Bought my first trailer today

Time for my second post. Wasn't too sure which thread to post this in.

http://i.imgur.com/9gP6Z73.jpg
http://imgur.com/9gP6Z73

http://i.imgur.com/i9TzG6O.jpg
http://imgur.com/i9TzG6O

Obviously I won't be making any exceptionally large hauls with this. But the more room I have, the more scrap I can haul. It was only $300, the guy I bought it from said he put over $500 into it. It came with a title and lights already wired up. Not sure how much weight it can haul, any guesses just from looking at it? Previous owner said he thought at least 1200 lbs.

Would give you an estimate weight load if the images worked :( But trailers are always nice regardless on size, they are great for heavy items because they are much lower than a truck bed, making washers and dryers and hot water tanks much easier to load with a dolly

Fixed the images. My mistake on that. I definitely agree with you Benny. I'll be able to save my back not having to hoist stuff all the way up to the tailgate.

Just a guess, but it is pretty common to have a 3,500 pound axel on that type of trailer. Subtract the weight of the trailer from 3500 should give you an idea of towing capacity of trailer. It is also important the towing capacity of the tow vehicle. David

It looks great for hay rides . Big win because it's spring fever. Got a tractor? Nice score . Maybe few bucket seats and a radio :) a it's a fun wagon.

Depends on your axle (as mentioned) 3,500 lb axles are very common on cargo type trailers. Sometimes, it's not how much you can tow, but how much can you stop? I don't see any brakes on it.

Keep in mind, its a single axle, so if you have a blowout, there's not another axle keeping it from whirling out on you. Don't overload it-tempting as it may be; its a 5x8 depending on how you disperse the weight maybe a thousand maybe if the weight is lower to the ground.

Congrats RoadWarrior! Is that a 5x8? Your tires look larger than mine and my trailer is 1600 lbs carry weight. I think 3500 is a bit high.

Perfect trailer for scrapping, right price to, hope it makes you lots :)

I would have bought that for $300! Good deal and when you make more money you just upgrade to a bigger one...

Thanks for the words of wisdom everybody. Glad to know I got the good deal I was hoping for. To me, this was the perfect little trailer for my first good scrapping adventure with my best friend. Hopefully we can upgrade later on to a better one. After we save up some cash and I get enough experience driving this little one around.

I drive a 2WD (4WD is out of my price range) Ford F150. The trailer doesn't have brakes on it like Russell pointed out, so thanks for making me aware that I need to remember the weight of my trailer load when stopping the truck. More weight = more momentum = more effort/time needed to stop the truck with the trailer, or something of that nature.

I appreciate the advice davidarlen and everyone else for how to figure out how much to load the trailer up with, without breaking it. And to be careful not to blow a tire so it doesn't spin out on me.

Thanks newattitude I honestly don't remember the exact measurements, but if it's not a 5x8,it's fairly close. I also liked the size of the tires. I'm not as well rounded when it comes to trailers/farm equipment/and vehicles, but I figured that bigger tires = bigger scrap load, it could handle.

I have a habit of forgetting about my own posts until days later, so again, thanks to everyone that enjoyed my new trailer post and added their 2cents. I may not take all the advice I get in life, but I still welcome it.

Weight rating ?!!! You all crack me up ! As small it is, less your loading 1" thick 4x4' chunks of plate armor, I think it'd be rather difficult to overload it. Even with prep cut iron, it'd be pretty hard to overload it. But then again, this is coming from a guy who puts 7400# on a 3/4 ton pickup bed trailer.

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Weight rating ?!!! You all crack me up ! As small it is, less your loading 1" thick 4x4' chunks of plate armor, I think it'd be rather difficult to overload it. Even with prep cut iron, it'd be pretty hard to overload it. But then again, this is coming from a guy who puts 7400# on a 3/4 ton pickup bed trailer.

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Seen an overloaded trailer with a broken axle stranded in a road median. The cops and MTO were all over him like flies on sh*t.

Idk if anyone mentioned this, but being your first trailer I will. Load it evenly. You put too much weight in the back, and do 65 mph down the highway, the thing will start to stay back and fourth, and after you get it stopped you will need new underwear. Or you scrap will be all over the road, and you will still need new underwear. It's one of those things you only do once, and you never forget. I did it my first trailering experience with a load of lumber. Jackknife city!

Edit:
<<< check out my avatar... I err on the side of caution!

I, beg to differ. When loading a single axle trailer, my main goal is to get as much weight forward as possible. Also, you want your trailer running downhill to the front, many ways to achieve this, bigger tires on the trailer, drop hitch to get your ball lower. This is why I run slightly taller tires on my pickup bed trailers and tilt the tongue so that the trailer is 4-5 inches lower in the front, upon loading it sets level almost. A back heavy trailer, especially a single axle, is a accident waitin to happen.

Tater, I respectfully agree and disagree. :lol: the tongue weight should be 10-15% of the total weight. In the real world tho who Is gonna know the exact tongue weight? the op is driving a 1/2 ton pickup, and let's face it, we all try to "maximize" our loads. So say he has the box of his pickup "maximized" and puts as much weight forward on the trailer as possible, the op is gonna be doing wheelies. :& not to mention, if you are driving after dark, you are blinding oncoming traffic. I do like your other suggestions tho. Makes a lot of sense. Anyhow, we both agree DONT BE HEAVY ON THE BACK!!!

Edit: Roadwarrior, you got a great deal on a nice trailer!

