Crash course on trailers?

[Vibe Ray]

Hey guys...I am thinking about going the truck and trailer route. I have been using a Chevy cargo van up until now. I have no real experience w/ trailers and have no idea wahat to get. I have heard many terms here on lawnsite about trailers, but I don't know exactly what they mean. What are all the things to look for in a trailer? How much do I spend for this or that one. I am a one man show for now and will probably stay that way for a little while, but will eventually hire help. Basically I need a crash course on trailers. What are all the possible widths and lengths? For now I will go with an open trailer, not enclosed. Does it become very difficult to maneuver after a certain size and what are the best trucks to tow with? Anything else I can think of later I will post later.

Thanx

[SIG]

Are you planning on getting a Z mower? I would suggest 6'x 16' with a mesh gate. I would not go smaller than 16' long. I pull my trailer with a 1999 F-350. By the way i love that truck!!! You should be able to get that trailer for less than $2000.00.

[HarryD]

depends do you have a place you can store it or park it . i have a garage i put mine in so i can leave all my equipment on it.
even though ya only have one walk behind i would get a 16 footer if ya have the space to put it

[Vibe Ray]

My primary equipment is listed in my signature as well as many other odds and ends things I have will go in it.
I want to add a question, too. What are all the possible options a trailer can have? Such as you mention a "mesh gate"....are there many different types of gates and what do u have to say about them? I have heard things such as tounge heavy, max weight capacity, and angle iron and channel iron and should I go w/ dual axles or dual wheels or whatever and what about side ramps or brakes and tail lights....I have heard all of these things before and most of them I don't know anything about and would like to learn about them. What kind of specs should it have? Any brand names better? Where is a good place to get them?Or.....

An offbeat truly unimportant thing just 4 fun....which color if were possible to choose?

Thanx again

[Vibe Ray]

Harry I have a garage that is 21' 6" deep so I have the space, yes.

And by the way my Exmark Lazer HP is a rider.....in case ya didn't know

[gogetter]

Ray keep in mind that a 16' trailer is really going be to about 20' or longer. The floor space is 16', but the tongue can add 4' to 6'.

My little 5' x 10' trailer just fits into my 10'x20' garage. The wheel wells take it to 7' wide and my garage door is a standard 8' door, so I only have about 6" left over on each side when backing in.

The overall length is about 15' or 16'. I only have a few feet behind my trailer where I have a shelf unit against the back wall of the garage to store stuff on.

I don't think I could even get a 6' wide trailer through the door and I couldn't go any longer then a 12' long one.

If I were you I'd go around to local trailer dealers and look at them in person and ask them questions.

My 5'x10' was around $700. I wish I could get a larger one. Someday I'm going with an enclosed one.

[Vibe Ray]

Ok....great! I didn't know that...I thought that those were the dimensions of the total overall width and length.

[1stclasslawns]

I have a 14" by 6'4" wide single axel with out brakes, I pull it with a '97 k3500 chevy 4x4 with duels. With out any problem at all , I could pull a much bigger trailer if I needed too.

All that being said I carry a 48" JD w/b a 61" Great dane Z a 21" trim mower and a gas edger along with a few misc things on it. I have put a large plastic truck box on the toung fro blades weedeater line and "stuff". It has a 4' drop gate on the back and is all I need. I will one day get a 16' er but my old 1/2 ton did a great job with the trailer it went throught the brakes though.

Jim

[We do 4 U]

When buyimg a trailer don"t do what I did, buy one for what you need at the moment. You will neede bigger and better later on so go ahead and spend the extra $ now. That being said the things I look for in a trailer are at least 2' high expanded metal sides ( great for hauling mulch), greaseable hubs ( so you won't have to repack them), a fold down tounge jack, at least a 4' rear fold donw gate, a side gate, dual axle with brakes and like was said before, at least 16'.
Buy the way I'm in the market for a trailer for myself, my third in 3 years because I didn't follow my own advise.

