Need advice on trailer purchase

[Emainiac]

I'm building a house for my daughter about 30 minutes away and want to buy a trailer to haul my tractor/loader plus one attachment. Tractor and loader weigh about 3250 lbs. Since I cannot find anything used, I've decided to take the plunge and am considering a Big Tex car hauler (6000 lbs GVWR, model 60EC, 14' or 16'). This will handle a payload of about 4300 lbs, depending on length. This is more than ample weight for my tractor/loader/implement. The tractor/loader with an implement attached measures 14'.

On the surface, a 14' trailer seems a good fit for my needs. The ramps are slide in and not fold-down. My question is, what are some of the considerations I needs to take into account to be sure I don't make a mistake.

Big Tex Trailers | Car Hauler Trailers

Big Tex Trailers | Car Hauler Trailers

www.bigtextrailers.com

 

[bcp]

Are you sure 14 will work? My BX with loader and rotary cutter is about 17-18 feet long. About 16 with rear blade.

Has anyone ever said: I wish my trailer was smaller.

Bruce

 

[nikerret]

Right now, trailers are in short supply and going for higher than usual prices. What would be ideal and what you can get may not align. In general, buy 10-20% more than you think you’ll need. That way, you only wish you had bought a little larger, instead of a lot larger.

Before getting into trailers, what is the tow vehicle?

 

[Emainiac]

I think you're right. The small difference in cost to go to 16' would be money well spent and give me a bit of breathing room.

 

[Emainiac]

Right now, trailers are in short supply and going for higher than usual prices. What would be ideal and what you can get may not align. In general, buy 10-20% more than you think you’ll need. That way, you only wish you had bought a little larger, instead of a lot larger.

Before getting into trailers, what is the tow vehicle?

I have a 4 WD Nissan Frontier which is rated for 6800 lbs GVWR.

 

[4570Man]

A 14’ is too short. When I put my L3800 on my 16 foot trailer it fills all but 18” of it with the box blade and loader on. If the bushhog is on vs the BB is sticks off the back.

 

[nikerret]

I have a 4 WD Nissan Frontier which is rated for 6800 lbs GVWR.

Any idea what the tow rating is?
You’re not going to want much more than a 7k GVWR trailer, with that vehicle. Even then, you’ll probably not want to max it out, very often.

If budget isn’t a major concern, you might consider an 18’ aluminum trailer. It will weigh less than a similar sized steel trailer and you will have more space. An 18’ can do full size cars.

An 18’ will have better resale and allow a lot more uses. Even if you have someone else tow it.


This is an 18’ (14’ flat with a 4’dove) I used to pick up my gigantic Buick Roadmaster. I’ll post a pic of my BX on it, too.

View attachment 693956

View attachment 693957

 

[WM75Guy]

Big Tex makes a good trailer. If it was me I would step up to a larger size and capacity, if you have the towing ability. I imagine you spent a fair amount of money for the towing vehicle and tractor. Don't go getting cheap on the trailer. The 60EC has 15" Load Range C tires and only one axle has brakes. Same with the 70CH. The 10CH has Load Range D tires and brakes on all hubs.

I use my 20' Big Tex 12GP, 12,000# gooseneck pipe top to haul my TC40DA. The newer model is the 14GP. That way I have room to move forwards or backwards, to get the tongue weight correct depending on what is attached to the tractor. Having a trailer the same length as your tractor/FEL/implement does not let you do that. I also like to have a fair size cushion for carrying the weight and not max the suspension out every trip. I borrow my neighbor's 14GN 20'+5' to move the WM75.

I use 16" Load Range E 10 ply LT tires, not ST trailer tires. The big difference is max rated speed. The LT tires are rated at 105 mph while the ST tires are rated at 81 mph. Again, I like to have some cushion so the tires are not close to max highway speeds.

You never know what you will need to haul going forward, so a little larger trailer capacity may come in handy during construction. My trailer weighs 3,100# leaving me 8,900# for payload. The most weight I have hauled with it was 120 square bales, about 7,200# of hay. That's considerably more than the tractor, which was why I bought it to begin with, to haul the tractor home.

 

[Emainiac]

My truck, which is a mid-size, is rated for 6800# total trailer and payload. I looked at the 7K Big Tex 70EC which is longer and has a larger payload, but is about $500 more. You know how this works...you start out figuring you can get by with one model and before you know it you keep taking steps up and are soon out of your budget.

I had thought I should go bigger at the beginning to give me room for growth. I have an antique MB 380SL that I would like to haul, so maybe I look at an 18', 7k rated trailer since I cannot haul more than that.

Aluminum are a great alternative, but man the prices...

 

[nikerret]

For a lot of people, the trailer is a one time investment. You will likely change vehicles before you change trailers. To me, it sounds like the 18’ 7k is the way to go. Get brakes on both axles, if at all possible.

 

[ProfJeff]

I've towed lots of trailers over the years--cars, boats, motorcycles, utility. Longer trailers, within reason, usually tow better and handle the weight better. I would still go longer here but Nikerret asked the right question. It sounds like the trailer is about 1700# plus 3250# so very close to 5000#. Even though your vehicle probably says it has a max tow rating of 6000-6500 pounds, that means a truck with no options and nothing in it--not even your lunch. You are pushing it with that tow vehicle which weighs under 5000 pounds--so the trailer weighs more than the tow vehicle, meaning the trailer is in control. Anything in the bed or more than you in the cab is going to make it iffy--and you say you are helping her move so that could mean stuff in the bed of the truck. All of that weight adds up. 30 miles isn't too far but take it slowly. Watch your brakes. Maine has some hills and your trailer nearly outweighs your truck so going down a hill, the trailer can overpower your truck. I've burned through brakes twice in 55,000 miles on my 2002 F150 towing 3000-4500# even with trailer brakes, and I am sure its brakes are bigger than yours. Possible? Yes. Ideal? Bad news--no.

