Using my trailer, or abusing it?

[s219]

It's expanded metal mesh welded to an angle iron frame with two angle iron supports outlining the path a wheel would take if you drove up the ramp, so a total of four supports inside the frame. I'd give you a picture, but it's dark out now. Here's a link to the manufacturer's page for the trailer, though: Currahee Trailers - 800 series deluxe double-axle

If the hinges look strong, I bet you could have some additional supports welded into the gate to beef it up. Make sure they get tacked into the mesh, so it can help spread the load.

 

[Soundguy]

Here's my take. you have a trailer that has 2 3500# axles.. and thus for legal purposes.. it's a 7k rated trailer.

now.. every trailer I've seen that has a ramp gate setup.. it usually a light duty trailer made for lawn maintenance. especially if it bowed in the middle when you loaded a 4k tractor on it.

A car hauler / equipment hauler with hd slide in, flip up, or removeable ramps is a more rigid setup.

(2) 3500# axles does not a 7k trailer make. unfortunately..

not all trailers with a 7k tag are equal....

ps.. get a block of wood or dimensional lumber to slide under the rear... a lil squat while laoding is ok.. just don't want to lift the truck rear off the ground and have it take off on you.

as for the loading ramp gate? i'd be getting some other more HD and safer affair setup...

soundguy

I have a 16', dual-axle, utility trailer, rated for 7000 lbs GVWR. I have recently started using it to move my tractor around, when I need to. My tractor weighs 3050 lbs (per manufacturer specs). Say I've got an implement on as well, up to maybe 1000 lbs, for a total weight around 4000 lbs. Trailer itself is 1600 lbs, for a resulting gross trailer weight of 5600 lbs. I'm 1400 lbs under capacity, so I should be good to go, right?

Well, the story gets a little more complicated. I asked the manufacturer what the loading ramp/gate was rated for, and they said 2000 lbs. So I figured I should be okay to load my tractor, since, even if the weight distribution isn't exactly 50/50, that 2000 lbs probably has a little slop in it. Except, after I loaded my tractor on and off the trailer once, I noticed that the inner two reinforcing members on the gate looked just a teency bit bowed. So I figured, okay, I'll put some jack stands underneath them to provide a little extra support.

Except, I had been using my jack stands to keep the rear of the trailer from dipping, so instead I got a 6 ton bottle jack and put it at the center of the rear of the trailer. I loaded my tractor without incident. My gate has a metal tab on each side that fits between two cylinders, and a pin drops down through the cylinders to hold the gate closed. So when I went to close the gate, one of the metal tabs was butting up against one of the cylinders instead of fitting between the two of them. I pondered what could be causing this. Did I bend the gate when I was loading? On a hunch, I opened the relief valve on the bottle jack and the trailer immediately dropped several inches. The gate closed normally now. The jack had been holding the entire back of the trailer up, and the trailer had flexed in some way such that the gate wouldn't close.

Okay, so here is my question. On the one hand, by the numbers, I am well under my trailer's rated capacity. On the other hand, I am getting what might be several yellow flags that my trailer is not 100% happy with what I'm doing with it. Or am I just being a worrywart? Am I just using my trailer, or am I abusing it?

On a related note: it occurs to me that, although the trailer is rated for 7000 lbs, there are probably some assumptions made about the distribution of that weight. When I load my tractor on the trailer, all of its weight is split between the two frame members underneath the wheels (or, if the wheels are between members, perhaps it's split between four frame members). Are trailers generally engineered to take that kind of loading? Bear in mind this is a general utility trailer, not a car hauler. If anybody out there wants the size/thickness of the steel, to give a more educated opinion, I can provide it.

 

[clemsonfor]

I have a 7K 16ft trailer and i have removeable metal ramps made out of angle iron, they easily hold my 2k tractor and will probly hold 3x that weight, they seem to weigh 60lbs a piece. Those ramps with the extruded metal are very light and i dont doubt that you bent it. Get a channel welded on the back and get some removeable ramps to throw in the back of the truck and get that gate off, its a sail after all. As for the weight, those are meant to haul cars trucks or tractors that sit on 4 wheels. The weight is on boards that cross all the cross members to help with load distribution.

