What do you think about this trailer

It was made special for some piece of equipment. It is going to have a lot of tongue weight. Channel construction looks pretty stout. Diamond plate fenders. Nicely made, just wondering about load distribution. How much?

Steve

I

The hitch will bear most of the load when ideally the axles/wheels should carry most of any load. What do you plan to tow it with? Maybe a 2-1/2 ton truck but surely not the usual pickup that most of us have. Also be aware of the axle ratings. And get a spare wheel and tire.

Are the brakes compatable with your tow vehicle?

If the trailer is a former military vehicle all the electric might be

24 Volt DC.

Bob AZ

What Steve and Bob said. If you want to dick with it you could shorten up the tongue when you put a ball hitch on it. Then only use it for small heavy stuff that you center over the front axle or a bit forward.

Or take off the rear axle and only carry half the load.

Or lengthen the bed toward the back.

Or move the axles forward. This may be best long-term solution, but is a lot of work.

From this angle, it looks like the axles are biased quite a ways to the rea= r - this is going to make loading a problem if you want to keep the tongue = from going way heavy and fishtailing on you.

If it's long enough to put a car on, you'll have to back it on to have the= engine block at the rear.

If you are going to go picking up lathes and mills you need to add some rea= l Stout anchor rings to tie down the loads - get the weld-on rings with the= bend in the ring, so they lay inside the channel but pop out and around wh= en in use. Or put on some strap winches and user the huge nylon straps - O= r both. Nylon is nice, but you use Chains and Load Binders when it's serio= usly heavy.

Anchor points down the middle of the trailer too. Recessed, so a pallet do= esn't rip them up.

And if you are going to get equipment a lot, I'd rig some sort of a high fe= nce around the bed, like heavy-wall square tubing that slides into pockets = but remove for loading and unloading. Nothing works quite like a physical = barrier to things sliding forward in an accident.=20

Don't mess with the pintle ring mount plate on the tongue, you might want t= o use it again - you can get a 2-5/8" ball hitch adapter that bolts right u= p to the 4-6-8-10 hole flat-plate or channel systems if you look around.

I wouldn't try towing on the highway with a pintle hitch unless you get one= of the big truck hitches with the air-actuated slack buffer and have an ai= r source to charge it on the truck. The slamming and banging every time yo= u hit the gas and the slack changes would drive me bat-shit crazy inside of= 5 minutes... I'd be pulling over every time to see if someone tagged me.

Can't see from this angle - but if it has the standard Commercial 4-taillig= ht and the 7-pin Pollak round connector system LEAVE IT - make a cable adap= ter to American 2-light with a 4-way flat connector or the Small 6-pin Roun= d if you have to tow it behind a heavy pickup. Same reasoning, if you butc= her the trailer up too much you'll always regret it later when you have to = do it the other way.

A 1-Ton should be OK to tow this with if you get the brakes working, stay i= nside GCWR and drive sanely. And for {$Deity}'s sake make sure the hitch i= s up to the task - NO BUMPER HITCHES, a full Class V receiver properly weld= ed to the chassis. Show the hitch guys what you plan to pull, and they'll = say "Oh. You need the serious one."

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IMHO, if you're planning on hauling serious weight, you need a 5th wheel / gooseneck trailer. These trailers are made for serious tonge weight and a one ton or more truck to pull it makes a nice combination.

This trailer is too heavy leaving little load capacity with the bumper hitch being the problem. Now, these do work well behind a 2+ ton dump truck.

Karl

It looks rather heavy for it's size. Really what you should be looking for if you want a trailer for a surplus business is a hydraulic drop deck trailer. It doesn't need to be huge, but it will make your life a lot easier since the entire deck drops down to just a few inches above ground level and remains level. I see them used very frequently for scissors lifts used to replace lights in grocery stores and whatnot, easy to drive the lift on and off. In your case it would allow you to easily get a palette jack on and off. With a small winch on the trailer you could easily get a fully loaded 5,000# palette jack load on the trailer.

Example:

Karl, not to argue, but aren't they all like this?

This is a Kaufman trailer:

The wheels also seem to be pretty far to the back.

i

The trailer you originally referenced is far more heavily built relative to it's deck area. I don't know what the gross weight spec on it is, but it will eat up a lot of your towing capacity with it's curb/light weight unless you get the noted 2+ ton dump truck which is what it was intended to be towed with. That trailer is for a Bobcat type loader to be pulled behind a dump truck, and not much else.

