Utility trailer manufacturers

[drz1050]

Looking to buy a trailer in the near future, either 5x8 or 6x10.. leaning towards 6x10.

Couple different dealers nearby, and a bunch of brands I have no experience whatsoever with. I'd like it to be tubular steel construction with a 3500 lb single axle, just about all of them have this available.

Bri-Mar, Bwise, Loadrite, Currahee, Pequea, Master Tow, Belmont, DownEaster, and Cross Country.

Any recommendations and/ or warnings?

 

[BobUrban]

If price is a concern look at TSC - they offer the best bang for your buck. Get a wood floor over expanded metal or at least throw a sheet of plywood or OSB down before loading it with fire wood if you don't. Rounds and splits will wreck an expanded metal floor trailer.

 

[EJL923]

as stated, stay away from light duty expanded metal if possible. I have a karavan, bought it used for a good price. Two things i really like. It has a heavy duty expanded metal fold down gate and 1/2" welded rungs in 7 places. You can tie anything down to it and it will stay in place.

 

[gzecc]

Get a ramp for rolling big rounds up. This will save your back. IMO buy used, they maintain their value very well.

 

[AK13]

If price is a concern look at TSC - they offer the best bang for your buck. Get a wood floor over expanded metal or at least throw a sheet of plywood or OSB down before loading it with fire wood if you don't. Rounds and splits will wreck an expanded metal floor trailer.

This is what I got last year. $1000 for a 5x10 trailer is a good deal. I'm happy with it. 2900 lb axle I believe which is what I wanted since in NH we don't need trailer inspections if less than 3000 lb

 

[drz1050]

Thanks fellas.. all the trailers I'm looking at will have the fold down ramp on the back, looking for a wood deck instead of that mesh.

No trailer inspections required if you register it in Maine

I wanted to buy used... have been looking lately, nothing of note has popped up on CL. The ones that have were damn near the cost of a new one. Figured if they hold their value this well, I'll just buy new from the start. Who knows if those CL bearings are shot...

 

[EJL923]

I looked on craigslist for at least a year for trailer, the good ones disappear within hours of posting. That being said, first thing i did with the used trailer was replace the bearings, cheap and easy

 

[MarylandGuy]

No trailer inspections required if you register it in Maine
...

You might want to double check registering it in Maine when you live out of state. I thought I remember the trailer has to be a decent size before Maine will accept it. I might be wrong on that though.

I looked into registering my 5x10 trailer in Maine a few years ago and it was too small for them. Hopefully that rule has changed.

 

[Jack Fate]

Hook it up to your tow Vehicle in a level area check to see if it's straight .

Learned the hard way

 

[gzecc]

I looked on craigslist for at least a year for trailer, the good ones disappear within hours of posting. That being said, first thing i did with the used trailer was replace the bearings, cheap and easy

All the good stuff goes very fast on CL. Over priced/crap waits around a long time.

 

[MarylandGuy]

After owning a Tractor Supply 5x10 trailer for a few years, I now have my eyes on a dump trailer. My current trailer is fine, but I can only load it half full with green oak rounds. Otherwise the fenders rub on the tires over bumps.

It will hold a cord of wood, but that wood better be seasoned for two or three years to get rid of the moisture. And even at that, the trailer is probably loaded too heavy. Too much for what I want to try.

As the saying goes, buy as much as you can afford because eventually you may want something better. But the good news, as others have said, used trailers are easy to unload.

 

[Knots]

I have a Big Tex 5x10. I've been happy with it.

 

[ToltingColtAcres]

Gotta second the CL idea. I've bought numerous trailers over the years on CL, including a 20' heavy equipment hauler I use to transport my Deere 1050 and a 7k dual-axle landscape. You definitely need to know what you're looking for though, and know crap when you see it. You have to make it a point to check the listings every night or early morning though, the decent stuff will go fast. You should also know the price of stuff new, and what the repair cost of different things will be, so you can judge if something off CL is a deal or will cost you more in the long run.

A lot of people will price their trailers a few hundred $$$ under the cost of trailer new, but by the time you change tired, bearings, an axle, or other repairs depending on what it needs done, you're looking at exceeding the cost of a new trailer. I ran into one idiot who was selling a 16' dual axle with a disintegrating wood floor, 4 dry-rotted tires, and more rust than a derelict barge. When I pointed out to him that repairing all these things was easily going to cost me in excess of $1000 to fix, which, when added to his "bargain" price, would exceed the cost of me buying the trailer brand new, he feigned outrage, flexed his willie, and told me to "get out of here for insulting him". *shrug* Another time a retard took some plywood and bolted it to a boat trailer, and was selling it as a 5x12 "landscape trailer"... oh... the horror stories!

Oh, and the other thing to watch out for are the idiots who think their trailers are "heavy duty" some somehow qualify for a higher price. Granted, some are made out of 2' angle iron compared to 1.5', but the real "heavy duty" stuff will be i-beam or tubular steel construction (and is definitely worth more). When buying, consider a tubular steel construction trailer may be nice, but if it only has a 3k axle, does it really matter to you if its tubular steel or 2' angle iron for the extra money? Both will work just fine, haul the load, and give you years of service.

 

[mustash29]

IMO, skip the TCS junk and buy a real trailer.

I borrowed a co-workers 2000 lb rated TSC 5 x 8 landscape trailer to haul my "tow behind the lawn tractor leaf sucker cart" home. That was a scary 15 miles and it was no where near loaded to capacity.

My 2200 lb rated Triton alumnium 8.5 x 10 with cap has made many, many trips to northern Maine with 2 sleds + gear and it tows like a dream, even when loaded a little heavy.

I picked up this fine piece of work a few years ago. It was about 2 yrs old and had about 2000 miles on it. Got it for 3K when it would have been 5K new. A little overkill for my needs & the registration is like 60 bucks per year, but it will haul more than I will ever need. 16' Load Trail with dual 7K axels. It's 2550 empty with a 14K GVWR.

 

[TonyVideo]

Make sure the rear ramp is removable. Forklift can then easily put a pallet on the bed and push it forward if needed.

 

[2PistolPacker]

I'm very happy with both my Maxey trailers 5' x 8' and 83" x 18'. Both are the heavy duty models, well worth the extra $$ for the HD versions. Both have 15 tires and have steel mesh ramps. PJ brand trailers are also very well built.