[yardman1]

I have a 6' 6" by 14' square tube tandem axle trailer with 2' foot enclosed sides with custom weedater racks and blower racks on both sides, it also has a big metal box on the front that you can put stuff inside and lock it. I pull this with a 2000 f-150 4x4 with the 5.4 engine and it pulls it just fine.

[ADMowing]

WOW -- Down here in Florida, you can get a dual axle utility trailer with ramp gate 6' x 16' from around $900 with 2' mesh sides. In Hudson there is a place called R & R Unlimited and we just bought our enclosed (6 1/2' x 16' x 7' tall) for $3350 from a guy who's family makes them in Crestview Florida. If you want to drive to get one, you'll pay a lot less than $2000 for an open trailer.

In fact, we are selling our single axle 6' x 12' trailer with ramp gate and 2' mesh sides (black) with pressure treated plank bottom -- in great shape for $600.

Dennis White Trailers (Riverview Florida) (813) 672-3655 is the guy with the enclosed trailers, dump trailers and utility trailers for GREAT prices!!!

A & D

[yardboyltd]

Colors: I was going to get my trailer painted candy apple red to match my dodge and my equipment, but I changed my mind to black. The simple reason is if I use another truck the red might not look as good. Same thing if I went to sell it... Gloss Black is common, but it's common for a reason.

[MSYardman]

You need to go see Lisa or Jim at Northshore Trailer Sales. Their address is 67296 Highway 41 in Pearl River. They have a good selection of open trailers and they carry quality.

Their email address is NTSSales@aol.com and their website is www.NorthshoreTrailerSales.com

good luck.

[Phil Egnatz]

I Just Sold My 16ft er Sunday My Parents forced me to since im 16 it was the first person interested yet i solf it for 850 cash
a 16 Ft is about 19 ft 6" long with tonge you can find a new one around here for 865 no ramps

oh i have a set of trimmertraps for sale $75 if interested
holds 3 traps get elec brakes and side ramp oh the rear mesh gate costs about $150 extra hope this info helps oh i would look on e bay maybe ? but if interested in the 865$ new on they have about 200 of them

[HarryD]

hey ray check out h&h trailers web site there are some trailer pics in there thats like the one we do 4 U was talking about with the 2 foot sides they have dealers in texas not sure how far you are from them

http://www.hhtrailer.com/indexmain.html


i also have a garage the same size as yours and my 16 footer just fits with about 5 inchs to spare from the door
i also use a floor jack under my trailer jack makes for quik hookups and if you arent precise with your backing ya can roll the jack to the ball :D

[65hoss]

My 18' trailer is probably to big for most people. 14' to 16' is probably the most versatile. I have plenty of room and can put several mowers on it if needed. I had this one built out of square tube and built very heavy so I could haul tractors and car if needed. Its a great trailer, but it is very heavy. Get as wide a trailer as you can. It really helps. My floor width is 6'7".

This is a picture take in the fall during leaf season:
http://www.lawngodfather.com/trailer2.jpg

[65hoss]

Thought I would add this, if parking at jobsites is a problem you really need to be careful of the truck and trailer lenght. My 1990 Chevy regular cab LW base and 18' trailer total out at 39'8". It would really limit me if my client base was small lots. Just something else to think about.

[Doogiegh]

First off, who are your current customers? Commericial accounts with huge parking lots that you can park with no problem, large/medium residential with ample street parking and long street-length (curbside) parking, or smaller residential, where getting a truck, with a 16' trailer (really 19 to 20 foot) parked would be a major operation.

Remember the clock starts ticking as soon as you hit the brakes to park. So if it takes you 5 minutes to manuever the thing into position so that you don't get a parking ticket or cause problems, then the trailer is too big.

What kinda stuff you want to carry? ZTR's, a walk behind, a small 21" push? Do you use the green garbage cans? Do you bag your properties where you need space for clippings to be dumped or whatever? Lots of tools to add on the floor, or are you getting a rack system like trimmertrap?

