Trailer or FEL?

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> "an old, beatup 16 ft tilt bed trailer. Despite its condition, was it easy to load/unload! " </font>

That's because it was a TILT BED! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

Henro, that picture of the pipes reminded me why I don't like fold-up ramps. They just aren't that much more convenient than the stow-away kind. They also get in the way of letting anything hang off the rear of the trailer. If you had those two 20' pipes in a 16' or 18' trailer with fold-up ramps, what would you do? Let them hang off the front?

I'd go with the trailer, but with stow-away ramps. That's what I have and I love them. If you have a little hill or curb to back the trailer up to, you don't even need ramps to drive a tractor up onto the trailer. I made a tailgate out of treated 2x6s. When I need a lightweight ramp for my riding mower, I just use the two tailgate pieces. I don't even use my heavy duty ramps.

Just my thoughts... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Henro, that picture of the pipes reminded me why I don't like fold-up ramps. </font>

Good point, Jinman!

Glad you brought that up....never even considered that...seems like the stow away ramps would make the best sense for me too!

 

[RonR]

I went with the ramp gate. I didn't want to mess with stowing ramps. I pull two pins, and fold the ramp down.

If I need to "hangover", I can remove the gate and leave it behind.

I did a coupla mods to my new trailer: 1) I welded a "D" ring in the center on the gate at the end. This I can use if I want to use the FEL or a tree to hang the gate from. 2.) I welded a pair of angle iron braces in the gate at the center of my 2200 tread width. This way, the weight of the tractor/implements is mostly on the angle iron, not the expanded metal.

My gate is easy to remove (takes an FEL or two people): Unpin the gate, slide it about 8" to the left, and it's free.

Someday, if I get bored, I might build a set of ramps to use instead of the gate, but right now, I don't have a need for it.

My two cents.

 

[TC18guy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I am thinkng what I need is an 18 foot trailer, dual axles, ample D rings for tie down, duel brakes, 10,000 lb. rating (more than I need, but why not?) and I guess maybe those hinged loading ramps....provision for mounting two spare tires...
)</font>

I seen a new trailer earlier this year with Ramps that slide into the trailer frame. I think I would like those a little better.

 

[TC18guy]

I guess I was a little late on that /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Hmmm. Is it a NEED or a WANT? Go with the trailer. You can't drive both tractors at the same time. I had a 20HP Cub Cadet w/a loader. Little tractors with little loaders are no more than playthings. They are great for spreading a little loam or a little gravel. Other than that, they are pretty much useless.

 

[KAB]

I just hauled 2 20' 18" pipes on a 16' dovetail trailer with foldup ramps. Both pipes fit nicely between the foldup ramps. I had about 1' over the front rail and 1' out the back of the trailer, worked real nice.

But before I bought the trailer I had all of the measurements of the equipment that I would be using so I knew that 16' would be long enough. I would agree with the others though that a longer trailer is a good investment if there is not a large price difference.

One of the better prices that I received when looking at trailers was Leonards Trailer Sales off of I76 between Youngstown and Akron (just south of the first exit). I ended up buying a rental unit from a trailer dealer in the Cleveland area.

edit: Should have mentioned that I did not want fold up ramps, but now that I have them they have not been a problem. If necessary I could remove, but at this point that has not been necessary.

(Yes, get the trailer, if you get a loader you will still need some way to haul it.)

Kurt

 

[TMAC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I went with the ramp gate. I didn't want to mess with stowing ramps. I pull two pins, and fold the ramp down.

If I need to "hangover", I can remove the gate and leave it behind.)</font>

RonR, I was kind of thinking the same thing. Stow away ramps would be more convenient if you are consistently hauling material that's longer than your trailer, but for me I went with the fold up ramps as well, given that I won't haul material every week. Pull two quick clip pins and slide each bar out of the slots and the ramps detach from the trailer. It takes two people though for me to safely get mine off and of course put back on so stow away's would take less physical effort. But since I don't haul material consistently I love to be able to pull a pin drop the ramps down and unload the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Just for fun here's a descriptive picture of how mine works. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jinman]

One of the good features of fold-up ramps is that they normally come with a stand. That way your trailer doesn't do a "dip" when you drive up onto it. If I had a trailer as large as your's I think I'd probably opt for the fold-ups too. I just don't particularly like them on a lowboy because I often have a couple of feet of rotary cutter hanging off the rear of my 18' trailer. It's just one of the gazillion things you have to consider and decide what is best for your own personal use. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[TMAC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I just don't particularly like them on a lowboy because I often have a couple of feet of rotary cutter hanging off the rear of my 18' trailer. It's just one of the gazillion things you have to consider and decide what is best for your own personal use. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )</font>

