Jon wrote:
>Anytime you try to make a center of gravity dump, you have the bugaboo of
>not knowing where the CG will be any time the trailer is loaded. The CG
>could be so far off that you can't even pull the hitch pin, or if you are
>dealing with sticky stuff, you may get in a position where you can't
>rotate the body back up by hand to engage the pin. All this can be
>dangerous to life and limb if you don't know how fast the energy of the
>load will be discharged.
>
>If the tank has a round cross section, you could weld up a tire and axle
>that rolls against the outer shell, then figure out a way to couple and
>uncouple the trailer axle to the shell tire. Then backing the tractor will
>tip the shell and going forward will return it to upright.
>
>Or you could weld a wheel and tire right on the shell axle in plane with
>the trailer tire. Then have a third, freewheeling tire on a swing arm that
>would you wedge between the two axle tires to transmit force.
It seems that the tire would have to be pressed quite hard against
both the trailer tire and tank in order to prevent slippage - especially
heavily loaded.
How about a winch (electric or hand cranked)? Mount the winch at
the front of the trailer with the cable running back to the front center of
the tank. A safety pin locks the tank in the normal position. Pull the
safety pin. Let out the cable slowly and the tank dumps in a nice
controlled manner. Crank it back, insert the pin.
Todd
Seattle,WA
'86 GTI, Red of course. (exciting racey car) 256,000 miles
'87 Golf, Polar Silver. (boring work car) 459,000 miles <- Yeah, baby!
http://www.pureluckdesign.com <-Ferrari & VW stuff
Rally Videos at: http://www.pureluckdesign.com/rallyyank
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