Silage Dump Truck Fitted With Low-Cost Automatic Tailgate
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"It works simple and didn't cost much to build. I've never seen anything on the market like it," says Beecher Grose, Harmony, N.C., about the low-cost automatic tail-gate he mounted on his Chevrolet 2-ton truck. It allows him to unload silage into bunker silos without ever getting out of the truck.
The truck was originally equipped with a manually-opened door on back of the 14-ft. long, 6-ft. high box. Grose re-placed it with his home-built tailgate made from 3/4-in. thick plywood. The tailgate is connected by a 1 1/2-in. angle iron frame to a length of 2-in. dia. steel pipe that serves as a pivot point. A 1 1/2-in. dia. pipe mounts inside the 2-in. dia. pipe and is bolted at both ends to a pair of vertical 4-in. channel iron brackets that bolt onto the sides of the box.
To unload silage Grose raises the box until the tailgate begins to open, then drives ahead until the box is completely empty. Then he lowers the box and goes back to the field. It's that simple. There's nothing on the tailgate to latch or unlatch - the weight of the tailgate is all that keeps it in place.
"It saves a lot of time and legwork," says Grose. "I've used it a lot on our farm and on other farms in our area. Some of my neighbors have built similar tailgates to fit their own trucks. We use the truck to fill our bunker silos as well as upright silos. When the box has a full load the tailgate might open up about an inch or so, but no silage ever comes out.
"The pipe is mounted as high as the top of the tailgate which allows even the largest loads to slide out freely. The pipe is about 36 in. ahead of the tailgate which provides enough leverage for the tailgate to stay closed until the center of gravity changes as the box is raised."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Beecher H. Grose, 561 N. Meadow Rd., Harmony, N.C. 28634 (ph 704 546-2447).
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Silage Dump Truck Fitted With Low-Cost Automatic Tailgate TRUCKS Accessories 21-3-11 "It works simple and didn't cost much to build. I've never seen anything on the market like it," says Beecher Grose, Harmony, N.C., about the low-cost automatic tail-gate he mounted on his Chevrolet 2-ton truck. It allows him to unload silage into bunker silos without ever getting out of the truck.
The truck was originally equipped with a manually-opened door on back of the 14-ft. long, 6-ft. high box. Grose re-placed it with his home-built tailgate made from 3/4-in. thick plywood. The tailgate is connected by a 1 1/2-in. angle iron frame to a length of 2-in. dia. steel pipe that serves as a pivot point. A 1 1/2-in. dia. pipe mounts inside the 2-in. dia. pipe and is bolted at both ends to a pair of vertical 4-in. channel iron brackets that bolt onto the sides of the box.
To unload silage Grose raises the box until the tailgate begins to open, then drives ahead until the box is completely empty. Then he lowers the box and goes back to the field. It's that simple. There's nothing on the tailgate to latch or unlatch - the weight of the tailgate is all that keeps it in place.
"It saves a lot of time and legwork," says Grose. "I've used it a lot on our farm and on other farms in our area. Some of my neighbors have built similar tailgates to fit their own trucks. We use the truck to fill our bunker silos as well as upright silos. When the box has a full load the tailgate might open up about an inch or so, but no silage ever comes out.
"The pipe is mounted as high as the top of the tailgate which allows even the largest loads to slide out freely. The pipe is about 36 in. ahead of the tailgate which provides enough leverage for the tailgate to stay closed until the center of gravity changes as the box is raised."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Beecher H. Grose, 561 N. Meadow Rd., Harmony, N.C. 28634 (ph 704 546-2447).
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