5th Wheel "Side Dump" Semi Grain Trailer

5th Wheel "Side Dump" Semi Grain Trailer GRAIN HANDLING Wagons (63E) 21-4-3 "It works great for loading seed and fertilizer into my air seeder and for hauling grain back to the bins," says Dallas Henry, Seneca, S. Dak., about the "side dump" semi grain trailer he built by welding a pair of gravity boxes together. The trailer has divided hoppers which al-low Henry to haul 350 bu. of wheat seed in one and 10 tons of dry fertilizer in the other. At harvest, he can haul 670 bu. of grain legally (total capacity is actually 715 bu.). He uses a 1973 Chevrolet single axle semi truck to pull the trailer, which he built entirely from scratch. "When I built it I had just bought an air seeder and wanted an efficient way to get both seed and fertilizer out to the field without having to make an extra trip," says Henry. "The side dump chutes work much better for unloading into augers than the center dump chutes on conventional semi trailers. Another advantage is that they're self-cleaning. When I haul grain to the elevator I unbolt the chutes and install home-built ones that direct grain back under the trailer. When planting wheat I mount a seed treater on the side of the trailer so that I can apply liquid inoculant onto the seed as it's loaded into an auger. The seed treater is powered off the semi's 12-volt battery. Henry used 4 by 8-in. rectangular steel tubing to make the trailer frame and welded a steel plate and kingpin off an old car carrier onto the front of it. The rear axle also came off the car carrier and is equipped with 10.00 by 20 dual truck tires. An axle off a 3/ 4-ton Ford pickup mounts just ahead of the rear axle and is equipped with 7.50 by 16, 14-ply tires to help distribute the weight. To strengthen the axle he cut the rear end off it and welded a steel pipe in its place. Front and rear fenders were made from 14-gauge sheet metal. He paid $650 apiece for new Killbros. 250 bu. gravity boxes. He welded the boxes together end to end, then cut off the other end of each box and used 14-ga. sheet metal to lengthen each end by 3 ft. He also welded 20-in. high strips of 14-gauge sheet metal all along the top of the boxes to increase their capacity. He used 1-in. sq. steel tubing to make a peaked frame that extends above the boxes and supports a manual-crank tarp. Vertical lengths of 2-in. channel iron brace the front and rear sides of the boxes to the trailer frame. A steel ladder mounts between the boxes on the side of the trailer. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dallas Henry, Box 69A, Seneca, S. Dak. 57473 (ph 605 436-6209).

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