New Trailer

[Paystar]

Finally got my new trailer. Couldn't be happier. Canada Trailers CE718-10K
Build quality and components are fantastic!
Tongue and front is done in a stone guard coating, 12,000 pound jack, rear jack legs, 5200 pound axles with brakes on both axles, Dexter hitch, galvanized rims and the suspension is all greaseable.

The aluminum trailer was nice looking, and light, but I was tired of having to go to the welding shop every time I towed it.

 

[WinterDeere]

Serious trailer! Nice!

But as one who's doing some mod's and repairs on a 10 year old steel trailer this week, I'm drooling over your old aluminum trailer. I'm so sick of rust, even if mine isn't so bad, yet. I also like the lower sides and hinged tailgate on the aluminum trailer, mine has a taller solid ramp gate with expanded metal deck on the gate to reduce air dam effect... and my tractor has basically caved that in.

I've never done it, but supposedly aluminum welds well with MIG on Argon with addition of a $150 spool gun. My machine is presently set up with C25 and a standard gun for ER70-S wire, but the change-over for the occasional repair doesn't look too terrible.

 

[Paystar]

Serious trailer! Nice!

But as one who's doing some mod's and repairs on a 10 year old steel trailer this week, I'm drooling over your old aluminum trailer. I'm so sick of rust, even if mine isn't so bad, yet. I also like the lower sides and hinged tailgate on the aluminum trailer, mine has a taller solid ramp gate with expanded metal deck on the gate to reduce air dam effect... and my tractor has basically caved that in.

I've never done it, but supposedly aluminum welds well with MIG on Argon with addition of a $150 spool gun. My machine is presently set up with C25 and a standard gun for ER70-S wire, but the change-over for the occasional repair doesn't look too terrible.

Thanks. I should be good with the steel because I don't use my trailers in the winter. That's why I didn't spend the extra to go galvanized.

While nothing structural in the frame ever cracked on the aluminum, you couldn't make one trip with it without the fenders or the corners cracking. It had a lot of flex. Maybe that brand uses weaker or thinner wall aluminum? They were a good company. They paid me to add extra crossmembers and weld all the cracks every year, but it was making me feel unsafe hauling the tractors on it, even though they were well under the payload capacity of the trailer.
Would have been a great trailer if all I did was haul the ATV's and RTV with it. Was nice and light to tow.

 

[Paystar]

Serious trailer! Nice!

But as one who's doing some mod's and repairs on a 10 year old steel trailer this week, I'm drooling over your old aluminum trailer. I'm so sick of rust, even if mine isn't so bad, yet. I also like the lower sides and hinged tailgate on the aluminum trailer, mine has a taller solid ramp gate with expanded metal deck on the gate to reduce air dam effect... and my tractor has basically caved that in.

I've never done it, but supposedly aluminum welds well with MIG on Argon with addition of a $150 spool gun. My machine is presently set up with C25 and a standard gun for ER70-S wire, but the change-over for the occasional repair doesn't look too terrible.

That tailgate actually held up pretty good on the aluminum one. Except for the last trip to a show I made with my Ford 3000.
I normally put wood blocks under it when loading (right where the two parts of the gate are hinged) but I didn't this time and sure enough the it snapped off. But was an easy fix.

 

[mjonesnh]

Serious trailer! Nice!

But as one who's doing some mod's and repairs on a 10 year old steel trailer this week, I'm drooling over your old aluminum trailer. I'm so sick of rust, even if mine isn't so bad, yet. I also like the lower sides and hinged tailgate on the aluminum trailer, mine has a taller solid ramp gate with expanded metal deck on the gate to reduce air dam effect... and my tractor has basically caved that in.

I've never done it, but supposedly aluminum welds well with MIG on Argon with addition of a $150 spool gun. My machine is presently set up with C25 and a standard gun for ER70-S wire, but the change-over for the occasional repair doesn't look too terrible.

