Thinking about my start up business, I'm realizing there are some things I need. A larger more capable trailer, a chipper, etc. I decided to take a look at a nearby trailer dealer. While there I started thinking to myself. I could get a tandem axle utility trailer and have similar functions to a dump trailer at a much lower price point. It won't dump, but it will carry brush, firewood, logs, equipment, etc. just as well. It will be easier to load with the ramp style, and easier to side load/unload without solid sides. Something like this nice little open utility. It comes in 77"w x 12' (pictured), 14' or 16' length. The 12' model weighs in at 1265# and will carry 4735#. Cost is about $2,300. They also offer a heavier duty version that will carry 7,500 lbs. A 16' x 83" is about $3,900. A comparable sized dump the 90SR which is 6'w x 10'L weighs in at 2930# and will carry 7060#. Cost is about $5,000 Surely the dump feature will save time, and the capacity for heavy wood or dirt is much better. However, I could get the open utility AND a nice Woodmaxx 8" three point chipper for the same price as just the dump trailer. The reality is my little truck which is a 2019 Frontier and will tow 6,800 lbs, isn't going anywhere for awhile. I'll never use the dump trailer max capacity, in fact the empty trailer is almost half of my tow capacity. The extra length of the open utility would be nice for hauling equipment with attachments, a splitter and firewood at the same time, bulkier items like brush, etc. Decisions...decisions...Which would or did you go for? Do you have any regrets?
I believe this is the 90SR that I have. I shopped around quite a bit and in this size range, I liked this Big Tex the best. I think I had to give $5700 for it plus tax when I tagged it. It has two approximately 6000 lb axles, if I remember correctly. It's a heck of a trailer. I have not hauled green wood in it, I have always so far only hauled wood cut from logs that had been cut probably at least 2 years. I have hauled bigger loads then in these pictures. With this type of wood, you can not over load it even with the side boards and the built up extended end gates which I welded up myself. It has plenty of power to dump the heaviest load I can pile on there of this type of wood. I am pulling it with a heavy half ton truck, and it does well, but I have to put it in low range, four wheel drive to pull up over the steep dirt road mountain I live on. I feel like your pickup is too small to be safe pulling this trailer loaded. I bought this trailer for a trash trailer but it has done double duty on a few loads of wood this year. As a wood trailer it does work pretty good, especially if you didn't plan on stacking it right away, but I see little advantage in taking the wood directly off of the trailer and stacking it at the same time, because if you dump it on the ground first, it still has to be picked up to be stacked. I can walk around the edges of an open 16 ft trailer and do a whole lot less bending over to get the wood. Did I say I hated bending over and picking stuff off of the ground. Well, I surly do hate it. Now you can try to just raise the bed of the dump trailer a little at a time and get the wood to come back to the back of the trailer, but it tricky and dangerous, as it slides all at once when it goes mostly. Doable but takes finesse. I would get the 16 footer first and then later get a dump if you want one, along with a 3/4 ton truck to pull it with. I have a 3/4 ton I can pull mine with, but it's old and the wiring hookup is different. I need to get that fixed up for the dump trailer. I know a man who pulls a 16ft dump with a half ton truck, 14,000 GVW on his trailer. But he is hard on trucks, and has already had to replace the rear end in his late model Ford half ton.
I offload splits from my dump trailer and dump truck all the time. Have for years. I also hate bending over with a painful passion. I find it downright easy. Just don’t leave your hands hanging around in the zone
Start with the equipment trailer if you want too. Your young yet. I can’t live without my dump but I did when I was young and strong. Sounds like you have all the pros and cons figured out. Trade some manual labor for ease of loading. Even the low profile dumps like mine arent fun getting equipment into. Need longer ramps which equates to more heavy duty. To load my zero turn I raise the dump bed up otherwise it would bottom out on the deck. Can be interesting at times.
I was looking at trailers.......but really just fantasizing. I was thinking about a 3-board high utility trailer similar to yours. A few features I thought were great was that they use 2" square tubing in places where a lot of others use angle bar......... And secondly they have a setback jack so that it doesn't interfere with one's lowering of a tailgate on a truck. Third they have a cross bar on the tongue for more strength. If I were did get one, I'd rig something up where I would try and incorporate the functionality of the HarborFreight cargo unloader or design something that would function the same. Here's their spec sheet. And here's a link to the entire thing. https://sure-trac.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TubeTop3BoardHighSide_Specs.pdf They make tandem trailers too.
Sure Trac does make great trailers. I was looking at their deck over 6x10 dump awhile back. The place I got my Kioti sells them but he’s kinda pricey.
If I had a big boy truck I’d just get a 6x12 dump and be done. My father does have a one ton dump, a larger 6 wheeler, and a couple large tag alongs. I like the 12’ utility because it’s more nimble and manuverable, but the 16 would offer more carrying space.
