• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

New Trailer

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Johnday recently posted some photos of a trailer he just picked up and I figured I would post some photos of the new trailer I had built.

Mine is a 7000#GVW trailer, dual axle, with electric brakes, and torsion spring axles. The bed is 7' wide by 14' long. It replaced a 6' by 14' trailer that I broke . . . and it taught me a few things . . . so when we designed this one we made it better.

There license plate holder is rubber so it will bend & flex instead of bending the license plate. The tail lights are also attached to very heavy angle that protects them on 2 sides and extend about 3/4" wider than the tail lights to offer some protection to the side also.

You will also see that the rail does not go all the way to the back of the trailer, it terminates at the rear of wheel covers, this is because a wide implement will be easier to load and pallets will be easier to unload without that rail going all the way to the rear. By terminating at the rear of the wheel covers, it provided a significant amount of protection from abuse and also offers rigidity when they are used as a step.

There are stake pockets and a reinforcement rail too.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0006.jpg
    IMG_0006.jpg
    146.2 KB · Views: 342
  • IMG_0004.jpg
    IMG_0004.jpg
    134.8 KB · Views: 332
  • IMG_0007.jpg
    IMG_0007.jpg
    111.3 KB · Views: 344

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
The ramps are removable ramps instead of tip up ramps, I like them better because long loads can be more easily accomodated if the ramps don't tip up. I had considered slide under ramps, but it seemed to be overkill for my needs.

There is an LED marker light at the front corners for visiblity. All the wiring is heat shrinked at the connections. The hand crank is a heavy duty unit, much smoother and easier than the cheap-o one I had on my former trailer.

The rear is reinforced with a heavy wall box tube and the entire frame is made with box steel instead of angle iron. The only angle iron is the rail that runs around the front 2/3rds of the trailer and part of the tongue where I can drill and install a trailer box to hold chain.

I had the fenders reinforced front, back and under the center because people often use them as steps and the fender steel is pretty light and tends to bend.

The ball clamp at the front is a heavy duty type that secures and locks as opposed to the more common lighter duty types.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0001.jpg
    IMG_0001.jpg
    190.9 KB · Views: 359
  • IMG_0002.jpg
    IMG_0002.jpg
    176.5 KB · Views: 341
  • IMG_0003.jpg
    IMG_0003.jpg
    145.5 KB · Views: 333

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
And best of all, the spare tire of this trailer actually holds air :thumb:

On the last trailer I broke out the rear angle iron and collapsed the whole back of the trailer when a broken pallet snagged the angle iron on the tail as I was driving it off the trailer with my tractor, it was a short, but not very fun ride straight down as the rear end collapsed!

This trailer is also wide enough to haul the Snow Trac, in additon to my tractors. The trailer was built by my neighbor and friend and many of the ideas on improving this trailer were his . . . but were inspired by the repairs he made to my old trailer after every outing when I would break off something else:whistle:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0008.jpg
    IMG_0008.jpg
    158.9 KB · Views: 342
  • IMG_0005.jpg
    IMG_0005.jpg
    144.4 KB · Views: 334
  • IMG_0009.jpg
    IMG_0009.jpg
    134.5 KB · Views: 333

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Great trailer.

I was going to ask to borrow it until I saw the color. Not compatable with my Orange stuff.

Jim
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Jim the color is actually my company color so it matches my truck fleet. It almost matches the New Holland blue, but is actually the bright blue color used by Pepsi Cola.
 

daedong

New member
Bob

Nice trailer,
If the bed is 7' wide what is the overall breadth, what is the max by law you can tow?
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, wanna use my new trailer? My old one was a bit too short. This one is 35' with three 12k axles. Your stuff would probably fit on it without and issues. :D
 

Attachments

  • newtrailer.jpg
    newtrailer.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 328

johnday

The Crazy Scot, #3
SUPER Site Supporter
Nice trailer Bob!!!:thumb: Looks like some thinking went into it too. :a1: Are those Dexter torsion axles? Thats what I've got on my Haulmark, thing rides like a cloud, very little bouncing. What do you pull it with?:tiphat::beer:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Vin . . . I'm not sure what the legal maximum width is, but this is well inside the maximum. It is narrower than most of my trucks! I would guess it is just about 8.5' wide, and a 7' bed width is probalby the most common width for dual axle trailers.