My steel trailer has that type ramp gate with expanded metal. Angle iron frame but 2x2 square tubing for support beams. When I bought trailer, I removed ramp and took to a friend that has welding shop and had him add an extra 2x2 support between the ones already there where my tractor wheels go when loading and unloading. 19 years later with a 4500 pound tractor and still looks like new with no caving or bowing, has acquired some rust though like yours.

 

[WinterDeere]

My steel trailer has that type ramp gate with expanded metal. Angle iron frame but 2x2 square tubing for support beams. When I bought trailer, I removed ramp and took to a friend that has welding shop and had him add an extra 2x2 support between the ones already there where my tractor wheels go when loading and unloading. 19 years later with a 4500 pound tractor and still looks like new with no caving or bowing, has acquired some rust though like yours.

Interesting idea! Mine is 2" square tubing covered with expanded metal, and the tubing runs vertically:



My plan was to run pieces of 1/4" x 2" flat stock on edge, horizontally between the vertical 2" square tubes. With it tack welded to the expanded metal in a few spots along its length, it should be as resistance to flexing across its flat direction as if it were angle, but without the added air resistance that comes with blocking off another large fracton of the openings.

I never even thought of running more angle or tubes in the same vertical direction, but I suppose that would even better support the tires, which are forever landing between the existing square tubes.

And yeah... I know my trailer is missing a floor. I took this photo in the middle of a deck replacement job.

 

[mjonesnh]

Here is mine. Will tell you it adds considerable weight. Notice Gorilla Lift helpers mounted to top rail of trailer.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Congrats on the new trailer. I'm hoping to purchase another one for my needs. I am borderline over stressing mine. Evident by having to replace the tires every year. I;m going with a dual axle next time.

 

[WinterDeere]

Here is mine. Will tell you it adds considerable weight. Notice Gorilla Lift helpers mounted to top rail of trailer.

View attachment 4155064

Yeah... mine is already heavy, before even adding more bracing. I count 9 braces on yours, mine presently has 7. But you said "angle" whereas mine is square tube, so maybe double the weight? I know the 2" x 3" x 3/16" steel angle that makes the top lip adds a lot cantelevered weight when trying to lift it.

All more reasons I like the OP's hinged aluminum gate.

I'd never seen the Gorilla Lift Assist system before, but I like it! My trailer sides are about 30" high, probably 2.5x as high as yours, so they may work even better from the higher lift angle. The only thing is that I might snag the cables too often when skidding logs onto the trailer with the winch. Are they easy to disconnect and reconnect in the field?

 

[mjonesnh]

Yeah... mine is already heavy, before even adding more bracing. I count 9 braces on yours, mine presently has 7. But you said "angle" whereas mine is square tube, so maybe double the weight? I know the 2" x 3" x 3/16" steel angle that makes the top lip adds a lot cantelevered weight when trying to lift it.

All more reasons I like the OP's hinged aluminum gate.

I'd never seen the Gorilla Lift Assist system before, but I like it! My trailer sides are about 30" high, probably 2.5x as high as yours, so they may work even better from the higher lift angle. The only thing is that I might snag the cables too often when skidding logs onto the trailer with the winch. Are they easy to disconnect and reconnect in the field?

Never had the gorilla lift disconnected but they use a shoulder bolt to connect to ramp. Don't think it would be very convenient to bolt and unbolt on a regular basis. Was envious of the OP's alum. ramp also.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Never had the gorilla lift disconnected but they use a shoulder bolt to connect to ramp. Don't think it would be very convenient to bolt and unbolt on a regular basis. Was envious of the OP's alum. ramp also.

View attachment 4156942

Maybe replace it with a bolt and then use a hitch pin to remove it.

 

[mjonesnh]

Maybe replace it with a bolt and then use a hitch pin to remove it.

That sounds like a good idea if you need to hook and unhook the cable. If I needed to go that route, I would sure give it a try

 

[randyjs]

My twelve foot trailer has a one piece gate, it seems to get heavier every year as I get older. My sixteen foot trailer has a two piece gate which makes it a lot nicer.

