water and chemical tender trailers?

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

I have been using a 10 wheeler with a 22 foot bed for a tender. I normaly haul 1 1500 gallon water tank, 4 chemical bulk tanks. I dont remeber what they hold, 250 gallon, may be more. Skid of ams or citron for the surfactant, plus 5 gollon boxes of other stuff. And transfer pump and mixing tank. So the truck is crowded and with the water tank to the front it puts a lot of weight on the front axle. So the ? is. I was looking for a flat bed trailer, But got to thinking of a van body. I was thinking of using 2 maybe 3 1500 gallon water tanks, I have 2 1500 gallon uprite tanks all ready. I think they would need slid to the front of the vanbody and if I did that how would I plumb the water tanks to fill and pull out of, no room along side walls for the hoses. Has somebody done this and if you did how did you sit it up. Using a flatbed would be easy to set up with the water tanks at each end and the bulk tanks and pump in the middle. By the way I spray with a 1961 4010 JD

notjustair · Feb 22, 2014

I personally wouldn't like a van body. I like to be able to see levels of things and you would have to have a side door or something. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to set up some valves on the side to fill and such. You could use rigid pipe for portions of it. For me the biggest drawback would be size. There are places where pulling an enclosed trailer in would be an issue. By the time you cut the swing in there you are too tall for trees and such. It would be weathertight and lockable but that would not be a big enough benefit for me.

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

notjustair: It looked to me like side doors would be an ideal, but not to excited about the side doors either the only plus in a vanbody that I see is keeping the tanks out of the sun the year round.

fixerupper · Feb 22, 2014

Some guys around here use a van trailer for just that purpose. Everything is inside and out of the sun. A van trailer isn't quite as handy because you don't have as much access to what's on the trailer, but on the other hand, everything is inside out of the sun, rain and wind. Plastic tanks do go bad in the sun so having them inside gives them a much longer life. We have wind in the spring so a van trailer will give you a place to put the empty AMS bags without worrying about them blowing across the field. One thing to watch is the width of the 1500 gallon uprights. Most of them are right at 8' wide so check the width of the trailer. If they do fit there might not be room to get the hose from the front tank around the side of the second tank to get it to the pump so you might have to be inventive routing the hose back. Good luck with the project. Jim

Chris Jones · Feb 22, 2014

Wouldn't a cheap tarp fastened over the tanks when stored virtually eliminate sun damage?

Anonymous-0 · Feb 22, 2014

having read some of the other responses, i'll list a few things to think about that may be of use to you. look at a 102 inch wide trailer it may give you enough inside width for your tanks & plumbing, another option is place tank with ball valve on outlet and rod to side of trailer so front tank can be shut off then elbow down through floor to pipe line for pump being under floor, suggest using hose between fittings to allow flex instead of breakage. think about bottom fill rather than having to fill at top of tank or run accessible overhead fill line to rear of front or rear of trailer. take your time planning and make every thing as easy to do asz possible it saves time in the end

fixerupper · Feb 22, 2014

Good ideas, Leroy. Jim

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

Leroy - Yes, we had thought about going thru the floor underneath if need be and we've also found out you've got to watch the width of the trailers because they ususally give you the outside to outside measurement which then makes the inside measurement smaller. We even wondered about a reefer because it would be insulated, then if we got caught with cold weather, we could probably put a little heat in it. The bad part with a reefer is the inside width is even smaller.

T in NE · Feb 22, 2014

I can see the benefit of a van trailer, but a flatbed is going to be so much more convenient.

I started putting a bug in the boss' ear about top-filling the tanks last spring. It's a lot faster and easier on the pumps not pushing against the weight of the liquid in the tanks. Just need to put a bung in the top, run a hose down to the edge of the trailer, and put a valve and coupler on it.

Clodbuster · Feb 22, 2014

Here is the one that I put together for liquid fert. and spraying. Front tank is 3,200 gallons and the rear are two 1,500 tanks as one unit. I can haul three different products if needed.

