer is really hard on tires, every time you turn either the front axle or the back axle will be sliding.
Might be better off using heavier axles, and going tandem.

Andy


----------



## gr8scott72 (Jun 3, 2009)

redprospector said:


> Just a little food for thought. A tripple axle trailer is really hard on tires, every time you turn either the front axle or the back axle will be sliding.
> Might be better off using heavier axles, and going tandem.
> 
> Andy



10k dual tandems.


----------



## arbor pro (Jun 4, 2009)

tandem duals would be nice but that would certainly require a deck-over bed which might be too high for the chipper infeed chute. That's why I was thinking tripples. Tripples would also balance the weight of the trailer better whether its loaded with chips or empty.

I will have to see if two 10k axles would work and will still consider the dual tandems.

Thanks for the suggestions.


----------



## redprospector (Jun 4, 2009)

A deck over would put you too high to be practical I think.

You listed about 13,000 lbs planned for the trailer. You might have to cut the chip box back to 8 or 9 yards, but you could probably make a pair of 8,000 lb axles do the job.

Andy


----------



## stihlman390 (Jun 22, 2009)

:greenchainsaw:My little buisness we use has two trucks two trailers one tractor roll in one day cut a drag trees next roll the fleet in with the ford dually f-350 twin turbo diesl hooked up to a goosneck. 35 foot tandem dually loaded a tractor on it and then a ford f250 v10 with a 35 foot goose neck tandem axle but a single not dual tired trailer. load trailers and send one off load the next and so on. doing that on average we haul 60, 30 foot tree's avergaing in 30" diameter.


----------

