enclosed trailers

[LawnsRUsInc.]

Does anyone that owns enclosed trailers seen the benifits from it verse open trailers. Example... advertising, secure storage, costs less than storing equip in shop. I would appreciate any comments from you all.

I want a big new trailer to haul behind my new diesel dump truck that i pick up on wed "I cant wait anymore"

Thanks, Jason

[PLI1]

more secure, it can be stored outside without the elements getting to your equipment. You can put your company advertising on it in larger easier to see print and graphics vs. open trailers. Slightly less temptation to theives because they can't see exactly what all is inside, but if they want your stuff they will get to it one way or another. I find there is more wind drag when driving high speeds vs. open trailer. Hope this helps some. I have wells cargo trailers and they are very good.

[Harry0]

I use open trailers. I like jumping out of the truck and grabbing a trimmer and working in 6 seconds. I can see the advantage of not unloading but we unload at the shop anyway for maintenance and change of equipment. My 2 cents -Harry:D

[myoder]

I have an enclosed trailer and love it... don't have to load/unload equipment into garage everyday, equipment is protected from the elements, and alot of customers comment on how nice the trailer is and it looks very professional.

[sodzilla]

I want to get an enclosed trailer but can't swing the $ this year. I priced trailers this fall for a 18 or 20' bumper hitch was around $4,200. I also priced a 20' gooseneck for around $7,200. I would prefer a gooseneck because I use to haul cattle and have over 900,000 miles of experiance towing them. I can get on in and out of really tight spots. I can even paralel park one on the street around cars if I had to. Not to sure about bumper hitch though. Can't turn as tight. It sure would be nice to have a big billboard behind you going down the road.

A guy in the town I live has a V-nose snowmobile trailer. He takes the walkbehind out the front ramp and the Z out the back door. Really nice setup.

[P.Smitty]

I've been thinking the same thing. Its raining in NC right now on Valentines day, and I just got done cutting. Got home, spent 10-15 minutes grabbing tarps, securing them, major waste of time. Last week we had snow, put 5 layers of tarps on the equipment. I got a 18' open trailer now, probaly keep that. Kind of worried about spending more money, when I'll probaly pick up a walk-behind this summer, to help keep hours on my rider from getting too high. Enclosed are nice, if you have the money too spend.:blob2: Power Stores Rule!!!!

[MudslinginFX4]

Welcome to the site P. Smitty. Another person from Raleigh!

[Eric 1]

You were cutting today? Am i doing somthing wrong because i have not cut since about the end of nov.:confused:

[amw]

enclosed trailers also have more resale value
If your pulling it with a diesel i wouldnt worry about the drag
I pull 7-8000lbs all summer with a diesel and i forget its their...
I also agree that you cant beat the "billboard" behind you
I would say i get atleat 1 call everyday im out from people who saw the trailer.

It also looks much cleaner to the public

the only thing i dont like about them is....
their hot as h*ll depending on what you have in the way of vents & how hot your equipment is when you put it back in the trailer..

[Randy Scott]

Originally posted by LawnsRUsInc.
Does anyone that owns enclosed trailers seen the benifits from it verse open trailers. Example... advertising, secure storage, costs less than storing equip in shop. I would appreciate any comments from you all.



All of the above as you mentioned.

A drawback is visibility. Always need a little extra caution when you can't see as much behind you. Pulling is never a problem with todays diesel trucks. Ours is a 20 footer, 8000 GVW and with two lazers and a walkbehind, tools, in it, etc.., it pullls like a dream.

[sweetjetskier]

we have owned two enclosed trailers and they do have many benefits over open trailers in my opinion, but they are more expensive, heavier, more to register and you need to have a reliable driver towing them as they can be damaged very easily mainly to the outside shell. We have eliminated mowing and now only use open trailers for bobcatsand moving plant material.

[mowinmoney]

After yearly evaluations of where time is wasted dealing with open trailers was number 1 for us. Unless you have bays you can drive your truck/trailers into for storage you can count on 15 minutes a day loading and unloading from/to storage. in this business that's alot of wasted time, We are going to vanscapers and wells cargo enclosed. hopefully this pays off for us, if not at least we go down looking great!

[Katwalk]

Big fan of enclosed trailers here. Advertising and professionalism are up there on the list. The load/unload theory applies to all the small equipment IE:blowers, trimmers, hedge trimmers, rakes, gas cans etc. We have to take the mowers off every afternoon to clean air filters and sharpen blades anyhow so open/closed wouldn't matter. However, when you get to a property and there is a branch snapped off a tree and dangling over the lawn, it is nice to be able to go to the trailer, get the pole pruner, cut the limb and get rid of it rather than having to send someone back to the shop to get the proper tool. It does get hot inside in the summer and usuallly smells of fuel.

[Acute Cut]

I am in the process of setting up an enclosed 7 (or 8 i am not sure) by 16. First day i hauled it to a job i was on the way to anyways. I had to cut some bushes and small branches off of some red tiped dogwoods. I WISHED i had my open trailer that day. It was a real pain trying to put brush and brances in there after the truck was full.

Also, i know that on a nice tight route (2 minutes or less between houses) the enclosed seems like it will take longer. I know that with the open trailer i can pull up and as i go to put down the gate my helper can get in the open trailer and start mower and pull off as soon as i set it down. Same issue with trimmer. Plus, when blowing down driveways and such i can pull out of driveway and he can blow all of it and then toss the blower on the rack on his way back to the truck. Seems like this enclosed will take longer, but i will just have to see i guess.

[PMLAWN]

+ Carry more stuff--harder to steal-- no rain ,snow-- someplace to go wee (very important)--in heavy rain can go in and work on stuff or at least throw all the stuff in and strap down at leisure--pack in a lot of pine needles in the spring--easier to lock everything-- BILLBOARD, BIG BILLBOARD-

-Heavy--hard to see behind--hard to get trimmers off quick,--Big$'s--can be tight to get around inside when full--may want to insure that much $ investment--may be to tall to get inside a garage.
I have an enclosed 8x14 and I like working from it. My next rig (a long time from now) I would like to be a enclosed box truck.