What is Your Off Road -Ranch - Farm Utility Trailer

ruffdog · Mar 20, 2020

John_Mc · Mar 21, 2020

DL Meisen said:
Just stuff around property, rocks and gravel, brush, cut wood, trash general purpose...Would like to stay around $300-500... Don't really need hydraulic dump...Keep in mind its small property and not industrial level use.... Probably will spend more hours under tree collecting leave than being used.... Would consider building if best material source were not 75 miles away and having to assemble a whole list of parts to get it done....

Dale

Do you have an idea about weight capacity and bed size? Do you need narrow width to fit through woods trails, or is that not much of a concern for you?

WranglerX · Mar 21, 2020

John_Mc said:
Do you have an idea about weight capacity and bed size? Do you need narrow width to fit through woods trails, or is that not much of a concern for you?

Weigh load probably up to 1000+ pounds, width is probably somewhat limited to same width of rear tires on tractor (about 60 inches)... Have hills and a bit of woods, but mainly open ground.... And BIG rocks one is about 26 feet in diameter smaller maybe a 1 inch in diameter...... As for tractor has 25 HP and it weighs at 1400 pounds plus a 600 pounds ballast weight and enough tractive force to break 3/16 chain (in low range) .... So far have not been able to break the 1/4 inch 1250 lb proof chain (yet) on dead pull...

Again "mid size trailer" ATV trailer a bit to small, road trailer just to big... So far the small HF trailer idea (DIY bed) seem to be more in size I desire but a bit narrow and little too short needs about a foot in both directions...... But like a lot of HF stuff, I find quality (durability) a bit lacking.. People in Teardrop trailer world are finding failures in chassis and tongue after a few years if road use...

May have to build what I want, like the idea of a 4X5 foot bed with dump and probably Turn style puncture proof tires....

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660501_200660501

But with 3/4" axle bore think I would have to go to tandem axle for rugged reliability.......

Dale

California · Mar 21, 2020

HF's trailers are light duty. For the application you describe look at Home Depot and Tractor Supply to see if you can find a 4x6. I really think a trailer you can take on the road is a far more versatile choice.

ruffdog · Mar 21, 2020

California said:
HF's trailers are light duty. For the application you describe look at Home Depot and Tractor Supply to see if you can find a 4x6. I really think a trailer you can take on the road is a far more versatile choice.

Like this?

Teske 4' x 8' Utility Trailer with Wood Sides - U4812FEBWFB1 | Blain's Farm & Fleet

California · Mar 21, 2020

ruffdog said:
Like this?

Teske 4' x 8' Utility Trailer with Wood Sides - U4812FEBWFB1 | Blain's Farm & Fleet

I like the specs. For my own use I prefer a lift-off tailgate, instead of that style which I assume is a ramp to drive something up. To lift out a heavy object I like to remove the tailgate and lift the object at waist level. Especially after I was on crutches for a month, after lifting a 70 lb harvest bin (like shown in that previous harvest pic) up over the side of the 4x8.

I think any trailer in that general category is the best choice, for an inexpensive utility trailer behind a light tractor. If it tilts, that's a good feature too.

I don't see an advantage to one shorter than 8 ft, you're giving up usefulness, for what?

A couple of photos from several years ago:

Too-small trailer, before I bought the 4x8. Moving pruning debris.

4x8. Just right.

BrokenTrack · Mar 21, 2020

One of our best trailers was a manure spreader that we modified. We kept the live-bed, but moved that by a lever-hand crank instead of being wheel-driven. We then put our wood splitter on the hitch and could toss firewood right from the wood splitter into the bed of the trailer, then at the wood shed hand-crank the firewood off it.

It really worked well, and saved a lot of extra steps.

California · Mar 21, 2020

That's the best firewood solution I've seen!

airbiscuit · Mar 22, 2020

My neighbor got this trailer from Northern. He pulls it behind his John Deere Gator. It holds a pretty good load, and has good ergonomics for loading and unloading. He really likes it.
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200674078_200674078

Aquamoose · Mar 22, 2020

If you get lucky, you could find a former military surplus trailer. This was made in 1953 and has a 6,000 lbs capacity. It doubles as a fire rig during the hot dry summers carrying 2 x 275 gallon totes with a pump.

My price for the trailer? $0 I was buying a large square tubular steel for a project and spied this off to the side with rotted wheels. He noticed it and said to take it if I can! I estimated that I put in $250 buying new 10-ply tires & new 2 by’s and I was in business already. The fabricated removable uprights and the fire setup came later.