Trailers

[BrokenolMarine]

When we first moved to Oklahoma, we bought a Kubota Tractor package. Tractor, and implements. Included in the package was the "Orange" brand trailer to move the tractor back and forth for service, etc. It's an 18' tandem axle deal, with side rails and ramps stored in the sides of the trailer. Sturdy, nice trailer. Never a problem.

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Well, one issue. The Zero Turn mower we bought would drag the deck going onto the trailer making the transition from the ramp to the trailer deck unless we loaded by parking the trailer strategically on a slope so the mower was running nearly level across the ramps. A couple years ago, we looked at a custom trailer dealer and he gave us a good price on a custom 12' dovetail trailer that also worked really well for the Polaris Ranger. We didn't have to haul the 18' trailer made for the tractor when we took the Ranger in for Service.

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Things were looking good, right up until the 2 door Ranger died, and we upgraded to the 4 door Ranger when we replaced it. The four door wouldn't fit on the Dovetail trailer. The other issue? The rails on the Orange were just about four inches too high to allow the doors to open on the Ranger when it was centered on the deck of the trailer. I was too wide to squeeze thru the narrow opening that allowed. Had to park to one side a bit to SQEEEEEEZE out of the door. We were considering modifying the rails on the 18' trailer before the next run for service on the Ranger.

When you don't sleep well, you have plenty of time to think, and I starting thinking about all the downtime on the two trailers. We used them about once every twelve to eighteen months. Why not sell them both, put the money away, and have the equipment picked up and delivered when it needed service? Or, sell them both and buy a single trailer to fit our needs. I discussed it with Miss T and she agreed. No need to have them both sit a year unused. They were like new, nothing wrong.

She saw a dealer ad online and sent him a message regarding a 20' carhauler he had on special. Trade? She sent pics. We had the two on line for sale. He said come see him. We did.

New Old Stock:

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Nothing wrong with this one, fits our needs. He was pleased as punch to find that our trailers were just as advertised. Other than the decks bleached by the sun, not a scratch on them, lights worked, and tires barely worn. His was the same. New, but on the lot for a year. Win/Win for both. The good thing about Oklahoma is private trailers aren't registered, so we didn't have to worry about tags or registration.

[BrokenolMarine]

The new trailer will haul the tractor and bush hog, the UTV and the doors will open, and the mower with no problem. Sweet.

[HenryFan]

BOM -

Keep an eye on the tires. Most trailers, at least those I have bought and I currently have five, were delivered with chinese time bombs. At about five years or so, consider replacement even if the tread looks good. Also, the tires on new trailers may be older than the manufacture date of the trailer itself.

Unfortunately, unless you are willing to spend quite a bit more to buy Goodyear Endurance tires, chinese tires are the most economical choice.

In any event, it looks like you have resolved any trailer conflicts you may have had.

[BrokenolMarine]

We aren't afraid to spend the money for decent tires. We have always felt good tires and brakes are important. You have all that weight and power, with that small contact with the surface.

I remember a friend complaining his AWD was worthless in the snow. He had street tires on it. When I pointed that out, he said those ALL weather tires were noisy, so he had them changed.

[HenryFan]

BOM -

In 2024, I was transporting a tractor with a bushog attached and I blew out a tire on an 20' double axle equipment trailer. It was my fault to some degree because I failed to check tire pressures before loading the trailer but even though the trailer sat under a tractor shed, the tire that failed was on the side that got the most sun in the afternoon/evening. Not too long after that, I sold that trailer and a Kubota MX4700 to a neighbor and he soon had a tire blow out on the same side.

It is rather unscientific but I speculate sun is had on chinese time bombs. At least such has been my experience.

[BrokenolMarine]

We might move the trailer more into the shade. If we replace the carport for the Titan, it has been our intent to move the old carport down to the pasture area to park the trailer under.

[Hatchdog]

That’s a good looking heavy duty trailer. My first car hauler (for the tractor) was like this one without side rails which made both strapping and opening the Ranger doors great. I didn’t like the two narrow loading ramps. I have my rear tires on the tractor set as wide as possible and when using the narrow ramps I would have a half front tires on the inside of the ramp and half the rear tires on the outside of the ramp. I felt it was a disaster waiting to happen. I found the same trailer with a reinforced full width loading ramp on it so sold the first one and bought the replacement from a guy in Montana. But this one has side rails which make opening the doors on the Ranger difficult as you said. But I sure love loading the tractor on it!

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[BrokenolMarine]

That lift out side rail would be a solution to the problem. That's really slick. Take the rail out, load the Ranger, put the rail back in for structural integrity, tie 'er down... Boom.

We are good with the car hauler. My daughter just bought a new (to her) twenty year old jeep. A V8 wrangler that was rebuilt. Has all the receipts. Once the guy was done, he got bored, decided it was time to do a frame off restoration of a 56 Chevy. So, sold his Jeep.

"Car Hauler? Great, if my new Jeep dies, you can come get me."

"Don't leave the state, no tags. It's legal here, but we'd get stopped every twenty miles in Texas."

[rickhem]

Those are some nice looking trailers, all of them. Funny how this stuff turns into a near necessity. Lots of good info from this thread too. It'll help with a couple upgrades to existing equipment when the time comes.

Been driving smaller trailers for years, mostly small trailers for aluminum fishing boats, and a small box trailer for a job I had. About five years ago, we got a nice Big Tex 35SA-10, with the round tubes. It's a stout little trailer, and I've used it for bringing our 6x4 Gator around. Bought it because it's wide enough to move the 455 with the 60" deck on it, but haven't had that mower on it yet. The trailer has been loaned out just as often as I've used it, and it tows really nice.

A couple years back we bought another used Gator, an 855D S4, and used the 35SA to bring that home. That Gator is about 12 feet long, which never occured to me until we were already there trying to load it, and it didn't fit. I thought the wheelbase would work on a 10 foot trailer, but not even close. We ended up with the Gator loaded backwards, back tires strapped to the tubes on the front of the trailer, and front tires still out on the ramp. I used some heavy ratchet straps to pull the ramp up to just above level, tied a couple fluorescent orange microfiber rags to the corners, and took all back roads the whole way home. Sketchy doesn't even begin to describe that. We made it though, took almost 3x longer than getting there, and I won't do that again.

I've got some other equipment now, and will probably be needing a better trailer to move it, should the need arise. My 3520 probably goes about 3000-3500 pounds, so a trailer that can handle that would be the objective, and something much longer. Everything else will fit on a trailer that can handle the 3520. Another issue is the tow vehicle. My truck has got two tires in the junkyard, and the other two on banana peels. It's always something.

[BrokenolMarine]

Towing isn't always the question people should be concerned with, it's "stopping."
We used to see it a lot with both boats and horses.

"No problem at all, she's a Turbo Six Jeep, she can pull 'er."

Then, come the first long downhill with a stop sign, or a deer jumps out, and the load pushes the jeep or light SUV. When we looked at boats, we knew we could pull what we were considering with the Titan, and stop it. With the horse trailer, we added brakes to the trailer requirements.