Open Trailers are Better Than Enclosed

[JimLewis]

Originally Posted by THORNTON SERVICES LLC

and sometimes we need equipment to do the landscaping ....... alot of times we use a small kubotoa 2320 tractor with front end loader to unload the mulch and get it where it needs to go etc , the truck thing will probally only work for small jobs. We do the landscaping seperate from the mowing also never at the same time .......

So if I am reading this correctly, you're trying to use the same trailer that you use for your daily mowing route for when you do landscaping projects as well? I think that's part of the problem. Maybe you're not doing enough landscaping to justify it, I don't know. But most companies would have two different trailers. One for the daily mowing operations and another for landscaping jobs.

We have it set up so that all of our maintenance accounts have enclosed trailers that just contain their mowers, trimmers, blowers, etc. and our landscape construction crews have big dual-axle trailers that are used for that kind of work. So if we need something to haul a Bobcat or something heavy, we use that trailer.

I guess if you're trying to do it all with one trailer, than yah - open trailers is the way to go. But if you can, it's better to have separate trailers for separate jobs/crews. IMO, enclosed trailers are best for maintenance and open dual-axle trailers are best for construction crews.

[Richard Martin]

Originally Posted by JimLewis

What do you mean by that? We re-fuel the same as we ever did. Gas cans.

Some people use the radical concept of putting the fuel directly in the mower, thereby eliminating the gas can step.

[JimLewis]

Originally Posted by Richard Martin

Some people use the radical concept of putting the fuel directly in the mower, thereby eliminating the gas can step.

I don't know that this is radical. Just a different set up. If you got big mowers and you can pull up to a gas station and fuel them up enough that they last all day long, awesome. More power to you. We're running smaller mowers and we're mowing 16-22 lawns a day with them. So we have to refuel them a couple times a day, usually. And since we don't want to have to stop by gas stations several times a day (we typically stop once every 2 days) then we use gas cans.

I guess this issue of trailers is just like a lot of threads here on Lawnsite: there is no one solution or way to do it that works for everyone. What works perfectly for some situations may not work at all for others. We're all in different areas, doing a different number of lawns every day, using different size equipment, some of us haul clippings away, others mulch, each of our needs are different. So this thread is like most others in that way, I guess. YMMV.

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by THORNTON SERVICES LLC

no many of our accounts get alot of mulch , and sometimes we need equipment to do the landscaping , also its so much easier to unload the mulch with a pitch fork and wheel barrow out of a trailer with a gate than to deal with a truck , alot of times we use a small kubotoa 2320 tractor with front end loader to unload the mulch and get it where it needs to go etc , the truck thing will probally only work for small jobs. We do the landscaping seperate from the mowing also never at the same time unless its like weeding a small mulch bed or something small , we have done real small projects on the lawn care route but I just throw a few bags of mulch in the trailer or truck for that. How are you guys that run enclosed trailers refueling your equipment?

We do 300+ yards out of the back of a truck. I can't see how a dump trailer would be easier if you are unloading with a machine, also, how do you transport the machine with the trailer being filled with mulch? I agree with Jim, different areas and different set ups dictate the equipment being used.

[Chris Feenan]

I can't see how a dump trailer would be easier if you are unloading with a machine

I think you misunderstood him. He said

its so much easier to unload the mulch with a pitch fork and wheel barrow out of a trailer with a gate than to deal with a truck

I agree. There is no easier way get mulch to a cleanup than on an open trailer with a gate. Roll the wheelbarrows up, large scoop shovel off a smooth, flat surface, back out and go. Two laborers can move 5 yds to exactly where it needs to go in 1 hour.

I have a friend that uses a Masons dump. He dumps it on the street because he can. He thinks this is somehow speeding him up. Then he shovels it off the street the same way that we do off of our open trailers. But, if we have extra, we don't use it. if he has extra, he either donates it to the homeowner, or shovels it back on his dump. Then he cleans the street.Why ? We are long gone by then, and he paid a heck of a lot more in gas to drive his dump around all day, plus insurance, maintenance, etc.

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by THORNTON SERVICES LLC

no many of our accounts get alot of mulch , and sometimes we need equipment to do the landscaping , also its so much easier to unload the mulch with a pitch fork and wheel barrow out of a trailer with a gate than to deal with a truck , alot of times we use a small kubotoa 2320 tractor with front end loader to unload the mulch and get it where it needs to go etc , the truck thing will probally only work for small jobs. We do the landscaping seperate from the mowing also never at the same time unless its like weeding a small mulch bed or something small , we have done real small projects on the lawn care route but I just throw a few bags of mulch in the trailer or truck for that. How are you guys that run enclosed trailers refueling your equipment?

I don't think I misunderstood anything.

[Chris Feenan]

I can't see how a dump trailer would be easier if you are unloading with a machine,

He wasn't talking about using a dump trailer.

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by Chris Feenan

He wasn't talking about using a dump trailer.

I did assume he was talking about dumping mulch on a dump trailer and not a utility trailer, (no one around here does that.) Also your buddy should back his truck as close to the beds as he can and shovel the material from the back of the truck instead of dumping at the furthest point (the street) and wheeling from there.

[Chris Feenan]

Are you serious?

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by Chris Feenan

Are you serious?

If you mean mulch on utility trailers yes. I have seen it done once by a guy pulling it with a 1/2 ton pickup. Well he wasn't really pulling it, it was sitting in front of one of our commercial accounts after the axle let go. People expect properties to be bagged around me so everyone has a dump truck or a slide in dumper.