The IDEAL Machinery Moving Trailer?

I've used this trailer many times and it's just great.

If you are moving a piece of machinery, the only other thing that you need is a pallet jack (and maybe a Johnson bar).

Roll your machine onto the trailer, crank it up and drive away.

The deck of the trailer measures about 5' wide by 6' long so you do have that limitation. The advantage is that the deck goes down flat on the ground. If you compare that to the lift gate on a truck, this little trailer is a whole lot easier to load. Lift gates always seem to have a ~2" hump. It can be a real challenge trying to manually roll a 5,000 Lb machine up that hump.

My local Rental Max has that trailer for rent at $40.00 a day.

-- George.

Reply to
George
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That is awesome. How much?

Reply to
ATP

I would say, Grant Irwin's knuckle boom truck is the perfect solution.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

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Reply to
larry g

No, it isn't, Jim. The issue is INSURANCE. My truck costs over $100/month just to park it in my driveway, insured. No one will write a policy that isn't a "commercial" policy. Trailers, OTOH, don't cost anything for insurance. I sold my truck and am now looking at trailers ..

However, this trailer can't get a Bridgeport down an ancient cracked external concrete stairwell like a knuckle boom truck can .. see for yourself:

http://www.t> >

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Now that is cool ! I can't seem to get the OP pictures , but will those types of trailers that go down to the ground handle that much weight? I've only seen two and they both had a lever type suspension which sure didn't "look" like it could handle something heavy and survive pot holes or such.

Reply to
Sunworshiper

Hmm, 1200 per year doesn't sound that bad at all. Unless you are saying that the 1200 only covers it, when it's not being driven.

Yep, that's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of. The riggers that work here have a small boom crane truck that does the same thing for them, with a bit more extension.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Hi TMT,

That's a neat looking trailer - with a winch and a pipe or two, would make many trips easy.

IMO the bed is too short - need at least 8' to be worth owning. Also the high sides may make the 5' width a problem. Typical mill you need to load lined up front-back, can you always raise the table high enough to clear?

6' wide x 10' long bed is more useful. If I built something this size it might be a tilt-bed instead of a drop-bed. I am less interested in the bed sitting flat and level on the ground, it's good enough to have a flat bed with a back edge that can reach the ground. If the front end is raised let the winch handle it. (Works for a winch, not a pallet jack)

I've had good luck being in the right place at the right time with a full-size pickup and a removable rack, and finding local arrangements for loading. Have a bobcat w/ forks that will handle 1/2 ton, and a permanent lift frame in front of the shop for anything else up to 5 tons.

My limited experience with rentals has been a rule-of-thumb that (a) you need a tandem-axle trailer to do anything safely, and (b) rental T/A's require a 3/4 ton PU. But if you *own* a T/A there are safe arrangements to set up brake control and towing with a 1/2 ton PU or similar size SUV.

I wound up upgrading to a 3/4 ton PU but in hindsight should have stuck with the older, better, more reliable 1/2 ton and invested in the right trailer.

I've pondered trailers with built-in lifting frames, outriggers, sliding beds and such and never got past fundamental problems with weight and complexity. This bil-jax trailer is probably engineered better than a typical home project. Hard to build something as safe and useful that comes close on the empty weight.

Bob

Reply to
Toolbert

Hey TMT,

Looks pretty good, and a real good capacity, both weight and floor area!! No prices shown though. Be nice if you could rent one from U-Haul or some such.

One of the vendors that comes to NAMES each year has a much smaller lighter duty same principles.

About 5 years ago, there was a vehicle produced just up the road from me in Chatham called the Ergo. Only lasted maybe one year or so. They bought new 4 wheel drive Chrysler product pick-up trucks as a base, then chopped the rear wheel drive-train part off to create a heavy duty front wheel drive only. They did pretty much to the pick-up box as what your BilJax trailer does. The Ergo company went belly up as soon as Chrysler began to refuse ANY warrantee on ANY item on the new owners vehicle. They just refused to honour anything at all, even if it wasn't in any way associated with the changes Ergo made.

There are also boat hauling trailers made similar, but they have a really large capacity. Can't give you a brand name though.

I've used a "car" trailer to winch stuff onto. Works OK because there is also tie-down provision.

