Finally got a trailer

[kss]

Finally ordered a trailer, ready to take this scrapping venture to the next level. Did a whole year thus far with just my little pickup, and numerous times lost out on things because I would have had to make multiple trips and the person gave the stuff to someone with a trailer who could take it all in one go. Also numerous time even when I was able to pick up stuff over other people, taking stuff took multiple trips whereas a trailer plus my truck would have had it in 1 trip.




I had been looking on CL and FB marketplace for months for a deal, but all the trailers used and rusty were either just as much as new or didnt have a title (needed in PA to be road legal).

Decided I was going to wait until black friday as the tractor supply company sometimes lowers their 5x8 trailer down from $750 to $599, but figured I got a 10% off anything coupon from them in my email, so that brought the price down to $675, for a brand new trailer. Pick it up this week, and ill do a once over on all the weld before accepting it as I have heard the weld and the paint can sometimes be suspect on these cheap trailers, but otherwise they are sturdy.

After I get it, putting 4x8 plywood sheets along the sides, half a sheet up front, and a sheet or so on the floor so nothing falls through the mess floor.

So after that I should have my tacomas 6ft bed, and then a 5w x 8L x 4h trailer. Should be able to carry a good bit more! Super excited, hoping I don't regret getting the small trailer.... but if so I can always buy bigger later and sell this one since it seems people are asking close to the same price for used as new anyways. Will post pics once picked up

[IamTheGreatest]

I had a little tire trailer once. Never again. If the tires aren't big enough for a motor vehicle, I didn't want it.

[kss]

I had a little tire trailer once. Never again. If the tires aren't big enough for a motor vehicle, I didn't want it.

... I'll have you know it has the same size tire size as a geo metro! (13")


Its a start!

[JJinLV]

Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing what adventures you have with it

[DiamondN]

Good Luck...

[numbers]

After a few weeks, you will wonder why you waited so long. When I finally found what I was looking for it made a huge difference. It also allowed me to tear down some items on the trailer which cut down the number of times I had to handle things.

[Kalvlin]

Good move ! My little trailer 5x8 with fold down gate has made without exaggeration 100 x the cost of the trailer. Word of advice - keep a spare handy always- I had a blow out on the highway on the way to the yard with 1200+ lbs load. Luckily I had a spare and was back on the road in no time. I like this trailer because I can easily move it by hand when I need to without a dolly. I was considering getting a largest one or one with a dump body but then it's becomes a hassle to move it around easily > I have to jockey equipment and vehicles around more than I like.
next move is a minimum 3 car garage. It seems you never have enough space for all the toys. I guess its not really a "problem".

[Patriot76]

Congrats on the purchase. The only time you will regret the decision is when a friend needs to move or you need a bigger trailer.

[mmerlinn]

I don't know what the prices are for scrap in PA, but if they are halfway decent you should have your investment back in a few weeks, maybe less than a month.

Case in point. I drive Aerostar vans since I can load 10 complete transmissions in them and go over any mountain AND get 20-27 MPG. I bought my current Aerostar for $300 (176,000 miles) 3 years ago. I paid for the van with the very first load. Now has 341,000 miles and still making me money.

Your trailer will make you a LOT more money with a LOT less hassle and cost. And in a few months you will WONDER why you waited so long!!!

[kss]

I don't know what the prices are for scrap in PA, but if they are halfway decent you should have your investment back in a few weeks, maybe less than a month.

Case in point. I drive Aerostar vans since I can load 10 complete transmissions in them and go over any mountain AND get 20-27 MPG. I bought my current Aerostar for $300 (176,000 miles) 3 years ago. I paid for the van with the very first load. Now has 341,000 miles and still making me money.

Your trailer will make you a LOT more money with a LOT less hassle and cost. And in a few months you will WONDER why you waited so long!!!

Thats the hope! Still practicing maneuvering it around, getting the hang of it. I was able to back it down my driveway and get it off to the side pretty easily! Im not going to use it everytime I go out for scrap as it is rare that I fill up my truck completely each time (although I have before).... it's more for pickups from people/business to reduce the number of loads, and increase the quality of service to those people. but i agree. it should pay for itself in pretty short order, much like my truck has

[kss]

Heres a pic of it form when I picked it up. So far I have added a jack stand and moved the licsense plate to the back gate with zip ties rather than the flimsy plastic holder down by the road.

Next is to get some 4x8 wood for sides and flooring then should be good to go!

