Well after months of searching I finally found a purchased the trailer I really wanted. Or as close as I could get anyway. I wish the wheels/tires were larger but that is my only complaint. I don't know why these things are so scarce. I was searching every Craigslist from Memphis to Knoxville and Louisville to Birmingham. This one was about two hours away in Sparta, TN. I will mainly be using it to haul building materials and farm stuff, and hopefully a compact tractor before too long. I really wanted one with the deck over the wheels for ease of loading/unloading. There were many times I almost gave up and considered going with a utility or car hauler. I'm so glad I didn't. This one is 16' and cost me $1200. Decking is in good shape and so are tires. Looking forward to getting many years of use out of it!
View attachment 526995
It really depends on what you're going to do with the trailer and how much weight you intend to transport. I'm a big fan of goosenecks but, not everyone needs or wants one. Personally, I own three goosenecks, an RV Toy Hauler, a low boy w/dovetail (slide out ramps) and a deckover w/dove tail (fold over ramps).
Each has it own use. But, I recently found myself in a position that I could use the right bumper pull trailer. I had specific needs/desires and am very picky about the equipment I use. I saw what I liked out in the market but, not in the price range I liked. Yeah, I'm cheap.
I just kept my eyes open for the right deal. It didn't come along. One day while searching the internet/Craig's list, I came across a tandem axle (3500 lb. each), tilt bed (galvanized) boat trailer and thought I could make that work with a little fabrication. This trailer carried a pretty big boat but, the boat was gone (for what ever reason). The frame is light weight and yet well built and strong. It had brakes on the front axle and was low and wide enough to do the job if I wanted to put a little work into putting a deck on it. I contacted the seller, turns out the contact was the dad of the trailer's owner and he just wanted the "**** thing" out of his back yard. This, I took as a good thing (for me).
Won't go into all the details but, I bought it, towed it home and took it directly to a welding shop that could and would weld on galvanized metal. Ordered some galvanized C channel and used some tread plate (some folks call it diamond plate) that I had laying around from another project and set out to having this former boat trailer built into my new utility/vehicle hauler. Rewired it, built some short slide in ramps and wallaaaaa.
I now have a multi-use low deck, tilt bed trailer I can use of a lot of different tasks. May not be the answer for everything or for everybody but, as a light duty and inexpensive trailer, it's worked out well for me. No, it won't haul what either of my goosenecks will haul but, it fills a niche and saves me fuel for those lighter weight tasks. And, I have much less $$$ invested that what it would have cost to buy already finished. Looks very similar to the one shown in the original poster's picture but, add in a tilt bed option. Just sharing my idea and experience. I like boat trailers but, you've got to get the right one for such a modification.
Rams
