I've been wanting to get a dump cart pretty much about .4 minutes after I got my tractor delivered. I finally ended up trading my push mower for one last weekend, it wasn't anything special but was large enough for what I wanted. I measured the interior bed dimensions at 30" W x 40" L x 14" H, giving me a level volume of about 9.7 cubic feet. I don't really like that when I was looking for a cart most of them gave me the capacity as a heaped capacity, to me that just seems deceptive because who knows how successful I could be at heaping stuff on there to get that number. Anyway, it was a bit rusty and needed some work, this is what it looked like when I got it:
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The bed was all rusty but still fairly solid. It has one of them slide-in tailgates too:
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And the undercarriage was a different color than the bed, but wasn't the usual black that I'm used to seeing:
![Image]()
I drove it around the yard a couple of times and then my daughter said "why doesn't it match your tractor?" and I couldn't really argue with the logic, so I set about tearing it down for a really hasty rebuild and recolor.
Now I'm not a paint and detail kinda guy, I'm way more of a rough framing kinda guy. I'm putting that here so that when you see how it came out you can say "that paint job looks terrible" and know that it won't hurt my feelings
Plus it's a yard cart, and starting next weekend (or maybe tomorrow) it'll begin the task of hauling about 6 tons of gravel across the yard.
First thing I did was get a wire brush and knock off the bigger rust and dirt clods. Then I coated the rusty bed with Rustoleum rust reformer, which I believe is supposed to chemically neutralize the rust and convert it into a paintable surface. I let that dry for two days.
Then I applied some Rustoleum truck bed coating to the interior and top rails of the bed. I figure if it's designed for trucks, then it should work fine for a dump cart. I used 1/2 quart on it and I think it came out fairly nice for what I was trying to accomplish. On a related note, I used the applicator kit from Rustoleum to apply it. Initially it went really well, but the coating gets sticky really fast and once it did, the plastic roller that comes in the kit was ripped to shreds. I still have some of it stuck to the inside of the bed, but I figure that will come off in time. Here's a couple shots where you can see how uneven the coating was by the tailgate (totally my apathy):
![Image]()
and a close up of the bed floor to show you the texture:
![Image]()
I had heard the texture for these coatings was slip resistant and saw that a lot of people were concerned with trying to dump something from the cart once it was coated. Well this stuff went on thick and dried to a smoother, really hard finish, so I doubt I'll have any problems with anything not dumping.
Then I set to work painting the exterior of the bed and the undercarriage. Got some Valspar MAX spray in gloss orange, it actually matches the Husqvarna orange pretty well and is supposed to have some extra rust-inhibiting formula, so I gave it a shot. I had already used some of the same paint to touch up my tractor so I already had some on hand. I still ended up needing to get another can though, but I think it came out well:
![Image]()
For the undercarriage I decided to go with black, but I wanted to make sure it was a durable black and not just regular paint. I used Rustoleum truck bed spray on all the bottom parts and was really happy with the results. I was mostly surprised by the texture as it's nothing like the stuff in the big cans:
![Image]()
I also replaced most of the bolts holding the unit together while I was at it. The bed is actually welded together which is nice, but it was held to the frame with some really rusted bolts that snapped when I torqued on them to get them off. I replaced it all with grade 5 hardware since it was cheap.
Overall for a weeks worth of work I think it looks a whole world better. I am about $60 into it for paint supplies and hardware, but I think it was a good investment that'll last quite a while. I've already taken it to my back field to pick up some mesquite firewood for dinner tonight and the only bad part is that it's a little dirty now haha. Oh well, it needs to get a little dirtier to match my tractor:
![Image]()
Initially I had big dreams of shoring up the rear of the trailer with some 1" box tubing and doing a bunch of other mods, but I am pretty happy with the way it came out so I think I'm done modding it for a while. I've got to put some miles on it and see how the different coatings hold up :trink40:
The bed was all rusty but still fairly solid. It has one of them slide-in tailgates too:
And the undercarriage was a different color than the bed, but wasn't the usual black that I'm used to seeing:
I drove it around the yard a couple of times and then my daughter said "why doesn't it match your tractor?" and I couldn't really argue with the logic, so I set about tearing it down for a really hasty rebuild and recolor.
Now I'm not a paint and detail kinda guy, I'm way more of a rough framing kinda guy. I'm putting that here so that when you see how it came out you can say "that paint job looks terrible" and know that it won't hurt my feelings
Plus it's a yard cart, and starting next weekend (or maybe tomorrow) it'll begin the task of hauling about 6 tons of gravel across the yard.First thing I did was get a wire brush and knock off the bigger rust and dirt clods. Then I coated the rusty bed with Rustoleum rust reformer, which I believe is supposed to chemically neutralize the rust and convert it into a paintable surface. I let that dry for two days.
Then I applied some Rustoleum truck bed coating to the interior and top rails of the bed. I figure if it's designed for trucks, then it should work fine for a dump cart. I used 1/2 quart on it and I think it came out fairly nice for what I was trying to accomplish. On a related note, I used the applicator kit from Rustoleum to apply it. Initially it went really well, but the coating gets sticky really fast and once it did, the plastic roller that comes in the kit was ripped to shreds. I still have some of it stuck to the inside of the bed, but I figure that will come off in time. Here's a couple shots where you can see how uneven the coating was by the tailgate (totally my apathy):
and a close up of the bed floor to show you the texture:
I had heard the texture for these coatings was slip resistant and saw that a lot of people were concerned with trying to dump something from the cart once it was coated. Well this stuff went on thick and dried to a smoother, really hard finish, so I doubt I'll have any problems with anything not dumping.
Then I set to work painting the exterior of the bed and the undercarriage. Got some Valspar MAX spray in gloss orange, it actually matches the Husqvarna orange pretty well and is supposed to have some extra rust-inhibiting formula, so I gave it a shot. I had already used some of the same paint to touch up my tractor so I already had some on hand. I still ended up needing to get another can though, but I think it came out well:
For the undercarriage I decided to go with black, but I wanted to make sure it was a durable black and not just regular paint. I used Rustoleum truck bed spray on all the bottom parts and was really happy with the results. I was mostly surprised by the texture as it's nothing like the stuff in the big cans:
I also replaced most of the bolts holding the unit together while I was at it. The bed is actually welded together which is nice, but it was held to the frame with some really rusted bolts that snapped when I torqued on them to get them off. I replaced it all with grade 5 hardware since it was cheap.
Overall for a weeks worth of work I think it looks a whole world better. I am about $60 into it for paint supplies and hardware, but I think it was a good investment that'll last quite a while. I've already taken it to my back field to pick up some mesquite firewood for dinner tonight and the only bad part is that it's a little dirty now haha. Oh well, it needs to get a little dirtier to match my tractor:
Initially I had big dreams of shoring up the rear of the trailer with some 1" box tubing and doing a bunch of other mods, but I am pretty happy with the way it came out so I think I'm done modding it for a while. I've got to put some miles on it and see how the different coatings hold up :trink40:
