Aluminum equipment trailers.

[Hersheyfarm]

One thing that was ignorant is how they had safety chains hooked. Just used them as like a washer one of the 4 bolts holding the steel adjustable coupler on.

I moved them.

You can see the end of the A frame channel, that thing is 1/2” on sides but almost 3/4” before it tapers off on top/bottom.
The main frame channel is weird, it’s 1 piece formed and shaped like this. 8” tall.

 

[4570Man]

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.

No my trailer is a 22 or maybe 24. I can haul with the boom either way I just like it backwards. I apparently don’t have a picture of the excavator loaded on my tilt trailer.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

My KX040 mini excavator will fit forwards or backwards on my 22' (aluminum/tilt) trailer.

I almost always load backwards. Both the mini excavator and tractor have cabs...loading backwards reduces the chance of a door getting blown open and possibly seriously damaged.

FWIW, a Weigh-Safe hitch makes getting tongue weight correct easy.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

My KX040 mini excavator will fit forwards or backwards on my 22' (aluminum/tilt) trailer.

I almost always load backwards. Both the mini excavator and tractor have cabs...loading backwards reduces the chance of a door getting blown open and possibly seriously damaged.

FWIW, a Weigh-Safe hitch makes getting tongue weight correct easy.

I just always load forward, i like the exhaust pipe in back if possible. No reason really.
But this is what i have to set tongue weight. I load a piece of equipment and then jack it up and replace the ball mount with an empty flat one and set this on it and lower the trailer. I can then, very carefully, move the equipment back or forth to find the perfect tongue weight. Once i do i mark it and thats where i load up every time. The hitches with scales are nice but i read reviews and a lot of people complained that they fail cause of constant use or water intrusion. This one is pretty cheap.

Not for nothing another thing I bought that i use and is super handy to have is this. You can weigh buckets, roll bales, or anything. Love it. Mines a 2200lb scale.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Little update after i used for a bit. It pulls great. Easy to load even though i only have a couple inches on each side of clearance between fenders. No issue. Now for what i just figured out and am pi@@ed about. For the longest time i could figure out why the tongue looked like it was running uphill. I have the trailer perfectly leveled when loaded, not even a 1/2” of upward slant. But tongue and jack, and coupler all looks like it’s slanted. So i finally looked into it and found the tongue runs uphill, 2” in 7’. The tongue starts at the side frame rail and then passes under the front frame rail. There is almost an inch of thickness difference between front frame rail and side frame. It is bothering me bad. Doesn’t effect its function, but sticks out to me bad, especially now.

Here’s a vid of the frame and tongue. Tongue


Heres side pic, it shows up better in person. The jack looks slanted and so does coupler just like the trailer is high in the front, its not, its level.

 

[AaronD81]

Is the trailer still working well for you? I'm considering switching because the Sure-Trac 10k lb trailer is about 500 lbs lighter than mine. Any opinions on the aluminum deck vs wood? Do you find it slippery?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Well, I don’t like it. I want my steel deck over back. But, it pulls like a dream. I have pulled my 11600lb excavator a lot and there has been no issues. Brakes are great, even though there is on 2” on each side of my tracks between the fenders it’s easy to load. Again it pull greats, smooth, no vibration and the tires are holding up good. The deck isn’t that slick. Maybe because it’s grooved it gives good traction perpendicular but I suppose with the grooves it could be slick.
I bought it just as a dolly for the mini ex, and not a fan of equipment trailers hence me not liking it. But I wanted the heaviest excavator I could legally pull….

 

[Tomtint]

...The endless CDL BS. .. I do not have a CDL, I have 2 F450s..One is a reg cab dump truck. The other is a 4dr limited. The Limited pulls my 5th wheel.. Im not sure what the loaded weight is..But it's heavy. Truck is probably pushing 10K pounds and the trailer with a couple bikes in the back.. Probably another 18K pounds. Registry says I'm fine with that combo..No Cdl .. But my dump truck with a GVW of 17K.. Pulling a 9999 trailer... CDL is required. .. Its a bs money grab plain and simple.

 

[AaronD81]

Well, I don’t like it. I want my steel deck over back. But, it pulls like a dream. I have pulled my 11600lb excavator a lot and there has been no issues. Brakes are great, even though there is on 2” on each side of my tracks between the fenders it’s easy to load. Again it pull greats, smooth, no vibration and the tires are holding up good. The deck isn’t that slick. Maybe because it’s grooved it gives good traction perpendicular but I suppose with the grooves it could be slick.
I bought it just as a dolly for the mini ex, and not a fan of equipment trailers hence me not liking it. But I wanted the heaviest excavator I could legally pull….

