Used trailer inspection - what to look at?

Because of the truck's long wheelbase, or because you can't see the dang thing from the driver's seat?

 

Both.......more so the wheel base

 

Pop some of those driveway reflector stakes on it if you can't see it to back it up. I've backed up my log splitter many times driving my truck, I can't see that trailer being any worse. I say go for it, it's hard to beat having a trailer around, especially one you don't have much money in!

 

The smaller the trailer the harder it is to back. You can't see it and the short touge makes It very sensitive to jack knife.

It was way easier to back my in laws 24 foot pontoon plus trailer length over my small 4x8 trailer. This is assuming enough room to actually manuver the big one.


As far as looking. Look for bends, esp axle. Cracked welds. Bad tires. There like auto tires 10 years or bad dry rot there toast. Rotted wood if it's wood. Treated does not mean no rot. Check for excess wheel play like bad bearings. Greace all over tires is from bad wheel seals but those are cheap and easy so don't worry there. Bearings and hubs are realitively cheap but new hubs your about $70 to 80 plus new tires will be about another $80 to 100 based on size. You get expensive quick.

As long as you stay away from that cheap 5x8 that TSC and northern tool sells with the 12" tires without an A bracing on tounge the angle iron trailers your talkING about are fine. Open sides are no bug deal as you can pile it higher Than you can really use.

 

I personally wouldn't pay $400. Maybe $250 max.

 

"Cheap trailers" like this one?? This is actually heavy duty I think for a 4x8. Has 13" tires. Sure has a mesh floor but with a sheet of plywood no problem and I toss it in no problem. It holds about 3/4 cord and that's really more of a load than it should have!

I thought about putting smaller side boards on it but it would catch more wind. Add to the weight and I can really get more wood on it than is safe. Only time it would help is if you cut a lot of like 6 to 8"rounds or haul a lot of small split wood.

 

What others have said...look for frame cracks, rust, tire condition, bearings. Although these can repaired/replaced, the money you spend can quickly add up to the cost you can pick up a new trailer for.

I got a lot of use out of one of those fold up 4x8 trailers, 10 years over the road and another 15 behind my tractor around the yard. Not bad for a $250 investment-that includes pressure treated racks I built and a plywood floor.
It is a bear to back up-it is much easier to back up my 6.5x18' tandem!

 

Of I agree my 6.5x16 foot tandem backs like a dream compared to that small one.

 

It is not the size of the trailer that causes people problems when backing up, but rather the distance from the pivot point to the trailer axle. The shorter the distance the more any movement on the steering wheel is accentuated. If you have 4wd it helps to put it in low range to slow your ground speed.

Several years ago I was cleaning a saw outside my garage and saw a neighbor going around the block over and over pulling a compressor. After a dozen times I asked if he needed some help. He was trying to back it into his garage and kept jacknifing. I asked him which side of the garage he wanted it on and backed it straight in on my first shot. He asked how I did it and I told him it was 35 years of experience.

 

Haha!

Yea it's that tounge length or the length to the axle like you said but it's kind of uncommon to have a 4x6 trailer with say 16ft from the hitch to the axle and some crazy long tounge. With an auto you can ride the btake. A stick is a pain and 4Lo would help a lot in that case.

 

Have you never seen someone turn a boat trailer into an utility trailer by strapping down a sheet of plywood?

 

Yea there was a kind of cool trailer made out of a boat trailer on CL I saw this week had about a 4x8 or so box on the trailer and the front section had boards on it to make a platform but the were bolted down not flat across but in a V shape like the bottom of a boat shape. This was in front of the box that was built on it.

 

This. I can thread a needle with a 53' semi trailer but look like an amateur with my ATV and dump trailer.

 

I went to look at it this afternoon, and while I was charmed I'm probably going to pass. I wasn't far off on my guess about its age -- 1962! It was made by Ideal for Sears, and while the title claims a 3000# GVWR, the plate on the trailer itself was unreadable and I suspect its real capacity is nowhere near that. The tires are only 8" 4-ply bias, which I'm pretty sure have a load rating far below the 1500# apiece they'd have to carry. There was obvious play in the wheel bearings, enough rust on the underside to make a good wire-brushing and a few coats of Rustoleum prudent, and a few other minor mechanical issues. On the bright side it was very light and easy to move around. Its original owner was an engineer who appears to have been fairly careful with his equipment. There wasn't room for the trailer in the garage, so he built it its own little carport, about five feet high and just long and wide enough to cover it, with a built-up asphalt roof. The engineer died last year (at 90), and his son in law was handling the sale. Very nice guy, and a cute little trailer despite its impracticalities.

 

I know those little tires hold good weight. There on pontoon trailers and boats under about 20ft only have a single axle of those tires. Our 24ft to on was a tandem with those tires.

But u made a good decision, based on the work it required and the price. Maybe at $150 it would of been ok deal? $75-100 even better

 

Oh well, better to get exactly what you want to first time, than regret your purchase and buy something twice.

 

I don't know what those boats weigh, but from what I've been able to find online, similar tires in load range B (what's on the little trailer now) can handle 590# apiece, and the load range C versions carry 745# each. For my purposes I could probably do okay with the latter.

Honestly, even though I know it would be a project, the main reason I'm hesitant to make the guy a (much lower) offer is that it's a bit too long to stand up on its back end in my garage. It's just a single-car space, and the rafters are about 81" off the floor, while the trailer is nearly 8'. I could turn it sideways and lift he tongue between two rafters, but there'd be no point because I wouldn't be able to fit a car between the trailer and the opposite wall.

With my space constraints, one of those folding trailers is looking like the only option. I just don't love the idea of having to store the sides separately and go through an assembly/disassembly procedure every time I use it.

 

I am not sure I would have too Google it but I'm sure there is C and D rated ones like that?

I can promise you the trailer was probably 1200# or so. And just the 115hp motor must of weighed another 500#?? Plus several hundred gallons of fuel when full.

 

I wouldn't worry about that to much , I can pop my sides off or on in a couple minutes on my 5 X 10 trailer, a lot of times I take one side off to make it easier to load from the side , sides and front just slip in or out of stake pockets no bolts required .

 

Ok I looked and quick Google shows the boat I'm talking about weighing about 2000# plus over 100# more of batteries and another 100 of coolers. Tires easily handled it.


As too the trailer. I know I like everyone else like as much stuff under cover as posiible cause weather destroys stuff, but why does it have to be folded into your garage? Keep it in the yard like most of us keep our trailers. It only costs $250 new before coupon Magic right? Plus the wood cost. I wouldn't worry that much about it sitting iutside. Run it 5 to 10 years and sell it and buy a new one. That would be cheaper than your time to paint it or buy new tires. Probably still get $150 for it. You wouldn't have a tin of money in it so letting it sit outside would not hurt that much.