John . . . actually I saw your trailer and thought it was very nice in the other thread and thought some people might like to see what we did (I don't say I did because most of the ideas came from my neighbor). What I do know is that my prior trailer was very inexpensive when I bought it, and had it not been for a good friend/neighbor who could put it back together, it would have been a lot more expensive to keep/repair. The main reason I got rid of it is it could not tow the Snow Trac since the bed was too narrow . . . afterall, it had been repaired and beefed up to the point where it would not break again, but honestly something broke on it just about every-other time it was used!

I don't know the brand of the torsion axles, all I know is that he used the same axles on the trailers he uses to haul his race cars and those trailers pull like a dream (as does this one).

I have 3 trucks for pulling it. VW Touareg, Mercury Mountaineer, and a Chevy Silverado P/U.
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
Jim the color is actually my company color so it matches my truck fleet. It almost matches the New Holland blue, but is actually the bright blue color used by Pepsi Cola.

oops, should have realized it was a company vehicle when you mentioned loading pallets.

The Kubota still wouldn't be happy though. The cup holder has never had a Pepsi in it, just the stuff in a red can from Atlanta.

Jim
 

AndyM

Charter Member
jim slagle said:
The Kubota still wouldn't be happy though. The cup holder has never had a Pepsi in it, just the stuff in a red can from Atlanta.

Jim

I don't mean to get off the subject, but I was in Atlanta once... I was somewhere down there and asked for a Diet Pepsi... BIG mistake! :pat:
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
Vin . . . I'm not sure what the legal maximum width is, but this is well inside the maximum. It is narrower than most of my trucks!

Maximum width is 101"

My 12' single axle is 81" inside, just shy of 7'. I can put 3 quads in it sideways. Nice rig Bob!
 

Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
Very nice trailer and I hope that you get a lot of good service out of it. That is the positive side of my comment...... Now, not to be negative, however, I suggest that you visit this site and get all the lighting and reflector requirements implemented. The thing that I noticed immediately was the lack of reflectors and the red/yellow light on top of the fenders. One of the reasons that I mention this is because there was a vendor at the Carlisle PA swap meet that had a new home made trailer out for its maiden trip and he was pulled into the weigh station for inspection. The DOT guys gave him a whole bunch of violation summons for not having all the required reflectors, reflective tape, corner lights, etc. The fines totaled up to over $500. He said that he was going to go to court to try to get it knocked down, but it would have been a lot less expensive to check on the requirements and add the lights had he known........ Junk...
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nice trailer Bob.

What's your plan for storing the ramps?

My trailer has similar ramps. There's channels under the trailer just in front of the license plate. The ramps slide in there and have a pin to keep them in place.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Junk . . . I'm guessing state laws vary? This trailer has 2 side lights, no reflectors. My old trailer had 1 side light, no reflector. Both passed inspections to get their license plates. But I will look into reflective issues because now you have me thinking!


bczoom. . . I just leave them on the bed, they are strapped down when the trailer is empty, and held in with binders between/in front of implements/equipment when the trailer is loaded. The ramps are 6' long to make it easier to get ice cream coolers and pop coolers loaded/unloaded. It would have been pretty easy to get a 5' ramp under the bed, but the longer 6' ramps would have required that we raise the bed. This trailer sits nice and low. Low enough that I can back up to it and lift things off with pallet forks on the 3pt hitch. That allows me to easily load 6 pallets on the trailer and pull them off from the rear without ever using the ramps. (a strap or chain is used to pull the pallets to the rear where they are lifted off with the forks). I will say that if the load height was not an issue & the trailer was 16' or 18' long, I would have had the ramps tucked under the bed, but at only 14' long tucking them under the bed was not a real option for me.


AndyM . . . I've found that many hotels have Diet Pepsi but you have to order it via room service. They treat it like a secret stash of gold. I'm addicted to the stuff in the blue can, if someplace only has red can rot-gut I prefer to go without!
 

humor_me

New member
B_Skurka said:
Jim the color is actually my company color so it matches my truck fleet. It almost matches the New Holland blue, but is actually the bright blue color used by Pepsi Cola.

