New truck or trailer?

[Eatonpcat]

I purchased a $100 popup stripped it down to the frame and rebuilt it into a wood hauler. ( I am not saying for you to strip and rebuild ) reason being it has no motor and I can pull it with anything that has a hitch. This means your not reliant on a motorized truck only for you firewood.
Pete

I have the same popup trailer out front... Tires look like donuts, but it still hauls what I need. Trailer was free, had to rewire, into it for about $100!

 

[mattjm1017]

Why not keep the Wranger and buy a cheap truck?

Got my diesel 93 GMC 1 ton 4wd for $2k, put $1k into it, and have a fairly reliable truck that gets 15-18mpg and can handle 2 tons in the bed and have pulled 10k with it.

That was the original idea but I couldn't find anything for a decent price. Now after more consideration I think Im going to wait and buy a trailer and just deal with
that until I can save up and get a decent used truck. I found a nice trailer at Lowes for 1k its a 5x8 that should do decently behind the wrangler. I think Im just getting the itch for a new vehicle that and I hate pulling a trailer. Pete I like the idea of stripping down an old popup that would make for a nice wood hauler.

 

[Highbeam]

Larger trailers are easier to back up and pull. Not the weight thing but just longer trailers in general. I hate backing up those short trailers where by the time you see that you are getting crooked, the whole thing is jackknifed.

I have a big 10k carhauler trailer but is sucks at hauling wood. No actual sides and stake pocket solutions are hokey.

I have discovered that one cord of wood is about all I want to process and haul out of the woods in one load anyways so I just built sides for the pickup and load it full. I can get one cord in the truck and no worries about licensing an extra trailer.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Sometimes you can score a good load (5 ton) of wood at a very good price (Or free) but its pretty far to drive. having access to a good sized trailer can save you a lot of trips back and forth. And as a lot of the bigger trailers also dump, can save some work there as well.

 

[Highbeam]

And as a lot of the bigger trailers also dump, can save some work there as well.

While it would be super cool to have a dump trailer, I assure you, most of them do not dump. In fact, most of the larger trailers do not dump since a dump trailer only needs to have about 2CY of yards of gravel (way over 6000lbs) before the combined weight of trailer (an easy 4000) and load exceed what most trucks can pull. 2CY is a small volume, less than what fits in a pickup bed below the rails.

When looking for trailers to haul my tractor I thought it would be cool to have one that dumps as well. Pretty slick if you could load the trailer with material using the tractor and then dump it or haul gravel and then spread it. Well, I quickly found out that trailer manufacturers do not commonly make a dump trailer big enough to haul a car or tractor.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I guess it depends on the area. About 75% of the trailers i see around here do dump. Lots of contractors (myself included)giving up a stand alone dump truck in favor of a dump trailer. My truck GM K2500 can tow 12000 Lbs
My Sons dump trailer weighs 4000 So legally i can put 4 tons(8000) on it and as far as CY with the extended side panels he built for it, it will haul about 4-6 times what i can get on my truck bed depending on how high it can be stacked.

 

[FanMan]

I used to have a Jeep CJ5. Had a trailer converted from a small popup camper (used popups are cheap or even free) with 2' high sides, made a nice combo unless I drove it too fast, when it got terrifying. Finally got rid of it in favor of a small pickup when I had to do a lot of highway driving (CJ5 is a drag on the highway, a Wrangler is better).

 

[ironpony]

O.K. I am going chime in finally.....................
buy a used Dodge 2500 with the Cummins in it. It will get 18+ MPG and run forever, it not uncommon to go 400,000 miles with one.
if you do not mind a dually get the 3500 and you can usually find them cheaper.
you can get a good one for 7-8000 and also a trailer if you want for another 4 easy.
or just buy the truck and save the rest.

 

[BrianK]

What's the best MPG pickup out there for $12000? or what's a good trailer to get I'm debating on whether to trade in my wrangler for a truck or just buy a trailer ( something I hate having to use )

I just did a quick search on our local classified. Good deal here:

18 ft utility trailor (48 views)

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04:06 pm, 15 April, 2013
Asking Price: $900.00
For Sale: 92, 18 ft dual axle utility tailor double six foot ramps removable two foot sides that go with it. I had it rated at 3000lb not sure what the axle weight is. Front axle has hydraulic brakes on it ,but I don't have the electronic brake caliber for it to work. It has fourteen inch tires in good shape. New wiring and lights . I used it for wood and cars don't need it anymore like to get 900 obo 814 644 8437

 

[mattjm1017]

O.K. I am going chime in finally.....................
buy a used Dodge 2500 with the Cummins in it. It will get 18+ MPG and run forever, it not uncommon to go 400,000 miles with one.
if you do not mind a dually get the 3500 and you can usually find them cheaper.
you can get a good one for 7-8000 and also a trailer if you want for another 4 easy.
or just buy the truck and save the rest.

Man I would love to have something like that. Ive pretty much decided to go for a used truck just don't know when Ill be able to do it.

I just did a quick search on our local classified. Good deal here:

I don't have anything that can pull something that big just my wrangler. Im looking at a smaller trailer at lowes for the time being. I think that it looks like for the time being to be a little more financially smart Im going to just get a trailer. I appreciate all the replies and help here and would love to hear more I would really love to get a truck but it doesn't look like that's going to happen right now.

 

[Highbeam]

Thta trailer has been abused, bad. They bent the whole thing into a bananna.

 

[ironpony]

Thta trailer has been abused, bad. They bent the whole thing into a bananna.

thats so when you load all the weight in the center the ends go up level...............

 

[Highbeam]

If you really tighten the binders down on a short load, the thing might straighten out.

 

[LakeMurraySC]

What's the best MPG pickup out there for $12000? or what's a good trailer to get I'm debating on whether to trade in my wrangler for a truck or just buy a trailer ( something I hate having to use )

I have owned 1 Jeep CJ 7 and 2 wranglers over the years. My last wrangler is a 1999 sahara and has coil springs front n back and rides n handles better and coil springs do better for 4x4. but the coil springs dont seem to handle trailering as well as the cj 7 and 1988 wrangler with leaf springs. Not sure what year Jeep wrangler switched from leaf springs to coil springs. With the older leaf springs i pulled a 22foot aqua sport (trailer had surge brakes) from Charleston ,sc to the outter banks in NC. I couldnt pull like that with the 99 wrangler but i pull a 1986 Ski Nautique on short trips and i would pull a trailer for wood withen 20 miles+-, have good brakes and without a lift kit. My 99 has a 4inch lift kit n 33" tires so i pull down the road to boat ramp only. Also i have a 95 Dodge 2500-4x4 cummins diesel i use for firewood and dose great and a used 1 should be cheap.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

For most people a trailer is a better option than to have a dedicated separate vehicle like a pickup truck if you haul once of twice a month. But If your hauling several times a week(like i do) a trailer can be a pain.

 

[mattjm1017]

For most people a trailer is a better option than to have a dedicated separate vehicle like a pickup truck if you haul once of twice a month. But If your hauling several times a week(like i do) a trailer can be a pain.

Yeah that's kind of what started these thoughts of getting a truck. Ill go a couple of weeks without touching the trailer and then I end up using it all week. I still don't know what Im going to do Im leaning towards just getting a bigger trailer but I am still seriously contemplating getting a truck.

 

[LakeMurraySC]

Yeah that's kind of what started these thoughts of getting a truck. Ill go a couple of weeks without touching the trailer and then I end up using it all week. I still don't know what Im going to do Im leaning towards just getting a bigger trailer but I am still seriously contemplating getting a truck.

With a dodge 2500-4x4 cummins diesel pickup truck and large trailer you can bring home like 12,000 + pounds of wood in 1 haul. With the truck alone without trailer you are limited to how much you can fit in the bed of the truck and you dont esp. need a diesel. 4x4 is a must for me, getting stuck is not fun, even with a winch. A diesel truck is heavy esp. on the front tires. With any pick-up allways focuse on the front tires not to get stuck while a jeep wrangler is close to 50/50 weight front to back. The commins diesel in the dodges are a inline 6 and have all the power n torque you need but a bit better MPG (mine get 19mpg and 14mpg pulling 8-thousand pounds +) than chevy,gmc and ford. i like 5 or 6 speed manual transmission , some auto. transmissions fail with the diesels high torque and some do fine, not sure which.

 

[blacktail]

Ugh. The last vehicle I'd own is a Chrysler product. I have no use for any of them. I've known too many people with Dodges and Jeeps that had serious problems.
The "best" depends on what class of truck you're looking at. Engine? 4wd? 1/2 or 3/4 ton?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Ugh. The last vehicle I'd own is a Chrysler product. I have no use for any of them. I've known too many people with Dodges and Jeeps that had serious problems.
The "best" depends on what class of truck you're looking at. Engine? 4wd? 1/2 or 3/4 ton?

Its all relative,as far as trucks, iv had GM, Ford, Dodge and Toyota. Worst by far was toyota,second worst was ford,still have the GM and dodge.

 

[lukem]

thats so when you load all the weight in the center the ends go up level...............

That's only when the tongue and load axles are on the ends of the bend...load axles in the center of this one. At some point in time someone put a little too much weight on the back of that trailer. The ramp gate looks like it has seen some weight too.

 

[mattjm1017]

Ugh. The last vehicle I'd own is a Chrysler product. I have no use for any of them. I've known too many people with Dodges and Jeeps that had serious problems.
The "best" depends on what class of truck you're looking at. Engine? 4wd? 1/2 or 3/4 ton?

I haven't had any problems with my jeep but I will agree with you Chrysler isn't the greatest, I prefer GM myself.

 

[jebatty]

I answered this question many years ago, sold the truck, got a used trailer, and now all hauling is with the trailer on my 4-cyl Camry. 33 mpg highway on the Camry (less when hauling) beats the crap out of any truck, and the savings really pile up, given that I put about 20,000 mi/yr on the car. Makes no sense at all to me to be driving a big truck with an empty load and one person in the vehicle when a high mpg car costs less to buy and less to own and operate. I don't haul loads every day, but I still think a trailer with a high mpg car is the way to go, even if slightly inconvenient at times. The convenience of a truck comes at a high price.

 

[Eatonpcat]

I answered this question many years ago, sold the truck, got a used trailer, and now all hauling is with the trailer on my 4-cyl Camry. 33 mpg highway on the Camry (less when hauling) beats the crap out of any truck, and the savings really pile up, given that I put about 20,000 mi/yr on the car. Makes no sense at all to me to be driving a big truck with an empty load and one person in the vehicle when a high mpg car costs less to buy and less to own and operate. I don't haul loads every day, but I still think a trailer with a high mpg car is the way to go, even if slightly inconvenient at times. The convenience of a truck comes at a high price.

Is this a joke...I would venture to guess that your Camry couldn't pull my trailer empty, let alone with a load on it!

 

[jebatty]

Laughing is good for health. The Camry easily pulls my 17' Glastron with115hp OB. And it pulls my converted flat bed boat trailer, as well as my 4' x 6' x 3' box trailer loaded with wood. Meets all my needs. Your needs may be greater.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Its not hard to pull a trailer with the load capacity(and much higher) of the average pickup truck. In fact the local stone quarry would only put
900lbs on my HD GM 2500 Silverado as they said that was all my window sticker would legally allow despite the fact that the weight capacity of my truck is 2 ton over the empty weight. I have the standard weight sticker for a 3/4 ton truck. I could actually haul much more with a small trailer pulled by a car. Of course when i haul wood i put on as much as i want.