New Guy
So now I am looking to get a trailer of my own. I plan to check out some auctions next weekend to see what I can get.. I normally haul around 2500 pounds per load on a 16 foot car hauler with sides and dual axles. I was wondering if a single axle trailer would be able to haul as much weight or not safely and what size trailers you guys tend to use.
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My .02:
I'd get the largest trailer that you can:
A. Afford to Get
B. Are Able to Store
If you get a 16 footer, you can haul a good sized load to the yard, and if later you move up to scrapping cars or large machinery, you could move up to doing so with a 16 footer. I personally can't store anything longer than a 16 footer at my house, I barely fit my truck and trailer in my driveway.
Aaron
I'm so into scrapping.. When my Steel Toe Boots Wear out, I cut the Steel out of them and recycle the Toe!
New Guy
Where im renting from now is just a big open area anyway. I could park it just about anywhere. Lol Hopefully I can find a good deal ona 16 footer at this auction, I see on CL they go for around 600-1200 dollars. (I saw one for 550 but it needed tires and looked like the flooring needed some work )
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When I bought mine, it was "ready to roll" but since buying it I have had to invest in all kinds of stuff: Breakaway, Had to be rewired, Tires were mis-matched and needed to be all the same sizes, New Tail Light, New Safety Chains, My brakes were supposed to be all 4 wheels brakes- only 1 was hooked up- had to pay to get that fixed, bearings had to be replaced, had to mount for a winch, then buy the winch.
My best advice is to REALLY give the trailer a once over. Find flaws in the trailer and use that to your advantage in working a deal. I spent a pretty penny getting it up to spec.. I was a rookie, and had never bought a trailer before.. so best advice I can give- is go over that baby with a fine tooth comb. I thought trailers were pretty simple, I wish I had kept looking for one that was more "ready" than the one I had. Don't get me wrong, it is a bad mama jama now, but I'm happy to point out my mistakes so that someone else doesn't get caught in the same way I did.
The other thing is BE SURE you are looking at a car hauler and not a 16 or 18 ft landscape trailer, landscape trailers usually have sides that come up and a full gate on the back- you'll never be able to yank a car up on that ramp. They look identical, except for the said issues above.
Anything else you want to know, post here or PM me, I'm happy to help in anyway I can!
Aaron
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Your axle sizes matter, if you are concerned about weight. If you can, verify the axles. In general you're going to come across 3,500 lb axles on landscape or even some car haulers. If you're towing more than 7,000 lbs total. Make sure your axles are beefy enough.
7,000 lb axles are much safer, not necessary though depending on what you're doing. Another factor is consider your gvwr and how you're going to register it. If you are pulling more than 10,000 pounds you really need a class A cdl.
I use a converted 16 foot car trailer. It is only 2400 lbs empty. axles are at 3,500 lbs. I generally meet its capacity. Im looking into a bigger trailer too as we speak. I already have a class a cdl and commercial insurance which you should also consider.
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Good Point Russell on the Axles. I run dual 3500 lb that came on my 16 footer and My trailer is registered as a 7,000lb trailer. Here in Indiana we can register 5,000, 7,000, 9,000 and various other sizes. Seemed a waste of $ to register it as a 9,000 lb trailer (higher the weight class the more $ you pay to register it as such) as some guys do when even with a 2 ton van on it- it won't come close to 9,000 lbs even with the trailer weight itself added to the mix!
Rural scrapper
My trailer is a 18foot and has 3500 pound axles. Unless storing it is a problem, I wouldn't even consider anything less than 18'. Honestly I'll Probadly be upgrading to at least a 20' trailer with 7000# axles within the next 2 years.
Alvord iron and salvage
3rd generation scrapper and dam proud of it
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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My biz partner just built a single axel trailer 18ft, just put a 3.5ton axel under it...light frame heavy Axel good for appliance pick ups, till I can a dump trailer its handy
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I have a 16ft miska equipment trailer, only rated for 3.5 ton, good for every day stuff, cars small farm equipment, im looking for a dump trailer, so I can pack the crap out of it with shred and less labour, maybe next year
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