Aluminum equipment trailers.

[4570Man]

I got the cheap tool box mounted on tongue. I DID NOT want to drill the tongue. So i cut some square tube up and cut some slots to set on tongue. If it was steel i would have drilled or welded to fit it up, This being aluminum, i feel as though i have to treat it like an egg. Was able to add hook storage holes.
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This trailer is low enough i can access my slide out wile hooked up, other trailer had spare tire and jack in way.

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I had to mount my toolbox on the deck because my truck bed overhang was wreaking the hitch box. After having the room of the truck box it would be hard to go back to the little hitch box.

 

[bcp]

i wonder how hard it would be to replace those rings with something like this concept for steel trailers.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Tie_Down_Anchors-sf-Trailer_Tie%7EDown_Anchors-pc-Chain_Ring.aspx

Bruce

 

[Hersheyfarm]

those are interesting

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I had to mount my toolbox on the deck because my truck bed overhang was wreaking the hitch box. After having the room of the truck box it would be hard to go back to the little hitch box. View attachment 782632

You sell logs? I am planning on getting a sawmill and selling rough cut lumber instead of logs. And firewood on the side. My place is due for logging but just hate to take such a huge loss if I can avoid it

 

[4570Man]

You sell logs? I am planning on getting a sawmill and selling rough cut lumber instead of logs. And firewood on the side. My place is due for logging but just hate to take such a huge loss if I can avoid it

I used to sell a few but the local mill closed down and without having an actual log truck it wasn’t worth the effort to haul to the next town over. I kinda want a mill but I’m not sure if selling lumber in smaller volumes is all that profitable either.

 

[crashz]

Hershey - I think you misread the D ring stamp. It says 6 000lbs. Must be 6 pounds. I would say it's safe even up to 12!

The set-up looks good, and I was going to ask if you could put the extra bucket in the bed of the truck, but I see the slide-out and load of tools. Question for you: When you weighed the rig, did you have all of your hand tools loaded as well?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Hershey - I think you misread the D ring stamp. It says 6 000lbs. Must be 6 pounds. I would say it's safe even up to 12!

The set-up looks good, and I was going to ask if you could put the extra bucket in the bed of the truck, but I see the slide-out and load of tools. Question for you: When you weighed the rig, did you have all of your hand tools loaded as well?

Yes, when I weighed both mini ex and my truck were full of fuel and all tools. My extra bucket is a homemade gravel bucket and will go on top of my bed cover. It’s rated for carrying 1600lb on it. Diamondback bed cover. The bucket weighs 500lb, I’ll set it on a pallet.

 

[Brendanspapa]

Anybody got one, like a 14k? Looking at getting a 14k suretrac. It has like a 12k payload capacity. i know steel can be abused abused, aluminum is good but seems to crack unexpectedly.

After reading about all the other comments, my recommendation would be to get a good steel 9 ton trailer and get on with it. That’ll give you some reserve capacity and a reliable trailer.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Get on with what ? Running over capacity? An 18k trailer would weigh about 4500lb plus and I’d have to derate it to 14600lb.
Aluminums lack of use in smaller trailers is probably cause it’s more expensive, way more and harder to work with(weld). Most newer semi trailers are aluminum, box and flatbed.
This trailer is 6061, yield strength of about 42ksi. Most trailers are made from a36 that has a minimum strength of 36ksi(but can be much more). 6061 is 1/3 of the weight of a36, but we are not dealing with equal sizes of plates and channels. This is thicker metal. I drilled the top of the beam to put a rivnut in to hold the fender, it was about 1/2” thick. The fenders are removable and i use them as steps, there is just a little play cause it’s not fastened to the deck. But the fender itself is solid, they are stand on and no to very little flex when even standing in the middle. Also, this trailer is not 1/3 of the weight of a steel one, equivalent steel trailer sizes are 3000-3300lb. This trailer is 2000lb so it has more material.

Personally, I’d like to have a heavy steel trailer, just cause…but we live in a land of rules. This trailer cost a lot more but puts me inside those “rules”.
I’ll run it and see how we do and if need be make changes down the road. I’m not shy about making changes, in fact, its a hobby.

 

[5030]

My only comment is, for 30 years I pulled Reitnauer and East alumium flat bed trailers hauling steel for a private concern and every one of the trailers we had, all spent time in the shop, getting repaired and some were scrapped, all from cracks that needed to be fixed. Of course we had a couple very accomplished TIG welders but like I said, some got to the point where they weren't repairable and had to be scrapped.

If it was me, I'd get a steel trailer. I have one and it's never broke and I haul over gross with it all the time.