Towing Around Parkin Lot

[Groo]

is it water tight for $2k?

you may have to licens it, especialy if a neibor complains about the ugly trailer.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You will have no problems. My uncle has a boat that weighs 25,000# and I put it in and out of the lake for him but he moved it around his property from 2003 till 2005 with his V8 Tundra before he got his F-350 in 05.

Chris

 

[Redneck in training]

My Church is considering buying an enclosed car trailer like race car teams use. We would be storing chairs and tables in it. We need to move it from the parking lot to our building, maybe 100 yards of travel on an occasional basis (2 or 3 times a year). The parking lot is pretty level. I have a 2005 Tundra which has a max towing capacity of 6500 lbs. I don't know the weight of the trailers at this time. Does anyone see a problem exceeding the towing capacity of the truck for that short a distance?

Thanks for any and all input on this.

Pulling is not the problem. Stopping is. So if you pull it at level parking lot at low speed you can pull it even with a passenger car.

 

[RobertN]

I think I would still consider a shed, even if cost is similar. It would look nicer. Easier to keep water tight. And you may find more items for storage.

I'd do the shed, and then use a pickup and the youth group to move the chairs/tables twice a year as needed. You have a Scout group chartered to the church? Our Scout group would have the stuff moved pronto as needed.

I don't think we will license it. It will not go off of our property.
The cost is roughly $2000 used. We are doing this so we can clear chairs out of the Gym so that the youth can play basket ball. So it is for our youth group.

A shed would require a building permit and approval from the town for appearance. Also we can move the trailer to the building for loading and then to the other end of the parking lot where we have plenty of space.

 

[BobRip]

I think I would still consider a shed, even if cost is similar. It would look nicer. Easier to keep water tight. And you may find more items for storage.

I'd do the shed, and then use a pickup and the youth group to move the chairs/tables twice a year as needed. You have a Scout group chartered to the church? Our Scout group would have the stuff moved pronto as needed.

I will bring this up at the next Trustees meeting. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[schmism]

I think I would still consider a shed, even if cost is similar. It would look nicer. Easier to keep water tight. And you may find more items for storage.

I'd do the shed, and then use a pickup and the youth group to move the chairs/tables twice a year as needed. You have a Scout group chartered to the church? Our Scout group would have the stuff moved pronto as needed.

The other issue i see is.... its only one bolt cutter away from having all your tables, chairs etc just drive off. While you dont plant to remove it from the property doesnt mean everyone else has that same opinion.

Shipping container can be another option for dry storage. Paint it nice and its no different than a (relitivly expensive) storage shed.

Check your insurance. they may not cover items in the trailer (on wheels) but may cover a permanent storage building.

 

[Big Bri]

The other issue i see is.... its only one bolt cutter away from having all your tables, chairs etc just drive off. While you dont plant to remove it from the property doesnt mean everyone else has that same opinion.

Shipping container can be another option for dry storage. Paint it nice and its no different than a (relitivly expensive) storage shed.

Check your insurance. they may not cover items in the trailer (on wheels) but may cover a permanent storage building.

A bar we do work for used a trailer to store pool tables, tables and chairs, dart boards and other stuff when they had big dance bands come and play (to clear up room on the floor dancing) someone got wise to what they were doing and stole the trailer. . . when it was full

I also don't think insurance will cover it unless you list it as storage. . . and they might make you get it tagged or plated which will be another expence.

 

[taborekle]

I have a 2003 Tundra. I see no problems with this. There's really no need for a weight distribution hitch as you can probably load the trailer such that the tongue weight is not more then 600-900 lbs. The brakes are adequate as you will be moving at slow speeds. Most parking lots are pretty level. I'd try to get a trailer that had trailer brakes and use a brake controller.

6000 lbs of tables and chairs are a lot of tables and chairs. I doubt that you're church has anywhere close to that. You'd have to have a very big church. You should get a idea of how much the cargo actually weighs. Weigh 1 chair and 1 table and math it out. If nothing else it will help you size you're trailer.

You could probably double the tow weight (12000 lbs) and have no issues. The tranny and drive train would not be put to the limit as I doubt that you'd never need to get out of first gear.

I would recommend a tongue scale though, just to make sure you don't overload you're tongue. It's about $100.

I've towed a 7000lb 31 foot travel trailer about 10 miles to and from the local RV dealer with my tundra with no ill effects. For that though I have a weight distribution hitch.

 

[BobRip]

My thanks for everyone for their input. I brought up the tool shed at the last meeting. Everyone seemed to like it and I was told to research it. I had planned to put it in an alley way. I found out that this is probably a required fire offset and we could not put any flammable materials in it. Sounds like we might be back to trailers. We have a small tool shed ( 8X8) and the stuff in it is never used. We might use it for some chairs.