cheap trailers

[hihoslvr]

Evenin' gents, got another hypothetical type questions here: anybody have any experience with them cheapo, Harbor Freight/JC Whitney/etc, little folding trailers? they lool pretty craptastic, yet fer some reason I'm drawn to them...
I know ya git whatcha pay for, but I kinda like this 'un:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=2575

 

[Will]

My dad had one, not that fancy though. He used it to haul brush and such. It had sides. One time he was going to move a motorcycle with it, an old Kawasaki 750. The trailer was supposed to be rated at something like 1,500# but the 600# (a guess) bike was too heavy for it. I have one right now that we keep a small flat-bottomed boat on--250# about. It's a pretty crappy trailer, but I couldn't buy the metal and parts for what I paid for the trailer. Mine's supposed to be 960# load rating, but I think I could jump up and down on the tongue and bend it. I wouldn't put my 950# garden tractor on it. No way it would accept that weight. They're probably more suited to pulling around with the little tractor actually.

 

[hihoslvr]

hey, alright thanks for the reply. yeah, they just look handy for the $$. I checked U-Haul too, and for $15.00 a day, I can just rent one of theirs.

 

[AllanD]

I have one of the slightly larger 4'x8' deck space
NON-folding trailers from Home Depot
and though it's a lightweight POS it does it's job.

I've used it to haul stuff and it works, I'd haul my friends Yamaha 750 on
it without any hesitation.

My last trip I had a 65gallon fuel tank two Ranger axles, a trans, several
T-cases and half a dozen rims.

but for some uses I'd really rather have a "hillbilly utility trailer"
a Ranger bed on a partial Ranger frame.

the flat trailers don't have enough "sides" to haul any meaningful
ammount of Firewood, top soil, Coal, etc...

and you can only haul cargo that can be moved uncovered.

So I'm building a trailer around a 7foot ranger bed
On a sectioned Ranger frame with explorer springs,
but with an electric brake trailer axle under it.

AD

 

[Will]

That's my trailer--minus the brakes. I used it in the yard only and the B2 was never out of low range so I didn't feel the need. I built a frame under the bed and used pipe and 3x 1" tractor pins to build a hinge--and a 60" High-Lift for a dump mechanism. The springs are a little weak. There's 45x 82# retaining wall blocks in there and it's already beginning to sag. It's what they made bumpstops for. Those blocks aren't heavy compared to what I built it to do. It holds 6 scoops from my 7ft Bobcat bucket--42ft#, that's about a yard and a half. Clay is between 68 and 114#/ft^3 and I used it to haul 231 loads between 2,800 and 4,800# each. It survived fine. The box is a little rough from the bucket kissing it once in a while. Ranger sides aren't cut from the same cloth as loader buckets. But it's a damn handy trailer. Goes offroad better than a little utility trailer to. I had a little homemade angle iron one and we had it strapped full of logs and were pounding out across a farm field when the trailer collapsed. Won't happen with a Ranger box. That 6" channel is a heavy frame for such a small trailer. Lots of clearance too.

 

[rboyer]

I've got one of those flat 6x8 trailers with a 1000# capacity that I picked up used for 250. I have no idea what brand it is or anything, it's set up so that you can slide a lever and the bed tilts to dump stuff. A few weeks ago I hauled 1200# worth of scrap metal with it and it didn't give me any trouble at all. Although I do not think I would exceed the weight rating if I planned on taking the thing on the interstate.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

for just twice that, you could buy a real trailer, used:

heck, even my boat trailer only cost me $150...and it even came with a free boat!

 

[rboyer]

It's all about the application for which it is used. I bought mine mostly to haul ATV's. If I want to go riding I can hitch it to my Subaru and use my ramps to pull two of them on there side by side without any hassle. This way i'm getting better fuel mileage than either of my trucks gets and with the room for the second ATV on the trailer I can have one person to pitch in for gas. Fooling around with spinning them sideways on the F250 and having to stand one against the rollbar on the Ranger was just getting way too tiresome.

 

[hihoslvr]

alright thanks for all the info, I was thinkin' with the Harbor Freight trailer it wouldn't be to hard to fab-up some stake-sides, I'm just lookin' for a general purpose haul-all. My nieghbors' got a S-10 bed-trailer that I been eyein'...

 

[AllanD]

You don't know th half of my "scheme" with my Ranger Bed trailer...

