Who can't do without a utility trailer?

[spruce Deere]

I like my trailer an 18 foot load trail. Haul'n firewood, tractors, implements, dead vehicles, swing sets, Ball and Burlap trees, garden mulch..... The list is long.

I would have a rough go of a lot of things If it was not for my trailer. My life is easier with one

For the price of maintenance and registration my trailers usefulness FAR outweighs the cost....

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have never thought a long ramp type tailgate on a UT would catch that much wind unless it was a solid type. Seems to me the towing vehicle would break up enough of the air that any resistance created by an open gate like mine would be minimal. But I may be wrong about that.

A mesh gate will cause more drag and resistance than a solid gate of the same square footage. Its much like driving a pickup with the tail gate down will actually result in worse mpg or with a net in its place. It all has to do with pressure differentials and drag surface.

Tough to explain but I have proven it in the wind tunnel when I was getting my aerospace degree. Mythbusters also proved it on a episode. I am sure it on you tube.


Chris

 

[JDgreen227]

A mesh gate will cause more drag and resistance than a solid gate of the same square footage. Its much like driving a pickup with the tail gate down will actually result in worse mpg or with a net in its place. It all has to do with pressure differentials and drag surface.

Tough to explain but I have proven it in the wind tunnel when I was getting my aerospace degree. Mythbusters also proved it on a episode. I am sure it on you tube.


Chris

With your degree and towing experience, I have no reservations that you are telling me the straight shoot about it. And by the way, congrats on nearing 10,000 posts here !!!

 

[rsewill]

A mesh gate will cause more drag and resistance than a solid gate of the same square footage. Its much like driving a pickup with the tail gate down will actually result in worse mpg or with a net in its place. It all has to do with pressure differentials and drag surface.

Tough to explain but I have proven it in the wind tunnel when I was getting my aerospace degree. Mythbusters also proved it on a episode. I am sure it on you tube.

Chris

Unlike a closed pickup truck tailgate I would expect a six foot ramp on a trailer to offer much more resistance in the up position than if the ramp pivoted all the way from the ground to the deck. Obviously that can't be done when loaded but unfortunately my rental place doesn't have a trailer that has that type of ramp. When I bought my CUT I pulled that trailer 400 miles empty into a wind and returned loaded with the wind. Empty I got 16 MPG and loaded I got 20 MPG, the tailgate up both ways.

I used to own a couple of end dumps that were built for demolition meaning big boxes and high tail gates. We always kept the tail gates closed unlike some truckers who let them blow in the wind when empty. No way to compare mileage but nice to know your wind tunnel tests show we were doing it more economically!

 

[Diamondpilot]

Another interesting demo we did was with a wind milling propeller. Say you have a engine failure on a piston drive or turbo prop aircraft. A windmilling propeller has more drag than a flat disc of say steel the same diameter. Hard to believe but it all has to do with the propeller being a airfoil, shaped just like a wing, and a by product of lift is drag. Its called induced drag.

Long story short. If you have a 5' propeller and allow it to windmill it produces more drag than say a 5' round kitchen table mounted in front of the airplane.

Chris

 

[s219]

I have a 12' tandem axle utility trailer that gets used alot, I had the pin up tailgate/ramp on the rear,but it caught to much air going down the road. So i converted it to ramps,the tailgate was handy for hauling wood,but agrivating for other tasks. I can use the ramps for the mowers,tractors,and what nots. LUTT

I'd be curious to see a picture of your mod. I have thought about doing this to my trailer too. That mesh tailgate is like a parachute above about 45 mph. I actually feel like pulling the empty trailer is a bigger load on my tow vehicle than when it has a tractor on board.

I am impressed how strong the tailgate is on my new 7x16' trailer -- it uses thin (0.065" wall) 2" square tube, but the tubes are spaced every 12", so there are 8 tubes across the 7' width. I had my doubts, but it's proven to be quite stiff, at a fraction of the weight of my smaller trailers tailgate. The smaller trailer uses 3/16" angle iron spaced 16".

 

[lutt]

I'd be curious to see a picture of your mod. I have thought about doing this to my trailer too. That mesh tailgate is like a parachute above about 45 mph. I actually feel like pulling the empty trailer is a bigger load on my tow vehicle than when it has a tractor on board.

I am impressed how strong the tailgate is on my new 7x16' trailer -- it uses thin (0.065" wall) 2" square tube, but the tubes are spaced every 12", so there are 8 tubes across the 7' width. I had my doubts, but it's proven to be quite stiff, at a fraction of the weight of my smaller trailers tailgate. The smaller trailer uses 3/16" angle iron spaced 16".

I will try to post a pic or two in the next couple of days,there was not nothing to it, just cut off the expanded metal,center part,and welded angle iron on the ramps,which is more or less what you have after you cut out the center.

 

[lutt]

A mesh gate will cause more drag and resistance than a solid gate of the same square footage. Its much like driving a pickup with the tail gate down will actually result in worse mpg or with a net in its place. It all has to do with pressure differentials and drag surface.

Tough to explain but I have proven it in the wind tunnel when I was getting my aerospace degree. Mythbusters also proved it on a episode. I am sure it on you tube.


Chris

Thanks for explaining this in while I was out,Chris,also,mine was a four foot,not a six,as someone mentioned earlier.It would knock off 2-3 mpg's off my pickup while in tow.

 

[timswi]

My 5x10 utility is perfect for misc stuff that is too big for a 6.5 foot bed where I don't feel like dragging a tendem around...Personally, I really couln't care less about the gas mileage with a gate, all I want to do is get the load home in one piece. I've pulled this on interstates and really didn't see much of a drag or mileage difference over a load in the bed..Not that it really mattered anyway. I got there and back , that was the main thing.

 

[77bronco]

Just did the five year California renewal for my utility trailer in California for $10

It's about the only deal we'll ever get out of the CA DMV. I currently have 4 trailers with the CA perm plates, so it's much cheaper than before when trailers were charged the same fees as cars. Back then, it was 2% of the purchase price with a 10-12 year scale to a minimum of about $30/yr.
I have friends that live in Utah, and trailers that weigh less than 750 lbs empty don't have to registered or plated, regardless of the GVW. There are a few states that don't license small utility trailers.