country UTV trailer review?

[ArlyA]

We purchased a 7740UTV-BR trailer from this CMI outfit in Ohio. We ended up bending and wearing out a few parts on it over its 1st summer of use and had to beef it up some. But after that, we found it was a pretty decent trailer for our needs. I looked for reviews or discussions concerning the 7500 trailer here and found none, or did I miss them? If anyone is interested in this trailer or its repairers, just let me know and I'll post photos. Thanks!

UTV Trailers Heavy Duty Tandem Axle Model 774UTV by Country ATV.

 

[Oldpath05]

Jeez la wees, who doesn't like pictures of a fix it job, I'd love to see pics of the repairs you made. When I made my ATV tandem trailer, the tandem part was the hardest to make strong and not add a ton weight. I had to do it twice, but that kind of trailer is the best.

 

[ArlyA]

OK here goes. We got this trailer with a hydraulic lift accessory to help us move gravel and supplies to and from a remote work site. It had a pretty high load capacity which I'd now say is unrealistic. The tandem axle bearings (walking beam) was worn out after moving maybe 30 heavy loads 1/2 a mile. I know what you mean Oldpath! In the next post I'll show how we rebuilt that and re-enforced the frame some.

 

[ArlyA]

UTV trailer frame and walking beam rebuild

In support of the manufactures design, we were likely loading to its max at 2200lbs. We also had one operator who drove rather fast and the box frame got bent going over bumps which was made from 1/8" 1.5 x 1.5 angles. Then the walking beam axles were worn out as well, so they were rebuilt as seen in the top photo.. (frame is upside down) The 2nd photo is a chain we added when we realized the trailer would "dump" if not loaded properly or someone stood in its back. This chain keeps it from flipping up. In the "trailer frame" photo you can see we doubled its bent frame by adding another 1/8" 1.5 x 1.5 angles which make it into a square tube frame.

In the last photo you can see some of the many tie down loops we added. The "double tube" tongue was added because we sometime move 14ft decking which will not fit or balance on the trailer. This tongue design allows us to extend it when needed.

 

[Oldpath05]

Nice bunch of photos, you showed what I wanted to see, and to be brutally honest in a friendly sort of way, that walking beam is a bad design. The square stock that connect both wheels is fine, it's just in the middle where it goes up to what looks like 8" to the pivot pin which in-turn is like an upside down T. With the walking beams like that it looses a lot of true walking beam movement and produces a lot more stress on the 1" pivot pins, know what I mean Vern, probably not, but over all the rest of trailer looks good.

On my trailer the the pivot/articulation is directly in the middle on the square stock that connects the wheels. My trailer is set up for hauling wood, but a dump body could be added if I had extra cash. I have a short vid with temp side boards on getting last years firewood in, trailer was made in 1997,

Rhino - YouTube

 

[ArlyA]

I'll agree with the bad design of the walking beam but for a different reason. Its bearings that were just 1/4" plate with 3/4 holes punched in them, were waaaaaay to small to hold up. The trailer just wasn't made for serious loads or mileages. I'd call it a 1800lb trailer in its original format including that its box frame was so light. With all the revamping we did, maybe its now a 2400lbs trailer.

I should add that the running low PSI in those big tires, was really was nice for moving these heavy loads on rough terrain.

 

[Oldpath05]

"Its bearings that were just 1/4" plate with 3/4 holes" <<<<<<<<<<< You diffidently made that better putting a pipe in between the 1/4" plates with geese fittings, was you able to up the pin size to 1''? I agree 3/4" is kinda on the small side on 1/4 plates, but anyways great repair job!

Do you like the jacking system on the trailer and what UTV are you pulling it with? cant quite make it out.

 

[ArlyA]

What you see in these photos was a Rhino what was subsequently retired (sold) and replaced with a can-am HD10 defender. If you care, its reviews can be read here. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/atvs-utility-vehicles/355357-can-am-2016-defender-hd10.html

The jack lift worked OK. We wish it went a tad higher and we also broke it once but wasn't to hard to repair. The walking beam mount pin remained 3/4 in size but what's not visible in the photos is the 4 locking collars we welded to the beams channels to lock the pins in position. The short pipes you see which got welded in to create the bearings, are dram tubing. Yes lots of messing around but by the end, the trailer was made much stronger or more durable. Not being able to weight the loads, we could have been moving 2500lbs.

 

[pwright]

Good review and great pics. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ArlyA]

Glad to see someone was interested in this trailer. We'll need this trailer again soon, so maybe I'll grab a photo of it hauling the 22ft long 4x12" full dimension timbers we need to move.. If anyone else has a UTV or atv trailer, please post how you liked it.