 

[clemsonfor]

just a quick note.

I have seen ALOT of trailers with 2*3500 axles but tires spec'ed for only 1,250lb each (5,000 gross)

are your tires rated for 1750lbs each?

I have seen trailers with 2 3500# axles or 7k# trailers with 5000# couplers welded onto them? :confused2:

 

[Renze]

Here's my take. you have a trailer that has 2 3500# axles.. and thus for legal purposes.. it's a 7k rated trailer.

now.. every trailer I've seen that has a ramp gate setup.. it usually a light duty trailer made for lawn maintenance. especially if it bowed in the middle when you loaded a 4k tractor on it.

A car hauler / equipment hauler with hd slide in, flip up, or removeable ramps is a more rigid setup.

(2) 3500# axles does not a 7k trailer make. unfortunately..

Fully agreeing.... From my time at the trailer builder, we took whole different safety margins for curtainsider trailers than for trailers meant to move construction equipment... When moving pallets of groceries (just to name something) the load is evenly distributed over the frame, and the weight before the kingpin, and after the axles, cantilevers the middle.
When going heavy equipment, often pieces of equipment are loaded between the kingpin and axles, where it causes the greatest bend moment. you cant load it differently, or you wont have enough 5th wheel load, or overload the tow vehicles suspension... So that type of trailers is built to take higher pointloads from large equipment.

Also, for forklifts and scissor lifts (with those nasty small solid wheels) we took a 5/16" diamond plate deck with crossmembers every foot, where the aforementioned palletised goods trailers could do with a 3/4" plywood sheet with crossmembers every 2 foot.... Also in trailers counts: horses for courses....

 

[joshuabardwell]

Fully agreeing.... From my time at the trailer builder, we took whole different safety margins for curtainsider trailers than for trailers meant to move construction equipment...

I appreciate this perspective, as it more or less addresses exactly the concerns I have. That being said, I would love to be able to continue trailering my tractor with this trailer, but not if it's going to damage the trailer. Is there any way to assess the construction of the trailer to get a sense of whether it's "enough" or not? I don't know about trailer construction, but by way of analogy, I design wireless networks for a living, and if you told me you had an office building with one radio per 10,000 square feet, I would instantly know the design wasn't up to the task. Something like that. If I was to give more information about the construction of the trailer (thickness of steel, spacing of cross-members, and so forth) would you give me a (non-binding, all Internet disclaimers apply) opinion?

 

[clemsonfor]

Someone will tell you the spacing but i think mine is on 2ft centers for cross members and i think 3" c channel construction??? But if you go to any trialer manufacturer they will list the specs of a trailer. Mine for example is "Lone Wolf" 16 ft economy dovetail car hauler. I think you can look up on the website the specs? Im checking now.

Standard Car Hauler

Here is the link to the trailer i have. but it seems the website is underconstruction (which i think it has been for years?) but they may be missing some stuff like specs?

 

[joshuabardwell]

Oh, and to specifically address the points you raised, I am able to achieve proper tongue weight with a 60/40 loading of the trailer, so putting all of the weight between the axle and the coupler is not an issue, I don't think. But your concern about point load, I think is valid, and I don't really have an objective way to decide whether that's an issue or not.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Someone will tell you the spacing but i think mine is on 2ft centers for cross members and i think 3" c channel construction??? But if you go to any trialer manufacturer they will list the specs of a trailer.?

Look at that, you're right! Currahee Trailers - 800 series deluxe double-axle

Looks like it is 3 x 2 x 3/16 Angle Frame and Crossmembers. Is there a standard table somewhere that I could look up load ratings for a given span of this stuff, or something like that?

 

[joshuabardwell]

Well, shoot, as long as I'm poking around the manufacturer's web site, I may as well ask them. If they say it's okay, on the record, in today's litigious environment, that's got to be gospel.