It’s more of a tree removal business, with firewood as a side business to get rid of the wood. I’ll be bringing equipment to the site as often as I’ll be hauling wood. I get your point though.
For what its worth. A buddy of mine started a tree service years ago. His nice new open trailer made it almost one year! Worthless for his setup. To slow to unload. To light. He went to a dump trailer very soon. Loads his tractor/loader/grapple in the trailer. Uses a pickup to pull that to the jobsite. His bucket truck pulls the chipper. He uses the tractor to load the tree/large branch wood etc. for removal. After cleanup is finished he loads the tractor back up and heads to the next job. Works nice. No way I want to be loading/unloading heavy wood on a non-dump trailer in a business setting. Just my thoughts from being involved. BTW. He has been swamped for years!
Maybe rent both and see how you like either for tree work I've been eyeing a dump trailer for awhile now after renting one, but the honda might be a bit light
I have no experience in a dump trailer, but did own a 16' landscape/utility trailer with metal sides similar to the one in the picture. If you begin to lean toward the utility trailer, I would recommend you looking into a car trailer or equipment trailer that doesn't have sides. Those trailers usually have stake pockets so you can build your own sides if you want the sides. Some manufacturers you can also get a full width ramp for the equipment trailer. When i had my 16' landscape trailer, there were many times I wish I did not have sides. Plus they are built typically with angle iron, whereas a lot of the stronger equipment trailers are c-channel, which seems a little stronger. Plus if you got a trailer with the hard sides you wouldn't be able to load any of them IBC totes on it with the trattor. Here is my old 16' trailer with hard sides. It was a good trailer. Just at times wish it didn't have sides. So I recently sold it and purchased this 20' 10k Load Trail.
I have both types, and have hauled a lot of wood with both. Do you have more time than money, or is your time worth money? Dump trailers always need a good truck to pull them, even the 7k GVW. 10k and up and you will need a 3/4 ton or better, regardless of what the sticker on the door tells you. Point being: Tree guy: "How much can it hold?" Me: "I dunno, how much can we get in there?" Me on the road: "Oh ish, that's a lot of weight back there." Upgraded to a Chevy 2500HD many years ago and that last statement only got bigger (bigger trailers, more weight). Ford Explorer ran the show for a long time before that. Dumpers are great, but they do have a point of diminishing return. The bigger you get = the more they weigh = the less you can haul and the less you want to drag it around for easy stuff. My first 6x10 10k was about 2500 lbs empty, my current 6x10 14k is easily 3500 lbs, and the 7x14 14k I originally wanted was just too painful to take out on quick trips without a diesel truck. My 83" x 16' utility is 1,500 lbs empty and I forget it's back there sometimes. If you go with a utility trailer, 83" between the fenders is a must! That will allow you to get 2 pallets or IBC totes side by side. Make sure you get a wrap around tongue with rails. Once you burn up the first set of crappy dealer tires, upgrade to the next standard GVW and you won't have any issues with overloading. All trailers have triple rated components and the tires are always the weakest link. Unloading a utility trailer takes a lot of time and back work. Unloading a dump trailer takes less time than it takes to type a paragraph, and about the same amount of effort. If you have to unload a trailer more than once a day, or if there aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done, a dumpy is the only choice. But, to each their own! 10k of euc in the dump, 10k of pine on the utility. All was standing 30 minutes before in the trailer. It took me and the 50 lb terrorist about 30 minutes to unload the utility trailer. On a last thought, I don't know a single tree person that doesn't have a dump trailer, even the guys that do side work always have dumps. Good luck.
Sounds like most people agree a dump is the way to go. If I were to get a dump, Sure Trac offers a 10k 6x10 deckover dump that only weighs 1980 lbs. SD Deckover Dump Trailer | Sure-Trac In comparison, Big Tex's 90SR is 2540# empty. I know the deckover is higher off the ground. May be better for low stumps, and tight spots. The lighter build would worry me for flexing, etc. Maybe I'll look at older 3/4 ton trucks, and keep the Nissan as a daily driver.
I'd compare the lift rates of the hydraulic systems and see if that is worth the extra weight or not. Sometimes when the truck is loaded all the way full he can't lift the box and has to manually offload 1/4 of the load......
Well you know my vote is for low and wide over tall and narrow. Are the axles any higher on a deck over? I dont think so. That’s your ground clearance limiting factor. By all means if you can swing the expense go for a dump and an old 3/4 ton to pull it. You’ll save some change in property taxes with an old truck. My 86 Lincoln is $15 a year whereas my 2014 Ram is around $700. And while voting is still open 12’ is perfect. If I bought another that would be the length.
