Home Depot DK2 Light Duty Trailers Any Good?

[npalen]

TRAILERS — DK2
I am considering one of these for light duty trash hauling. I like the light weight of about 450 pounds empty making it easy to manhandle for hooking up to a tow vehicle.
Anyone familiar with them?
My existing trailer is about the same size but the deck is 2x8 pressure treated lumber which makes it heavier at about 700 pounds. Can still grab the tongue and move it around by hand but I'm not getting any younger.
Anyone have experience with the D2K trailer shown in the link above? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I don't have the DK-2 trailer but I did recently go through the antagonizing ordeal of trying to determine which trailer would be best for my needs. The DK-2 does have some nice features that I like such as the tilt bed and solid (although very short) sidewalls. The light weight of the cheaper model is definitely a plus!

It does have a couple of what I think are shortcomings though. The very small 4.80 x 12" tires. They seem to be highway rated, but I sure wouldn't want to go very far and definitely not very fast. For 'in-your-yard' use, they'll probably be okay, but you can expect them to be Chinese rubber, i.e. smelly, lead down, and cheap.

The side panels don't seem to be made to drop down on the cheaper model, making loading and unloading restricted. The $1200 model does, but that seems a bit pricey for a 4.5' x 7.5' trailer.

I don't see a tongue jack either, which will add close to another $100 to the tab for a good one. No tie-down hooks will also be something you'll need to add.

Not pushing for any brand in particular, but I ended up buying the Sam's Club Karavan 6' x 12' trailer; $1200. Rust proof, all sides drop and/or removable, 15" highway tires, and a number of other add-a-boys. It is a bit heavier, but I bought it for hauling our SxS.

I also have a 4'x8' Snowco trailer for in-yard and/or highway use for hauling logs, trash, motorcycles, etc. But I don't think Snowco's are still being made today. Those trailers, although they've become collector's item, were ideal. They made for hauling snowmobiles and are very low to the ground.

In short, the best choice of a trailer is the one YOU choose. No trailer is going to please everybody, but the long and short of it all is that you know best what your needs are. Buy the one that suits YOUR needs.

 

[GeneV]

I got this trailer, got it online from Costco. It's been great for us for hauling mulch from the township...really shined there because it's got solid sides and the bed tilts for dumping. A slight downside when dumping, the rear gate doesn't come off. When you tilt the bed for dumping, the gate lays flat on the ground and everything is dumping on it. It's not a huge deal, but would be easier to use for dumping mulch right into beds if the gate came off entirely.

A big upside to the gate though, both front and back gates fold down flat, giving you 12' of supported bed for hauling long stuff such as a canoe or fence posts. Back to downside though, you'll need to be folding down one of those gates for hauling standard sized sheets of plywood or drywall, as the trailer length is 7.5" with gates up. I dunno why they didn't just add another 6" of length to the darn thing, why the heck not?

Also, that rear gate is not a ramp, there is no ramp here. If you wanna haul your garden tractor for instance, you tilt the bed down with the gate laying flat on the ground, and drive up the thing...there's a little bit of a learning curve there to keep the bed from crashing down as it tilts back up.

The sides don't fold down, but they do come off fairly easily...just a couple screws holding them at each end. I've never had to do that yet.

The license plate bracket is bogus! Just moving the trailer around has you scraping the plate against the ground. Tilting the bed has the plate flat out squashed against the ground, in my case breaking the bracket entirely. I just relocated the plate to the back gate, zip tied it there.

Getting plates for this thing was a pia, mainly coz Costco didn't sign over the title, so I had to go to my local Costco, have the manager there sign the title over.

I dunno if this comes across negative, I'm just listing the negatives fyi. Overall I'm really happy with this thing, it's been great for us.

 

[fried1765]

I don't have the DK-2 trailer but I did recently go through the antagonizing ordeal of trying to determine which trailer would be best for my needs. The DK-2 does have some nice features that I like such as the tilt bed and solid (although very short) sidewalls. The light weight of the cheaper model is definitely a plus!

It does have a couple of what I think are shortcomings though. The very small 4.80 x 12" tires. They seem to be highway rated, but I sure wouldn't want to go very far and definitely not very fast. For 'in-your-yard' use, they'll probably be okay, but you can expect them to be Chinese rubber, i.e. smelly, lead down, and cheap.

The side panels don't seem to be made to drop down on the cheaper model, making loading and unloading restricted. The $1200 model does, but that seems a bit pricey for a 4.5' x 7.5' trailer.

I don't see a tongue jack either, which will add close to another $100 to the tab for a good one. No tie-down hooks will also be something you'll need to add.

Not pushing for any brand in particular, but I ended up buying the Sam's Club Karavan 6' x 12' trailer; $1200. Rust proof, all sides drop and/or removable, 15" highway tires, and a number of other add-a-boys. It is a bit heavier, but I bought it for hauling our SxS.

I also have a 4'x8' Snowco trailer for in-yard and/or highway use for hauling logs, trash, motorcycles, etc. But I don't think Snowco's are still being made today. Those trailers, although they've become collector's item, were ideal. They made for hauling snowmobiles and are very low to the ground.

In short, the best choice of a trailer is the one YOU choose. No trailer is going to please everybody, but the long and short of it all is that you know best what your needs are. Buy the one that suits YOUR needs.

Those little wheels/tires are a very bad idea for highway speeds.
Ok for around town.

 

[Deere Dude]

I bought a Harbor Freight 4x8 and threw plywood down as a floor and 2' sides but it had small wheels and tires. I used it for hauling camping stuff around WI for 10 years, no problem. I Then pulled a 650 cc motorcycle on it from WI to Maine behind a motorhome. 60 MPH approx. Then went from WI to the mountains in Montana, no problem.