 

[4570Man]

For a lot of people, the trailer is a one time investment. You will likely change vehicles before you change trailers. To me, it sounds like the 18’ 7k is the way to go. Get brakes on both axles, if at all possible.

Agreed. My 7k only has brakes on one axel which works good enough but it overheats it.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I would go 22 foot deck, truck bed tool box across the front.

Look at Iron Bull if anyone carries them. I bought a fantastic 14K gross 22 foot Iron Bull equipment trailer with 8k lb rated drive over fenders and I'm in with love it.

 

[KennyG]

Definitely go bigger. You need room to position the load correctly. My tractor is a good bit smaller than yours and my 16' 7K trailer is barely adequate. I really want an 18 or 20 foot aluminum 7K trailer but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[dodge man]

I think you will be fine with a 16 foot. Also realize you are at the limits of what you can tow with your truck, you will probably want/need a weight distribution hitch also.

 

[Bearsixty7]

You should go 18-20', 7k rated, brakes on both axles. Nothing less.

 

[3Ts]

I have a 16' 7K trailer to haul my Kubota which is about 2500#. Knowing what I know now, I'd have gone to an 18'. You definitely want brakes on both axles with your setup, if your trailer doesn't come that way, add them.

Check to see if the 2nd axle has the mounting flange for the brake backing plate. If so, it's just a matter of replacing the hubs and running a few wires.

 

[Emainiac]

I called the dealer this morning and I can get a Big Tex 16' with a payload of 4300 lbs (6K total), brakes on all 4 wheels, slide in ramps for $2895.

My payload will average 3700 lbs. The length of tractor from front of loader to back of BB is just shy of 14'. While I don't want to cut myself short on future needs, my biggest concern is tow-ability based on some of the comments above.

A fully loaded trailer will weigh about 5500 lbs and my truck has a tow rating of 6800 lbs. I think I would rather sacrifice a little elbow room for lighter/easier haul. Going to an 18' add a couple hundred pounds and a few hundred dollars.

My feeling is that if I feel I need to upgrade at some point, I could sell this trailer for just about what it will cost me. Who knows, I may have a new truck by then.

 

[fried1765]

For a lot of people, the trailer is a one time investment. You will likely change vehicles before you change trailers. To me, it sounds like the 18’ 7k is the way to go. Get brakes on both axles, if at all possible.

Best choice in my opinion, would be an 18 foot, 10,000 lb. GW trailer.
You may never load it to max weight with your Nissan, but you will likely not have your Nissan forever either.
No one that I know has EVER wished for a smaller trailer.
I don't like to buy the same implement twice!
I costs more money that way!

I have a 14K 20' trailer, and would really like it to be 22' or 24'
Storage space (inside) limited my length.

 

[nikerret]

I called the dealer this morning and I can get a Big Tex 16' with a payload of 4300 lbs (6K total), brakes on all 4 wheels, slide in ramps for $2895.

A fully loaded trailer will weigh about 5500 lbs and my truck has a tow rating of 6800 lbs. I think I would rather sacrifice a little elbow room for lighter/easier haul. Going to an 18' add a couple hundred pounds and a few hundred dollars.

It’s easy to spend other people’s money, but I think this proves the opposite point.

You can upgrade two more feet (to a trailer that has much more usefulness) and 1k overall capacity, for a few hundred dollars.

Think of it this way:
For roughly 10% more money, you get over 14% more capability (Weight) and over 12% more space.

As far as your towing capacity, the anticipated payload is 3,700 lbs. Let‘s call it 4K, for easy math and the fact loads tend to grow, not shrink.
The 16’ trailer weighs around 1,700 lbs. and is rated at a GVWR (trailer and load) of 6k. You will be at around 95% of the trailer’s overall rated capability (5,700 of the 6,000). Towing 5,700 lbs is a bit less than 84% of your towing vehicle’s tow rating.

Now, let’s run the same numbers, but an 18’.
The 18’ trailer weighs around 2,000 lbs. and is rated at a GVWR (trailer and load) of 7k. You will be a bit under 86% of the trailer’s overall rated capability (6,000 of the 7,000). Towing 6,000 lbs is a bit more than 88% of your towing vehicle’s tow rating.

Everything at under 90% of rated capacity is a wide safety margin.

The difference between the way a 6k and 7k trailer is built is usually pretty drastic. Most 6k are built for smaller items that won’t move. The 7k will generally be built for heavier things with moving load (such as cars with a suspension sitting in the deck). Similarly, the build geometry of a 7k versus 10k is a big jump. Again, from 10k to 14k is a VERY large gap (I’m not talking about de-rated trailers, here). Once you get to trailers built around the 14k GVWR, you’re talking “heavy duty”, built for daily construction use. Yes, there are also manufacturers who only change the coupler and axles to go from a 5k trailer to a 10k trailer.

As far as resale. In my area, you’ll sell ten 7k trailers for every 6k. The 6k is just big enough to only haul small equipment and really small cars. The 7k opens so many doors, you can haul any “regular size” auto, plus, EVERYTHING that the 6k can do.