What trailer brands should I be looking for??

[newhorseguy]

My wife and I purchased a 6+ acre horse place this fall. We moved out of a townhouse so I'm in the position of needing to buy just about every thing new.

I'm looking for some advise on a trailer. I've been thinking a 14 ft, 7000 GVW, tandem axle trailer, drop deck and 2 ft duck tail would fit my needs
.
The trailer will be used for hay (square bales not rounds), pulling my JD 2305 w/ FEL, snow blower and 54"mmm deck, fencing, gates etc. I also want the ability to but a car on it (small BMW sedan, about 3400lbs). I don't envision needing to trailer more then a 4 to 6 times a year.

The John Deere dealer I purchased my tractor thru carries Felling Trailers out of Sauk Center, MN.

Does anyone have any experence with Felling trailers? What other brands should I be looking at?

The trailer I'm thinking about is a 14 ft, drop deck trailer w/ 2 ft duck tail. Does this configuration make sense given my plans?

I currently have a 2000 1/2 ton Chevy w/ 5.3l engine, but I'm planning on purchasing a new truck in 2009. I'll either get another 1/2 ton like I have now or something like a 1/2 ton chev w/ the MAX trailer package.

Any thought would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[BarryinMN]

Felling is about 75 mi from me. Top quality equipment. My opinion is your trailer is too small. 18-20' is better for hauling the stuff not considered yet. Building materials, landscaping, somebody elses car, etc...

Add in a tool box for dry tiedown stuff storage and a spare tire.

[ScottOkla]

I bought a 16' Big Tex. I should have got an 18', but other than that, it was a very smart choice (IMO).

I would look at Big Tex, but you may not have a dealer nearby. Mine gave me a LOT for the money a few years ago.

[davkir]

With the rotary cutter on the tractor, it just about fills my 18' trailer and still gives me a little room to balance the tongue weight.
It also works well for hay bales without having to stack them too high.

[Diamondpilot]

14' is too short, you will need a 16'-18' trailer. I personally don't care for dove tail types, I like flat decks but that is a personal preference. Much easier to carry other thing like lumber and such. Have the dealer bring a trailer to you place, like a test drive, and put it behind your rig. Put your tractor on the trailer and see how it fits. You need wiggle room to balance the load. You want 10-15% of the weight on the tong of the trailer so balance your tractor to see.

As for brand get what you like and the dealer who you trust. Look for quality items like wires in conduit, good lighting, nice electrical connections, under coated or painted, plenty of tie downs, tires that match the load rating, ect.

Chris

[unreconstructed]

I have a Big Tex--not touting the brand over any other, but will pipe in on your trailer length--I think the 14 ' is going to be way to short for you at some point, if not now. I would go 18 foot or 20 feet. Your 1/2 ton should be OK with that and a 2305.

[jeffster]

I have a heavy duty 12' dump trailer, and I totally agree with everyone else, you really should look at a longer trailer. I bought mine to help out a family member, otherwise I definitely would have went with a longer trailer. I don't need to haul the tractor much, hence I prefer the dump trailer (which has heavy duty ramps if I do need to load the tractor), but as you can see in the picture, 12' just barely makes it, and 14' wouldn't really give you much more room. Granted your tractor is smaller, but still...

[ALMike]

As others have suggested - I would suggest looking at larger trailers. I have a 5 acre horse farm, you'd be surprised how many horses you can wind up with if you aren't careful! I started with a 16 ft. 2 axle trailer, really just big enough to haul my tractor w/front loader and bushog attached. I can only fit 100 bales of hay on my 16 ft trailer. So, I wound up upgrading to a 25 ft gooseneck, that I can put 220 bales on, haul my tractor and accessories with ease, etc. While the 25 footer was triple the price of the 16 ft utility, I really feel it is a better value.
On the truck side, when you upgrade I would suggest you seriously consider a 3/4 ton over the 1/2 ton. They typically wind up pricing out the same, the ride on 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks is much better than it used to be, and you are much better equipped for towing purposes.

[newhorseguy]

thanks for all the reply guys. Based on what I'm hearing I think something like a 10,000 gvw 18 ft or 20ft will make more sense. The tool box and spare tire are good ideas as well.

ALMike - re your more horses then planned comment. Amen to that! My wife is already got her eye on a few new pony's.....

[GreatWhitehunter]

Jeffster, Question for you. Is that a 3000 series in your pic? If it is I have the same setup and can fit the loader in the dump box. Are you sure your trailer isn't 10 ft? I went and measured mine and it's 12 ft inside the box. Just curious.

Matt T.