Trailer Advice Needed

[George2615]

Very good point about axle placement. That is the biggest complaint I have heard with tilt deck trailers. It's tough to get the load balanced and tougher with a minimal tow vehicle to not exceed the too much tongue weight issue.

Chris

Just an FYI, As Chris and others have mentioned that axle placement on a tilt bed is important.
My 22' PJ tilt bed is hinged toward the back. Axle placement is in line with a non tilt trailer.
On my previous H&H tilt bed the axles were further forward but with a 20' deck I had plenty of room to balance the load. Attached are my PJ and H&H. I'd guess the PJ is a 60/40 placement maybe more. The H&H was maybe 55/45. H&H is the one with 5 lug wheels. I have not had any problem balancing a load on either trailer.

 

[Parkanzky]

I see what you're talking about with axle placement. I think that I'd prefer to get the axles farther back, so I'll look for that in a trailer. It seems like the trailers with a section of stationary deck get you that.

 

[tractchores]

I use a 16' bed trailer for my Kubota. It has fold up ramps, so I can have stuck stick between them or take them off easily if I need to overhang and the loader can go over the front too if i want. It's about the right length for that type of tractor. You'll probably want to use that as a minimum. Mine is way more heavy duty than I need. I bought used, spent about $1,000 and put 4 tires on it and a new deck, so I'm into it for under $1,500 and have a great trailer that I could make money on for the resale. It takes a bit of legwork, but you can definitely save money used, especially if you're willing to do simple jobs like tires, lights or a redeck. I use PT pine for a deck (not good if you have tracked machines, but fine on a tractor).

Random stuff I'd make sure to think about:
Pintle hook - a good heavy duty setup, makes it easy to move around the yard and easy to hook up
Adjustable hook - So you can adjust based on what you are towing with and tongue weight
Front toolbox - Really useful for your chains or ratchet straps and other misc. Make sure it locks
Ramps - Metal fold down ones are descent, a tilt trailer is probably great for some things. If you get fold down ones make sure they have the supports on them so the tow vehicle doesn't have all the weight pulling up on it

 

[Diamondpilot]

I see what you're talking about with axle placement. I think that I'd prefer to get the axles farther back, so I'll look for that in a trailer. It seems like the trailers with a section of stationary deck get you that.

Just make sure your truck has the rear suspension to handle the tongue load. Chris

 

[Parkanzky]

I'm bringing this back from the dead.

I've had a winter to think about it and I'm still convinced I want a hydraulic tilt trailer.

A lot of you recommended more capacity than I was looking for. Some people talked about the stationary section at the front.

I've taken all of that to heart and I'm planning to head down to Milan (~2 hours) to look at this trailer on Saturday:

20' x 6" Channel Equipment Tilt | Flatbed, Dump, Utility, and Enclosed Cargo Trailers for Sale in Milan Michigan

Opinions? Anything I should look out for?

 

[Xfaxman]

It is a good brand, but looks like a lot of rear overhang.

They don't show a complete side view, so it is hard to tell.

 

[Parkanzky]

Counting the stake pockets and guessing at it, I'd say the axles are right about in the middle of the (complete) deck. I count four stake pockets in front of the fenders and three behind, but then there is the inverted beavertail that probably makes that section about the same length.

 

[George2615]

I'm bringing this back from the dead.

I've had a winter to think about it and I'm still convinced I want a hydraulic tilt trailer.

A lot of you recommended more capacity than I was looking for. Some people talked about the stationary section at the front.

I've taken all of that to heart and I'm planning to head down to Milan (~2 hours) to look at this trailer on Saturday:

20' x 6" Channel Equipment Tilt | Flatbed, Dump, Utility, and Enclosed Cargo Trailers for Sale in Milan Michigan

Opinions? Anything I should look out for?

Not much to look out for as it's a new trailer. I'd say it's the gravity tilt model T6. I have the powered full tilt 14K 22' (TF) model and like it a lot.
Go on PJ's site and use the 360* view mode and magnify the pic. I count 5 pockets in front of the axles and maybe 3 behind.

 

[Parkanzky]

I'm going to try to find out the axle placement today. When you say 55/45, 60/40 or whatever, do you mean in the deck or in the overall length of the trailer?

The trailer I'm looking at is a 20' power-tilt with 4' stationary at the front.

It's 14k# GVWR, which is WAY more than I need (My truck won't pull anything close to that) but according to the dealer it only weighs 3340# empty. With that, I can haul my tractor and a couple implements or any of our cars without overloading my pickup. It would even haul my father-in-law's Case 95 if I used his truck, although I'll probably never have a reason to do that.

The same trailer with a lighter frame and a 10k# GVWR weighs ~750# less. That would actually increase my towing capabilities right now (because I'm limited by my truck and not the trailer) and save me some money, but it wouldn't future-proof the purchase.

Thoughts?

 

[George2615]

I'm going to try to find out the axle placement today. When you say 55/45, 60/40 or whatever, do you mean in the deck or in the overall length of the trailer?

The trailer I'm looking at is a 20' power-tilt with 4' stationary at the front.

It's 14k# GVWR, which is WAY more than I need (My truck won't pull anything close to that) but according to the dealer it only weighs 3340# empty. With that, I can haul my tractor and a couple implements or any of our cars without overloading my pickup. It would even haul my father-in-law's Case 95 if I used his truck, although I'll probably never have a reason to do that.

The same trailer with a lighter frame and a 10k# GVWR weighs ~750# less. That would actually increase my towing capabilities right now (because I'm limited by my truck and not the trailer) and save me some money, but it wouldn't future-proof the purchase.

Thoughts?

The 60/40 means 60% of the deck is in front of the centerline between both axles and 40% behind. You need more weight in front of the axles for better tongue weight. My 14K is also way more than I need or my truck can legally tow but I can always borrow a bigger truck if I need to haul max capacity of the trailer.