 

[WinterDeere]

Got a photo of that 2-piece gate? I've been debating sawing mine in half and hinging it, but my tractor weighs in over 5000 lb., and load on the front axle can be very high when grabbing logs off the trailer, which easily weigh over 1000 lb. each. If I hinge it, whatever means I use to prevent the hinge from breaking over backwards is going to have to also be heavy and substantial... maybe undoing the weight advantage.

Part of my reason for wanting a hinged tailgate, is that I've been debating building a roof to go over the whole trailer. This could be built on a pair of skids/runners, that just gets winched into the trailer bed, or with a lifting eye to set onto the upper railings. Either way, it would keep most leaves out of the bed to slow the deck rot that's been plaguing mine, and keep sun and weather off everything else if overhang is sufficient. But presently, my tall tailgate is in the way of that, meaning I'd need to build a very tall roof or take the tailgate off each time.

 

[Rvrrat14]

Bought my 20 footer last year and my recommendation is don’t use the quick lube grease system. Jack it up, block it, remove all 4 wheels/tires and HAND PACK UM! Then you know what you got and don’t have to worry about it for some time. Nice trailer!

 

[WinterDeere]

Bought my 20 footer last year and my recommendation is don’t use the quick lube grease system. Jack it up, block it, remove all 4 wheels/tires and HAND PACK UM! Then you know what you got and don’t have to worry about it for some time. Nice trailer!

I've used them all, as I've owned maybe a dozen trailers since we got our first of many boats in 1980. There's no way I'd ever go back to hand-packing bearings, but to each their own, I guess.

All of my on-road trailers have one of two systems, these days:

1. If you're not dunking the thing at the boat ramp, the best lube system for trailers like this is EZ Lube. Hands-down, I haven't seen anything better. It consists of a small hole bored in the end of the axle stub that intersects with a cross-bore back behind the bearing(s), so that grease pumped into a zerk installed in this hole at the end of the axle goes to the back of the bearing and pushes the old grease out around the outside. No pressure, it's an open system with just a rubber dust cap, so there's no chance of blowing a rear seal and getting grease into your brakes, and you know you're always getting fresh grease to the bearing while flushing the old out. Beautiful.

2. If you're ramp-launching boats, then it pays to have a pressurized grease system on your hubs, to avoid issues of warm hubs cooling and pulling in water when dunked in the bay. So for boat trailers, despite their other problems, most prefer Bearing Buddies. This consists of a sealed cap with a spring plunger that, once filled with grease, always keeps something like 3 psi pressure on the bearing cavity.

This prevents water intrusion, but the down-side is that the positive pressure is always forcing small amounts of grease (or its oils) to escape, usually into the brake drum assembly. Moreover, half the people who own them don't know what the hell they're doing, and if over-charged with grease they can just blow out the rear seal and dump all the grease into the brake drum. So, they're the best system out there for preventing water intrusion, but use with care, and I avoid them on anything but boat trailers.

 

[Rvrrat14]

I've used them all, as I've owned maybe a dozen trailers since we got our first of many boats in 1980. There's no way I'd ever go back to hand-packing bearings, but to each their own, I guess.

All of my on-road trailers have one of two systems, these days:

1. If you're not dunking the thing at the boat ramp, the best lube system for trailers like this is EZ Lube. Hands-down, I haven't seen anything better. It consists of a small hole bored in the end of the axle stub that intersects with a cross-bore back behind the bearing(s), so that grease pumped into a zerk installed in this hole at the end of the axle goes to the back of the bearing and pushes the old grease out around the outside. No pressure, it's an open system with just a rubber dust cap, so there's no chance of blowing a rear seal and getting grease into your brakes, and you know you're always getting fresh grease to the bearing while flushing the old out. Beautiful.

2. If you're ramp-launching boats, then it pays to have a pressurized grease system on your hubs, to avoid issues of warm hubs cooling and pulling in water when dunked in the bay. So for boat trailers, despite their other problems, most prefer Bearing Buddies. This consists of a sealed cap with a spring plunger that, once filled with grease, always keeps something like 3 psi pressure on the bearing cavity.

This prevents water intrusion, but the down-side is that the positive pressure is always forcing small amounts of grease (or its oils) to escape, usually into the brake drum assembly. Moreover, half the people who own them don't know what the hell they're doing, and if over-charged with grease they can just blow out the rear seal and dump all the grease into the brake drum. So, they're the best system out there for preventing water intrusion, but use with care, and I avoid them on anything but boat trailers.

Now, I wasn’t speaking of boat trailer. On my McClain aluminum, I use the bearing buddies and love them. On ‘out of the water’ trailers, those easy lubes can blow seals and guess work on how much to pump in. Agree 100%, To each his own.

 

[WinterDeere]

... those easy lubes can blow seals and guess work on how much to pump in.

How would an EZ Lube blow a seal? It's a totally open system. You can pump 8 gallons of grease through it if you like, the excess all just pushes out the front.

And there's no guesswork, that's actually the whole point of them. You pump until you see clean grease coming out the front, then you're done. It ejects all the old grease, ahead of the new grease.

I think maybe you have EZ Lube confused with Dexter's proprietary system, which adds a second seal to the front end, and so it's like a Bearing Buddy. The Dexter does pressurize and can blow a seal, but not EZ Lube, as one end of the bearing assembly is wide open... only a dust cap that's removed while greasing, and which holds no pressure.

Neither system requires guess work. You pump EZ Lube until you see clean grease coming out, and you pump Bearing Buddies or Dexter until the spring compresses, stopping before the plunger bottoms out against a fully-compressed spring. The trouble is that too many people don't know this, and over-pressurize the Dexters or Bearing Buddies, causing the problem you found... seals blowing out. EZ Lube prevents this.

EZ Lube:


Dexter:



Disassembling hubs to manually pack bearings with grease certainly works, there's nothing wrong with it if you have time to burn. But I'm not going back to that, when there are options today that are better in every possible way.

 

[Rvrrat14]

How would an EZ Lube blow a seal? It's a totally open system. You can pump 8 gallons of grease through it if you like, the excess all just pushes out the front.

And there's no guesswork, that's actually the whole point of them. You pump until you see clean grease coming out the front, then you're done. It ejects all the old grease, ahead of the new grease.

I think maybe you have EZ Lube confused with Dexter's proprietary system, which adds a second seal to the front end, and so it's like a Bearing Buddy. The Dexter does pressurize and can blow a seal, but not EZ Lube, as one end of the bearing assembly is wide open... only a dust cap that's removed while greasing, and which holds no pressure.

Neither system requires guess work. You pump EZ Lube until you see clean grease coming out, and you pump Bearing Buddies or Dexter until the spring compresses, stopping before the plunger bottoms out against a fully-compressed spring. The trouble is that too many people don't know this, and over-pressurize the Dexters or Bearing Buddies, causing the problem you found... seals blowing out. EZ Lube prevents this.

EZ Lube:
View attachment 4171734

Dexter:

View attachment 4172284

Disassembling hubs to manually pack bearings with grease certainly works, there's nothing wrong with it if you have time to burn. But I'm not going back to that, when there are options today that are better in every possible way.

Not confused. I don’t have Dexter’s. In my younger years I blew seals on Bearing Buddies. When I load a trailer and road it a ways, I like to have MY OWN peace of mind. Not an argumentative statement. You do you.

 

[deserteagle71]

The aluminum trailer was nice looking, and light, but I was tired of having to go to the welding shop every time I towed it.

That surprises me. What brand trailer is that?

I have an Aluma trailer I bought 9 years ago; I use it mainly to haul my side by side but I've also hauled cars and SUVs on it. Bet I've got at least 20,000 miles on it now - it is overdue for new tires. Most of my towing is on dirt roads and yet the Aluma has held up well - never had anything break. I have had to put a layer of rubber over the fenders and a protective barrier over the front because gravel thrown up by the tow vehicle was seriously pitting the aluminum.