That is a normal equipment trailer and will have a lower curb/light weight leaving you more hauling capacity.

That is also normal. Typically you would be loading the equipment - tractor, Bobcat, etc. centered over the axles and the space up front carries other attachments, fuel cans, or materials.

None of these trailers are really ideal for your needs, though they are common and inexpensive used. See my other post for what you really need.

Seconded. That would be perfect for Ig, who moves his own things around a lot and could deliver his sold surplus finds locally for a choice added fee if he chose to do so.

Very cool. From ground height to dock height.

I'm sure Ig (who sucks) can find one in perfect condition for twelve bucks somewhere, even if it means a road trip.

-- Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice. -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Yes - that's a pintle loop sliding out the left edge of the picture. Since we've previously established that you don't have a large commercial-type truck, you are not equipped to pull this thing. Putting a pintle hook in the receiver of a pickup does not magically make the pickup suitable to pull a pintle-loop level of load. This thing wants a dump truck to pull it.

Keep looking.

I think the suggestion to look for a gooseneck is a good one, if hauling with a pickup (you've got what - a 3/4 ton?) - having experienced a trailer removing the bumper of a 1-ton crew-cab truck, it's the sort of experience I'd suggest avoiding. A gooseneck is a much more robust hitch, that puts the trailer load in a far better place.

Those are really cool, but this is a good alternative for less money:

Well, I picked it up today (and I need to use it today, also).

It is not too front heavy. As a matter of fact, I can lift the lunette eye by myself, though it is heavy. I can move this trailer also, though it is hard to turn. The lights need replacement or rewiring.

The bed really does tilt.

I will see about the brake situation.

i

Why, I always use a pintle hitch for my enclosed trailer, works great.

I have a 3/4 ton truck.

I am not sure what it wants, personaly, but it tows just fine, as I discovered 10 minutes ago.

I personally have a proper trailer hitch. A gooseneck is a fifth wheel setup, right? So it uses up the trailed bed space?

i

Weight distribution is OK, I cal lift the pintle by myself (it is hard though). I am not proud of what I paid, but I need to use it today and I need it in general, and it works. Bearings seem to stay cool.

i

Yep those work for a lot of applications, like those with stable relatively low COG rolling loads like tractors. Machinery tends to be small footprint and high COG like a Bridgeport, so having a level drop deck that only presents a few inch lip is a lot easier and safer for loading and unloading. It also lets you use an inexpensive palette jack to move loads vs. an expensive forklift.

Yes, it will tow fine unloaded, however you will not be able to load much cargo without exceeding your hitch tongue weight rating. Those dump trucks that this trailer is intended to be towed by have tongue weight capacities several times that of your hitch.

Since this trailer is intended to be towed by those medium duty trucks, it's curb weight alone will be a good chunk of your total trailer capacity and you will not be able to reach the trailer's cargo rating without significantly exceeding your hitch rating.

A gooseneck hitch takes up pickup bed space, however there is still quite a bit of useable space for lower toolboxes, fuel cans, rigging supplies and the like. While your receiver hitch can handle a 500# tongue weight (1,000# with a weight distributing hitch), a gooseneck hitch can take 3,000# or more of hitch weight (subject to vehicle ratings) and it places it properly on your rear axle which also puts the pivot point at a better location.

A typical 3/4T pickup can handle a 10,000# gross trailer weight with a

1,000# tongue weight on a receiver hitch. A typical 3/4T pickup can handle a 15,000#+ gross trailer weight with a 1,500#+ pin weight on a gooseneck hitch. The difference becomes more dramatic as you move up to a 1T or larger truck since the receiver hitch capacity doesn't really increase.

Bearings will certainly stay cool (if you keep them greased) since you will never be able to load the trailer to it's rated capacity without overloading your truck. The overall point we're trying to make is that since that trailer is built for more weight than your truck can handle by a large amount, you are loosing significant cargo capacity to the trailers excessively heavy construction.

Is there a data plate with the curb/light weight on the trailer? I'll guess it's 6,000-7,000# which eats up most of your truck's 10,000# gross trailer load rating. My 24' enclosed trailer weighs 3,800# or so giving me 6,200# cargo capacity on a normal 10,000# rated hitch. My truck has a class IV receiver so I can push the trailer weight up an extra 1,000#+ for even more safe cargo capacity (trailer axles are 7,000# and tires

2,880# for 11,500#+ rated capacity).

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Ditto. What Pete said.

Ditto. What Pete said.