Utility trailers - what should i know?

[EddieWalker]

I have a F150 truck and 16 foot, bumper pull, duel axle trailer with 3,500 pound axles. I bought it 15 years ago from Coker's for $900 When I was looking, his prices where the best that I could find. From what I still hear, his prices are still very good. My issue with them is service after the fact, but if you don't need him to fix anything, they are very competitive on pricing if they have it in stock.

It has wood decking that I've replaced once, and need to do again. Some of Coker's selling points is the pipe used for the top rail instead of angle iron. It has a bull hitch instead of the cheaper style hitches. The jack is far enough back that you can lift the trailer with the tailgate open. There are plenty of place to tie stuff down to. Wiring and lights have worked well over the years. The paint faded fairly quickly, but red has a reputation of doing that.

I used to use it to haul hay, but now I have a guy that delivers 18 rolls at a time. It's been great for getting a pallet of concrete from Lowes, or pallets of anything that are too heavy for my truck. And of course, long lengths of lumber. I've hauled my small 37 hp tractor and 6 foot rotary cutter on it, but it's not a great fit. The cutter hangs off the end and doesn't sit flat, but the trailer handles it fine.

One of my goals in life is to get a one ton dually and a goose neck trailer, but if that ever happens, I doubt that I would ever sell this trailer. It's just too handy to have around.

 

[timswi]

This is what I bought..Works great for everything I need it for. 16' 2 3500# axles.

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[alexpops]

Longer is better. Besides more floor space, in my experience the shorter the trailer the harder it is to steer and control when backing it up. Shorter trailers are harder to see and react very quickly to steering inputs.

^^ Nothing is tough going forward as long as you gauge the turn radius right, Short is much tougher (squirrelly) in reverse.

Numerous boat trailers here in 25 & 30 foot tandem & triple axle, and I have a 15K kaufman 20' tandem axle w/dovetail and standup ramps bought six years ago for tractor/min-ex. (looks like they eliminated the 7500 lb axles & only offer 6k axles now at 40% more than I paid) Probably too heavy for your needs, but some things to consider. electric disk brakes. single or tandem, I would go disk if on highway, but need to make sure the pigtail will work with your utv. Not sure how you're set-up, but if you have the hydraulic tongue actuator (like on many boat trailers), you need (at least) the electric bypass with disk or they lock up when backing. Would prefer sliding ramps or folding wedge ramps since the windage of the stand-ups can be an issue at highway speeds. They could also get in the way in the woods. Chose PT wood floor over diamond plate since it's less slippery when wet & replacing wood is cheaper than replacing steel when the floor ultimately goes. In the current market, for a lighter weight (capacity) trailer, I'd consider buying a used boat trailer cheap & still be money good after I fab up what I needed for brakes (electric over hydraulic), deck & ramps with extra support between the frame rails as boat trailers are pretty flexible & lightly built when compared to true cargo/equipment stuff. Advantage is they also tend to be lighter, so more cargo capacity (based on your needs). Stake pockets/rub rails for straps/chains & diy side walls when needed. Tires matter on highway, off road I wouldn't care & fix as necessary just have a spare to get you home if necessary. Eazy lube bearings. If they aren't easy to lubricate, you won't, & they'll fail on you when you're in the middle of nowhere with no tools to change out races & bearings. You WILL overload at some point in your trailers life if you only have one. Go as heavy/capable as you can afford & use now & when you later upgrade your truck, you won't need to upgrade the trailer too. As far as number of axles, it comes down to weight limit & maintenance vs reliability. You could buy 1 dexter or TK 10K axle or 2 5k or 3 3k, etc. The multiples MAY get you more capacity depending on spread, but they will also add to the trailer weight & could run you up against the GCWR of your hauling vehicle quicker. On the other hand, a blow-out in 1 of 4/6 tires won't shut you down as fast as a 1 in 2. True flat bed is nice for wide loads, but will have higher center of gravity & depending on how you drive/what you haul, could be tippier. Utility style is lower CoG but you have to gauge the width of what you haul against the inside distance between fenders. MY Kaufman easily handles the equipment & will take a silverado 2500 between the wheel wells, so it's fine. A Dually would probably give me issues to load. Make sure you have room for a decent lockable toolbox for chains/straps/grease gun/floor jack/tools/etc. that you might need while on the road.

 

[Buckeye Guy]

Without knowing the frame parameters of these two trailers, your number of axles is of no consequence. You can build a good or poor trailer with any number of axles.

