Kaufman vs Gatormade

[STOWANDGO]

I have owned several trailers over the past few years. Gator made trailers are top quality. especially the gooseneck and equipment trailers. i think they produced a lower quality trailer a few years ago. however, i really like the fact that they powder coat all trailers now. the powder coat ensures the trailer will look good now, and a long time in the future. i think kaufman is basically just a low priced trailer with low quality. you get what you pay for. i think it is worth the extra expense to have a quality made equipment trailer. if i were just carrying a lawnmower etc, i might consider cheap trailers. however, an equipment trailer needs to be well made, and look good into the future! i would highly recommend my gatormade gooseneck trailer!

 

[hodge]

I've got a 20+4' Kauffman, and it has been great. I've hauled my Kubota (B7100 and tiller, no stress on it), my skid steer, and many loads of hay, 200+ bales. I have no complaints, and the comparable Gatormade was a good bit more expensive. I realize that it may be worth the extra, but not for my application- the Kauffman is more than fitting the bill, and Kauffman was great to do business with.
I live in Va, and it was real reasonable for Kauffman to bring the trailer up. The local Gatormade dealer didn't have what I was looking for in stock, and couldn't get it- I would have to have purchased from the manufacturer in Texas, and paid an arm and a leg to get it here. In the long run, it was a couple thousand different, all told.

 

[gumshu]

I considered a Kaufman, but read some bad reviews online. You may want to Google Kaufman complaints. I don't have any personal experience with them. Good luck.

 

[gtrippleb]

I had a Kaufman 30ft gooseneck that I put around 15k on in 4 months hauling less than loads. I never had any problems with it. I don't live to far from the factory so it was nice to go down there and pick out the trailer and haul it home. I had to order it as they didn't already have a 30ft on the lot.



I'm thinking about getting one of their tilt bed trailers for my next trailer.

 

[sawtooth]

I had a Kaufman 30ft gooseneck that I put around 15k on in 4 months hauling less than loads. I never had any problems with it. I don't live to far from the factory so it was nice to go down there and pick out the trailer and haul it home. I had to order it as they didn't already have a 30ft on the lot.

View attachment 290910

I'm thinking about getting one of their tilt bed trailers for my next trailer.

The company and trailers are crap. I live about 20 minutes from the factory here in Lexington NC. Many locals wont buy them jus due to reputation alone. I bought one in 2010 and had several issues with it including a severe vibration. Trailer was only 30-40 days old and they would not work on it under warranty. They sent me to a shop next door acting like they would repaired under warranty but then I got handed a $200 charge for welding up the adjustable hitch as he said the design was bad. Im sorry but what? I refused to pay but now had a adjustable 2 5/16 coupler that had been permanently welded to position and a trailer that still had severe vibration. Without a doubt the worst purchase experiences of my life. Do your homework and look up Kaufman complaints. You will be shocked.

 

[fried1765]

The company and trailers are crap. I live about 20 minutes from the factory here in Lexington NC. Many locals wont buy them jus due to reputation alone. I bought one in 2010 and had several issues with it including a severe vibration. Trailer was only 30-40 days old and they would not work on it under warranty. They sent me to a shop next door acting like they would repaired under warranty but then I got handed a $200 charge for welding up the adjustable hitch as he said the design was bad. Im sorry but what? I refused to pay but now had a adjustable 2 5/16 coupler that had been permanently welded to position and a trailer that still had severe vibration. Without a doubt the worst purchase experiences of my life. Do your homework and look up Kaufman complaints. You will be shocked.

You responded to a 7 year old post about Kaufman.
Yours is the only complaint in 7 years.
Has Kaufman just recently become bad?

 

[Shaneard]

Has Kaufman just recently become bad?

I custom ordered a 24' gooseneck from them 3 years ago. Went there and picked it up, have had ZERO issues with it or the people there.

 

[sawtooth]

You responded to a 7 year old post about Kaufman.
Yours is the only complaint in 7 years.
Has Kaufman just recently become bad?

No sir they have always made a questionable product. The problem is they buy the cheapest components when they can and build them as fast as possible. I live close to the manufacturing site in Lexington and have a friend that worked there for just over 4 years. He left in 2017 for more money working at a local injection molding company. He said they use good big ticket items like Dexter axles but skimp on smaller items like cheapest tires, lights, wiring harnesses, and many metal components. On the quality side they are rushed through production with limited inspection in trying to meet high productivity goals. Yes, it’s possible to get good one that works as it should but as we all know there’s always a reason why something is substantially cheaper than other mainstream competitors. They don’t have super secret manufacturing methods or get super special pricing from their suppliers. They just remove cost by using cheaper components and produce more at a faster rate by spending less time on each unit. Spending less time is great as long as your not cutting corners or skipping certain quality and inspection steps. Yes they can be $1000-2000 cheaper per trailer but as always you get what pay for. There are several good “consistent” quality trailer manufactures but Kaufman is not one of them. See attached link for additional info. Also they carried a F+ rating with BBB for years and years and only recently have gotten to a A rating like other trailer suppliers. This rating is based on consumer complaints and overall consumer relations with Kaufman and has nothing to do with the actual quality of the trailers. Hopefully they are trying to make permanent changes but time will tell.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

 

[Btown]

Of the car haulers I see driving around up here in New England. I am talking about 1 ton dually pickup with a 3-4 car trailer. I have to say over 60% of them are Kaufman trailers. I haven’t seen them broken down so they can’t be that bad.

 

[Shaneard]

Gave the Kaufman a workout today. Had 275 gallons of water on the front corner to go spray the farm with remedy ultra. Had 100 gallons in the tank on the back. Rear tires are loaded on the tractor with 2 sets of rear wheel weights on each side.