Hydraulic bed "dump"

Okay guys, I figure I might as well jump on it while I can to get an idea of how to go about this. No, no, I do not plan on doing this for my truck! lol!

My brother owns a lawncare business, so, since I'm the one in the family with a welder and some fab knowledge, he wants me to help him make truck like a dump truck!

Its a 76 or 78 GMC Sierra pickup truck!

My question is, What would you do? Were going to power it hydraulicly and I wanted to use an air compressor with a tank to power the ram. He could use switches inside to operate the ram. I think it would be killer!

My question is:
- How would you do it?

I was thinking about using 1/4" steel and make a frame around the perimeter of the bed. Gusseting in the corners, hinge it at the bottom for stability and use some "link bars" on the side. The ram would be in the middle.

My concern is that I don't remember how the ram pivots? LOL, WAIT, let me get ahold of an AIRBAG! LOL!

you could use an air bag or two or a couple smaller cylinders on the side....just remember to brace everything good, and make sure he knows not to overload the capabilites of the bed or things could get hairy....the closer to the pivot point the more the bags or cylinders will have to be capable of lifting, think of it like a wheel barrow, the longer the handles, the less effort you have to use to lift the same weight...

I just talked to him again after this, he said his plans were to not do it until next year! Well, even so, it takes quit a bit of time to get something like this done right.

I don't think he would have too heavy of stuff in the bed he needs to dump. In my mind, I think it is unnecessary. Oh well, gives me a chance to kill some time and build something, lol!

Well, its just like if you have a long ratchet instead of a short one, you get more torque out of it... The ram would be nice, because hydraulic can take alot of weight! The fluid can't be compressed and as long as the valves hold, the ram will do good!

I'm just speculating ideas. Nothing concrete yet. It will be his money I get to play with, so I gotta find what will get him the best bang for his buck.

Crossmembers will be employed, yes. Some square tubing or so.. I was thinking about devising a cantilever type setup, but I need to get a visual and the whole thing first..

I'm not sure what its rated for load and all, it may be just a little fad he may be going through, lol. It may not even need more strength in terms of brakes, axles, rear, springs, etc... We'll see. I can only think of him just dumping grass and leaves, lol. What else for lawncare? LOL!

Hes also trying to do snow plowing with it, so I may end up doing his front end as well...