I agree with you on that Jim. I know when I load the tractor with the R-Cutter attached I have just enough room to get the ramps folded up. I have to fully extended the FEL bucket and pull a little further forward on the trailer than I wish too but it works thankfully with the wheel of the cutter just hanging out the back. I wish I could lay the bucket flat on the deck cause that extra tongue weight sure makes a difference when I pull 1.5 ft. forward on the trailer. Puts a little to much stress on a 1/4 ton pickup. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[1savoy]

Henro,

I have learned a ton reading your posts. Just want to put in my vote for a trailer. I have two and they are very handy to have around. For a fairly heavy equipment trailer, I would get the fold down ramps. Ramps that can hold the weight of a tractor are heavy to move around and the fold down ramps have never gotten in the way. You will want to get a feel for how long you want, as the length of the tractor with FEL and rotary cutter can get pretty long. Good luck in your search. My father and I got a trailer last year from www.hoopertrailer.com in Geogia. We live in Western, NY and it was worth the savings to go to Hooper's. There price is up this year due to steel cost. Their construction is pretty nice for the money, but would not be as nice as say a BriMar. You may also want to look into registering out of Maine. I now it sounds a little goofy at first, but if you start looking at trailers around you will see alot of Maine plates. A two year registration and title is currently $106.00 thru www.mainetrailer.com. Through New York State last year it was going to cost me about $200.00 to title and register my trailer for one year. I would have also had to pay New York 8.25% sales tax and had the trailer inspected. I tried to post a picture, but my pictures are all over the 100,000 bytes. If you would like to see a picture of the Hooper's trailer, send me an email at rcramer@rochester.rr.com, or let me know what I need to do to get the attachment to work. Thanks and sorry to be so long winded.

Russ

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> "a 1/4 ton pickup" </font>

First, let me say I'm not a fan of calling trucks 'half ton' or 'three quarter ton' or 'one ton' simply because it's neither descriptive nor accurate in any way. That having been said, to what do you refer as "a 1/4 ton pickup"?

I know that originally the military jeep was designed as and actually designated as a quarter ton truck but that's the last time I heard the term.

 

[TMAC]

Oops!! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I see I screwed up there Gary thanks for pointing that out. I meant 1/2 ton. Wonder how many of you were scratchin your head on that one. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Sorry for the confusion!! The way it pulls now I would hate to try and pull it with a 1/4 ton fully loaded with r-cutter. Wouldn't make it far. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ges]

Henro.............

If you really want to help family and friends, get 2 trailers...
1 flat bed tag-along to fit the 2910 and a dump trailer.
You know your gonna anyway....and they will give you a better deal for 2..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif George

 

[Henro]

1savoy,

Thanks for posting that link. Nice to have the prices they list for reference...I wonder about the main registration though...only because if you move to PA from another state and reside here, you are supposed to change your vehicle registration and if the local police want to they can hassle you about it, to say the least...not sure if there is anything on the books regarding trailers though...but I suspect there is...

GES,

Funny, but I was wondering if a dump trailer might work in place of a normal trailer for hauling the tractor, but concluded that it wouldn't when my backhoe and loader were attached...

Doubt I will ever get a dump trailer...but you never know... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[1savoy]

Henro,

I would not worry about being hassled with the out of state plate on a trailer. On a passenger vehicle you would get hassled at some point. Take a look at trailers around and you will be suprised at how many are running Maine plates. The triple axle (18,000 lb) trailer we bought last year saved $280.50 in sales tax (8.25%) by registering in Maine. Even if I do ever have a problem, the fine would be less than that and then I can transfer ownership to another family member to avoid sales tax. Just a thought. I do not mind paying my fair share of New York State taxes, but at times it get pretty frustrating. Good luck trailer shopping. I mentioned BriMar in my other post, and they are a very nice trailer, which if I remember correctly are made in PA.

 

[1savoy]

Henro,

Sorry for another post. Here is the link for BriMar. www.bri-mar.com. I almost bought one of these and they are nice.

 

[1savoy]

OK, this is too many posts. It looks like the period I put after the link is screwing things up. Lets try this again. www.bri-mar.com

 

[JayC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( OK, this is too many posts. )</font>

You could have just used the Edit button. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif