My knowledge of bumper pull trailers has increased dramatically in the last month. Before my brothers passing, I only had a 16 foot, two axle trailer with a pipe rail around it. This has been a very useful trailer that I couldn't imaging not having. My brother has a 20 foot two axle PJ trailer with a much heavier load rating and it uses a bigger ball to tow it. It has jacks in the back to support it, along with ramps for getting a tractor onto it. I've hauled 4 bales of hay on it, and I think it's too heavy for my 2012 F150 with 5.0 engine. But I've hauled 4 bales with my smaller 16 foot trailer, and I've had plenty of power. The trailer is just so much heavier!!!! I'm making he payments on it for now, but once Probate is done and I get the title for it, I'm going to sell it.
He also has two single axle trailers that he used for his duck business. I'm not sure why he had two. One has the fold up ramp in the back that makes getting a mower into it easy. The other doesn't. Both are paid for. I might keep the fold up ramp one so I can haul my riding mower to his place a few times a year. I think I'll use it for hauling a single bale of hay to his place, and another in the bed of my truck instead of hauling 4 at a time. I have 7 bales there now and they are eating a bale a week. Sometimes 2, but either way, I'm ahead of the game and I can deal with just bringing 2 bales at a time now.
I really like how light and easy the smaller single axle trailer pulls. If I only had one trailer, it would be the 16 foot two axle. It's the best of both worlds. But the smaller trailer is definitely nicer to pull anywhere.
Eventually, I think that I need a diesel truck and a gooseneck trailer. Maybe not, but it's become something that I've started thinking about. If I do that, then I would sell the 16 foot trailer and keep the small trailer with the folding ramp. Those two trailers would be the perfect combination in my opinion.
Advantages to buying a second truck would be better at towing, less wear on my daily driver, and a back up if my F150 breaks down. My starter went out last week, and I lost a day of work dealing with that. If it's something bigger, I really need another truck to get to work, so it might as well be something that can handle a bigger trailer, or tow a heavier load better then what I have now.
Here is my truck with my brothers 20 foot trailer. I could put more hay on it if I loaded them all the same way, but this way is easier to load and unload. Since this is about all the weight I want to deal with, I'm good with doing it this way.
And my 16 foot trailer with 4 round bales.
Another thing that I like about the smaller trailer is that I only need one strap on the rear bale to hold them all in place. the bigger trailer doesn't have the pipe rail around the sides to keep the hay in place, so I have to strap each bale down separately. Not a huge issue, but it does add time to an already time consuming trip.