A) It's already got sides and a solid tailgate.

B) I have TWO caps (one aluminum and another in fiberglass)
so I can have a roof on it with a couple of cap clamps.

C) all that empty "wasted" space under the trailer is what interests me
(people who know me won't need this explained in Braille
I have two (one 38gal one 44gal) Econoline fuel tanks that fit neatly between
the frame rails Under the trailer. I have a 65gallon tank that is 3" narrower than the bed that will be mounted forward of the bed just behind the "A-Frame" up to the hitch.

That much fuel (added to the fuel in my truck) will allow me to do a round trip to Wyoming on "junkyard gas" with a >350mile reserve presuming I can average
18mpg (a pretty safe assumption)

AND I'll still have the entire 7foot bed and most of the 6foot bed on my
Ranger for cargo space. I will register my trailer for 3500# the empty
trailer is expected to weigh right around 1000#, with a full 147gal load
of fuel weighing another 880lbs that would still leave me 1600lb of cargo
capacity. that's FOUR 4.0 engines, EIGHT 8.8" rear axles or SIXTEEN Mazda
transmissions (more than will actually fit) and that doesn't mention the 1000#
I can still load into the Ranger

Now, if I can find a 4BT cummins and convert to "diesel" and run the truck
on USED ATF....

AD

 

[mhughes165]

or better yet, make your own biodiesel, thats what me and jacob are gonna be doin for his jetta, bio diesel and 50mpg will be sweet

You don't know th half of my "scheme" with my Ranger Bed trailer...

A) It's already got sides and a solid tailgate.

B) I have TWO caps (one aluminum and another in fiberglass)
so I can have a roof on it with a couple of cap clamps.

C) all that empty "wasted" space under the trailer is what interests me
(people who know me won't need this explained in Braille
I have two (one 38gal one 44gal) Econoline fuel tanks that fit neatly between
the frame rails Under the trailer. I have a 65gallon tank that is 3" narrower than the bed that will be mounted forward of the bed just behind the "A-Frame" up to the hitch.

That much fuel (added to the fuel in my truck) will allow me to do a round trip to Wyoming on "junkyard gas" with a >350mile reserve presuming I can average
18mpg (a pretty safe assumption)

AND I'll still have the entire 7foot bed and most of the 6foot bed on my
Ranger for cargo space. I will register my trailer for 3500# the empty
trailer is expected to weigh right around 1000#, with a full 147gal load
of fuel weighing another 880lbs that would still leave me 1600lb of cargo
capacity. that's FOUR 4.0 engines, EIGHT 8.8" rear axles or SIXTEEN Mazda
transmissions (more than will actually fit) and that doesn't mention the 1000#
I can still load into the Ranger

Now, if I can find a 4BT cummins and convert to "diesel" and run the truck
on USED ATF....

AD

 

[rboyer]

I just picked up a trailer today that had me laughing the whole way home. I needed a plate for my tilting trailer for the weekend since the guy can't do the title transfer for yet another week and I know an 80 year old mechanic on the other end of town who has a trailer which he barely uses so I figured i'd ask him to borrow the plate for a little bit. I go over there and ask him and he tells me that he just happens to be selling the thing for $75 so I figure what the hell why not buy it. It's a 53 GMC truck bed (with those HUGE fenders!) converted into a trailer. I figured that I could probably get most of the 75 back in scrap and be left with a good title/plate to file away incase I ever needed it, but after looking at the thing and realizing that it's not even rotted as much as most vehicles on the road I think i'll keep it and paint it. I'll have to take a picture of the thing, I know it gave me a good laugh when the realization set in that I actually bought it.

 

[rboyer]

They don't make 'em like they used to..

 

[Will]

Title swapping is a felony. I don't know how you would get caught, but it can't be worth the risk. I don't know where you live but in Indiana it's extremely simple to get a homemade trailer titled. You just bring a picture of it and they send in the title app. Then you get the metal tag, call the sheriff and a deputy comes out and makes sure you affixed the tag to the trailer. Then you go back down and get the plates.

 

[rboyer]

Title swapping may be a felony in PA, but swapping a plate on a trailer that's the same weight class for a week is only a traffic violation IF the cop even cares. I know people who have done it for years, so I doubt that one week will hurt seeing as I mostly just needed it on the weekend which is over now.