I know that, I wasn't making that point. I guess you missed where I said one was made with all angle steel and felt flimsy, the second was all box steel and solid. didn't think I needed to elaborate more

 

[duffer]

Haven't read all 6 pages, but if you're hauling stuff under 3000#, I'd make sure you have 3000# axle and at least 14" if not 15" tires. I've seen companies put 13" tires on a 3000# axle. Max weight for 13" tire is like nothing. I'd also get an "A" frame hitch, rather than just one beam from the bed to the truck hitch.

If you're buying used, obviously make sure all the lights and signals work. And I prefer the wood bed over the steel, or steel mesh.

 

[Gord Baker]

A 16' tandem axle utility trailer is the best bang for the buck and you will see more in use than all other tongue pulls combined. At half the price of a car hauler what you will be giving up is; ability to haul some full size pick ups due to inside width (6' 5" ) between fenders and sides, limited ability to load/unload from side due to side rails. A 14' utility or car hauler is the same price as 16' but prefered by some who have limited parking. 18' and 20' cost 20-30% more but have additional cargo space and 2,500 addition gross weight. I'm in the minority in prefering LT tires over trailer tires but that is a discussion all it's own. Regardless of trailer from the smallest up to 12k gross, I prefer 16" tires for their availability and competive price.. Bull dog hitch and tongue jack is head and shoulders above others. If you will have farm tags,brakes aren't required starting at same weight as non farm (check TXDOT web site for size you decide to go with.) No registeration or inspection required for less than 4k lb farm use. Since you have time to shop and decide,nibble on that and we can go into specifics when you settle on a gross weight rating.

In Ontario Canada, Trailer Tires MUST BE Trailer Tires and identified accordingly on the sidewall.
I believe this applies to even the smaller ones. I cover my PT wooden floor with 2 layers of plastic and also cover the Tires to protect them from UV damage.

 

[1428v]

I have a 6x12 dual axle livestock trailer and use it for everything in addition to moving livestock. Cost about $2800 at tractor supply in 2020. I really like the low load floor, to the point where I haven’t used my F150 for hauling heavy things in quite some time. Sooo much easier than hefting stuff up into the truck bed and it holds so much more.

 

[Dmacleo]

fwiw, and this ONLY is applicable to MY situation, I have a 2014 7x14 single axle suretrac (brand) with 3500lb axle/springs yet only rated 1800lb due to tires.
I spent 350$ or so added electric brakes and upgraded the tires to a 6ply.
I have put thousands of limes on it hauling Massey GC1710TLB, GC1723TLB, and my own GC2400 with tiller on it.
IOW I regularly haul 1900-2300lbs.

BUT...heres the key....if in doubt...buy bigger. you can't go wrong there.

also...if I was to hit the 2500-2800lbs mark I would add another leaf to springs.
and I now haul the GC2400/tiller (a lot) as well as GC1723TLB (sometimes, rare) with a 2010 mercury marquis I added trailer brake control to.

 

[rocco611]

I have several trailers. the one I use the most is a 1990 3500lb single axle BigTex tilt bed. I raised the sides from 12" to 24" filled the gaps between the angle iron with expanded metal. replaced the angle iron tongue with channel . I have a 16' dual axle trailer, I use that for moving cars and tractors, but dont use it very often. Big Tex and Carson make pretty good trailers for the price. I cant buy the steel to build a trailer for what Big Tex and Carson sell trailers for. Several people I know have bought cheap new and used trailers, then paid a welder they know to upgrade them to their needs. It is a good Idea to use trailer rated tires for a trailer, they work much better than passenger car tires. Better yet are LT (light truck) tires for a trailer. A single axle trailer will be lighter and is easier to maneuver , dual axle rides smoother, less tongue weight but they dont turn as easy as a single axle.

 

[MHarryE]

I have 4 trailers. This is a handy little trailer. 7,500 pound single axle, 5 x 8 dump, fits my F-150 (one in the picture has long since been replaced) and F-250 very well. Can haul my mini-excavator to a job behind pickup or tractor, use mini to do work on the job site and haul away material as needed, then reload and go home. Probably more expensive than what you want but at the time, price was reasonable and its multi-use capability has been outstanding. Size is 5' x 8'. Incidentally all of the buildings in the background of this pic were on our home site when we purchased it. With the aid of this little mini, the trailer, plus an L5740, they were demolished and hauled off within a few months of this picture.