Aluminum equipment trailers.

[Hersheyfarm]

Let’s see what happens.

 

[UncleSam]

When I took driver’s Ed the instructor said that the best drivers were those who were allowed to ride their tricycles inside when they were young.

Riding horses doesn’t hurt, either.

 

[UncleSam]

so i bought the suretrac 20’er. After all taxes it was $13k. I want the 22’ they offer but there is a back order of 8” channel and they cannot build anymore aluminum trailers for a good wile. There is only a handful of these 20’ trailers left within a 1000 miles, so i went ahead and jumped. When they start building again, and if i still feel 2’ would benefit me i may order one and sell this one. as you can expect, this large 2000lb trailer pulled like a dream on my 2 hour trip home. Zero vibration or bounce, or anything. Cant feel it back there. The adjustable trailer coupler had 5/8 bolts and was just too sloppy. The trailer bracket has 3/4 holes, i had to drill the cast coupler out 1/8” and it was not fun. Cast does not drill easy. But I now have 3/4 grade 8 bolts and it has very little play. I blame the trailer dealer for this one. I was super anxious about its placement so i pulled the mini x up on there and got my tongue weight at 1400lb.(tongue scale, worth every penny) and this is where it will ride. Trailer is front high cause its not on truck, had it loose to use scale.
View attachment 781682Today we got iced out so i still haven’t pulled it loaded to see how it does. So far it seems built well And i can live with the ugly bland unpainted aluminum, especially with 12005lb payload. Got nice aluminum rims Too. It came with 4 of these tie down things, no way i can use them but they have a 6000lb rating. Kinda worthless to me.
View attachment 781683
Need better weather. To get hitch height set and take for a trip. Will update.
oh yea, the fenders come off easy, just one hand knob and it comes right off. Good thing, there is only 3” of room on each side of the tracks to fender. All its going to take is one morning I’m in a hurry unloading…they are stiff and you can walk on them, but wont take a track pushing into them.

Just a question- would you consider backing that thing on there to get more of the weight to the front, or isn’t it feasible?

 

[jwmorris]

Aluminums lack of use in smaller trailers is probably cause it’s more expensive, way more and harder to work with(weld). Most newer semi trailers are aluminum, box and flatbed.

I have repaired a number of aluminum trailers, as others have noted the welds commonly fail. It’s probably because people that build them have experience with steel but want something lighter and don’t build them out of aluminum correctly.

Pointing at semi trailers made out of aluminum is one thing but then we should also look at the construction techniques. Notice the lack of welds holding the aluminum parts together?

That running gear that’s welded together is galvanized steel, the aluminum is rivet/bolt, not weld.

Another brand where the deck is welded to cross support but again note the daylight you can see where they pass through the frame, they left it like that because a weld thats not there, can’t crack.

You could read a lot about the difference between stiffness and strength, modulus of elasticity and such or just look at used aluminum trailers and see where they are failing.

 

[Rustyiron]

Let’s see what happens.

Nice trailer and you should be fine
I'm sure that you've witnessed the same, but I'll see it when loading and tight maneuvering with all trailers. There's some heavy stressing experienced during both of those. Carrying a little collection of shims to stick under the ramps "legs" before the trailer's suspension is compressed to sit on the ground while loading/unloading is a good practice for the back end of the trailer beyond the axles.
Seems like you've got enough experience and smart's so enjoy

 

[jjeff]

Imo aluminum trailers have one good use, hauling snowmobiles. I have a non roadworthy off brand 25+ yr old one sitting in a field at my cabin riddled with cracks and egged out holes. I also have a 2 place covered 20 yr old triton with a wishbone tongue been abused somewhat no cracks or any other problems ever. Ive had cheap steel snowmobile trailers that looked like Swiss cheese after a 1/2 a decade. I'd never again buy a aluminum trailer for equipment or anything else unless it was made by a reputable manufacturer that know what there doing imo.

 

[5030]

Both Reitnauer and East are very reputable builders that have been building trailers (commercial) for a very long time. Like I said, every one of the ones my company purchased (and they owned at least 30 of them), all needed repairs or were scrapped after a while. The reason why we went with aluminum was the weight savings. The lighter you are with a tractor trailer, the more you can haul legally and the more you can haul the more revenue made.
Last one I pulled before retirement was an 8 axle custom built Reitnauer. 4 tight, 2 up front and 2 out back. Front 2 and back 2 lifted to make corners. I could load almost 110,000 on the deck and still roll the Michigan scales and be under my 165,000 pound kicker sticker.

It take serious power to go down the road too. 3406 NZ Cat turned up to 600 horses with an 18 speed Road Ranger (in a conventional long nose Western Star), The outfit I retired from also owned to truck dealerships, one Freightliner and one Western Star. Western Stars are built to haul, Freightliners aren't.