You guys are awesome. I'm surprised (and happy) to keep seeing new comments in this post. Thank you pjost and tater for the valuable information. That'll help me a ton. The trailer already sits downhill to the front because of the low ball hitch I have hooked to my truck. I thought that was bad and considered buying a level ball hitch to even it out. Glad I read your info first tater. And thanks pjost. I didn't realize how good of a deal I got til I posted this thread, ha.

Hopefully I can keep my underwear clean. But I always keep a fresh pair handy just in case.

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Hopefully I can keep my underwear clean. But I always keep a fresh pair handy just in case.

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Or just go commando,,,;)

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Weight rating ?!!! You all crack me up ! As small it is, less your loading 1" thick 4x4' chunks of plate armor, I think it'd be rather difficult to overload it. Even with prep cut iron, it'd be pretty hard to overload it. But then again, this is coming from a guy who puts 7400# on a 3/4 ton pickup bed trailer.

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Is there a reason for the snark? The OP asked some serious questions, we don't want to give him bad advice. I just bent my bumper using my 5x8 utility trailer hauling 1000 lbs of copiers so, never say you can't overload a trailer because you can. You CAN distribute weight incorrectly and cause sway.

Considering the 3/4 ton / 7400 lbs remark I'm not surprised you gave incorrect and possibly dangerous advice. :(

@newattitude, I appreciate all the advice from you and the others, thanks. I'm trying to combine the "most agreed upon" suggestions and add a few grains of salt to figure out what works best for me.

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Originally Posted by newattitude

Is there a reason for the snark? The OP asked some serious questions, we don't want to give him bad advice. I just bent my bumper using my 5x8 utility trailer hauling 1000 lbs of copiers so, never say you can't overload a trailer because you can. You CAN distribute weight incorrectly and cause sway.

Considering the 3/4 ton / 7400 lbs remark I'm not surprised you gave incorrect and possibly dangerous advice. :(

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Wouldn't that technically mean your overloaded your bumper, not the trailer ? If you look on the bumper I doubt it was rated for much over 1000# total. And bumpers are for towing boats and golf carts, not heavy loads. I have class 5, rated for 16,000 lbs, receiver hitches on both pickups. Who's dangerous now ?

You mistook me. All I was trying to say, given the relative size of the trailer, I think it'd be pretty hard to overload unless you find really heavy small pieces of iron. Furthermore I didn't give out any bad info. I have towed almost everything you can possible tow with a pickup, and with no accidents yet to date.
U-Haul: Tips: Learn how to load and haul a trailer safely

If you click there and scroll down they reccommend you to load 60% of the weight to the front. Which indeed supports my before mentioned advice.

So with a short trailer to achieve the 60/40 split you'll have to heap the front and slope it down to the back which is what I ment by "getting as much weight forward as possible".

New, go out to your local auto junkyard and do some looking around in the pickup-truck section. You'll see all kinds of trailer hitches (frame style) still under the trucks as most owners are too lazy to crawl under and pull their hitch off before it hits the yard. Shouldn't cost more than $10- 15 for them to cut a hitch off for you. Never rely on a bumper ball hitch.

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Wouldn't that technically mean your overloaded your bumper, not the trailer ? If you look on the bumper I doubt it was rated for much over 1000# total. And bumpers are for towing boats and golf carts, not heavy loads. I have class 5, rated for 16,000 lbs, receiver hitches on both pickups. Who's dangerous now ?

You mistook me. All I was trying to say, given the relative size of the trailer, I think it'd be pretty hard to overload unless you find really heavy small pieces of iron. Furthermore I didn't give out any bad info. I have towed almost everything you can possible tow with a pickup, and with no accidents yet to date.
U-Haul: Tips: Learn how to load and haul a trailer safely

If you click there and scroll down they reccommend you to load 60% of the weight to the front. Which indeed supports my before mentioned advice.

So with a short trailer to achieve the 60/40 split you'll have to heap the front and slope it down to the back which is what I ment by "getting as much weight forward as possible".

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Which you failed to mention in your post so you see how it was easy to misinterpret? It read to me that you were putting 7400 lbs on a utility trailer rated for far less and ''bragging'' about it (''You crack me up!''). So, my bad.

My point was, (and, I did have the trailer loaded correctly and drove less than a mile afterwards), a lesson was learned that day by me and my recapping it was to be used as a lesson for a new trailer owner, all owners actually. Stuff happens and it happened to me that day. I had carried that weight before no problem and until I get a new truck or hitch, I won't be doing it again since it bent my bumper because that would be dangerous! When I had it installed I asked my mechanic how much I could safely haul with that setup as well as a couple other people and that is what I was told. I wasn't being ''dangerous'' on purpose, I was doing what a majority had told me and I figured they had more knowledge than I did at that point! Now I know better!

Mechanic - I never even thought of going to a junk yard for a hitch, I don't know why that never entered my mind! Thanks for the tip! Finding a good one would be cheaper that way then buying new.

Would this scare some of you guys / gals?

I've got a little more tongue weight than I want, but there is no reloading it at this point.
I unhooked it with my skidsteer and will go back and get it this morning. It's around 3.5 ton I suppose.
It will take a little grunting to get it back up. 20 ft trailer with two 7,000 axles...hooked to the receiver.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/

New
I didnt say put "all the weight" forward, just most of it. And 60% of the the weight would be most of it. And it doesn't matter how you loaded your trailer, you had NO idea of what the bumper was rated for, which is your fault no one else's, and had no business hauling that load 10' down any public roadway. Point is it don't matter what your trailer axle is rated for if it falls off the pickup, right ?
Let it go finally quit trying to turn this kids thread into a peeing match.