Hi Stan, I would like to add my two-cents worth to the powder coat portion. I am a paint engineer and I wrote a book on pretreatment and powdercoating. While it’s probably true that some manufacturers don’t use a powder primer, their metals are probably pretreated with a bonderizing agent that is applied after the part has been washed. Companies can use either acidic or alkaline based cleaners and alkaline based cleaners are preferable to get the metal clean. So, the metal is cleaned, then rinsed, then bonderized, then maybe phosphated, then sealed…. When steel gets bonderized, it’s put through a phosphate bath, forming a finely crystalline, zinc-phosphate coating. This layer then gets rinsed and sealed with a chromate conversion coating. This process creates a “sticky” environment for paint that doesn’t need additional priming or prep. That’s basically the prep for most. Some companies wash their metal then submerge the metal in a tank and it’s called “Ecoat”. That’s short for electrodeposition. The nice thing about Ecoating is that the company can adjust the electrical charge of the liquid paint in the tank getting the same amount of Ecoat material thickness equally everywhere on their product. No runs or drips in areas. Then their product may go out the door with Ecoat only or they might topcoat over the Ecoat with powder-coat. Ecoat itself is very durable! It would be an ideal base for powdercoat. Just one useless thing I want to point out. Remember a few years back seeing all those pickup trucks with peeling paint? They were from the big three companies. Well, what happened was the company used Ecoat and cured the Ecoat too much! Ecoat used as a base coat needs to be “partially” cured so that the topcoat can bind to the Ecoat. They cured it too much and the topcoat which you see did not adhere properly and the result was the “peeling”. Poor to no intercoat adhesion. Also, did you know that most car and truck topcoats are not air dried but rather need heat to cure it. That’s why it is so hard to make paint matches afterwards. Cool huh? One thing the “rep” did not mention was the powder-coat type. There are Epoxies, Polyesters, Superdurable Polyesters, Epoxy-Polyester Hybrids, Fluoropolymers, Urethanes and TGIC’s. TGIC’s are TriglycidyI Isocyanate and are the very best at UV prevention! This is something needed for trailers or Farm Implements that will be out in the sun’s rays. So, whatever any company uses for a pretreatment prior to powdercoating and applying the powdercoat itself, needs to have consistency in the process. Process control gets lost in many companies because administration doesn’t understand how important process control is to the paint longevity. Skipped titrations and/or using the cheapest chemicals doesn’t help make happy customers. Companies should always use “ASTM” American Society of the International Association for Testing and Materials for testing their paint methods and Standards. I have been to countless companies that want my consultation but as soon as I get there, they say “this is the way we’ve always done it”! How many times have you heard that??? Why call me if you’re not willing to make changes. Again, if you always do as you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got!
Proud American family business 🇺🇸. Excellent product production methods and standards. The new trailer coming to market looks incredible. Nicely built. 👍
If I buy a trailer, I am going to buy one from these guys. “Intentional” is not a word you would normally hear from a company that builds equipment trailers. Impressive company and processes.
You know they have nothing to hide. When I was there- nothing was "off limits". I could go where I wanted and ask anyone there a question. That was impressive.
Impressive craftsmanship. Seems like the confidence comes from their production method rather than the products they make. When you show them "this is what right looks like" the product speaks for itself. Thanks for the tour of a great company. Something tells me the big fish has a lot of happy employees.
Wow so a large company that builds quality products and is made to last, This is something you don't see everyday anymore. Heck i live in Australia and want one :)
@@Dirtmonkey Your not wrong, I paid about 2k for a very small 6x4 box trailer dam thing was a cheap chinese kit but purchased it fully assembled and was not aware. My point is it's starting to rust it was POORLY welded, other issues vs spending more dollars and buy something made and built to last not rust out.
In a former life I was a salesman for PPG products and sold to many automotive dealerships and industrial shops similar to this. Everything that salesman told you was true and I am impressed with the details they do. Electrostatic powder coating is the state of the art for industrial applications. Just so you know when electrostatic is used the paint material wraps around the item being sprayed and is attracted to the surface like it is magnetized. Sherwin Williams is an excellent paint supplier and I know this because I also sold their products. This seems to be a great company and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase their products. This is the difference between a true Made in USA company and an import. Great video!
Diamond C, made in America with pride! It's nice to see a company that strives to improve what they build in the pursuit of excellence. I appreciate their effort and achievements. Thanks Stan!
@@DieselRamcharger I agree with you. I don't personally know of any. I could of left the country of origin out of my comment. However, I'm happy to see quality American made products. No matter what they are.
Tell you what Sir , your hat 🧢 maybe on the wrong way , but your head certainly ain’t. This is a great insight for all you hard working construction people, and a brilliant shoutout for made in the 🇺🇸 USA 👍 Tam.
