New to me Tilt deck trailer advice?

Fallon · Feb 9, 2014

I've been looking for a good deal on a 18-20' trailer for my Kubota L3200 for a while. At an auction today I ended up with a 16' tilt deck, apparently a 2001 Dunn-Rite ( http://www.dunritetrailers.com local manufacturer with not much on their site) .

Hope to get my photos of it tomorrow.

New 7000lb trailers seem to be around $2.5k, or 2k+ for decent used ones. The only tilt decks I've seen were $3k+ used.$1750 was a hair more than Id been hoping to scrounge up for a cheap trailer, but I'm thinking it's a lot more trailer. Think I got a decent deal?

Had to get a 6 pin adapter to plug into my 7 pin truck. Will it be a better idea to just put on a 7 pin plug? Or keep using the adapter? Anyway all the lights work & I can lockup the brakes with the lever on the brake controller. Tires seem to have a lot of tread left on em too,

Towing it back it starts swaying a bit past 65/70. I shoveled a pile of snow on the front deck to weigh it down a bit. The trip home was better, but not much opportunity to see if the extra nose weight killed the sway.

I'll be cleaning it, lubing what I can, then testing it out tomorrow. Repacking bearings & checking the brakes are on the plans soon. Anything in particular I need to check out?

Any suggestions for loading & unloading off this thing? Going to bed now, but plan on testing loading the L3200 up tomorrow.

lostcreekranch · Feb 9, 2014

Fallon;

I would change the plug on trailer to 7 pin. One less set of connections to have problems with. Never had a tilt-bed but, looks like you got a good deal. Is 16' long enough to load your tractor with your cutter or blade installed? You had mentioned looking for an 18-20' trailer?

CDN Farm Boy · Feb 9, 2014

Are you sure that's a 7000 lbs trailer or does it have 7000 lbs axles?

By the look of that tongue, I'm guessing the latter and it's actually a 7 TON trailer and you got a smokin deal if it is. Any of them that I've seen are in the range of $10,000 new

Fallon · Feb 9, 2014

The coupler on the front is rated to 25k lbs. Need to check the VIN plate again, but it has 7,000 listed twice. Not sure if that meant it had 2 7k axles on it or 3.5k axles. Given how rough it rides, they seem heavier than 3.5k axles. Will take a photo of the VIN plate when I go to play with it here in a bit.

diesel lover · Feb 9, 2014

Fallon said:
The coupler on the front is rated to 25k lbs. Need to check the VIN plate again, but it has 7,000 listed twice. Not sure if that meant it had 2 7k axles on it or 3.5k axles. Given how rough it rides, they seem heavier than 3.5k axles. Will take a photo of the VIN plate when I go to play with it here in a bit.[/QUOTE
Does that trailer just tilt from gravity? Looks like a handy trailer! Could be used for a tractor, car, or a skid steer with no problems

RDrancher · Feb 9, 2014

Fallon said:
The coupler on the front is rated to 25k lbs. Need to check the VIN plate again, but it has 7,000 listed twice. Not sure if that meant it had 2 7k axles on it or 3.5k axles. Given how rough it rides, they seem heavier than 3.5k axles. Will take a photo of the VIN plate when I go to play with it here in a bit.

How many wheel lugs?

CDN Farm Boy · Feb 9, 2014

Count the bolts on the rim. Unless they are odd-ball axles:
5 bolts = 3500 lbs axles
6 bolts = 5000 lbs axles
8 bolts = 6000 lbs or 7000 lbs axle (7000 is more common around here but I'm not sure how to visually identify the difference)

diesel lover · Feb 9, 2014

CDN Farm Boy said:
Count the bolts on the rim. Unless they are odd-ball axles: 5 bolts = 3500 lbs axles 6 bolts = 5000 lbs axles 8 bolts = 6000 lbs or 7000 lbs axle (7000 is more common around here but I'm not sure how to visually identify the difference)

wow thanks for the specs on how this matches up!! Working as a truck mechanic I easily saw why rigs with a total weight of 80,000 pounds had 10 large lug nuts per wheel

Fallon · Feb 9, 2014

Tested out loading & unloading the tractor this morning & it's sweet. A person standing on the front or back of the deck is enough weight to cause it to tilt either way. It seems to stay put up or down. Very easy to put the tractor on or off, low deck & minimal slope when tipped, unlike ramps which can be a bit steep at times. Inch forward & the deck will tilt forward. No hydraulic buffer piston or anything, but it's still reasonably smooth.

Didn't count the lugnuts, but I think there are 8. Looked closer at the VIN tag & it's 7k per axle & 14,500 or 11,500 total, can't read the photo, would assume it would have been 14k based on the axle capacity. As the towing capacity on my Tacoma is 6k & my tractor fully loaded + implement will be under 4k I'm not too concerned about the max capacity of the trailer. Means I probably got a better deal, but it will run a bit rougher with my lighter loads (or unloaded as I've already noticed).

Took the loaded trailer for a spin around the block & got it up to about 50. Noticed it starting to sway a bit. That usually means you need a bit more tongue weight, right? My first shot I loaded it just a hair forward of where the deck tilts forward. At any rate I have almost 2 feet more I can move things forward before I even have to see if backing on works any nicer.

The 16' bed would be too short for me on a normal flat bed trailer. However that really long tongue on the tilt bed means I can hang the bucket over the tongue & get the job done. 10k strap over the brush guard & another 10k strap through a clevis on the drawbar. Need to get a beefier strap to loop under the tongue between the bucket hooks, think the one I have is only 500lbs rated. Probably another one to go over whatever implement I have.