Chipper truck dump angle.

[dstimber]

I?m trying to get my chip truck built and was wondering. What angle you guys are getting when fully up and what is needed for the chips to slide out.

The trailer I built was around 36 degrees fully up and didn?t seem to have much trouble with the chips sliding out. Just needed a slight jerk to get them going.

Right now the truck I?m building is sitting right on 36 as well. I?ve got a little room left to slide the hoist back towards the rear of the truck to pick up a few more degrees. But when I do I?ll have to take out my gooseneck ball. ( was trying to save it and still have it usable).

The chip box sides and top were going to sit in stake pockets and be secured with pins but if I have to lose the gooseneck I just will.
And it?s just a 1 ton non chassis cab. It has the not so straight/ flat pickup frame.

Any input on what angle is the minimum I should go for. Thanks guys!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Good question. I wonder what the universally accepted angle actually is?

 

[lumberjack]

Having to jerk forward is less than ideal, but it works until it doesn’t.

Using a gooseneck ball with a chip body will be interesting, are you sure it’s something you’re going to do? Make sure you have enough dump capacity also.

The truck I’m building now has a 53* dump angle, but it’s not specifically a chip truck.

 

[cory]

A steep dump angle is key.

 

[dstimber]

I moved it back about as far as I can without doing any major modifications to the shock mounts and crossmembers. I got my angle right up to 40 degrees.

The more I thought about the gooseneck ball the more I realized how much I didn?t need it. So I think ima nix the headache of trying to make that work.

I figured it would hold 11 yards if I were to use the whole bed just for chips and it were completely full. but I?m putting 18x18x8? box down each side of the bed. I?m guessing I?ll lose 2 yards for those. Minus another 2 yards because it won?t get completely filled.

So somewhere around the 7 yard range on the capacity. I?ll get the exact figures in a few days I hope.

The truck will be pushing if not overloaded when full.

The hoist is rated at 10k pounds.

 

[SkwerI]

I can understand one long box to hold the pole saws but for everything else I recommend under bed boxes mounted on brackets hanging off the truck frame. You don't want to tip your boxes every time you dump. The cost of one broken saw will be more than the cost of mounting the boxes properly. Plus you keep your bed space.

Mine as an example.

 

[lumberjack]

The load the hoist can dump decreases the farther back it is mounted.

I agree on underbody boxes vs body boxes.

 

[dstimber]

I agree with you guys. The plan is that the side boxes are going to be mounted to the subframe.... kinda hard to explain but they are not going to dump with the bed.

I?m going this route because under body boxes won?t have enough room (length)for my bigger saws without removing the bars.
I will add under body boxes later.

I?m building this thing more for the storage than the chip box. I can?t stand having to load and unload saws gear etc.

 

[lumberjack]

Makes sense.


I was a bonehead and ordered 2 3’ aluminum boxes for this truck... A 461 with a 20” bar is 37” long.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Cut a slot and shove the bar protector through it.

 

[lumberjack]

That's an interesting idea that I hadn't considered! However, I figure I'll order more boxes vs cutting up these box(es). I can put it/them on the flatbed trailer or elsewhere. I'm going to wait until I get the fenders mounted and measure more closely to see what I can get away with size wise.

 

[treebilly]

I did that once also Carl. I built a cabinet in my garage to hold all my saws. Even though it was wooden, if someone wanted in it would be a lot of effort and make a lot of noise. Couldn?t put the 066 in where I wanted it. Pissed me off to no end. If you cut the boxes, weld a bump out to keep out the elements. I plunge cut a hole in mine and that worked till I decided that no one will bother me or my stuff.

And a steeper angle is better. By my math your losing a one and a third yard due to those side boxes.

 

[lumberjack]

I could put it in on a diagonal, although I haven't checked to see how much room would be left. If I did make a cut, I would certainly have to weld a bump on it, but I don't have the equipment to weld aluminum now.

