How many totes can you haul on a trailer?

No pics, it hasn't happened yet, lol. I may have access to a bunch of them. I have five now but I know some big farmers around here and my gosh, they have LOTS. A friend told me I could probably get them free just to haul them off. I like the sound of that! Wondering how many you can put on a trailer. Of course, trailer length is key! Seems I recall pics of somebody on here who hauled a bunch of them, strapped them on double decker style. I know somebody scored lots of great pallets, but totes?

A friend wanted one of my plastic bladders for water for his garden. I told him probably a bad idea, as it might have held herbicide, could wipe out his garden! Would have to find one with legible label on it to see what was in it. If it came from a farm, it could certainly be herbicide.

 

Depending on width of trailer you can get two wide and go two tall. My 8.5’ wide 24’ tilt deck trailer would haul a load of 28 if full. I hauled 18 home this winter to try them out. I need a lot more.
If you run the straps through the bottom of the top tote, you don’t need super long straps. Just bring a piece of wood with a screw in it to help fish the straps through the totes.

 

Krackle_959 that is what I was thinking would be doable, hoping going 2x high is ok. So, 2x wide 2x high for a flatbed but my largest trailer is only 6x12 and has rails, is not a flatbed, so, at the most, I could only carry 1 row of 3, 2 high = 6 on it. But if a tote is 40x48, if I put the short side long ways on the trailer, that is 120 inches / 40 = 3 but that would assume I could squeeze 3 in there, being an exact fit. I don't know if my utility trailer tailgate/ramp will come off, that would certainly allow for any excess hanging out. Could carry 1 in my pickup, so 7/load. I might could carry 2x in the truck if strapped down. Not very efficient being 20 miles one-way but it is what it is. Been looking at larger trailers for various needs but they sure are expensive and gotta justify it!

 

Call local equipment rental companies as well as Home Depot. A lot of them rent flatbed trailers.

 

Two high is easy to do, even in the back of your truck. I would strap them down in the truck regardless as they like to slide around. Checking with an equipment rental place is a great idea, you could rent a big trailer and haul as many as you need.

trailers are not cheap at all. I did the buy once cry once deal last fall when I got mine. Drove from Maine to Pennsylvania to pick it up as no one up here had one or could get one within 6 months.

 

I think your math is off. 12 feet is 144” so there’s plenty left over at 40” dimension.

What I would do is stack them in a chevron pattern laying against the side rails. Just like weaving tires if you’ve ever seen that done.
So 2 “weaved” against the rails and one on top. That should give you an easy 9 totes on your 6x12 trailer.
Is it possible to add more with a different variation of weaving? Maybe, I wouldn’t speculate on that unless I had done it already, which I haven’t.

 

Wow, an example of what drives me nuts about aging (and possibly information overload in this digital age)... cognitive decline... the unexpected mistake out of nowhere. Who the heck doesn't know there are 12 inches, not 10, in a foot? Stoopid! Can't believe I did that. I had thought of leaning some of them but unsure exactly how to configure. Can investigate this 'weaving' idea.

 

I only have a 6.5'x10' utility trailer and I've hauled 6 (single stacked) plus 1 in the truck bed. 3 were flat on the floor of the trailer and the other 3 were on top of the rail, leaning against the side of the totes on the floor and well strapped. I didn't try to double stack. I also borrowed an equipment trailer (16' including dovetail?) and got 8 on simply because I was loading by hand. I would have double stacked on that trailer otherwise.

 

You bring up a great point... if I make a trip by myself, loading 2x high might be too much to ask. I *have* loaded several totes onto my truck by myself but I dunno if I could manage stacking 2x high. Doesn't matter anyway as long as the haul count is the same.

 

Don’t feel bad. When I built the sides on my trailer they were supposed to be a perfect height to hold one cord of wood tossed. I did the math 34 times over the course of 20 days in preparation for cutting the first board.
I still screwed up. They’re 4” too tall. That’s ok, not a terrible thing. The worse part is I didn’t figure it out for months afterwards. Still don’t know how I could’ve messed that up

Now that I think about it, don’t think the method I described would work either.

 

Ok makes me feel better. I have brain farts pretty regularly now and math used to be my specialty, lol.

And I think there is another mistake in my thinking... the truck should hold two just sitting in the bed with the tailgate down, 40 x 2 = 80 = extending out only about half the tailgate. If I double decked them, the truck could hold four! So, me and trailer should be able to haul 8 or 10.

Might could lean two rows of totes into the middle of the trailer, three deep length-wise. So, six. Then, wonder if you could somehow strap three more in the middle atop those six along the midline axis of the trailer. Which would be nine. Now we're up to 13, truck n trailer!

Whatever I do, it's backroads, could drive slow.

 

WinonaRails suggestion sounds plausible. Sort of like I suggested but not quite.
I’m thinking now a temporary rail like a sheet of plywood on just one side of the trailer may be beneficial. Couple spreader boards to keep it locked in place until the straps are cinched up. I think you could get 9 on there in that fashion.
I’d stack them one row at a time so you can lift from the trailer and not the ground.

Bottom line maybe the easiest route is make a trip pick up whatever you can, then bring them home and study the different possible configurations. Get everything figured out and then go back for a mega load or more. You’ll probably have the solutions figured out before you get home from the first trip.

 

Just double stack em and strap em down. The bottom of the top one will pretty much interlock with the top of the bottom one. Go 2 wide x 2 high. One strap for every 4 totes.

 

I hauled 16 a few winters ago. I got caught in some lake affect snow with high winds which made for quite the ride! BTW 18’ trailer

 

Get six 8ft 2x4 put 2 ea under totes two wide 3 deep and 2 high on trailer. = 12
4 on truck and you can haul 16.