Buying a dump trailer- how to protect the bed from manure?

hodge · May 20, 2017

We have a small horse farm, and we have to truck our manure away. There is a decent sized creek that runs through the property, and the only way to store the manure would be to build an expensive containment shed. So, we had decided to put the money into a dump truck or trailer, rather than a shed. The state approved us taking it up to my dad's place, which has no creeks or streams nearby. The manure is given away twice a year for gardens, so only so much is accrued.
We had a dump truck, but dad decided that he'd rather have a dump trailer. I won't go into the reasons why, because it has no bearing on the question. I will say that we sold the dump truck, and have purchased a new, 16' Kaufman gooseneck dump trailer. I am driving down to NC on Tuesday to pick it up, and before we put it into service, we want to do more to the inside of the bed than the standard enamel paint that is on it. I will spray the underside and frame with Fluidfilm, but I'm thinking of an etching primer and marine paint on the interior. Anybody got experience with a dump trailer and manure, and have a good plan that has worked?
On the dump truck, we had painted the inside and outside of the bed with POR-15. It help up well to the manure, but it faded and flaked- we've learned some lessons since doing that job. I'm not opposed to POR-15 again, but would rather use something else that is easier to work, and probably less expensive, but effective. I'm thinking that marine paint will resist the acids pretty well, but that's just a guess. Any experienced input would be appreciated!

bxray · May 20, 2017

Maybe rhino coat will work?

Ray

Daren Todd · May 20, 2017

Times two on the rhino lining. Check out the shops that specialize in truck accessories. Most of them here will do the rhino lining. May not be the actual Rhino product. May be under a different product name. Local shop in town offers a life time guarantee.

North Idaho Wolfman · May 20, 2017

Any "bed liner" material will cause material, manure in this case, to stick in the bed of the dump trailer.

The best coating is epoxy, a 2 part epoxy will do the best job and leave the thickest wear / chemical resistant finish.

Tooljunkie · May 20, 2017

There are chassis paints,corossion resistant and durable.
Similar to por 15 but im thinking less expensive.

nick2010tundra · May 20, 2017

I second the epoxy paint idea, but you need professional 100% solids epoxy ( not the stuff you buy at the hardware store). See if you can find a guy that does epoxy flooring locally and talk to them, if not Legacy industries is a good source online. They will answer any questions through email. The cheap stuff is not even close to the same, considering your investment in a new trailer you would be smart to do it right once. Plus if you can get a local guy to do it and not add traction like they do with garage floors, it will be slippery as heck.

bearskinner · May 20, 2017

Back when I was working in the body shop, we did a lot of truck frames with Ditzler 9000 paint. It's a thick urethane paint, mixed with a catalyst Gardner, almost rubberized thick, shiny and thick. I don't know if they even still make it, but an industrial truck coating should help.

Yooper · May 21, 2017

Line it with 16ga x 304 stainless.

BAP · May 21, 2017

Do you plan on hauling anything other than the manure? If you haul any dirt with it paint won't last. Do you plan on loading it a little at a time and leave it on? Or load it then dump it and have it sit empty for days? If it is going to sit empty then put a hose to it after dumping it. I have hauled thousands of loads of cow manure over the years and found the best thing you can do is to make sure it cleans out well after each load. In your case if you are only hauling an occasional load paint may stay on, but if you are hauling a lot, then the paint will wear off and the steel will get polished.

hodge · May 21, 2017

BAP said:
Do you plan on hauling anything other than the manure? If you haul any dirt with it paint won't last. Do you plan on loading it a little at a time and leave it on? Or load it then dump it and have it sit empty for days? If it is going to sit empty then put a hose to it after dumping it. I have hauled thousands of loads of cow manure over the years and found the best thing you can do is to make sure it cleans out well after each load. In your case if you are only hauling an occasional load paint may stay on, but if you are hauling a lot, then the paint will wear off and the steel will get polished.

It will be used, once or twice a year, to haul mulch. Periodically, maybe once a year or two, it will be used for gravel. Otherwise, it will be used for horse manure. My daughter cleans the stalls once a day, and will dump the manure in the trailer. It will sit there, until the trailer is full- probably about a week and a half. Once full, it will be dumped. Then the cycle will start over. So, the majority of the time, it will have horse manure in it.

