Toy Dump Truck

Part of the toy dump truck collection - one more for the road. This time we decided to go big.

Watch the video of the winch operated wooden toy dump truck in action.

This is truck Mk6, inspired by sketch plans from a magazine, which is written in Spanish. The sketches are clear enough to get the idea.

We all borrow ideas from each other over the years, and if anyone knows who made this original idea, it would be great if you would let me know so that I can acknowledge his or her contribution.

The original design concept

There are a few ideas that I really like in this toy truck. Looking at the sketch, the first thing that caught my attention was the use of  a winch to raise the tipper tray. 

A cord runs along the inside up to the roof of the cab to lift the tray. This would lift the tipper tray to a certain height, but not quite enough, I thought.

So I thought long and hard, and came up with the idea to install a scissors type of lifting mechanism often used for car jacks and hydraulic arms on construction equipment.

Made a quick test set-up and it worked a treat.

Lifting arm setup

The scissor type lifting arm setup. On the left is the tray in the resting position, and on the right showing the tray in the raised position. 

There are a few more features in this design that I have used – the rear axle is encased in a box, which also serves as a support for the chassis.

The front axle blocks in my design has become part of the cab.

Modifications to the winch.

The winch in the original design is located on the side of the cab, under the door. Wouldn’t it be better, I thought, if the crank handle could be located in the front, like the antique cars and trucks.

So that is what I did, and then I thought about the fact that the crank handle would be getting in the way, hanging out the front, bumping into things and so on. 

The best solution I can come up with so far is to move the front wheels as far forward as possible.

Putting the brakes on.

So far so good, everything was working fine, except for one thing: the winch would unravel and the tipper would come crashing down on the unwary owner of small fingers.

So I spent a bit more time thinking and experimenting, and this is what works:

Winch Braking System

The photo shows the essential working parts of the winch braking system, which works really well. There is just enough friction to stop the unravelling but not too much to stop the winch turning.

Download toy dump truck plans

Download the free print ready PDF toy dump truck plans complete with instructions.

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