I bought a trailer!

[jayhaitch]

After all the info and advice I received on this forum, I bought (ordered) a trailer. Yay! I ordered an all aluminum 77" x 12 ft tandem axle surge braked 7000lb GVWR Continental Cargo trailer, by the US Cargo guys (Forest River is the parent company). It has diamond plate 15" sides, pressure treated wood floor, and mesh 5 ft loading gate. I bought it from a trailer dealer about an hour drive away, but the dealer was pleasant, helpful, and I got a good vibe from him. He actually prefers cheques as he doesn't like paying the 2 percent credit card fee! That tells me a lot about the man and his business philosophy. I had him add vertical slots on the rear to place 2x8's for hauling loose material, and 4 heavy duty D-rings in the floor for tie downs.

After much pondering, it came down, as so many things, to compromise. The Mrs. wants to use it too, and her absolute comfort limit was 12 ft. I would have gone 14-16 ft, but I can make do. I went for the surge brakes, as I have several friends and family who I know will borrow it, and none have brake controllers in their vehicles. Being a relatively small trailer with a great GVWR, I'm sure I'm never going to get into an overloaded situation.

The dealer is ordering it direct from Continetal Cargo. It'll be here in about 4 weeks. Christmas in September!

Thanks again to all you folks who helped me make my decisions.

 

[jayhaitch]

Here's a link to their web site.

Continental Cargo Cargo Trailers by Forest River

 

[roxynoodle]

Nice! I'm sure you'll like it. Forgot you were considering aluminum. On your other post I had suggested the possibility of welding stake pockets to it to tie down your tractor, but not everyone can weld aluminum. Might be better to stick with the D rings.

 

[kentrodngun]

Jayhaitch, what will you be using the trailer for? I see from your profile that you own an MF GC2310TLB. Specs for that machine (http://www.masseyferguson.com/agco/MF/NA/Tractors/MFGC/MF_GCSeries_ProductSpecs.pdf)
show it to be 177" or almost 15' long - assume you're not using it to trailer the machine?

In any case, congratulations and safe trailering

 

[jayhaitch]

Yes, I know my tractor is longer than the trailer......but the Mrs. was absolutely adamant she would not use a 16' trailer, nor would her dad, and I need the trailer to be useable by both of them too. Plus a few friends

In reality, I'll be hauling the tractor infrequently, and not always with the BH attached. It will fit fine with just the loader. When hauling the full unit, I'm planning on placing the loader bucket over the front wall of the trailer. Yes, I know I can't make sharp turns! My other thought is to remove the mesh gate and tow with the BH behind the end of the trailer. That is of course if it doesn't lighten the tongue weight too much. I can always ballast it if needed, as I have lots of extra load capacity with 7000 lb GVWR. Again, I'll be towing infrequently, as I bought the tractor for my personal use. In the back of my mind I'm thinking if I find I do tow the tractor a lot more than I planned, and towing with this trailer is really onerous, I can always trade up. The dealer will gladly take my trailer back in trade.

Mostly, I'll be using it to haul building and landscape materials as we slowly finish our house, plus using it to help us move. I wanted a really multi-purpose trailer, so this was the compromise I came to. I'll let you all know how I find it after using it a while. After pondering my needs for a long time, it's nice to finally pull the trigger

 

[plowking]

I have the opposite problem. I can get a bobcat trailer to haul my GC2310TLB, but my wife wants it long enough to put on toolboxes or cabinets to carry material or supplies to jobs with the tractor. It helps she has a Class A CDL , and I only have a Class B CDL. plowking

 

[Ford960]

It helps she has a Class A CDL , and I only have a Class B CDL. plowking

Does that make you the bus driver?

All in jest!!!

 

[jayhaitch]

Plowking: your wife wants a bigger trailer to help you with more tractor jobs? You've got a great woman there. Better keep her

Roxynoodle: I would have gone with stake pockets if I got an open sided type trailer like you've got, but but since it has solid sides, I thought D-ring tie downs would be better. Thanks for all your advice.

 

[roxynoodle]

I put D rings on mine too because I had added the wood sides. I think I had misunderstood your other post and thought you were asking what to put on the trailer itself to secure the tractor and what you were really asking was what to use to tie the tractor down (chains or nylon tie downs). In which case, I agree with the others, use what is DOT approved. Although rare with the proper sized chain, chains can and do break. I only have 2 chains but after reading some threads on here I think I should turn that into 4 chains for the extra safety factor.