It cost a lot to put it together but it works very well. I formerly used one 1,500 tank on a straight truck for spraying and was always running after more water!

My trailer is heavy duty, and heavy, so I can't fill all of the tanks and be legal, but I can hold enough to get each field done without going for more water. I have been getting semi loads of fert. hauled out to my truck by the coop and that works well too.

If you buy a box trailer, make sure it can carry the load, some are really light weight or about rusted out.

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

Clodbuster ; A flatbed like yours I can visualize. The box trailer I am still not sure. The box trailer I am looking at is a 68000 weight rating, 102 width, outside ,98inside. I like your tanks and there not cheep eather. You are wright about the one tank it just about keeps one person busy full time.

Super Trucker · Feb 22, 2014

We set a trailer like clod busters up at the farm 4yrs ago only ours was a drop deck style. 3 axle 11' top deck then dropped down then we took the huge beaver tail and cut it off to make it drop down behind the axles for 12'. The second drop is awesome as we put the pumps,mixing tank and connections down there and still can put a pallet/pro tote on the back. The back deck is only 36" off the ground and VERY EASY to get on and off of for the 70yr old man that runs the show.

showcrop · Feb 22, 2014

When looking at box trailers check the spacing of the floor cross members you will need a solid floor and they come in different spacings. Some trucking companies spec heavier, some lighter.

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

I see some of you are using triple axles. What are the pro and con of the spread axle flat bed?

Super Trucker · Feb 22, 2014

Weight. In Mi we are allowed any axle configuration with no more than 11 axles. With a tri axle we can spread the weight out to haul more product for less trips to the farm for refills. Depending on where you are it's only 80,000 gross so a spread axle would get you the most bang for your buck.

NEIADan · Feb 22, 2014

I recently seen an old beer trailer set up on craigslist in Iowa. With the tanks inside and drop down doors it looked like a nice outfit. With being a double drop single axle I think 28' it looked easy on and off. Used my gooseneck trailer last year and sure added to the corrosion with the AMS. Making that aluminum beer trailer look real good

4020 · Feb 22, 2014

That does bring up another question, how about aluminum for a tender trailer - how will it last?

john in la · Feb 22, 2014

Since you already have the tanks and just looking for a trailer to haul them this is really just thinking aloud rather than solving your problem
BUT...........

Many around here use old gasoline trailers to do what you want.
Trailer is solid aluminum except for the rear axles so storing outside is not a problem and
You get over 9000 gallons capacity with 4 or 5 separate compartments.
Add a transfer pump in the original fitting box and you are ready for years of service.

JD Seller · Feb 22, 2014

T in NE: Hate to tell you the force is the same fluid wise with height. So the fact the fitting is on the bottom or the hose goes up over the top is the SAME force on the pump. It is the height of the Liquid column that matters.

Bottom fills makes reaching valves and such much easier.

Clodbuster · Feb 23, 2014

The trailer is a former military trailer, model M872. They sell for around $6,000 or so from truck dealers. The boxes underneath can hold the side boards for hauling loose cargo but mine did not come with the sides. The storage boxes work great to store chemical boxes and everything else.
It is 40 foot long and the deck is tall, but once you are on the ladder....what is one more step? lol

Clodbuster · Feb 23, 2014

Alum. and liquid fert. don't play well together! I have friends using AL trailers and they work fine if they are heavy enough, just don't spill...

I know you are using mainly water but if you have more tanks it is nice to mix in some 32-0-0 for burndowns.

T in NE · Feb 23, 2014

Re-read what I want to do to top-fill.

If that's the case why can I hear the pump start to labor more and the tank fill visibly slower as it gets fuller?

The truck I use for planting is set up to agitate the one tank, if you open a couple other valves it can be top-filled. Pump ran steady the whole time and didn't labor near as bad. 1500 gallons of the fertilizer we use runs about 17,000 pounds.

4020 · Feb 23, 2014

Clodbuster: The reason I asked that about aluminum is because I looked at a trailer with steel frame, aluminum cross members and wasn't sure how that would work.

water and chemical tender trailers?

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