You don’t like it because it’s aluminum or because it’s not a deckover? I’m fine with equipment style, so the aluminum to steel comparison is what I’m concerned about. Have you noticed accelerated wear or other issues with the aluminum? Have the tie downs bent the stale pockets?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

...The endless CDL BS. .. I do not have a CDL, I have 2 F450s..One is a reg cab dump truck. The other is a 4dr limited. The Limited pulls my 5th wheel.. Im not sure what the loaded weight is..But it's heavy. Truck is probably pushing 10K pounds and the trailer with a couple bikes in the back.. Probably another 18K pounds. Registry says I'm fine with that combo..No Cdl .. But my dump truck with a GVW of 17K.. Pulling a 9999 trailer... CDL is required. .. Its a bs money grab plain and simple.

It is. Its arbitrary weight limits set forth in 1992 after the teamsters lobbied legislators for commercial licensing to help further their stranglehold. Back then to pull 26k you had to have heavy truck/trailer. Now, with engineering and modern truck/trailers 26k is no isuue.

luckily my state follows the fed guidelines and there is no 10k trailer thing like some states(blue) have. I just have to weigh and have gvwr’s at 26k.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

You don’t like it because it’s aluminum or because it’s not a deckover? I’m fine with equipment style, so the aluminum to steel comparison is what I’m concerned about. Have you noticed accelerated wear or other issues with the aluminum? Have the tie downs bent the stale pockets?

because its not a deckover, an aluminum deckover would be nice too. But any deckover will weigh more and put me over the limit. I really haven’t seen any wear other than the bottom of the ramp legs, which I’m going to bolt on a couple pieces of oak for wear. But i have very thick piece of rubber i rest the boom on and i put a 3/16” flat plate(aluminum) where the dozer blade sits from the beginning to mitigate any wear.

 

[4570Man]

because its not a deckover, an aluminum deckover would be nice too. But any deckover will weigh more and put me over the limit. I really haven’t seen any wear other than the bottom of the ramp legs, which I’m going to bolt on a couple pieces of oak for wear. But i have very thick piece of rubber i rest the boom on and i put a 3/16” flat plate(aluminum) where the dozer blade sits from the beginning to mitigate any wear.

I haul my mini x with the bucket bottom flat on the trailer after I knocked a hole in the deck with the knuckle rolled all the way up. The larger excavators have to be hauled with the booms rolled completely up for height restrictions but it’s no problem to haul a mini x with the bucket flat down.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

here’s my rubber I put my knuckle on. It’s about 3” thick.

 

[4570Man]

I usually haul mine like this. Even with the stick nearly vertical it’s basically the same height as the cab and well under legal height.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

For me it wasn’t height, it was tongue weight. I have a tongue scale and my machine needed to be more forward, making the boom/stick angle to close to my truck for my liking.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Well I’ll update this. Tonight on the way home with the aluminum 14k wile pulling my mini x that weighs 11500 the axle spring hanger broke. I thought i blew a tire but it was the tire against trailer frame that was smoking. Man, it could have been a lot worse. I pull this about a 160 mile round trip, thankfully this happened at the closest town on my way home. Luckily i saw a dually with a nice gooseneck pull and asked if they were busy, they said no problem and pulled my excavator home, i pulled the tires off the bad axle and drove it. I’ll get on the horn tomorrow with suretrac, it’s supposed to have a 3 year warranty. Blew my Goodyear tire too.

 

[dieselscout80]

Well I’ll update this. Tonight on the way home with the aluminum 14k wile pulling my mini x that weighs 11500 the axle spring hanger broke. I thought i blew a tire but it was the tire against trailer frame that was smoking. Man, it could have been a lot worse. I pull this about a 160 mile round trip, thankfully this happened at the closest town on my way home. Luckily i saw a dually with a nice gooseneck pull and asked if they were busy, they said no problem and pulled my excavator home, i pulled the tires off the bad axle and drove it. I’ll get on the horn tomorrow with suretrac, it’s supposed to have a 3 year warranty. Blew my Goodyear tire too.
View attachment 2693256

Ouch

 

[LD1]

Ive always thought the spring hangers on 12k-14k equipment trailers look cheap and weak.

Ive repaired more than one shackle mount before, You look at how thin the metal is, and how little its welded.....then picture the stress when backing, and jacknifing a trailer with a load.....Im surprised there arent significantly more failures

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I started a warranty claim with the dealer i bought it from, very receptive and professional but 2 hours away..midway trailer in Dayton but recently changed their name. I will need a this trailer sooner than later. Sucks. But as far as an aluminum trailer issue, this is the bolt on steel axle carrier. Unless excessive flex from the aluminum bed caused it, its a steel issue.

 

[4570Man]

Ive always thought the spring hangers on 12k-14k equipment trailers look cheap and weak.

Ive repaired more than one shackle mount before, You look at how thin the metal is, and how little its welded.....then picture the stress when backing, and jacknifing a trailer with a load.....Im surprised there arent significantly more failures

A 10k axel is built 3x as heavy as a 7k that’s rated for 70 percent of the load. Idk what the margin of safety for a 7k axel is but it can’t be very high.