With 11 axles on the road even loaded, plenty of braking power as well though they all had Jakes in them.

Best job I ever had and I never made under 80 grand with full benes a year plus 5 weeks paid vacation. Do I miss it? Sometimes I do, most times I don't.

Too many idiots on the road.

Guess that is why I still have an International Eagle conventional with an NZ in it and a 42 foot Timpte hopper bottom grain trailer. I get to make runs to the coop hauling corn and beans every year and get paid well for it.

 

[jjeff]

Both Reitnauer and East are very reputable builders that have been building trailers (commercial) for a very long time. Like I said, every one of the ones my company purchased (and they owned at least 30 of them), all needed repairs or were scrapped after a while. The reason why we went with aluminum was the weight savings. The lighter you are with a tractor trailer, the more you can haul legally and the more you can haul the more revenue made.
Last one I pulled before retirement was an 8 axle custom built Reitnauer. 4 tight, 2 up front and 2 out back. Front 2 and back 2 lifted to make corners. I could load almost 110,000 on the deck and still roll the Michigan scales and be under my 165,000 pound kicker sticker.

It take serious power to go down the road too. 3406 NZ Cat turned up to 600 horses with an 18 speed Road Ranger (in a conventional long nose Western Star), The outfit I retired from also owned to truck dealerships, one Freightliner and one Western Star. Western Stars are built to haul, Freightliners aren't.

With 11 axles on the road even loaded, plenty of braking power as well though they all had Jakes in them.

Best job I ever had and I never made under 80 grand with full benes a year plus 5 weeks paid vacation. Do I miss it? Sometimes I do, most times I don't.

Too many idiots on the road.

Guess that is why I still have an International Eagle conventional with an NZ in it and a 42 foot Timpte hopper bottom grain trailer. I get to make runs to the coop hauling corn and beans every year and get paid well for it.

I suppose if you factor in how much more cargo you can carry due to more regulated otr commercial use aluminum savings would add up in a hurry. for a smaller occasionally used steel equipment trailer the risk of being a little overweight occasionally isn't worth the headaches I've experienced owning aluminum trailers unless it was used a lot during the winter.

 

[5030]

I suppose if you factor in how much more cargo you can carry due to more regulated otr commercial use aluminum savings would add up in a hurry. for a smaller occasionally used steel equipment trailer the risk of being a little overweight occasionally isn't worth the headaches I've experienced owning aluminum trailers unless it was used a lot during the winter.

That all depends on how close a DOT officer is and his mood. Believe me, they don't differentiate. I've seen them ticket non commercial rigs too and you don't want to ever have a roadside inspection either. Always wanted to be a DOT officer as I know exactly what to look for and I'd need a thick citation book as well.

Back then I could look at tires and tell if the trailer was overloaded or not.

Myself, I avoid well traveled routes like a bad dream when I have a jag on my gooseneck which is steel because I got to see how alloy trailers fall apart. I can TIG weld aluminum but mild steel is light years easier to repair and less expensive too.

The average life expectancy of any alloy trailer is maybe 50% of a steel one.

 

[5030]

I have repaired a number of aluminum trailers, as others have noted the welds commonly fail. It’s probably because people that build them have experience with steel but want something lighter and don’t build them out of aluminum correctly.

Pointing at semi trailers made out of aluminum is one thing but then we should also look at the construction techniques. Notice the lack of welds holding the aluminum parts together?

That running gear that’s welded together is galvanized steel, the aluminum is rivet/bolt, not weld.

View attachment 783437

Another brand where the deck is welded to cross support but again note the daylight you can see where they pass through the frame, they left it like that because a weld thats not there, can’t crack.

View attachment 783439

View attachment 783438

You could read a lot about the difference between stiffness and strength, modulus of elasticity and such or just look at used aluminum trailers and see where they are failing.

Looking at the bones of those trailers, I'd never consider one of I was in the market.

 

[jjeff]

That all depends on how close a DOT officer is and his mood. Believe me, they don't differentiate. I've seen them ticket non commercial rigs too and you don't want to ever have a roadside inspection either. Always wanted to be a DOT officer as I know exactly what to look for and I'd need a thick citation book as well.

Back then I could look at tires and tell if the trailer was overloaded or not.

Myself, I avoid well traveled routes like a bad dream when I have a jag on my gooseneck which is steel because I got to see how alloy trailers fall apart. I can TIG weld aluminum but mild steel is light years easier to repair and less expensive too.

The average life expectancy of any alloy trailer is maybe 50% of a steel one.

