Andy1845c
Well-Known Member
Hello all,
Some of you probably saw my topic in the main forum about driving a dump truck cross country to get it home. I decided for a variety of reasons to pass on this truck and it got me thinking about a hair brained idea I have had for a while about making a custom dump truck out of a tractor.
I've read some posting on other forums about this and general consensus is its not the greatest idea due to most tractors not really being built on heavy enough frames and that they are often geared higher then what a dump truck is.
But in defense of my idea I want more of a contractor box/flatbed/utility dump. Not something that would be loaded to the gills over and over everyday. I also would be the only one driving it.
A couple reasons this sounds like a fun project to me are-
I could find a cool older tractor to convert, just because I like them
I could get a bigger engine and more gears than are typically found in a small contractor dump truck
I could easily pull any tag trailer I wanted.
I am thinking of keeping my eyes open for something with a wet kit, longer frame, double frame if I can find one and spring suspension. I would look for a tandem axle to get the length but could drop the front axle if I wanted. I have done some reading on that and it sounds like as long as you don't lengthen the driveshaft too much its ok.
Has anyone done something like this? Anyone have any thoughts on the idea to share?
Some of you probably saw my topic in the main forum about driving a dump truck cross country to get it home. I decided for a variety of reasons to pass on this truck and it got me thinking about a hair brained idea I have had for a while about making a custom dump truck out of a tractor.
I've read some posting on other forums about this and general consensus is its not the greatest idea due to most tractors not really being built on heavy enough frames and that they are often geared higher then what a dump truck is.
But in defense of my idea I want more of a contractor box/flatbed/utility dump. Not something that would be loaded to the gills over and over everyday. I also would be the only one driving it.
A couple reasons this sounds like a fun project to me are-
I could find a cool older tractor to convert, just because I like them
I could get a bigger engine and more gears than are typically found in a small contractor dump truck
I could easily pull any tag trailer I wanted.
I am thinking of keeping my eyes open for something with a wet kit, longer frame, double frame if I can find one and spring suspension. I would look for a tandem axle to get the length but could drop the front axle if I wanted. I have done some reading on that and it sounds like as long as you don't lengthen the driveshaft too much its ok.
Has anyone done something like this? Anyone have any thoughts on the idea to share?