Gravity tilt or hydraulic tilt?
What each system does, what it asks of your truck, and why every TrailMax uses a cushioned gravity tilt.
Gravity tilt
Every TrailMax
The deck pivots on the frame. As the machine drives past the pivot, its own weight tilts the deck to the ground, and driving forward brings the deck back level. A cushion cylinder with internal metered flow meters the movement in both directions, so the deck settles instead of dropping. The cylinder is hydraulic, but it is a damper, not a lift. There is no pump, no battery, and nothing to hook up on the truck.
Powered hydraulic tilt
Pump driven
A hydraulic cylinder raises and lowers the deck on command. The pump runs from an electric over hydraulic unit with its own battery on the trailer, or from a wet kit on the truck. You can tilt an empty deck and hold it at any angle, and you add a pump, hoses, a battery or a PTO, and the upkeep that comes with them.
Which one do you need?
Anything that drives or tracks under its own power loads itself on a gravity tilt: skid steers, track loaders, excavators, dozers, wheel loaders, tractors, and trucks. The machine does the tilting, and the cushion cylinder does the controlling.
A powered tilt earns its keep when the load can't move on its own and you don't winch it, or when you tilt an empty deck many times a day. For most equipment haulers, that is a pump to maintain for a job the machine already does.
TrailMax spec sheets call this a hydraulic cushioned tilt. If a listing says 'hydraulic tilt,' ask whether there is a pump. Those are 2 different trailers.
What holds the deck for the road
An over-center deck latch with tension adjustment and a safety pin locks the deck to the frame once the load is on and the deck is level. On the TRD-54-T and FWTRD-70-T the latch has a lever on the driver side.
Cushion cylinders on every TrailMax
Larger decks get a larger cylinder. None of them needs power.
Tilt trailer questions
Is a TrailMax a hydraulic tilt trailer?
It is a gravity tilt with a hydraulic cushion cylinder. The cylinder controls how fast the deck moves in both directions. It does not lift the deck, so there is no pump, battery, or wet kit.
Do I need a wet kit for a TrailMax?
No. Every model, including the 84,000 lb GVWR FWTRD-70-T, tilts by gravity. The truck needs the right hitch and, on the Heavy Tilts, air for the trailer brakes.
Can the deck slam down on a gravity tilt?
Not on a TrailMax. The cushion cylinder meters the oil flow inside the cylinder, so the deck settles at a controlled speed whether the machine is driving on or off.
What is the difference between a tilt trailer and a hydraulic tilt trailer?
A tilt trailer has a deck that pivots to the ground. A hydraulic tilt trailer powers that pivot with a pump. A gravity tilt trailer uses the load's weight to pivot the deck and a damping cylinder to control it, which is how every TrailMax works.
Which TrailMax models are gravity tilt?
All 8: the T-12-UT, T-16-UT, T-20-UT, T-16-T, TD-40-T, TD-42-T, TRD-54-T, and FWTRD-70-T.
Want to see one tilt? Watch a walkthrough, or ask TrailMax sales which model fits your machine.