[kss]

So decided on 2ft side instead of 4ft sides for a few reasons...

1) needed less wood, so cost a bit less
2) much easier to do myself because I can reach over the side to bolt everything on instead of having another person on the other side with a wrench on the backside bolt
3) related to number 2, if I ever do take it out for curb shopping, it is much easier to load things over top of the 2ft sides. like if there was a grill I was loading I could just lift it over or tip it over and be on my way, if it was 4ft sides I'd have to drop the tailgate to load
4) less wind resistance... the times Ill need 4ft sides aren't worth the extra drag/gas all the time
5) if i ever DO need 4ft sides, I can just screw a peice of 4x8 to the existing wood temporarily.





Might take the boards off to paint black at some point, but its functional as is. Also not pictures is the d-rings I screwed in for a bit points all around it and I out some black gorilla tape alone the top of the sheets to protect the layers of plywood from the rain, prevent splinters and allow things to slide more easily over the top wood if need be

[hills]

Nice trailer. Low enough to the ground that it's easy to load.

Just a few suggestions:

1: Watch the weight. (I've bent up a couple of axles on my little 4'x6' home built trailer.)

2: Maybe a D block on the back wall dead center. It's awfully handy for hooking a come a long on to. That way you can winch a heavy load up the ramp and onto the trailer.

3: Perhaps carry a couple of 8 foot sections of schedule 80 grey plastic pipe on the side ? You would be amazed at how easy it is to move a 500lb piece of machinery around when it's got a couple of pieces of pipe under it.

4: Look at the hinges that fasten the flip up tailgate to the trailer. There may well be a couple of grease fittings on those hinges. Grease the hinges frequently. It's a no fun job to deal with them once they've rusted up inside.

5: Perhaps, pop off the dust caps on the trailer hubs and install a bearing buddy on each side ? I've seen more than a few trailers on the side of the road when the bearings seized and the whole hub/wheel assembly went flying off into the woods. A couple of pumps of the grease gun from time to time would probably have prevented that from ever happening.

6: 1/2 " pressure treated plywood on the floor will last a very long time.

7: It's probably different in PA, but i've had a couple of customer's trailers that filled with snow in the winter. The snow melted and re-froze as ice. The layers of ice built up enough weight that it broke the springs on the trailer.

Anyway ... it's just different stuff. Nothing terribly important seeing as you've got a brand new trailer. Just things you might want to think about after you've had it for awhile. Mods n upkeep.

[kss]

>>1: Watch the weight. (I've bent up a couple of axles on my little 4'x6' home built trailer.)

gvwr is 2000lbs, it weighs 400lb empty plus the tire holder and wood, its got about 1500lbs payload left. Nothing major, but enough to meet my needs for the time being!

>>2: Maybe a D block on the back wall dead center. It's awfully handy for hooking a come a long on to. That way you can winch a heavy load up the ramp and onto the trailer.

I have a hefty eye bolt that is going to go through the frame/wood at the center for this very reason, just havent put it on yet. But with that and a come-along, should help loading some stuff some times

>>3: Perhaps carry a couple of 8 foot sections of schedule 80 grey plastic pipe on the side ? You would be amazed at how easy it is to move a 500lb piece of machinery around when it's got a couple of pieces of pipe under it.


This I havent thought of, but is a great idea! It would help roll up some heavy items when needed.

>>4: Look at the hinges that fasten the flip up tailgate to the trailer. There may well be a couple of grease fittings on those hinges. Grease the hinges frequently. It's a no fun job to deal with them once they've rusted up inside.

Luckily these were greased before purchase. Had grease shooting out the side of it so hopefully it was well lubed. The gate went up and down real smooth so Im assuming so.

>>5: Perhaps, pop off the dust caps on the trailer hubs and install a bearing buddy on each side ? I've seen more than a few trailers on the side of the road when the bearings seized and the whole hub/wheel assembly went flying off into the woods. A couple of pumps of the grease gun from time to time would probably have prevented that from ever happening.

Ill have to do some googling on this. Not sure exactly what/where these are or what a bearing buddy are, but have heard that that is a thing that happens

>>6: 1/2 " pressure treated plywood on the floor will last a very long time.

This is 3-ply 19/32" should last a good time!

>>7: It's probably different in PA, but i've had a couple of customer's trailers that filled with snow in the winter. The snow melted and re-froze as ice. The layers of ice built up enough weight that it broke the springs on the trailer.

Didnt think of this either! good stuff!

