Trailer Buying Experience at Tractor Supply

[DrRod]

First, let me say that I really like Tractor Supply. I know there are lots of comments in here to the contrary but they always have what I need at a decent price, the staff is genuinely helpful, and they are the only real store within 20 miles of my farm.

So yesterday I got up and decided that I couldn't live with all the half broken ATVs, mowers, and other stuff around the place and the only solution was to get a trailer so I could get them to the shop. Yes I could borrow one but I have to work within some tight time windows and borrowing get complicated. And loading this stuff alone into the rather high bed of my pickup was getting nearly impossible and slightly dangerous. So off to Tractor Supply I went.

The reviews of trailers on the TS website has plenty of cautionary tales. The mesh floors won't hold up to the weight of machinery, the single tow bar on smaller trailers aren't well centered and don't track well at speed, and the paint looks like it was put on under water -- oh yeah, prepare for rust next year. But at a sale price of $899 for a 6x8 with a wood floor I figured "good enough."

The reviews also mentioned that the quality of construction among individual trailers varies greatly and boy were they right. They had four of the 6x8's. One was missing end caps on the tubular rails. One had a dangling pipe holding wires across the back, which was supposed to be welded up to the frame. And one had a gate bracket that had been knocked askew -- interestingly there was no marring of the paint so I have to assume it was bad before they painted it [so much for QA at the factory]. As I pointed these out, the salesman openly agreed that these were not ok and cheerfully rearranged the trailers so we could get to the one remaining that appeared in proper order.

So today I'm happily heading to town to start getting my machinery fixed and feeling reasonably confident about my purchase. But bottom line, look closely at these things before you buy.

 

[kcflhrc]

Just some Hillbilly welding trailers in his backyard at the same time cooking Meth or making Moonshine.

 

[sseelhoff]

Just some Hillbilly welding trailers in his backyard at the same time cooking Meth or making Moonshine.

But it is Proudly Made in the USA.

 

[PJSprog]

... the one remaining that appeared in proper order.

Wow. With the aforementioned list of "oversights" on all the other trailers, one has to wonder what you may have not seen on that one. Hope it works out for you, but count me skeptical.

 

[fried1765]

Wow. With the aforementioned list of "oversights" on all the other trailers, one has to wonder what you may have not seen on that one. Hope it works out for you, but count me skeptical.

Around here, Lowe's has the same, or similar trailers, for less money than TSC.

 

[mddorange]

Dr. Rod, I bought that same 6x8 trailer back in 2012 and it is still going strong. I know someone else who got one 6 months later and found a side light not wired when he got home, so like you point out, look them over very carefully before purchasing.

 

[turnkey4099]

I bougt one of those mesh 4-wheel garden wagons - rated for heavy loads. Sides and ends fold down. Couldn't use it out of the box. One wheel didn't have the bearing pressed in far enough, one of he side panels had the clip to hold it closed welded on backward. One call to Northern Tool, no questions and parts shipped the same day. Leads one to wonder what the problem is with their quality control if they have replacement parts ready to ship at an instant's call.

 

[PJSprog]

I bougt one of those mesh 4-wheel garden wagons - rated for heavy loads. Sides and ends fold down. Couldn't use it out of the box. One wheel didn't have the bearing pressed in far enough, one of he side panels had the clip to hold it closed welded on backward. One call to Northern Tool, no questions and parts shipped the same day. Leads one to wonder what the problem is with their quality control if they have replacement parts ready to ship at an instant's call.

Probably a Quality Alert type of situation; after enough complaints, the manufacturer sends out a notification for a known issue with a resolution, then they just wait for the calls.

 

[flyerdan]

Unfortunately a lot of things these days need reworked right out of the box to be what, a good deal of us, would consider acceptable. It's really too bad that we can't get some of these things in a kit that needs assembled and wired, it would save having to undo all the shoddy.
If I didn't need one of these trailers immediately, I might be inclined to pick the worst one on the lot, see if I couldn't get a substantial discount, and do the repairs and necessary mods.

 

[teejk]

Obviously looking at the "landscape" variety trailer. They aren't cheap for anybody never owning a trailer but in the real world they are cheap compared to the alternatives. Think about the cost just to make them road worthy (lights etc.) plus they do need to be built to meet the load rating on the sticker and also have to get moved from point A to point B. I bought 2 last year and do agree that you have to be careful. Both had electrical problems before I took them from the lot which I attributed to transit and they get banged up a lot in transit so black paint is a must. And the longer they sit, the more that treated wood is going to want to move.