Trailer regrets....

[denverdave66]

After buying my 2012 16' Doolittle Landscaping trailer I am wishing now instead of buying it with the mesh gate I would have went without the gate and just got the ramps instead that you take off and store underneath the trailer. The gate even though it is mesh it acts like a parachute and you can really tell the difference when it is up compared when your pulling the trailer empty with it folded down. Also, I am disappointing that Doolittle did not put any grease fittings on the springs. I try and keep it greased but if there was a fitting it would be much easier. Also, I have been thinking about adding on some rear jacks to the trailer. I noticed the other day when John Deere dealer was loading my tractor how much the back end of the trailer squats down. You would think as much as I spent for my trailer (I bought it new) that it would have came with jacks.

 

[Code54]

Sorry to hear that. You could add jacks if you wanted - they are about $20-60 depending on the size, and often can be bolted on the rear. If your gate is removable can you pull it off and just buy some ramps?
It seems most trailers don't have grease fittings on the springs anymore. I have a 12K trailer that is fairly well made and equipped but it does not have fittings on the springs. Overall that has not concerned me but I do understand that some people prefer them.
Good luck

 

[bcp]

Mesh is worst than solid on a pickup.

Tailgate Up or Down

Busting the open tailgate myth wide open | Local | News | Sault Star

Bruce

 

[joshuabardwell]

I don't typically see landscape trailers with jacks. I think that's more common on car and equipment haulers.

 

[schmism]

I had always heard there was no comparison between a 20' equipment trailer and a 20' travel trailer (RV).

I pulled my new livestock trailer for the first time a few weeks ago and even empty couldnt manage better than 8mpg. ive had 8000lbs of gravel on my 20' equipment trailer and still managed to get 10mpg. empty i can get as high as 12 on highway.

the air resistance is nothing to dismiss.

 

[denverdave66]

I don't typically see landscape trailers with jacks. I think that's more common on car and equipment haulers.

I noticed when the dealer was backing my John Deere on the trailer it really lifted the back end of my truck up, maybe that is normal I am inexperienced at this trailer stuff.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I noticed when the dealer was backing my John Deere on the trailer it really lifted the back end of my truck up, maybe that is normal I am inexperienced at this trailer stuff.

I'm not saying whether that is or isn't normal. Just I think that landscape trailers are usually intended for lighter things, like mowers and ATVs. Popping up the rear of your truck can lead to unhappy surprises if your parking brake is the only thing keeping you from rolling away, so do be careful. Adding jacks to the rear of your trailer is no big deal, although you can also just carry a couple of jack stands with you.

 

[grnspot110]

My 16' trailer uses legs instead of jacks, just swing them down when loading & back up to store. Legs are a couple inches off the ground when empty, you can back up or pull forward if there is too much weight on them when loaded to swing them back up! ~~ grnspot

 

[handirifle]

Can you cut the gate in half height wise? Make a hinge from 1/2" steel bar and 1/2" ID sched 40 tubing, and linge the gate halfway up. That way you can fold it for transport and it's only half as much resistance. Or just cut it down and add the ramps anyway. It can be done, but I understand the frustration of not getting it right the first time. It's called experience. It usually comes from mistakes we made. if we're lucky it's from mistakes OTHERS make, and we learn from.

Put the jacks on it, fix the gate. If your heaviest load rolls up the gate with no issue, I'd just hinge it. Just make sure it's reinforced at the hinge area to take the load when driving over it.

 

[Larro Darro]

Mesh will mess with your mileage. I have a little 12' trailer to carry my lawnmowers. It doesn't have a gate, the bed tilts down to load the equipment. As long as I turn off the overdrive on my truck, you can't even tell it's back there. At my work, we have a 12' trailer with the full mesh gate. When I pull it you can hear the difference in the sound of the truck. To do 55 it sounds like you are doing 75. Anytime we are hauling anything other than wheeled vehicles, we take the gate off. It just takes a few minutes with two people and hauls much better.
So cut the gate down, and/or get you some ramps made. You will make up in fuel mileage whatever it cost you.

 

[Ken45101]

An interesting discussion, especially that the mesh is worse than anything!

I have noticed that towing a trailer really hurts fuel economy. It doesn't matter if it's just a landscape trailer with the RTV900 on it, or a 14K gooseneck hauling a skid steer. One would think that a landscape trailer and a 1500# RTV would be negligible behind a 1 ton truck, but it's almost as bad as hauling the 8000# skid steer on a 5000# trailer!