[kss]

Good move ! My little trailer 5x8 with fold down gate has made without exaggeration 100 x the cost of the trailer. Word of advice - keep a spare handy always- I had a blow out on the highway on the way to the yard with 1200+ lbs load. Luckily I had a spare and was back on the road in no time. I like this trailer because I can easily move it by hand when I need to without a dolly. I was considering getting a largest one or one with a dump body but then it's becomes a hassle to move it around easily > I have to jockey equipment and vehicles around more than I like.
next move is a minimum 3 car garage. It seems you never have enough space for all the toys. I guess its not really a "problem".

I was lucky to spot a spare with a good tire that's the same size and bolt pattern for FREE off craigslist, so super happy I got that.

It is nice that in a pinch if needed I can just unhook it and move it by hand (when empty or mostly empty at least!)

And I agree about the garage.... I'm in a 1 car garage and usually have it stuffed full of stuff 5 out of 7 days of the week ... Need some more room ! Next house

[kss]

Welp, went out for the first time with it today to a guy off facebook marketplace.... learned a couple things.


1) I suck at backing up pretty bad, I thought Id pick it up quicker than I did. So gotta to to a walmart parking lot and practice that some
2) I need to remember to always put the jack stand up BEFORE loading. Forgot about that, and fully loaded and it squatted enough that even cranked all the way up It was pinned to the ground. Ended up having to just take it off real quick
3).... the guy on here was right.... If im gunna take jobs like this def going to need a bigger trailer AND a bigger truck. With the trailer and bed fully loaded my back bumper was practically dragging on the ground. On a few bumps, Im pretty sure the hitch ball bolt bottom scrapped the pavement.
4) Also If I am going to take this seriously and/or take jobs this size again, I need to hire some helping hands on an as needed basis. Loading/unloading the trailer/truck bed 3 times today (moved about 4 tons of material over multiple trips to the scrapyard)


Spent most of today loading and running to the yard, still have a decent amount of stuff left to go back for tomorrow morning. Heres some pics

[IamTheGreatest]

Breakdown and stock pile items in the bed. Heavy stuff that can go right to yard in the trailer. An extra trip isn't the worst.

[kss]

Breakdown and stock pile items in the bed. Heavy stuff that can go right to yard in the trailer. An extra trip isn't the worst.

Heck yes that was the plan, anything with a wire, spools of wires, alternators batteries, etc anything that I wanted to go to my house I threw in the bed, and made 3 trips to the yard with all light iron in the trailer. There was a ton of stuff that was heavy iron like rotors and irony aluminum stuff that I just had to send with light iron didn't have enough room or time to do anything else with it and the truck bed was already filled with wire and other real good stuff

[mmerlinn]

You could put 4 foot sides, but leave the front at 2 feet due to resistance. I had a 2-ton truck with 5 foot steel sides with removable 4 foot plywood on top of both sides and the rear doors. In the front I split a 4 foot plywood and put hinges on it so it would fold down when I did not need it up. When I did not need 4 feet on top of the rear doors, I would just take the plywood off and leave it in the bed of the truck.

1/2" plywood? I have not seen such an animal for sale in something like 2 DECADES. That said, I do have around 20 new pieces of 5-ply 1/2" plywood that I bought about 30 years ago.

[kss]

You could put 4 foot sides, but leave the front at 2 feet due to resistance. I had a 2-ton truck with 5 foot steel sides with removable 4 foot plywood on top of both sides and the rear doors. In the front I split a 4 foot plywood and put hinges on it so it would fold down when I did not need it up. When I did not need 4 feet on top of the rear doors, I would just take the plywood off and leave it in the bed of the truck.

1/2" plywood? I have not seen such an animal for sale in something like 2 DECADES. That said, I do have around 20 new pieces of 5-ply 1/2" plywood that I bought about 30 years ago.

Actually even thicker than half inch, 19/32", so... 3/16" thicker than half inch lol.... Just went to home depot and bought what seemed like it wasn't flimsy and was cheap.

I now have another reason to not put 4" sides on.... 2ft sides keeps me at a safer weight.... Even with the 2ft sides I had multiple trips to the scrap yard where I unloaded around 2300lbs off the trailer... The trailer has a gvwr of 2000lbs and weights 400lbs.... (Plus 100 for the plywood, jack stack, etc).... So that means I was overweight by like 800lbs without even trying that hard. I thought I was being conservative with my loading and I was still super over weight.... With 4 ft sides I'd be encouraged to load it up even more and that would be bad news ...