 

[flushcut]

I can understand one long box to hold the pole saws but for everything else I recommend under bed boxes mounted on brackets hanging off the truck frame. You don't want to tip your boxes every time you dump. The cost of one broken saw will be more than the cost of mounting the boxes properly. Plus you keep your bed space.

Mine as an example.

I had bed boxes that would go up with the dump for years and never broke anything. I can't say I miss them on my newish chip box tho.



Mo dump angle mo better! Chips/logs dump easy dirt on the other hand needs degrees.

 

[SeanKroll]

I?m building this thing more for the storage than the chip box. I can?t stand having to load and unload saws gear etc.

I don't understand why chip trucks don't have locking rear dutch doors. So much added security. A little more effort and cost.

 

[dstimber]

I think most of the chip body/truck builders main focus is on the larger operations. That take an army of Equipment to every job. Not he small guy that carries/wants to carry nearly all his tools/ Equipment in one vehicle or 2 in one trip.

I would think a small upfitter could make a killing making custom trucks for the smaller guys out there.

 

[SkwerI]

Actually the biggest purchasers of tree equipment are the line clearance companies. Their crews typically work with one or maybe two trucks each, with each truck fully stocked. Other than the lack of chip capacity, forestry rigs typically used by line clearance companies are set up to carry everything needed by the crew. There is a huge cottage industry buying up used line clearance trucks at auction and refurbishing them for resale to tree guys.

 

[forestkeepers]

Our chip truck is custom built using a modified shipping container with a 1" thick oak floor bed. The top cap comes off (through bolts) via crane and it can serve as a dump truck. We got the boxes (plate steel) off of an old forestry bucket truck rig. To open the doors, you have to lift the bed and pull up on metal rods -- releases the catches. There's a main cabinet on each side (saws on one side, ropes & climbing gear on the other), the narrower part is shelves that span the whole width of the truck, so we have room for the pole saw and power pruner and 395 w/36" bar). We do plan on adding a couple more boxes attached to the frame for additional storage of straps and slings, as well as an orchard ladder rack.

 

[Tree09]

I would think a small upfitter could make a killing making custom trucks for the smaller guys out there.

Funny you mention that, since the personal deduction is gone, I'm going to have to start a welding business (so I can write off my tools) and have been brainstorming ideas in what to make... was thinking truck beds because I have to build a few for myself, but I have no idea yet...

 

[treebilly]

I like that chip body Forestkeepers. Looks tough enough to handle logs loaded by a skid steer. I might add tough enough for the knuckleheads where I work to load logs. We have several oval shaped chip boxes because of them.

 

[lumberjack]

Here's the dump angle of my hook lift, 53*.

 

[forestkeepers]

I like that chip body Forestkeepers. Looks tough enough to handle logs loaded by a skid steer. I might add tough enough for the knuckleheads where I work to load logs. We have several oval shaped chip boxes because of them.

As a container, it was tough enough for unskilled forklift operators not to pierce through the sides of the container. Now as a chip body, it's been holding up well to all the thousands of cubic yards of chips we've been handling with it. And we have loaded some logs at times with our grapple and some dirt with a skid steer for a client that wanted stump grindings removed and dirt brought in. As for actual dump angle, I looked at it tonight and it looked to be right at 60 degrees. Nice & steep and the oak plank flooring lets everything slide right out, just a little bit o' chips stick in the very corners.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Looking good Carl. I love that steep angle.

 

[SeanKroll]

Occasionally, you may want to dump while backed slightly uphill. You need extra angle to account for that.

Any internal bottlenecks, like sidewall supports? My Southco has vertical angle welded on the two open edges, so that there's no place for water/ debris to hang, but it narrows slightly. Newer designs seem to use horizontal gussetting (or whatever).

 

[forestkeepers]

In this picture, we're at 57.5 degrees (yes, I measured). It wasn't quite at full, because occasionally the rams get stuck at full extension with those heavy doors cantilevered off the back. Should be exactly 60 degrees at full.