Dumpers for sale

Dumpers for Sale Now

Dumpers play a crucial role in building sites globally, offering a robust and convenient platform for transporting heavy loads. With their front skip design and the driver positioned behind, modern dumpers now feature four-wheel drive and can handle payloads of six tonnes or more, depending on the chosen model.

Some dumpers can accommodate up to 10 tonnes, with the tipping action of the front skip managed by hydraulics, while a diesel engine takes care of transporting the load across the site.

Regarding safety features, dumpers are fitted with a roll-over protection bar (ROPS) at the rear, which protects the driver from injury should the vehicle be tipped onto its side. This frame type is a regular feature of contemporary dumpers available on the second-hand market.

Overview

Falling-object protection (FOPS) is also an option on specific models, so buyers should look out for this feature depending on their requirements. Some dumpers feature warning lights mounted on the roll bars to ensure they are visible to other site users or when travelling short distances on public roads. While a dumper usually has four wheels, there are tracked dumpers available. Tracked dumpers offer better performance across various surfaces but are usually more expensive to buy and maintain.

Dumpers generally leave the driver open to the elements, with only the ROPS for protection. But some models come equipped with a full cab, making them more convenient to use in inclement weather conditions. 

Front Skip Mechanism

The most important option is the type of skip mechanism featured on the front. While straight-tipping dumpers are available, many buyers will look for swivel skip dumpers, which deposit loads at an otherwise impossible angle, which is especially convenient when working in narrow spaces.

Many major manufacturers produce high-quality dumpers today, including companies such as Thwaites, Benford and Terex. Standard dumpers may feature rigid bodies, although many models are now set up with central articulation, allowing them to be manoeuvred with greater control and make turns within tighter areas. This is something to keep in mind when checking the availability of dumpers for sale.

Further Background to Dump Trucks

The term dumper has become somewhat generic, and we apply it to some of the biggest and smallest machines in the plant world.

At the light end are the walk-behind/stand-on tracked and wheeled dumpers, essentially mechanised wheelbarrows with a payload of a few hundred kilograms. These machines have become more popular with the introduction of manual handling regulations and are many times more efficient than a wheelbarrow.

The word dumper is most commonly applied to the articulated site dumper. These sit-on machines feature four-wheel drive and carry loads from 1 tonne to 10 tonnes but only sometimes afford the operator a cab for protection against bad weather.

Ride-on tracked dumpers are favoured in complex or sensitive ground conditions where wheeled machines get stuck or cause too much damage. Payloads on tracked dumpers go up to around 15 tonnes.

More significant still are the articulated dump trucks (also called dumpers or ADTs), which are very popular in earthmoving and quarrying operations. These three-axle all-wheel-drive machines can carry loads of up to 45 tonnes.

At the heavy end are the monster rigid dump trucks that haul up to 360 tonnes of extracted material from the world’s biggest mines and quarries.

This means the list of ‘dumper’ manufacturers is extensive and includes, amongst others, Thwaites, Benford (now Terex), JCB, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hinowa, Yanmar, Hitachi, Wacker Neuson, Ausa, Doosan and Yamaguchi.