Aluminum equipment trailers.

[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”.