Amazing trailers. Amazing factory system. I would recommend these trailers to anyone in the market for quality construction. This video was very helpful and I am certain Diamond C will now sell many more trailers because of your efforts in showing their system and units.
I love going behind the scenes to see how things are made. This is another excellent video, Stan! Diamond C really engineers and builds their trailers exactly how they should be built - very durable and to stand the test of time. It's surprising to learn that primer is intentionally skipped for other competitor's trailers. Thanks again, Stan!
Through the years I've watched the family business grow, and while I don't know them personally, it's been exciting to see their success!!! btw....great video
That painting process is how the old school metal Tonka toys, the ones that lasted forever, were painted. I remember them showing us that in 79 during a school tour.
I've still got two of em somewhere. Need to get em out and make sure they aren't rusting away. Played with them real hard, and never was able to break anything on it.
Definitely on the paint, my dump trailer looks like it was painted with latex house paint over oil metal, the paint falls off just looking at it. That's impressive quite an operation thanks and more please!
All those skip welds could be full welds. Oh the crevice corrosion. Hopefully they seal all these welds during paint. That being said, this is the best paint process I have ever seen being used on trailers and I have been in the coating business over 30 years. Kudos to Diamond C for putting the time and money into a great paint system.
I just purchased a Big Tex 18' equipment trailer, added a LED post light on the front, 360° swivel. I really like the MAX ramps as well. Watching this video helped me through the purchase at the vendor, who is also a fan of your channel. Thank you Stanley for making this video!!
I cannot go a day without learning new things ... those trailers are excellent . I hope they are available in Canada , we could use that quality and paintmanship up here . You can do more of these videos any time in my opinion Stan . Thanks .
Awesome video ! I am sold all my future trailer purchases will be Diamond C trailers ! Super impressed with their attention to detail ! From my years of experience this trailers seem to be unmatched in the industry!
Support construction ,interesting factory. Thx I had Western snow plow, horrible rust under paint, huge paint blister, scaled off These trailers are awesome, I'm impressed I don't even have a hitch.
Outstanding behind the scenes tour Stanley! I freaking hate rust I used to dream about powder coats for the frames and subframes in the 70s. Hopefully other manufacturers will take note and perhaps the prices might become more competitive and come down just a wee bit without compromising quality and integrity. I hope and pray this trailer works out for you and we get to see it in action! Thanks so much for all you do, take care and God bless
I watch most RU-vid videos on 1.5 if not 1.75 speed, this one I backed down to regular speed because I didn't want to miss a thing! Great video Stan! You and Tim were just down the road from us here in Tyler!
Now this is a Trailer I can stand behind as well. Thank you for visiting them and showing it. This is really like a auto manufacturer done it back in the 70's today all is robot controlled. Negative charge on the trailer and positive from the gun so it's bonded well to the metal. Works great for better and thicker coverage. Hey I like gray :-) .... I think what is missing on this Cadilac is Air ride adjustable suspension. I can tell how many times my trailer is empty and jumps all over the darn road because it's empty. Once I put 2000lbs on it it just rolls smooth.
Thanks for this video! I am in the market for a trailer and this gave me some extra info to look at before buying! Hope you had a great day today! Stay safe! Keep up the great work!
THANKS STAN, TIM AND A BIG SHOUT OUT TO JACOB !!!!! HE REALLY IS SO KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT HIS COMPANY AND EVERY ASPECT OF THE LINE. EACH PROCESS. TELLING YOU FACTS CLEARLY AND PRECISE NUMBERS. I BELIEVE HE HAS RISEN THE BAROF QUALITY AND QUANTITY FROM HIS FATHER !!! TECHNOLOGY HAS TO HAVE HELPED HIM DO THAT I'M SURE. SO MANY HAPPY EMPLOYEES HELPS TOO. YOU CAN TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WORK WHEN YOU HAVE A BOSS LEADING THE WAY BY EXAMPLE !!! JUST LIKE YOU STAN. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY !!!! GO GET EM BOYS !!!!
I would have bought a ticket to take this tour……Stan, you brought this super informative trailer video to us for FREE. Big Thx. I am in the market for a dump trailer and I will be reaching out to these folks.
Is a proud American company. When Stan said to him that he was taking extra steps to make sure everything prior to paint was spotless and squeaky clean sold me sold me. The reason I say that now is too many companies do not take pride in their workmanship Or quality anymore , They're just worried about putting money in their pocket. It's just the idea that he is spending a lot more money for extra manpower to add additional steps in order to create a premium quality product gives me Goosebumps. When I go to buy my trailer in the next year or 2 it will definitely 100% be diamond c. Stay and thank you for taking the time doing this video Stan thank you for taking the time doing this video. I just like the whole trailer I'm laughing because as I'm writing this post I keep thinking of more things of this trailer that I like like the hidden wench and the huge storage compartment above the tongue so many trailers have so much wasted space up there it's crazy that nobody has done it like this before.
