Choosing a trailer Rice, Mustang, Big Tex

[timswi]

I bought the Rice Stealth 16 footer drove it home today. Put about 140 miles on it.

View attachment 476429

That's exactly what I have...Been very happy with it.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I'm happy with it so far. It tracks very well and rides smoothly even when empty. I'll be picking up a used UTV from the dealer soon and taking it to the property, 2 hours away, so I will get a bit more practice driving it.
And I'll break in that gate.

 

[lilranch2001]

Last fall I bought a Rice 16 foor car hauler
Only have used it a half dozen times so far, wish they had an adjustable hitch, other than that, it pulls real nice

 

[LouieJunior]

I have a 16' Sure Trac car hauler. I thought I wanted a 14 footer and the dealer luckily talked me out of it! He said reselling the shorter trailer would be more difficult.

16' is almost too short for my 40Hp tractor with loader and mower.

 

[orangetree]

---double-post from So many trailer manufacturers to choose from..., but since these were the two main threads i found, and all were quite stale/old, i thought i should top-post here, too.---

I just shopped for (& brought home today) an 18' tandem 5200# axle car-hauler/light-equipment trailer; thought I'd add an up-to-date post as these (older) threads did help me a lot.

in my area, i had dealers for the following; so i only really evaluated these:

• big tex
• mirage
• pj
• c&b

Design (best to worst)

1. big tex
   1. Big tex seems to have the most engineered/complicated (in a good way) design from the ramps to the drop jack
   2. but i don't need the lowest deck, and the big-tex car hauler model 10CH has a sunk deck with ~4" tall 3/8" steel bar "walls" around the deck. Sure they're strong, but it seems like i'd destroy them over time setting things down; not worth the lower deck for me.
   3. C&B was a beefier build, no extra features but seemed very well thought out
2. C&B - a little simpler than the big tex, but obviously more robust. C&B beat PJ here because the fenders are _plenty_ strong enough for a GAM (grown ass man - new acronym for TBN. Its a thing) to stand on. Can't believe the others don't do this. You walk all around it to tie-down for god's sake... let me walk on the fenders!
3. P&J - pretty similar to C&B, the fenders in particular stood out.
4. mirage - not bad at all. Had nice step-ups on the side. Just a simple design *but* less beefy than the C&B / PJ

Apparent strength / robustness

1. C&B won hands down; not a _huge_ difference, but it was noticeable.
2. PJ
3. Big tex & mirage were about the same
   1. Note: I also considered (and might have purchased if it were in-stock) the BigTex 7k-axle "14ET" models; premium of ~$1800 more than the 10CH's priced below BUT dramatically more robust trailer. Maybe even worth the ~$1000 premium over the C&B

Build quality (mainly welds, paint) All had acceptable fir or PT pine decks.

1. C&B - the only one i didn't find any real well defects (some globbing; but no severe under cutts, blow-throughs, etc. Paint was great too, they say (and it appears) they use a better automotive paint than the others
2. PJ -
   1. So the Powder Coat - initially i was dead set on the PJ given it's guality build and powder coat - however, after reading several reviews about flaking, i realized that after _some_ number of years all the paint, including definitely the PowderCoat will require work ... on the paint this is just touch-up; but on the powder coat it flakes off, so to see/find (let alone prevent) where it's rusting, i'd need to sandblast it. Not worth it for a utility device, so i figured the trailer would after a few years go from looking the best to by far the worst.
3. mirage & big text were the same - some weld issues (albeit NOT in the key structural areas), paint just OK

price (retail prices - i was able to negotiate ~small concessions on all ($100-$400) - but it's a bad year to get deals). all are pull-out ramps, flat deck between wheels (not deck-over) unless noted

1. $4500 - big tex 10ch 18' (10k gvw, flat deck, pull out ramps, no spare, adjustable hitch
2. $5000 - mirage 18', with spare, fixed hitch
3. $5300 - C&B 18', no spare, fixed hitch
4. $5500 - PJ 18', no spare, adjustable hitch (note, they also negotiated the most; albeit still not that much these days)

Sooooo ... I went C&B what won me was:

• overall build quality
• high-quality paint (much more spot-fixable in several years)
• frame built locally in idaho

Hope that helps someone. Ask me a in a few years how it went!

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Congratulations on your new trailer. I know that for me, it was a big buying decision and a significant purchase.
I can’t believe it has been five years since I wrote the initial post for this thread. The Rice trailer has been solid. I’ve taken it over the mountain and into the valley dozens of times. It has been loaded with farm equipment that came from as far as the WV line. Lots of sketchy mountain highway. It has done great. I just had it inspected at the place I bought it, in June.
Deck is in surprisingly good shape since I don't have it under any kind of shelter. No rust issues and electrical system has not given me any trouble. I am waiting on my truck to be repaired so I can use the trailer to bring home a new machine that I am buying today.
I hope you are as satisfied with yours as I am with mine.