I agree mostly on state police load masters however I believe if your non commercial, not driving like a complete moron speeding, tailgating, etc, load is secured over regs ex would be properly running 4 chain binders in weight ratings on all 4 corners on a 10k piece of equipment, they are more likely not to bother you. However if you were non commercial hauling a D4 cat with a one ton speeding down the freeway you shouldn't be driving imho. Being involved in an accident and being overweight is entirely a different story especially if you being overweight contributed to the accident imo.

 

[5030]

Being involved in an accident and being overweight is entirely a different story especially if you being overweight contributed to the accident imo.

The first thing any insurance adjuster looks at and if you are, you are at fault no matter what. How it works.

 

[jjeff]

The first thing any insurance adjuster looks at and if you are, you are at fault no matter what. How it works.

I cordially disagree, many factors involved ex if your overweight other driver runs a stop sign runs into the side of your trailer, maybe other driver is under the influence. Imo lots of scenarios if your overweight where you probably can get out of being totally liable. But it's still taking risk and until you get tv commercial lawyer involved most law enforcement, judges and civil service folks are reasonable once both sides of the story are figured out and your honest. Best thing to do imo is be somewhat comfortable with what your hauling but overly defensive and cautious.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Just a question- would you consider backing that thing on there to get more of the weight to the front, or isn’t it feasible?

What are you talking about? It’s perfectly positioned. I own a tongue scale and have exactly 10% tongue weight.

 

[4570Man]

Just a question- would you consider backing that thing on there to get more of the weight to the front, or isn’t it feasible?

I usually haul my mini with the boom on the back of the trailer just because there’s more room behind it vs in front but the mini is pretty balanced end to end. It doesn’t change much to spin it.

 

[flyingace43]

I have a 10K 20' legend equipment trailer which I have had for 2 years I haul about #7500 on it and I have not had any problems so far but I will keep checking it on a regular basis. I don't use on a daily basis but so far I'm very happy for what its worth.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I usually haul my mini with the boom on the back of the trailer just because there’s more room behind it vs in front but the mini is pretty balanced end to end. It doesn’t change much to spin it.

On a 20’ trailer? You have a 040, right? About the same size as mine. If i loaded backwards I’d have mega tongue weight to keep boom over trailer. At least I assume, never tried it.

 

[dennis103]

That would depend on if you set the bottle down first.

famous words, "Hold my beer and watch this."

 

[witenight]

Weight. Payload on 22’ is 11900lb.

I regularly put that amount of stone in my LoadTrail 14x7 dump trailer - which weighs 4370# emply. Yes, that puts me about 1.5k over the GVWR. I tow for about 20 minutes with that load, up a 7.5% grade for about 2 miles with a dually RAM. I would never try that with an aluminum trailer. The rust resistance is great - but it will NOT hold up to regular use like that... Take a look at these trailers in-person, and side-by-side if possible. The I-beam size on my trailer, the gusseting, and the design of the crossmembers are all designed to be used hard for the "long haul"... If you're not going to approach the GVWR and only tow occasionally, then give it a try. BUT, if you're towing regularly and putting some weight on it, go steel. I remember when I was weighing out my options during my first buy: I kept trying to fit the trailer to my truck... it was too small for the loads I wanted to haul... Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought a more capable truck - end of issue... Good luck in your decision-making...

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Ok, thanks

Lol

Welp, decision made…

But seriously, there is no doubt steel can be abused. My diamond c deck over had a 8” I beam and could definitely hold a lot. Matter of fact it’s basically the same frame for 8k axles and probably 10k upgrade. Most steel trailers are way overbuilt and it’s the 7k axles that are the weakest link. Gatorade is one that throws out engineering and just throws extra steel at it. I guess some people like the selling point of “an over built “ trailer, but it comes at a price. Legal and civil payload capacity. Again, the trailer I sold to get this was awesome and I routinely was putting up to 2k over capacity on it. But I needed payload in the form of hopefully well placed engineering. The only steel trailer out there that had close to the payload I needed was a Kaufman. At a 3000lb weight they are like diamond c and up their gvwr 1000lb with 7k axles to 15k. That would give me a payload of 11600 after de-rating to 14600. All other manufacturers just go with axle ratings for their gvwr, so 14k. Big Tex makes a light 14k trailer but it still falls short because they dont add extra payload capacity over the axle ratings.
Sometimes overbuilt isn’t the best way to go. Lots of us like to assume based on inexperience, me included. Let’s see how it does cause it is going to be hauling its maximum rated payload(not over) and used. This will be on suretrac if there are issues, I’m crossing my T’s and dotting my I’s AND documenting it. 3 year warranty. In the words of project farm. “We’re going to test that”.