The fact they use recycled rubber that gets molded into 2x4’s is incredible. Idk if they’re the pioneers for doing that on a trailer deck but well done!
Great video there are so many trailer builders out there right now and unfortunately a lot of junk on the market. Research is key and seems like you found a responsible builder that is experienced. Painting is my biggest pet peeve on utility trailers. Best I've ever seen is a manufacturer local to me that finishes the whole trailer in what they call a "Stinger" coating. Its normally only used as a rock guard in the highly susceptible areas of the trailer. They however do the whole trailer in it and its a super hard coating tough as nails coating. IMO, its the way to go for harsh snow and road salt climate areas ...
Awesome video and beautiful trailer! When you can sit by yourself and say out loud WOW that's impressive (manufacturing side) and then say it again when you were showing your trailer. I can see a Diamond "C" in my future! Thank You, Sir!
Wow I didn't realize how well built diamond c trailers are compared to other. More and more cheap junk trailers are being built and falling apart within a year. Great content!!! Much appreciated.
I bought a Bri Mar dump trailer new from the dealer. The trailer worked well but the paint job was horrible! The trailer started to rust four months after I bought it. At first it was surface rust but not far after became see through rust. If I buy another trailer I will buy A Diamond C. Thanks for another great video. 😎
Really cool manufacturing tour, thanks to the owner for really showing how it should be done. Yes its great for him as far as promoting his product but its still supercool of him and his team. Lot of money invested to bring to market a top notch product like this one. Its so worth it and as consumers we have to stop picking the cheapest product by default. Reward the companies that find a balance between price and quality.
Hey Stan, I really like these tours of factories you do, as well as your regular content. One thing that I think would be awesome to see you do is see if you could get a tour of a factory-like one of the John Deere ones in Iowa or one of those other major brands. The tour video alone would be worth it, but I think that it would be made even better by the type of questions you ask. You just tend to think of the exact type of questions I want to ask on factory tours but never actually ask!
Great information and very timely. I’m in the market for a high quality dump trailer… of course waiting on inventory availability at nearby dealers may be awhile.
Congratulations on your new trailer and may it serve you well. Last tip then I’m out, when your weather is nasty or you been working in the mud, head to the blue beacon. They’ll under wash your equipment. Let them get on the hands and knees if necessary.
@@Dirtmonkey Stan use the internet and search for blue beacon in your area. It’s a truck (class 8) truck wash rack. They wash hotshot trucks too. Aluminum by itself is rust proof. Not exactly like stainless. Because stainless doesn’t have the strength as aluminum. Aluminum has the exact same strength as steel if built right. Your not hauling all that weight of steel behind you. Your payload can increase. Which means your able to haul just a little bit more. Customers like that because 1 or 2 extra pallets means less trucks. If you haul 2 extra pallets of whatever on each truck, at some point your going to have one less trucks. Besides your mpg will be a bit better. Not much, but if your a small business - your already counting pennies.
It makes me happy to see someone building better trailers. It'll be uphill for him though. I can already hear the "ACME Trailer is $500 cheaper than yours!" The sad reality is people are price driven without considering quality and longevity. I own a semi, and have hauled his competitors trailers. Some are rusting before they are shipped. The dealers give them a krylon overhaul before putting them on the lot. The other thing I see is that most trailers are lacking D rings or other appropriate places to attach tie downs. I'm currently in the market for a small trailer, I'll check these guys out! Thanks for the video.
Stan, Great video. The one thing that I didn't care for was the final welding on the dump trailer. At the rear where the overlapping of steel should be welded across the back to stop debris from working its way in between the plates. This to me creates more of a corrosion issue than the over lap area. All good just complete the welding to seal it up. Again another great video.
Many places for debris to get jambed up on the back. The rail across the bottom gets all jambed up with sticks, rock and dirt. The pocket where the gate latch goes has to be dug out everytime you shut the gates. When using the spreader gate you have to dig out several cracks to get it closed. Lots of room for design improvement.
That was one of the first things I noticed. Why don't those sheets have full welds? As tight as those sheets may fit when new, after years outside in the elements and miles of banging on bumpy roads I don't see how moisture won't creep under those seams to bare metal.
I'm actually building a dump trailer with beefy top rails and large vertical posts similar to the one shown at the start of the video. It will weigh a little more but the tradeoff in toughness is worth it to me. Plus I think it looks better overall. And yes, you CAN get steel sheets big enough to bend the floor and sides out of a single piece. Berkelman's welding in Canada offers that, for example.
Nuttin like a plant tour to visualize your take home product. Tks for the show & tell! Should of added, some sort of discount link would of been nice for you getting credit & a perspective customer getting a break. Win-win all around!