Take care.

Brian Laws>As a longtime lurker, I have always read the various postings of

Reply to
Brian Lawson

Probably because the drive train was not designed to carry 100% of the load up front 100% of the time. Just a guess.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

One issue with these is the load capacity is a little light - these are 2 ton (4000#) trailers which weigh 1910# so max load is nominally 2090# which means Bridgeports or 15x30" lathes are out .. - GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

The more that I have looked at the various proposals and systems, especially for machinery that weighs 2000 pounds and up, the more I like the idea of calling an auto towing company with a tow truck with a boom to pick up the unit and load it on a trailer or into a truck. I have seen it done, and it is relatively simple and safe. It also solves the problem of getting good help, as the truck comes with a driver accustomed to lifing heavy things. If the move is local, the tow truck may be able to haul it on the hook directly to your shop. This assumes that the machine has lifting eyes or is otherwise not hard to rig to be lifted by a crane.

Richard

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

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Reply to
Richard Ferguson

That single axle job seems to be a bit over-rated for load capacity unless it has extremely heavy duty tyres.

I have just twigged that 4000 lb is gross, so the load capacity is MUCH less.

My s/axle (box) trailer has tyres rated at 690kg (about 1400 lb) each, a theoretical load capacity of about 1 tonne + tare weight, yet it is licenced to legally carry 450kg, with a tare of ~250kg, so there is nearly a 100% tyre load safety margin.

I regularly used to carry my Mitsi ST1510D tractor which weighs about 450kg, until I was rear-ended on 20th December, just the empty trailer, which is now severely bent. Bloody insurance company does not want to repair/replace it, unfortunately 3 of the 4 vehicles involved are with the same company, mine, including the one who caused it. I have to move a Maxicut mill weighing about 1400 kg to my son's house and I would not put it on that s/a trailer, have to hire a rigger & truck for a couple of hours as it only has to be moved 5 km from the seller. Alan in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8 VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address

Reply to
alan200

the rental place by me has several of them. i've rented them to haul all kinds of stuff. in fact, i unloaded a 3600 lb. B&S mill all by myself with a come-along and some pipe. very easy and nothing went rolling into walls (or over me). for the $50-$70 they rent for, it is the cheapest way to go.

andy b.

Reply to
hamrdog

Greetings:

The ideal machinery moving trailer would have enough capacity to haul the intended machine, AND a forklift with enough capacity to load the intended machine. Barring that, a boom truck.

Regards, Jim Brown

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Reply to
JD Brown

Nice trailer. In NY, you need a special class license once you start pulling anything over 10,000 pounds, unless it's an RV. My ideal trailer, short of the drop deck under discussion, would be a 5 ton tilt trailer with no rails on the side that I can haul my Bobcat with as well as machines. I currently have a single axle landscape trailer thats a bit on the light side, but worked pretty well for moving a #12 Van Norman a short ways recently. We removed the ramp at the factory where it was loaded, so the forklift could get the machine in the middle of the trailer. At home I also removed the ramp, put the rear end right on the floor and hitched a come-along to the mill. I edged it off the trailer with bars and rods, a little at a time, using a thick steel plate to ease the transition off the back.

Reply to
ATP

Kinda like the delivery trucks I see around home depot. They have a fork truck that's tacked on the end of a flat-bed truck, so they can show up at a site, dismount the fork truck, and unload the big truck.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Ya! Around here they use a wacky little 3 wheel forktruck that stows itself on the back of the truck when it's done.

Paul K. Dickman

Reply to
Paul K. Dickman

The concept still works, the tow truck can be used to load your own truck or trailer at the far away site where you are buying your heavy equipment. Tow truck companies can be found anywhere, and you don't need to give them much notice when you want their services. You use your own truck, your own trailer, or a rental trailer to get the equipment home. When you get home, you can hire another tow truck, or perhaps you have better material handling equipment in your shop, or perhaps you have a friend with a crane or a forklift.

Richard

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

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Reply to
Richard Ferguson

I like the ideas here about the low tilt trailers.

Just out of curiousity, have any of you ever gotten one the these stuck due to lack of ground clearance.

Thanks. Steve.

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Reply to
SRF

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