L.C. Gray · May 21, 2017

You might consider having a poly liner like the big end dumps use put in your trailer. It's so slick not only will nothing stick to it but it will also make the trailer dump better.

sheepfarmer · May 21, 2017

Boy that's a tough assignment, since it will heat up as well as be corrosive. Can you make a pile somewhere close to the barn and load it in the trailer and haul once a week? More seat time on the tractor

What does your daughter clean the stalls into? Cart? Wheelbarrow? Bedding type? I only have two stalls to do and stockpile the manure in those cheap plastic garden carts under my barn and then when I run out of cart space dump them into my tractor bucket and ferry out to my mulch pile out in back pasture, about every 5 days.

hodge · May 21, 2017

sheepfarmer said:
Boy that's a tough assignment, since it will heat up as well as be corrosive. Can you make a pile somewhere close to the barn and load it in the trailer and haul once a week? More seat time on the tractor What does your daughter clean the stalls into? Cart? Wheelbarrow? Bedding type? I only have two stalls to do and stockpile the manure in those cheap plastic garden carts under my barn and then when I run out of cart space dump them into my tractor bucket and ferry out to my mulch pile out in back pasture, about every 5 days.

Can't make a manure pile on the ground- it has to be on concrete, with sides, so no run off can get to the ground. We can put it in a spreader and fling it all day long, but can't pile it...
Wheelbarrows, and the stalls are lined with pine shavings that we buy from a log home mill. 16x7 trailer, 5 foot deep, for $60.

North Idaho Wolfman · May 21, 2017

It's sounding like what Yooper said, a stainless liner for the bed or plastic liner, neither is not going to be cheap or easy.

It's sounding like having horses on the property is a real pain.

hodge · May 21, 2017

North Idaho Wolfman said:
It's sounding like what Yooper said, a stainless liner for the bed or plastic liner, neither is not going to be cheap or easy.

It's sounding like having horses on the property is a real pain.

No. Anonymous environmentalists, who drive around and look for animal farms with waterways on them, and then turn them in to the state dept. of Agriculture- that's a real pain.

D2Cat · May 21, 2017

Hodge, I didn't see the size of your trailer, but I bought a couple of bed liners at a sale. They are about 12' long and quite wide with cut outs for, I think, wheel wells. These are about 5/8" thick and fairly slick surface. I will look at them in the nest couple of days and see if there is any information on them. I use them for a wind break...wired up to a 1" sucker rod fence about 5' tall.

Looks like something like this would be perfect for your purpose.

hodge · May 21, 2017

D2Cat said:
Hodge, I didn't see the size of your trailer, but I bought a couple of bed liners at a sale. They are about 12' long and quite wide with cut outs for, I think, wheel wells. These are about 5/8" thick and fairly slick surface. I will look at them in the nest couple of days and see if there is any information on them. I use them for a wind break...wired up to a 1" sucker rod fence about 5' tall.

Looks like something like this would be perfect for your purpose.

It's a 16 footer.

North Idaho Wolfman · May 21, 2017

hodge said:
No. Anonymous environmentalists, who drive around and look for animal farms with waterways on them, and then turn them in to the state dept. of Agriculture- that's a real pain.

If that was the case here in north Idaho, nobody could have any animals on there property.
We have rivers, creeks, streams, ponds, and lakes everywhere.

D2Cat · May 21, 2017

These folks have all kinds and qualities of liner. Maybe they can send you in a direction that will help.

http://www.superslide.com/products/dump-trucks-trailers

hodge · May 21, 2017

North Idaho Wolfman said:
If that was the case here in north Idaho, nobody could have any animals on there property.
We have rivers, creeks, streams, ponds, and lakes everywhere.

This was our case- the state representative had to reveal who reported us- private environmentalists. They reported to the state that we had insufficient grass- it was March, and there WAS no grass- and that we had manure piles too close to the creek. Turns out, the manure can't be stored on the ground, at all, since there is a creek in the vicinity. I can understand the concerns, but I do wish that had come to us first, instead of calling in the state gov't. The rep was great, though- he's a cattle farmer, and his exact words were "I'm caught between reasonable farmers and unreasonable environmentalists".

Buying a dump trailer- how to protect the bed from manure?

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