Then from WI to Pennsylvania moving my boy to college with the trailer loaded down cruising 75 MPH I did blow a tire. Went to Kmart and replaced it.

On that trip near the end I did notice some cracks in the hitch so I slowed down obviously then fixed it. Eventually from salt and cheap materials the metal got thin plus I bent an axle pulling it through a woods and hit a tree stump. Trashed it finally.

The trailer you picked out is definitely a better trailer, but going to the dumps or caring lighter stuff those trailer are great to use and great for one man to push around.

 

[npalen]

A slight downside when dumping, the rear gate doesn't come off.

Could a person move the quick pins down to the lower pair of holes and then remove the rear gate when needed? I see there are hooks that would possibly hold the top of the gate when installed this way.

 

[GeneV]

It wouldn't be easy to get the gate to pivot from the top, if that's what you mean. But yeh, you could figure something out with the bottom screws for quick dismount of the gate entirely, true.

 

[GeneV]

What pricing did you find for it? I got it online from Costco last year. With tax and free shipping, $956. Assembling it was no biggie. I needed my wife to help me with one quick thing, otherwise it's a 1-man job.

This little trailer is nice, man, I recommend it. Just realize this is ain't for heavy loads, I think it maxes out at 1600 lbs. For us that's fine, we have a Mazda CX5 doing the pulling...I think it maxes at 2k, anyways.

 

[npalen]

It wouldn't be easy to get the gate to pivot from the top, if that's what you mean. But yeh, you could figure something out with the bottom screws for quick dismount of the gate entirely, true.

I was thinking replace the bottom screws with the quick pins. Then, to remove the gate, remove the two quick pins from the bottom and lift the gate off of the top hooks.

This is current Home Depot pricing for the painted and galvanized versions:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Detail-...9+lbs.+payload+capacity+4.5+ft.+x+7.5+ft.}:qu

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Detail-...ERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-206586893-_-305900652-_-N

 

[mrmikey]

If they're like the ones around here, I wouldn't use them for hauling cotton balls............Mike

 

[rgr33]

I have had the Home Depot version of this trailer for close to 10 years. We buy, remodel, and flip houses on the Oregon coast, about 75 miles away. I have never tried to stress it or overload it, but have hauled everything from Rock to cabinets in it with no problems.

The only thing that I don’t like is the 12 inch tires, I run them at highway speed often, and never had any problems, but the tread always wears a bit too soon. The end gate on mine pulls out similar to the stake sides on a truck. I replaced the original lights with led, and that worked out much better than the cheapies That it came with.

 

[npalen]

Well, yeah, for cotton balls you need something more like this:

 

[fried1765]

I have had the Home Depot version of this trailer for close to 10 years. We buy, remodel, and flip houses on the Oregon coast, about 75 miles away. I have never tried to stress it or overload it, but have hauled everything from Rock to cabinets in it with no problems.

The only thing that I don’t like is the 12 inch tires, I run them at highway speed often, and never had any problems, but the tread always wears a bit too soon. The end gate on mine pulls out similar to the stake sides on a truck. I replaced the original lights with led, and that worked out much better than the cheapies That it came with.

"12 inch tires".
DANGEROUS when fully loaded, and highway speeds!

 

[mrmikey]

Well, yeah, for cotton balls you need something more like this:

Balls....not bales LOL. The'd be a tad big for the end of a Q-Tip ........Mike

 

[npalen]

"12 inch tires".
DANGEROUS when fully loaded, and highway speeds!

Just a thought on smaller tires would be that the surface speed at the point where the rubber meets the road is no more on a 12" tire than on, say, a 15" tire. Yes, the rubber and bearings would wear faster on the smaller diameter.

The "boat trailer tire" link below shows a load range D max load of 1220 lbs at 65 psi. A pair of these should handle a trailer rated at 2000 lbs. With that said, I would certainly be more comfortable with larger diameter tires.


Kenda Karrier S-Trail ST145/R12 Radial Tire w/ 12" Galvanized Spoke Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2 - LR D Kenda Tires and Wheels AM3122

 

[WilliamBos]

I looked at these too, then opted to buy a 5 x 10 from Canada trailers. A bit more money, but a lot more trailer - 15 tires are a huge plus for me.

 

[adam728]

12 inch wheels are a whole lot better than the 8's that come on some trailers. I will admitt, I was nervous about the 12's on the uber cheap Harbor Freight 4x8. But it's been from Michigan to Georgia and back with 600-ish lbs on it, and has had probably 20k on it by now, typically hauling maybe 300-800 lbs, and mostly freeway, where the wife will loudly vocalize her displeasure with a trip taking any longer than necessary, which means often cruising in excess of 80 mph. After 7 years I replaced the tires due to cracking, but they were also getting quite worn down.



I wouldn't want to run them near capacity all the time. But they aren't the worst.

 

[MFWD]

Hello,
I'm not sure how much money you want to spend, but have you thought about an aluminum utility trailer. I bought the 5.5'x10' aluminum utility trailer from Tractor Supply and really like it. I can move it around easily and it does have 15" wheels. Good luck.


MFWD

 

[bmoore]

I'll second the recommendation of an aluminum frame trailer. I've had this 6.5x12 Aluma flatbed for 9 years, it still cleans up to almost brand new condition, and the only maintenance it requires is tires and wheel bearing grease. I paid around $1800 for it 9 years ago, and probably could sell it today for what I paid for it (similar trailers are going for about $2500 new now).

And yeah I know the rear end of the van is sagging in the photo below... that was 2 years ago, and since then the van has had suspension upgrades to compensate for the weight of the RV conversion, plus wheel and tire upgrades. In the photo I'm using a 5" rise draw bar, and now to tow the same trailer, I'm using a 0.5" rise draw bar...