Live Floor Trailer Made From Shipping Container

2006 - Volume #30, Issue #2, Page #29

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James Ray, Jr., Higley, Arizona, converted a 40-ft. shipping container into a fifth wheel, live floor trailer that unloads itself. He pulls it behind his Volvo semi tractor equipped with a Cummins diesel engine.
  "I use it to haul silage, as well as solid manure that I pick up at local dairy farms," says Higley, who operates a custom hauling business.
  He paid $2,000 for the 8 by 8 1/2-ft. shipping container and mounted it on a set of axles off a wrecked semi trailer. He cut the top off the container and mounted a fifth wheel underneath the front end.
  Ray installed three sets of homemade slatted chains on the container floor with 2-ft. wide chains on either side and a 3-ft. chain down the middle. He used 2-in. channel iron to make the slats and welded them onto roller chain. He mounted a steel shaft and a pair of large drive sprockets on back of the trailer and put idler sprockets on front.
  A hydraulic pump on the semi tractor powers the chains. The pump operates a hydraulic motor that runs through a reduction transmission.
  "I've used it for four years and couldn't be happier with it," says Ray. "Last year I used it to haul about 20,000 tons of corn silage and 4,000 tons of solid manure. Shipping containers are built from heavy gauge steel so they're built tough.
  "Building it myself saved a lot of money. A friend of mine paid $38,000 for a new 35-ft. fifth wheel live floor trailer, whereas I built mine for about $12,000. I bought the chains from a local bearing and chain dealer, and the sprockets from an Oregon company that builds trailers."
  Ray says he has used the trailer to haul as much as 110,000 lbs. of corn silage at a time. "Corn silage is heavy, so the trailer is a little too big to be filled up with corn silage and still be road legal. However, I can fill the trailer up completely with haylage, which is a drier material. I've also used the trailer to haul scrap metal and used tires," he notes.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Ray, Jr., P.O. Box 160, Higley, Ariz. 85236 (ph 480 988-1932).

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Live Floor Trailer Made From Shipping Container WAGONS/TRAILERS Miscellaneous 30-2-29 James Ray, Jr., Higley, Arizona, converted a 40-ft. shipping container into a fifth wheel, live floor trailer that unloads itself. He pulls it behind his Volvo semi tractor equipped with a Cummins diesel engine. "I use it to haul silage, as well as solid manure that I pick up at local dairy farms," says Higley, who operates a custom hauling business. He paid $2,000 for the 8 by 8 1/2-ft. shipping container and mounted it on a set of axles off a wrecked semi trailer. He cut the top off the container and mounted a fifth wheel underneath the front end. Ray installed three sets of homemade slatted chains on the container floor with 2-ft. wide chains on either side and a 3-ft. chain down the middle. He used 2-in. channel iron to make the slats and welded them onto roller chain. He mounted a steel shaft and a pair of large drive sprockets on back of the trailer and put idler sprockets on front. A hydraulic pump on the semi tractor powers the chains. The pump operates a hydraulic motor that runs through a reduction transmission. "I've used it for four years and couldn't be happier with it," says Ray. "Last year I used it to haul about 20,000 tons of corn silage and 4,000 tons of solid manure. Shipping containers are built from heavy gauge steel so they're built tough. "Building it myself saved a lot of money. A friend of mine paid $38,000 for a new 35-ft. fifth wheel live floor trailer, whereas I built mine for about $12,000. I bought the chains from a local bearing and chain dealer, and the sprockets from an Oregon company that builds trailers." Ray says he has used the trailer to haul as much as 110,000 lbs. of corn silage at a time. "Corn silage is heavy, so the trailer is a little too big to be filled up with corn silage and still be road legal. However, I can fill the trailer up completely with haylage, which is a drier material. I've also used the trailer to haul scrap metal and used tires," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Ray, Jr., P.O. Box 160, Higley, Ariz. 85236 (ph 480 988-1932).

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