16' Utility trailer gate or ramps which is better?

[JD15302155870]

I have a 16 ft trailer with a gate. Earlier this year, I made two identical 1,000 mile round trips hauling my son's car and other items when he moved. The first trip I ran with the gate and the second trip without it mounted. My F250 diesel made 3 mpg better without the gate in place. In both instances, one way was loaded and the other empty. I was surprised at the difference in mileage.

 

[meburdick]

I have a 16 ft trailer with a gate. Earlier this year, I made two identical 1,000 mile round trips hauling my son's car and other items when he moved. The first trip I ran with the gate and the second trip without it mounted. My F250 diesel made 3 mpg better without the gate in place. In both instances, one way was loaded and the other empty. I was surprised at the difference in mileage.

I had (like most, I would presume) never thought that an expanded steel gate would do that, but there's another thread where someone was discussing that very aspect... once you get to a certain speed, even open / mesh items act like they are solid. It is not at all surprising to me that you would see such a big difference in mileage (installed versus uninstalled on trailer) now that I know that about those gates.

 

[s219]

If the axles are rated at 7,000 pounds I think that would be enough to haul a car if needed to be.

Don't plan on hauling a car with a utility trailer. It's not about the weight -- it's the construction. Utility trailers do not have the proper deck framing for something like a car or even a heavier tractor. And the gate would definitely not be up to the task. If you have any thoughts of trailering a car, then step up to an equipment hauler or car hauler with proper ramps.

 

[denverdave66]

I am very thankful for this message board. I have learned so much from it. I always appreciate the advice and opinions. I am new to all of this. I bought my 1st tractor even though it is a sub-compact I use it a bunch. Just like today I was cutting trees in the woods and after I cut the trees I pulled them up out of the woods to cut them up into firewood. Sure beats cutting them up and then breaking my back carrying the wood out. I bet my Dad sure would have liked to had one of these tractors when he was alive it would have made his life so much easier.

 

[meburdick]

I am very thankful for this message board. I have learned so much from it. I always appreciate the advice and opinions. I am new to all of this. I bought my 1st tractor even though it is a sub-compact I use it a bunch. Just like today I was cutting trees in the woods and after I cut the trees I pulled them up out of the woods to cut them up into firewood. Sure beats cutting them up and then breaking my back carrying the wood out. I bet my Dad sure would have liked to had one of these tractors when he was alive it would have made his life so much easier.

SCUT, CUT, Garden Tractor, or hand shovel - if you've got the right tool to do the work you need to do, you'll use it a lot. I'm glad that you're finding lots of useful things to do with the machine. Just don't push it too hard or you won't even have 50 hours on it before you're lamenting not having bought a larger machine.

s219 makes an excellent point about the construction of utility trailers (and I'll apply that to most landscape trailers as well). While they certainly can take the weight, their design "assumes" that the weight is distributed out and will have many points of contact. When you load a car on there, you're applying almost 1,000 pounds of weight in a roughly 1 foot square area (the tire's contact patch). That's rough on the decking, but it also makes it rough on the support members underneath. Many of them are made with simple angle iron (utility trailers especially), and that stuff isn't going to hold up carrying that kind of weight over such small areas.

Putting a solid deck down would help to distribute the weight some, but it's still likely to be a short-lived life for the trailer.

I just realized that you're looking to haul a Cherokee, not a Wrangler - those are even heavier (if you were going to take a Grand Cherokee, it's even that much more weight on top). When I was shopping for a trailer, I looked at things like the Carry On landscape trailer. If memory serves me correct, those were somewhere in the $2500 range for a 7k trailer. An equipment trailer was roughly $750 more. Those are prices for new, but you can see that stepping up to a much more solidly built trailer *can* be managed financially.

Since you seem like you're willing to take on some repairs and such, you may very well be able to get a nice 7k equipment trailer that would need a little work and be able to do an excellent job for you while towing.

