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I ordered a new tilt bed trailer, it should be ready in about six weeks. I'm replacing the tilt bed trailer I bought 20 years ago. That trailer has served me good all those years, it's just gotten older and needs more work than I want to do on it. The new trailer is the same model as the old one with a few minor updates. The reason I am buying the same trailer because the old one worked great for me. One option I could have had was an electrical operated hydraulic bed lift for $1000. After getting 20 years older it would be nice to just have to push a button and have the deck raise but it's not worth $1000 to me, I can live with the manual hydraulic jack system but still, it would be nice to have the electric lift.
I don't know much about hydraulics so I'm hoping there might be someone from the FTE brain trust that can offer some of their hydrualic expertise. Can I use the stock hydraulic cylinder that comes on the trailer? Can I just add a hydraulic pump?
This is the type of hydraulic cylinder that comes on the trailer.
The price of an electric over hydraulic pump, a valve, cylinder and everything else is probably more than $1K.
I was hoping I could use the cylinder it came with and then use something like this to power the cylinder. Again, I don't know if this would work and don't want to use trial and error. It's no big deal, I and live with the manual lift system as it but it would be nice to have.
No, that will not work. It includes a hydraulic JACk, not a cylinder, If what you pictured is correct. If that is the case your stuck pumping it up by hand. You would need a true hydraulic cylinder to use that electric hydraulic pump you pictured. If your tow pig has onboard air you could swap that cylinder with an air over hydraulic jack from Harbor Freight for about $180 bucks.
Last edited by truckeemtnfords; Jan 9, 2026 at 12:49 PM.
Yeah that pump is cheap compared to what I have seen and used. If you can get a generic cylinder, hoses and whatever else needed at bargain prices like that it's worth a look for sure.
I don't know. I didn't even know they existed for this type of application. Electric ram are used quite often in industrial machines fir lifting light loads. I'll have to check them out.
that cylinder wont work for that application, you can use that hydraulic power pack that`s shown, measure the existing cylinder pin to pin closed and all the way out, you should be able to get a cylinder from tractor supply with those dimentions with a 3.5 to 4`` bore,get fittings, a few lines from the cylinder to the power pack and you should be ready to roll
Bob, yes that power unit you pictured should be fine. The cylinder could be procured at several places like a farm supply, but I recently replaced a cylinder on a lift table at a mortuary that I ordered online. Even after shipping, I saved a lot of money. Hoses can be made at several places, O'Reilly and Napa are just two places , but there are several. Hose can be made with several different fitting ends so that no additional fittings would be needed.
if that is the way you want go, H and H may even swap out the jack cylinder for the lift cylinder which.you could plumb yourself with that pump and save a bunch. Don't forget you would also need a box for a battery, the hydraulic pump and ideally some type of charger/maintainer for the battery (most use a solar panel). It all adds up but when you doing it you save money.
Like I said, the power lift is not a necessity, just something I'd like. One accessory I already have is an electric winch. 20 years of using a chain hoist to pull dead vehicles up the ramp has gotten old. In the beginning I was 20 years younger and them later I had kid power but now my sons are on their own and I'm to my own muscle. I plan to mount a tool box on the tongue to hold a battery for the winch. I will use the 12 volt feed from the truck to maintain a charge. Adding the power lift will just be an added luxy.