I started out with a 4 foot by 8 foot trailer. Basically a sheet of plywood on a metal frame, single axle. Pulled it at first with my wifes Jeep Cheroke Sport V-6, no problem at all, now with my Dodge ram 1500 Quad cab with the 4.7 engine. Again, no problem and no need for trailer brakes. I can fit on the trailer my 32" walk behind and my 22" push mower fine and dandy. Parking is quick and simple, and I can put tools on the trailer OR in the bed of my truck.. Problem is where to stick clippings or debris? I try to keep my truck as nice as possible so putting all the **** in the bed of the truck is a real pain to empty out after the day.. and gets real messy to the truck.

I picked up a 7' by 16' trailer from a friend. The trailer needed some work at first, but it's coming along terrific.

First I redid the flooring cause it was plywood. Now it's pressure treated 5/4" by 6" by 16' decking which is nice. I also wood sealed it so it should last for a long time. I redid the entire light kit and spray painted the whole trailer with 2 coats of gloss black
paint. If you look in the picture, I added on 4 metal posts to the side of the trailer. They will hold on the green garbage cans so now I can easily bag customers who need it bagged, dump and when I get home, easily empty the cans out with no problem at all. No truck mess and no trailer mess. On the front of the trailer, I put in a wood block to secure down gas cans, both a 5 gallon regular and a 1 gallon 2-in-1-mix as well as my grass gobbler catcher to the side.

I also made my own Easy Gate system with some creativity from Home Depot parts and a garage opener spring (160 lb spring, heaviest capacity one they sell). I at first put one assist on the passenger side and it did a very good job, so to make it better, I added one to the driver side. Now the gate which I swear used to weigh 100 or more lbs I can lift with 1 arm, not strained. The garage door springs have a safety cable running thru them, as well as being enclosed in the PVC Piping.

Only thing I have to do is fix one axle that is bent and replace the tires, but I'll get to that. Then I'll add trimmer trap racks and I'm all set. :)

I have a much easier time backing up the 16 foot trailer then the 8 foot one cause the 8 foot one wiggles on the back of the truck worse than a snake in water. The 16' is more stable back behind the truck, but you can feel it's added weight when you want to stop.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

Gary

[Tony Harrell]

I moved my lights and tag to the bottom of my rear gate. I don't take the gate off but if I did, I could put some connectors for the lights. I have a trailer just like the one I posted about and now I'm redoing all the bad stuff. For instance: the ramp was slanted back and the weld broke so I used my sawzall to cut the **** off and took it to a reputable machine shop for repairs. Now it's straight up and solid as a rock. I had them move the PITA light and tag combo to the gate also. I'll post some pics Saturday afternoon for you.

[Vibe Ray]

Thank you very much so far guys!

Now let me adress many things.....I will go into more detail later.....I have to catch a movie soon! (Minority Report). My current cuxtomers are all residential and will probably still be the majority of my customers in the future. I guess they classify as medium size. Not too hard to park a big trailer, but not too easy either. I have a 44" Lazer HP 4 now. I'll probably get a larger Lazer in the future as well. I plan on buying a trimmer trap and maybe blower rack and maybe a tool box storage of some sort somehow. I mulch all the time. Gotta get...see ya later

[ProMo]

i went enclosed and love it especially with all the rain financed it a couple years ago pmnt is 100 dollars a month still got to get it lettered i use bagged mulch now and can put a lot of bags in there i use mulch express for larger jobs becuse they charge 29 a yard and i charge 60-70 so i never had to pack it my equipment loves it as well

[Vibe Ray]

What do you guys think of fifth wheel trailers?

[rkbrown]

Ray: a 5th wheel or gooseneck trailer would be overkill...usually meant for 20'+ heavy equipment haulers...and would take away vauable bedspace, imho.

Doogiegh: nice job on that rebuild !!