 

[Diamondpilot]

As a part time trailer dealer I try to steer as many awat from mesh as I can. Slide in ramps are the only way to go for a handful of reasons.

Chris

 

[wny770]

Can he double hinge the gate? For the first time, I have a mesh gate, and really like it. Just lay 'em down, and load anything.

 

[Scooby074]

I hinged my mesh gate in the middle for exactly the reason as the OP. It gave a noticeable improvement. You really can feel it back there like a sail. Mileage improved too.

Jacks at the back of the trailer are on order for me. Im likely going make a drop style using some perforated square tubing (unistrut) and a simple pin. It wont have perfect adjustment like a jack style would, but being within an inch or so of the ground should prevent lifting the rear of the truck and compressing the trailer.

 

[s219]

Drop leg jacks are great for loading, and quick to operate. Don't get crank down jacks unless you want to spend a lot of time cranking a lever.

I initially used blocks to support the rear of my trailer when loading -- generally two 6x6 per side. But once I got some experience, I just let the back of the trailer squat when loading. It's never enough to really lift the back of my SUV very much, and by letting the back of the trailer squat a little, the gate ramp angle is reduced which makes driving on easier, especially with a long implement on the 3-pt hitch. I can also get a very good idea of balance when loading and trying to position the tractor. Can almost feel/see the neutral balance point, then I pull forward a smidge to add some tongue weight.

My mesh rear gate is like a parachute above 60mph or so when the trailer is empty -- it's like hitting a wall. When I have a load on board, however, the draggy feeling goes away entirely and I simply notice the weight of the payload evenly across the entire speed range. If it's a light load, my SUV almost drives on the highway like there is no trailer in tow, suggesting that any load that blocks/diverts airflow from the mesh gate is obviously giving a drag reduction.

I probably wouldn't change my decision -- after using my trailer for nearly two years, I realize that towing a tractor is a small part of what I do with it, and there are times when 1) no gate is needed and it can be taken off -or- 2) the gate is desirable. For instance, when picking up some long lumber from the mill, it was nice to take the gate off and have an open back end. When picking up trees for landscaping, or bales of straw, or loads of gravel/mulch, the mesh gate is very nice to have. When moving lots of boxes and appliances to our new house recently, the mesh gate was awesome -- we could wheel hand truck loads of boxes and equipment up the ramp at the old house, and down the ramp at the new house. Kept three people busy with plenty of room to work. Everybody was impressed how versatile the trailer was for moving (just hope it doesn't rain!).

 

[Don87]

Interesting info on the mesh. That explains the problem I was having.

I could put 3,000 lbs. of coal in my 98 Dakota v6 magnum and top the Summit Mountain(11% grade) at 70 mph. But using a 4x6 foot Lowes trailer(all mesh and angle iron), with the mesh ramp, and a 450 Suzuki quad........my truck strained to do 50 mph up the same mountain. I could watch the fuel gauge dropping while pulling the trailer.

 

[CliffordK]

I suppose I don't worry much if the back end of the trailer moves some when loading and unloading. Does it really hurt anything? I suppose it means you need to plan on some flex with your ramps and etc.

The one thing that I'm all missing is the more tiedowns, the better.

I keep threatening to grind the paint off of my favorite trailer and weld on a few more tiedowns.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I suppose I don't worry much if the back end of the trailer moves some when loading and unloading. Does it really hurt anything? I suppose it means you need to plan on some flex with your ramps and etc.

The main time when it matters is if you are parked on an incline and your truck's parking brakes are the only thing keeping it from rolling. Tractor goes on the back of the trailer, front of the trailer goes up, trucks rear wheels lift off the ground, the whole thing goes down the hill. And yes, this has actually happened. Chocking the trailer's wheels when loading may not be a bad idea if some teeter-totter is expected.

Another bad thing that can happen is, in an extreme case, the rear of the trailer plants in the ground and you can't finish driving up onto the trailer to resolve the situation. I saw that one in a Youtube video once where someone was trying to load a dozer onto a trailer that really should have been pulled by a larger truck than a 1-ton pickup.

 

[94BULLITT]

Get some blocks off woods to put under the rear of the trailer for loading and unloading. Put the truck in low 4WD if it is 4WD and use the parking brake.

Will your gate fold all the way down on the trailer? If not can it be made to fold down? I was telling a guy that I know that is a pilot about how much harder the trailer pulled with the mesh gate up. He said that on some airplane they used a mesh design to help slow them down because it was more effective than being solid.

 

[bcp]

Dive brakes: