I want to save pellet delivery charges by being able to haul a ton of pellets at a time, and was hoping someone could help me RE my utility trailer capacity. It's homemade 4' X 8', mounted on what looks like a pickup truck transaxle. It has 3 leaf springs on R 14 185 tires, and the welds and decking seems sound. The bed tilts where the stem post meets the axle, so I'm guessing where the hitch pin attaches the stem to the axle is the weak point. I'm going to replace the old round steel stem post (which is bent and makes it 'crab' down the road) w/ some stouter new rectangular steel. Short of loading it up and see if it breaks, anyone have any thoughts ?
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Danno77
Minister of Fire
I'm not a trailer expert, but it sounds like it should be in the vicinity of 2-3000lbs capacity (the axle might even be rated for around 3500), that should haul a ton of pellets (a literal ton, that is).
smokinj
Minister of Fire
Thanks to both of you for the responses, I was hoping it would take a ton of load capacity. For a trailer that cost me $199, I'll get my money out of it just from the savings on pellet delivery fees over the next few years 
. 4 tons of Barefoot pellets for next season waiting to be picked up !!
. 4 tons of Barefoot pellets for next season waiting to be picked up !!
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Usually the axle drives the weight capacity of the trailer. This isn't your standard trailer axle, it's a truck axle. So to be sure you should try and find a similar truck to what it came from but how are you supposed to know what truck it came from? Instead, how many lug nuts does it have? 6 is a half ton and 8 is a 3/4 or one ton truck. If 6 lugs it really skinny overall like a Toyota or is it as wide as a full sized truck? I've seen a lot of these built with ford 9" rear ends with a removable third member.
In pretty much all cases, a truck axle can hold a ton of cargo if the tires are rated to hold that much weight and the tires will have that rating stamped on them.
The good news with pellets is that they are usually loaded on a pallet which will distribute that weight pretty well over the floor. If your trailer is exactly 4 feet wide then you will need to have a really good fork lift driver to set the pallet in without getting wedged against the trailer sides.
How are the brakes on your tow truck? They'll need to stop a lot of weight.
In pretty much all cases, a truck axle can hold a ton of cargo if the tires are rated to hold that much weight and the tires will have that rating stamped on them.
The good news with pellets is that they are usually loaded on a pallet which will distribute that weight pretty well over the floor. If your trailer is exactly 4 feet wide then you will need to have a really good fork lift driver to set the pallet in without getting wedged against the trailer sides.
How are the brakes on your tow truck? They'll need to stop a lot of weight.
Those tires would be my concern. Check what they carry, then factor in the weight of the trailer. A ton? Probably, but check the tires, as there is a range of load ranges available.
jklingel said:
Especially on 14" tires. CHECK THOSE TIRES. And as JK said, you gotta subtract the weight of the trailer to boot.
Tony H
Minister of Fire
Good chance it will be able to do a ton but tire size would indicate it's not a 1/2 ton or larger truck. All the bigger trucks have used 15" or larger tires for many years. What makes you think it's an axle out of a truck ? There are lots of trailers made with 14 inch rims and 2000 / 2500 lb axles, are the tires trailer tires or P metric lots of people put the cheaper P tires on trailers and they don't have the same load rating. Make sure you have a jack and a spare if possible and take it easy on the first trip it will most likley be just fine.
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