Utilitie Trailers-what to look for

The trailer I had was a weird one. It was a short triaxle deckover flatbed, with a lunette coupler. The trailer would for some reason punish tires. It was about 16' long which included a beaver tail. I have no idea how much the trailer weighed accept without a heavy jack the tongue was difficult to lift. Two men couldn't lift it. Even a heavy scissors jack was at a disadvantage. I think they were originally built to haul small dozers for fighting forest fires.

Pulling off the road and finding a tire missing was the icing on the cake. When I checked the tires at a truck stop fifty miles down the road there was no signs of damage. When I stopped to check again one tire was missing off the rim and another was damaged. I never ran over anything.

I had more trouble with tires on that trailer than all of the vehicles I've owned over forty years. With a lighter, better balanced trailer perhaps there would not have been a problem. A tire place spent over two hours one day mounting 6 tubeless tires after installing tubes to get the wheels torqued so that the tires didn't wobble. Putting the tubes in solved the deflation problems.

I'm not a fan of clamp on rims (Dayton style wheels) for light trailers. I'll defer to your experience since you've put a lot of miles behind you using house trailer tires. I'm glad someone has had good luck with them.

Check out the ones at Harbor Freight. I've had one for well over 10 years and have hauled a ton of coal in it (mine is rated at 2200 lbs). I see they don't rate them that high anymore. Yes I assume they are foreign made, but they are cheap. Also get the larger tires, it improves the handling and stability of the trailer.

Trailers - Harbor Freight Tools


You can build them to suit your needs and you will have to assemble them and provide any wood/plywood and acc..

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YEP. I have seen that happen more than once. They are illegal to use in some states & SHOULD be in the others. Please don't suggest MH parts on trailers for this lady !

................I'll take a different approach , go find yourself a two horse (side by side) , single or double axle trailer around 10 feet long . You can use one side for feed\tools\whatever storage and use the other side for animal transport !!! Make sure that the roof doesn't leak , etc . And , if you needed to haul a sheet of 4'x8' plywood you can simply stand it up on it's edge rather than laying it down , flat !
.................Plus , you can probably register it with an "Ag Tag" license plate which costs less than a conventional trailer license plate ; atleast in tx it costs less ! , fordy

How is the moldy hay working out for you? My sheep and donkeys will not touch hay that has a bit of mold in it. I thought if there is a little mold, the bale is ruined, and that such a bale can kill your sheep.

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I needed to use a trailer recently and my 12 ft. holmes had one of our gemstone mining sluices on it and our 18 ft. cam-superline has a dead p/u on it.
I borrowed a 5 X 8 carry-on trailer from a friend , he bought it at home depot for $ 1099. ( the sticker was still on it ) he asked me to pack the bearings while I had it .
It had an Odd Sized Chinese axle , but the bearings and seals are stocked at Tractor Supply as they sell them now.
The trailer tows awesome , and you don't even know it's back there , just like one of my own trailers .
His was a 5 X 8 with the steel sides
Carry-On 5 x 8 Landscape Utility Trailer – High Steel Sides! | trailersuperstore.com
A lot of states now require brakes on all trailers over 3000 #
Trailer Brakes | AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws
http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

Her Ford escape is only rated for 1,000 # or 1,500 # that really limits her choice .
HowStuffWorks "Ford Towing Capacity Chart"

equinecpa
Depending on Your Budget and how long you want one to last
The cheap way out
One of these 5 X 8 with a 3/4 plywood screwed to the floor , if You read the reviews you will see why .
Carry-On Trailer® 5 ft. W x 8 ft. L Specialty Single Axle Trailer, 1,500 lb. Payload Capacity - 1090202 | Tractor Supply Company ( Hint-Hint , they will price match )

For a couple of hundred more , and the best bang for your buck and a trailer you will have for years to come .
Buy a Big Tex mod. 19SV-08
A 50 in. by 8 ft. trailer with a solid floor and 2 ft. sides that weighs 690 Lbs. and has a GVWR of 1995 #
Model # 19Sv-08. 8 Ft Big Tex Utility Trailer

Specs are on pg. 22
http://www.bigtextrailers.com/pdf/product.pdf
Bandit

Please provide some statutes or laws verifying these statements.

I have had my trailer registered inNM for years, it was inspected to get a title, and no mention was ever made about MH axles.

Now, it may be different in your state, I don't know, but all that I have been able to find is word of mouth, hear-say, etc.

The reason they say Mobile Home use only is to prevent them from being used on MOTOR VEHICLES.

Same way trailer tires are marked.

MH axles [& tires] are built for heavy loads, way beyond what the OP was asking about, and in no way are unsafe. As with all tires, the biggest problem is age & rotted tires that explode [well, delaminate, sounds like it sometimes]

Lets stop repeating old, incorrect information.

