How big of a trailer do I need?

[cowboydoc]

Jag,
Even though they are rated at 7000 lbs. you can't carry that much weight on them! They are rated at 5000 lbs. of weight. What you forget is that you have to figure in the weight of the trailer as well. When you figure the weight of the trailer plus the weight of the load you are carrying you have to be under the 7000 lbs. That is why there is a 5000 lb. load limit on them. I guarantee you you take that trailer out on the road for any length of time and you will burn up the bearings. I have seen it happen time and time again. The trailer I have is a Maclander which is the cadillac of trailers. I called them on this and they said absolutely you should not carry near the maximum load for any period of distance is you want to save your bearings.

 

[cowboydoc]

I guess my point is that no with this type of use and only a few miles you will probably be fine. But what happens when you want to go more than a few miles or your buddy says how about we go pick up this other tractor and it weighs 7000 lbs. With the 6000# trailer you're going to have problems. With the 10k trailer you will likely never have a problem. For the little extra that it is to go up in trailers, from my experience, it's not worth it not to have the trailer you need when you need it.

 

[hayden]

It's really a pretty simple formula. Trailer weight + payload weight <= rated GVW. This must be true to meet rated specs and to be legal. The axle ratings can be very misleading because they can be under a trailer frame with a lesser rating, not have brakes sufficient to achieve full rating, and not have tires sufficient to achieve full rating.

In you case, you have a trailer rates at 6000lbs GVW. That max gross weight including the payload AND the weight of the trailer. Your payload is 4400lbs, so that leaves 1600lbs max for the trailer weight itself.

Call Big Tex and ask them what the weight of that trailer is. Subtract it from the rated GVW abd you have the max payload. My guess is that you'll find you are right at the line, but probably OK.

Unfortunately, almost nobody published the weight of their trailers so knowbody knows what their carrying capacity is. I think this is the source of most confusion. I've been shocked at how many people are totally puzzled when I try to find out what the weight is, and how many manufacturers actually don't know.

The extend to which you chose to overload the trailer, for whatever reason, well, that's your call.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Amen, expecting delivery of 11000-12000 lb Gross weight trailer later this week, I hope. I chose the HD model with 6 in. chanel frames, tandem axles with 4 wheel electric brakes. Went for tread plate deck instead of wood planks. Upgraded to 16 inch rims with load range "E" tires instead of 15 inch with lighter duty tires. Requested a foot longer tongue to allow carying loader bucket on tongue without hitting tailgate. Upgraded crank up tongue jack to 7000 lb. Trailer deck is 18 ft long. Comes with two ramps that store under trailer. Has stake pockets for unlimited variations on what sort of sides, tops, etc you could interchange. Expect it will haul the new L4610 with brush hog and loader mounted or "presto change o" haul livestock, or dirt, or... Not many people complain because their trailer is too stout or too safe with a heavy load. With all the upgrades I paid about $500 extra. Figure it is a wise investment in safety, longivity, and capability.

 

[Jag]

Patrick, all those upgrades for $500, that was a good buy and money well spent... Wish I had that option when I got mine.

 

[Jag]

Sorry CBD, I read "7000# axles" and was thinking a 14000# GVW. Did not see a problem with under 5000# load and say 1500# trailer... In my post earlier I had included the typical trailer weight of a light 16' tandum..

 

[Jag]

Hayden, good call all the way around... ""The extend to which you chose to overload the trailer, for whatever reason, well, that's your call.""

 

[Scaper]

Hello fellow equipment haulers. I was in a bad accident on 4-28-01 and I was pulling a TC33D with rear Woods RM660, two comercial walk behinds on the trailer and a rider in the bed of my F450 SD flat bed. My trailer was a Deande 18' HD 7000 pound capacity skid steer trailer daul brakes both axles. Each axle was rated at 3500lbs. the trailer weighed 2100lbs. so I had 4900lbs. left to haul equipment. Well lets see TC33D 2540lbs. with fuel, woods mower 550lbs. two walk behinds 468lbs. each. So, lets see I had a total of 4026lbs. on the bed. Well my trailer was a 3/16th 2x6 box tubing frame with flat plate 1/8 " thick welded on the inside of the rails and tongue for extra strength. This was a trailer that I bought right from the manufacturer in Trenton N.J. . Well I'll say this after having been in an accident. I sure was glad I got the HD trailer when I bought it. The man was 82 yrs. old and turned right in front of me ( Total weight of truck , equipment and trailer was almost 8 tons.) and I ripped off the front end of the old mans pickup truck with my trailer. While doing so off came both axles and tires from the rims of the trailer. To my amazement when I got the rig to a halt, my tractor and walk behinds hadn't moved an inch. Thank God for HD straps and binders. My point is this , If the trailer had been a light weight angle iron trailer I may now have been out of business due to destroyed equipment. But my units are safe due to a higher line of trailer when I went looking to purchase one in the first place. New trailer is a 20 foot deck over with two 6000 lb dexter axles and a rating of 7000lbs. being able to be carried on the deck. Buy more and better then you think you will ever need. This way if you do have the misfortune of ever being in a jam you may be as lucky as I was that I owned a great trailer not a good enough one. Go for the gold your equipment is worth it!!!!!!! I paid $3500 for the new trailer 20' by 8' deck over with 4 ' beaver tail and two 4500 lb gates, with jack stands to load while unhooked. Good luck,
Scaper

 

[RobS]

mdbarb, I recently got an 18' car hauler with two 3500 pound axles, brakes on one. I use it for hauling the tractor and trimmings three miles to our property. I would have loved a heavier trailer but I only had the money for this one. So far, it's been great. Loads well, secures well (rub rail all the way around the stake pockets) and pulls well. I figure if I ever find the money (after a backhoe /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif ), I can trade or sell this one. They seem to hold value reasonably well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Jag]

Rob, another good point that nobody else pointed out, with the used trailer you should alway be able to get your money out if you decide to trade up...