I have a 53' 8 axle I usually haul tree bark in but we have also used it to haul bailed hay, silage, potting soil, saw dust, scrap tires and wood chips. It's is a brilliant system!
You say and compare other systems to yours from 7 and half to 8 minutes how when the other designs break down they have to be unloaded some other way and yours does not, I beg to differ especially if the load is to be unloaded no matter what such as delivering gravel for example and the customer rather no wait until the hydraulic is fixed to get the rest of the load delivered and put down. Hus even your system has a breakdown at the hydraulic point and yes they will fail eventually at any moment during use, spring a leak in the hose or connection or the cylinder seal itself fails in some way, let say it was the center hydraulic, now you got a stuck walking floor, So now the user of your product has to manually unload at worst by hand with shovel and broom. Also at the time you compare load capacity before mentioning the former comparison, you were clearly using a box shape with what is likely a flat blade, when in fact the competitor uses an angled blade, and this blade which is attached to a conveyor does not take up that much bulkhead let alone if any bulkhead for that matter. thus their capacity is not as reduced as you showed. Then again some manufacturers designs are as bad aw you displayed for other live/walking floor type designs. Still your product is really sweet and nothing is 100% perfect from concept to use and I never really seen these or other live or walking floors being used to transport fresh or recycled roadway asphalt or even driveway asphalt, that industry seems to enjoy staying the (un)conventional tipper dump. One thing I never seen on any of these type of trailers is the utilisation of UHMW PE on the sidewall as this stuff is slippery and will protect the metal or if it replaces it will then lighten the trailer weight and make loading of abrasive loads like scrap metals and aggregates even more easier with less need to repair the former metal sidewall skin. One manufacturer uses this as their skin over their frame and they are tipper dump type body and they show just how well the highly to ultra durable plastic lining is letting all the load just slide out and much quicker too and they use at least half inch thick of said plastic. Just something to consider looking into as an option for your customers, either laid over and secure with rivets or bolts or slips into a channel holding it into place even as it is a flexible sheet at even three quarter inch thick. I myself if had bought and owned one of your trailers, would take the time to do this to the sidewalls over the original metal skin you guys use, may cost some but saves lots of money in not needing to replace the metal skin as it gets damaged.
Thanks for your comments, Joshua. Actually, KEITH does have a system specifically for unloading asphalt. You can see it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_Rex_K20-9c.html Your ideas on trailer design are interesting. We don’t build the trailers, just the unloading system, so we leave the design process it to guys like you.
It's all in the maintenance I've ran multiple types of hydrolics. Dumps car haulers tow trucks liftgate trailers. hoses maypop at any time. So the question is you blow a hose do you have a spare? How well is you maintenance Plan?
Ash does work/unload off a WALKING FLOOR trailer if operated properly and with the proper/sufficient hydraulic pressure to move load. Ash is hard on standard aluminum flooring due to it abrasiveness, but it will typically unload without issues.