.....................The only weak part of a mobile home axle\wheels\tires is the tires themselves ! They are made to get the mobile home from mfger to dealer to customer ! They can be outfitted with 6 stud hubs\bearings and electric brakes that come standard on 5,200 lb. axles ! The only other problem with mobile home axles is often times they are wider than the 8' 6" max width standard set by the DOT , and will need to be cut and rewelded by a competent welder prior to being installed on a trailer . , fordy

I just sold a 6x12 and bought a 5x8 primarily for my ATV or lawn mower, I paid $800. at Tractor Supply and mine has 13 inch wheels, next move is to install bearing buddies.....I still have a 16 ft landscaper that I might soon sell as I dont need it and I now have a Colorado P/U..and thats too much trailer for it....

I was looking at those TSC trailers, what do you think of them?

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See My Post # 26 Above about Carry-On Trailers .
Also Read ALL 38 Reviews on there ( Tractor Supply ) web site .
Carry-On Trailer® 5 ft. W x 8 ft. L Specialty Single Axle Trailer, 1,500 lb. Payload Capacity - 1090202 | Tractor Supply Company
1st
Make sure the Tongue is square to the trailer .
# 2
Throw down a 4 X 8 sheet of waterproof 3/4 plywood.
# 3
Buy a spray can of primer , Black paint and some sandpaper , and touch up the rust spots as they develop , as it a Very Cheaply Made Trailer , But OK for Light Homeowner Use for the $$$.
# 4
Go back into tractor Supply and buy two Wheel Bearing Sets as they are almost impossible to find elsewhere .( It's a 1 1/16 Chinese Made axle and hub ) and keep them with You.
Carry-On Trailer® Bearing Kit, 1-1/16 in. I.D. - 1075008 | Tractor Supply Company
My Buddy uses his to tow a golf cart , but his model came with the steel floor , and 2 ft. steel sides .
They only thing I didn't like was the lights , as i had to redo them .
Think back to the Old style X-Mas tree lights of the 50's and 60's wired in series .
Bandit

Wow thanks for all the good input. I'm trying to decide between

this tractor supply trailer and this harbor freight trailer: 4' x 8' Utility Trailer - 1720 Lb. Capacity

I like the tractor supply one because it has a ramp and 13" tires but the Harbor Freight's trailer appears quite a bit lighter (normally not necessarily a good thing) but weight is a factor here..since I only have a towing capacity of #1000.

I'm leaning towards the Harbor Freight as I imagine that once I add the plywood frame to the TSC trailer it's weight will be about 575# that would only leave me #425 for hay -not enough. I'd like to haul at least 10 bales...

So are harbor freight trailers OK? I'd plan on beefing up the tires later on.

I have had no problems though the hay I'm buying is not moldy right through -it's just got mold in one area, I throw out anything obviously moldy, so count on that as waste. Some of it just dusty from where it's been wet and dried, they don't seem to have a problem with that. So they are not actually eating "moldy hay".

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Carolyn

http://www.ruffrowranch.com/
Katahdin Sheep, Ancona Ducks and Calico Cochins

http://www.equinecpa.net

..................they're....OK , as long as you understand their limitations ! personally I wouldn't waste money on any trailer that didn't have a 3500 pound axle under it ! 500 pounds of load capacity isn't good for anything but maybe a riding lawmower . , fordy

Could the capacity be changed by simply changing out the axle amd springs? I know if you're buying new you're better off just spending the money up front, but I was thinking if a deal was found on a used trailer.

I have had a 4x8 bolt together trailer from tsc. It is almost a mirror image of the harbor freight trailers and is nearly 20 years old. it was pulled with a under powered 4 cylinder Jeep for years and you could barely tell you were pulling it. It is no wider than your escape. The plus is I also pull it around easily with one hand empty and pull it around the yard and garden with a lawn mower. Mine has 1150 payload. very useful trailer for intended purposes.

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$1000 for a small trailer... buys you a lot of rental truck time. Why not just rent a U-haul for the day, pick up ALL the hay you need for a year.. to the tune of $150 in rental costs..

That $1000 gets you years of rentals w/out maintenance, garaging, titling a trailer. If you aren't using it that much that is... I use the heck outta my trailers

I have the HF. I have a piece of painted 1" plywood in the bottom and I built some 30" sides out of treated 2x4 and 1x4's.

It is fine, for what it is - just don't think you're gonna haul a trailer full of green oak firewood on it and you'll be fine.

One caveat: As others have said, towing and backing up a small trailer can be a bit more difficult. Make sure you don't jack-knife it into your explorer, while backing up.

Either or will work fine, I'd prefer the 5 by 8, with the drop gate I'd also look used, I see these small trailer for sale regularly in the $200-$400 range. I can't say too much , never owned anything quite that small.

I also have the HF trailer, actually I have 2 of them.. One of the early HF trailers I have is rated at 2200 GVW, the other is a lighter version.. Both have held up to years of abuse and I definitely can say they have more than paid for themselves.. They heavier one is used on occasion to haul a load of coal to heat the house or to haul a load of scrap metal. It also hauls all of our Civil War reenacting gear. Anyway both have served us well..

But as others have said. Backing up can be a problem for the unskilled/untrained.. These trailers are light and a stone or small rock can change their tracking while backing up..
If you don't have the experience backing up trailers they can be difficult..
But don't let that stop you from buying one..

__________________
Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1 Section 21 "The Right of the Citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned"
www.pafoa.org
http://www.45thpacok.com