Car hauler or Equipment Trailer for my Tractor?

[Highbeam]

What's with the extra planks under the tractor?

 

[Soundguy]

what extra planks are ya seeing? are you talking about the nh with the hoe on it?

soundguy

 

[Duffster]

what extra planks are ya seeing? are you talking about the nh with the hoe on it?

soundguy

Check the pic in Egon's last post.

 

[Soundguy]

no wonder i didn't see what pic y'all are refering to..

soundguy

 

[LBrown59]

*********Nice Rig.********

 

[Hematite]

Hey, thanks LBrown!

Someone may notice the blue floor jack up front of the trailer. I loaded the tractor and was preparing to disconnect the trailer from the truck. I then used the jack to lower the tongue onto the ball weight scale to take a reading of actual tongue weight. I did put the ramps up in place before I did that.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

So, please give me your opinions on what you all think I should look more closely at. I would love to be able to find a used trailer and save some money and there does seem to be more equipment trailers out there than car haulers. Most of them have the fold up ramps though. As always thanks in advance for everyone's input, I'll look forward to everyone's responses.

In order to maximize payload all aluminum might be worth a look. Here is a site with open and enclosed product that might work.

Aluminum or Steel framed trailers to meet your needs

 

[Egon]

The jacks are removable, They slip over a piece of pipe and are held in place with a pin. I just pull the pin and spin them to the horizontal position. I think they are rated at 5000 pounds. [ At least I hope I spin them before starting!]

If you look at the other photo you will see a piece of stub pipe welded to the top of the rail. This is for holding the tongue jack and is the same for the rears.

The extra planks are for a better distribution of the load. I thought this type of thing was quite common??

The trailer has a 10,000 pounds rating.

 

[AKfish]

The extra planks are for a better distribution of the load. I thought this type of thing was quite common??

We always called those planks - "scab planks". Sacrificial lumber that saves your trailer deck from the beating that equipment will dish out over time.

AKfish

 

[Lt CHEG]

In order to maximize payload all aluminum might be worth a look. Here is a site with open and enclosed product that might work.

Aluminum or Steel framed trailers to meet your needs

Those are very nice trailers. I think they are a little north of my budget though. I was hoping to generate some money beyond just paying for the trailer with brush hog work this season (makes the purchase an easier sell to my wife) and I think one of those beauties may keep that from happening. I do eventually want to get one of those lightweight aluminum single place ATV trailers though for my ATV, they look super sweet.

 

[some zilch]

I'd suggest a GN no matter the type of trailer you get, they pull Sooooo much nicer than a BP trailer and the heavier the load the bigger the GN advantage is.

goosenecks are awesome for 1/2tons:confused2:

either trailer would be more than adequate for the OP

 

[Duffster]

goosenecks are awesome for 1/2tons:confused2:

Actually they are.:thumbsup:

 

[ModMech]

^^^^ Right!

800# OVER the axle is a LOT better than 800# on a 4 foot lever behind it!

 

[Soundguy]

the price you pay for a good gn and the ball kit for the half ton though.. it's almost a waste since the half ton don't have the gvwr to really use the gn.

of course if money is of no concern and you are just looking for hte best pull for a small truck. then yeah...

soundguy

 

[Duffster]

^^^^ Right!

800# OVER the axle is a LOT better than 800# on a 4 foot lever behind it!

Better yet....in front of the rear axle. :thumbsup:

 

[Diamondpilot]

Biggest issue with a GN trailer and a 1/2 ton is weight. A good modern 1/2 ton of any brand can pull right around 9,500# to 10,500# give or take a few.

A 20' GN weighs in the 4,500# area leaving 5,000# to 6,000# for payload. With such a low payload you could not get a 25HP tractor, FEL, and 5' BH on the trailer with out being overweight.


A 20' BP weighs in around 2,750# leaving a payload of 6,750# to 7,750#. Much more reasonable for a 1/2 ton truck.

If you want to do heavy towing get a 1 ton and skip the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. Now you can use a GN and have a real load on it. To me the 1/2 ton has its place and I own one. They give a good ride and can haul upto 10,000# occasionally. The 3/4 tons really should not be made in my opinion, again I have one. They should just skip the 3/4 and go strait to the 1 ton SRW. Again I own one and its hands down more truck than the 3/4.

Chris

 

[ModMech]

Chris,

Your points are all well taken and good advice.

From my looking around, a significant portion of a GN's GVW is hitch load, maybe even the weight of the trailer itself. That leaves you with the axle ratings for load capacity, or near that when loaded carefully, that's a HUGE advantage aside from the superior towing manners.

Right, with a 1/2 ton you can't really use the added capacity to it's full potential. From my shopping, you pay about double for a GN over a BP with similar load capacities but you are getting a MUCH heavier trailer in terms of build; full frames, 5.2k axles, brakes x 4, d-rings and HD ramps. When you add those options to a standard BP trailer the weight and price differences almost disappear and you are left with a 3.5k load capacity difference to the GN (16' - 20' models I looked at).

For my application, a GN is total overkill, even a light duty 16' tandem would be enough for the frequency and loads placed upon it. But, if I ever need to buy a larger 5k+ tractor and factor weighted tires etc, you are out of capacity very fast with the lighter trailer with no good options except another trailer.

My thoughts are to spend wisely, ONCE. Any GN hitch I put on our 1/2 ton will work just as well on the same make of 1 ton (with a few minor modifications if I go new). So the money for the hitch isn't "lost" at least.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. my point exactly.. you can't use the gn for all it's worth on a half ton.. wasted capacity..

soundguy

Biggest issue with a GN trailer and a 1/2 ton is weight. A good modern 1/2 ton of any brand can pull right around 9,500# to 10,500# give or take a few.

A 20' GN weighs in the 4,500# area leaving 5,000# to 6,000# for payload. With such a low payload you could not get a 25HP tractor, FEL, and 5' BH on the trailer with out being overweight.


A 20' BP weighs in around 2,750# leaving a payload of 6,750# to 7,750#. Much more reasonable for a 1/2 ton truck.

If you want to do heavy towing get a 1 ton and skip the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. Now you can use a GN and have a real load on it. To me the 1/2 ton has its place and I own one. They give a good ride and can haul upto 10,000# occasionally. The 3/4 tons really should not be made in my opinion, again I have one. They should just skip the 3/4 and go strait to the 1 ton SRW. Again I own one and its hands down more truck than the 3/4.

Chris

 

[AKfish]

If you want to do heavy towing get a 1 ton and skip the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks. Now you can use a GN and have a real load on it. To me the 1/2 ton has its place and I own one. They give a good ride and can haul upto 10,000# occasionally. The 3/4 tons really should not be made in my opinion, again I have one. They should just skip the 3/4 and go strait to the 1 ton SRW. Again I own one and its hands down more truck than the 3/4.

Chris

I don't completely disagree... but then again; I don't completely agree, either.

I'll gladly give up my 3/4; the day I can cruise down the highway in a 1 ton SRW @ 70mph and average 23mpg+ like I get with my current Dmax.

AKfish

 

[lawn_king]

I haul my machine at least once per week for work. I use a double axle beaver tail car carrier with spruce deck and electric brakes. I have my 3 trucks set up with controllers and pentel hitch. Your truck is good to go, i would recommend you install a brake controller and haul with a pentel hitch.