"Yeah, that way the company pays for the paint":thumb: :eek:
 

Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
B_Skurka said:
Junk . . . I'm guessing state laws vary? This trailer has 2 side lights, no reflectors. My old trailer had 1 side light, no reflector. Both passed inspections to get their license plates. But I will look into reflective issues because now you have me thinking!

The site that I referenced is the Federal Department of Transportation. Those are the basic requirements that all states must abide by. The individual states can require additional lighting for trailers that are registered in that state, but they can't enforce it upon trailers traveling through the state that are registered in other states. They can and do enforce the weight limitations and brake requirements no matter where the trailer is registered. Enforcement is selective, but you don't want to run into the guys that do truck/trailer inspections and enforcement, because they know all the rules and regulations. That is how they make the money for the state. You also want to make sure that the registration is for a high enough weight class for whatever you carry. Registration fees are usually based on how much weight you declare on the application that you intend to carry. Even though the trailer is capable of 7000 pounds, if you register it for 2000 pounds and you get caught hauling 4000 pounds, you are overweight by 2000 pounds.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
:mad: :mad: :mad:

While we are talking about reflectors, I can tell you that having them all down the side of my trailer didn't help last night. After doing a 'good deed' and mowing a large field for my MIL, I had some moron ram the side of mine while I was making a sweeping turn into my driveway! It was after dark and I have enough lights on my truck and trailer to make it look like a Christmas tree.

Anyway, I have to go halfway off of the left side of the road to almost jack knife my rig to make the turn between the brick walls that designate the entrance to my driveway. It's not easy with such a long truck and trailer, but I can make it. There was nobody ahead of me (which allows me to take the left lane on the two lane road) and there was nobody behind me. Great! I slowly swing to the far left side of the road about 100 yards from my driveway (to get the trailer all the way over there), make sure my right turn signal stays on, look in my side mirror to see if anyone is behind me (there wasn't) and then at my mark make the slow sharp right turn into my driveway. As I'm about to enter my driveway (at about 1 mph) I see a flash to my right and some moron in a Town Car bounces off of the side rear of the trailer and the front of my truck and off of a protective steel post that is right next to my brick columns. The guy proceeds about 200 yards off into a field next to my driveway sliding all around fish tailing!

I finish making the turn into my driveway to clear the roadway and by then the guy pulls up next to my truck. He gets out of his car and heads my way, so I get out too. On his way towards me, he shouts "I'm gonna whip your ass!". Not having a good day, all I do is start sprinting towards him to take him up on his offer. The ass then runs back to his car, jumps in, and locks his door! Jerk! I politely explain to him that I'm ready for my ass whipping. For some reason he seems to have changed his mind. I'm thinking that the last time I punched out a driver's side window my hand hurt for weeks, so I'm thinking that a side kick ought to do the job...

Anyway, the guy finally calms down and apoligizes, but still asks why I hit him. WTF!! I invite him to just call 911 and we will let the witnesses who have now gathered all give their stories to the police along with each of us. I don't see any damage on my truck and it appears that he bounced off of the tow hooks sticking out the front and my steel post is not bent but is painted a bit of the color of his car. He changes his mind and just leaves.

The people there who saw the incident said that the guy who hit me came up on me at 50 mph or more (in a 30 zone) and still should have seen all the lights on the truck and trailer besides all the reflectors down the side of the trailer as I was making my turn. They said that it looked like there was a dozen reflectors glowing bright red and white on the side of my trailer and that the guy should have been able to see the rig for at lease 1/4 mile away as he approached at his relatively high rate of speed.

Oh well, off track, sorry, but the mention of reflectors reminded me of what was discussed last night. Hell, I had a nice big branch spring up off of my FEL and snap my level indicator right off last night too. :mad: As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, huh?! Oh, at least two of the witnesses said that they were disappointed when the guy decided that he wasn't going to whip my ass. I'm really not all that big, but I guess when I immediately took him up on his offer, he must not have really wanted to test his skills. I guess it's a good thing for us all in hindsight. Keep mellow, keep mellow, keep mellow...
 
Top