 

[denverdave66]

Sorry for the confusion. I don't plan on hauling my Jeep Cherokee, a long time ago I made a post which trailer to buy to pull with my Jeep cherokee and I had so many opinions and decided the 16' tandem axle was the best way to go but it would be a little much for my Jeep Cherokee. So I found a good deal on a 86 Chevy 4x4 with low miles, it already has a brake controller in it so I bought it. I seriously doubt if I ever would haul a car unless I had too. If my wife's car breaks down on the highway I may load it up and bring it home but prolly just pull it home or have a wrecker bring it home. I mainly just want to haul around my John Deere 1026, maybe if I want to clean some brush in a friends yard or something like that. I think the utility would be the way to go now just having a hard time with gate or ramps. Do I really need to get brakes on both axles? It is hard enough to find them on one axle and impossible to find a used one with brakes on both axles. I think I can get a doolittle trailer with brakes on both axles new for $2,100. I doubt if my 1026 with loader and brush hog weights 3,500 pounds or less. Oh, the trees I am pulling up out of the woods, are not that big 8" or less at the base, and if they are too big I cut them up. I can't afford $500+ repairs on it. It will have to last a long time. I only got 16 hours on my tractor since May but considering I bet I don't have 8 hours on it for mowing cause of the drought.

 

[meburdick]

The tractor itself is somewhere around 1500 - 1600 pounds I believe. Add on from there for: brush hog, loader, filled rear tires, mowing deck, etc.

Brakes on both axles is something I personally will always have. Of course, I'm also dragging a 4,000 pound machine (or 5,000-6,000 pounds of wood) on a 2,500 pound trailer. If you can find one that's tandem, in very good shape, with good mechanicals and good working brakes on one axle, then grab it (check with your DMV first to be sure you don't need brakes on all wheels - CT has recently made that change). Then look into how you could fit a second set of brakes onto the other axle - it may end up being fairly easy to do.

Something else I'll say that may not be obvious - there are different kinds of brakes on trailers. Some have "Surge Brakes". The require no controller in the vehicle and work off of inertia only. As your tow vehicle begins to slow the trailer, a pendulum in the braking system swings forward and engages the brakes (over-simplified description). They work, but they're at the bottom of the scale for effectiveness. Make sure that the controller in your tow vehicle will properly control the brakes on the trailer.

Most of what I have come across for this size stuff seems to be straight-up electric brakes and that's what many of the controllers are able to handle.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Gates are a waste of money. It takes 30% more gas to pull them empty trailer and they arent usually strong enough to load a tractor with. I was looking for something to haul my 4000# Kubota B26. A 16 foot 7K rated utility trailer will not safely haul a 4000 pound tractor with FEL and equipment ie box blade, bush hog etc. 18 feet is really pushing it when it comes to balancing the load. I therefore opted for a 20 foot car hauler frame trailer with dual brakes on 6000# axles. This give me plenty of length for balancing my load without overloading my truck tongue weight and plenty of net trailering capacity for up to 9000+ pounds of weight. I prefer the pull out ramps even though the fold down do provide support for the rear. The pull out leaves the whole bed length to use rather than the last 2 feet being taken up with ramp. I looked at used but most were just priced to high to consider that I might have to replace 4 tires and maybe a deck in a year or so, so I decided to buy new. Your needs may be different, but that is what I decided I needed for my trailering. I can load a tractor with FEL on mine without using the ramps, simply chock the wheels with trailer unhooked from tow vehicle and drive it on (level ground preferred for this) or hook it up and use the ramps and let the tow vehicle hold the trailer level. This works best for when you dont know where to center the tractor as you can watch the tow vehicle bumper squat to ther right amount for correct tongue weight.
P.S. I got my 20 foot car hauler with dual 6K axles both with brakes ($150 for the second brake axle) spare tire, pull out ramps, heavy duty jack stand for $3050 out the door.

 

[meburdick]

P.S. I got my 20 foot car hauler with dual 6K axles both with brakes ($150 for the second brake axle) spare tire, pull out ramps, heavy duty jack stand for $3050 out the door.

New ones seem to carry a much higher price tag because of what it costs to ship them now with fuel costs so high. Sounds like you bought a trailer manufactured in your general area of the country. When I inquired into a few different brands that sell direct, they had "great" prices but the freight killed the deals.

 

[Gary Fowler]

New ones seem to carry a much higher price tag because of what it costs to ship them now with fuel costs so high. Sounds like you bought a trailer manufactured in your general area of the country. When I inquired into a few different brands that sell direct, they had "great" prices but the freight killed the deals.

Actually I bought it about 4 month ago in Conroe Texas which is about 400 miles from me. I had the dealer deliver it to my daughter house about 30 miles away where it say for about a month till I got back from Algeria. Picked it up, visited daughter and grand kids, drove to Jennings La. to get my B26, back thru Monroe to visit my sister and then home to Bismarck. 1000 miles round trip but the trailer pulled like a dream. Averaged 14 MPG running 60-70 MPH (got thru 5am Houston traffic at 75-80 mph following the crowd)