Aluminum equipment trailers.

[ddbackhoe]

I want to know, please. What brand, model, and what did you haul? I don’t pull a lot but when I do I will use up 11600 of the 11900 payload.

No room for extra bucket or other stuff?

 

[LD1]

Congrats on the new trailer. I have looked at a few aluminum trailers.....as I have been looking for a trailer off and on for over a year now. But just sold my big GN a couple weeks ago. I still have a 22' 12k at my disposal so no rush.

Im scared by the horror stories of the aluminum cracking. But I never looked at the sure trac's and havent heard any bad press about them.

I am curious....whats the tow vehicle? is 14k your limit in your decision? (you have a truck between 11000-12000gvw)?

I missed this thread and see that you already got a trailer....but was gonna suggest the following:

You can still haul 12k even on a 14k trailer that is steel. A 22' 14k steel trailer is only gonna be in the 3000lb range.
So 12k load + 3000 trailer = 15,000 but then put 1500-2000lb on the tongue and you are under 14k by a good margin. And alot of "14k" trailers (with a pair of 7k axles) are even rated at 15k or 16k.

However, with yourself flirting with the limit.....and consider aluminum you seem to be willing to pay for quality.....I was gonna suggest upgrading to 8k axles to get the better 17.5 wheel/tire combo....then just de-rate to 14k and have no worries as long as you keep 1500-2000 tongue weight

 

[nyone]

So here is the bolts the dealer sent me home with. my last diamond c trailer was the same. The adjustable rail on the trailers are for 3/4 bolts but the couplers are sent with 5/8.

the coupler is a curt and are sent with 5/8, dealers just put them on. I drill them out, basically opening up the holes 1/16(1/8” total). This vid is after and with the 3/4 bolts. Now once it’s shimmed (I cut shims for each side to fill gap) and torqued to 150ftlb there will be zero movement. Never count on dealers.

I never liked that style of tongue due to this issue. When they move even as much as your fixed version they make a hell of a racket and beat up the tongue holes quite a bit.

We had the to holes totally wear out on a few and these where very light trailers. They basicly had nothing but a 2x2in frame that holds a aluminum box. Crash box trailer made to take an impact vs someone running into a construction site.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

No room for extra bucket or other stuff?

No. Spare payload capacity is becoming a commodity. My trucks bed cover is meant to be used for payload. It has a rating of 1600lb, so gravel bucket will reside there when needed.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Congrats on the new trailer. I have looked at a few aluminum trailers.....as I have been looking for a trailer off and on for over a year now. But just sold my big GN a couple weeks ago. I still have a 22' 12k at my disposal so no rush.

Im scared by the horror stories of the aluminum cracking. But I never looked at the sure trac's and havent heard any bad press about them.

I am curious....whats the tow vehicle? is 14k your limit in your decision? (you have a truck between 11000-12000gvw)?

I missed this thread and see that you already got a trailer....but was gonna suggest the following:

You can still haul 12k even on a 14k trailer that is steel. A 22' 14k steel trailer is only gonna be in the 3000lb range.
So 12k load + 3000 trailer = 15,000 but then put 1500-2000lb on the tongue and you are under 14k by a good margin. And alot of "14k" trailers (with a pair of 7k axles) are even rated at 15k or 16k.

However, with yourself flirting with the limit.....and consider aluminum you seem to be willing to pay for quality.....I was gonna suggest upgrading to 8k axles to get the better 17.5 wheel/tire combo....then just de-rate to 14k and have no worries as long as you keep 1500-2000 tongue weight

My tow vehicle is a 2022 f350 srw. 11400 gvwr. On the wheels, they make conversions for 7k axles to go to the 17.5 wheels. Plus you get 5/8 lug studs.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Got everything situated, set tongue weight to 1380, and figured out the best way i could strap it, the little swivel D rings they put in are crap. The D will eventually pull off its retaining shaft. Had to use rub rail/stake pockets. They seem to hold up just as good as regular steel ones and i cranked til i couldn’t. I have a fab shop a few miles down the road, who incidentally happen to be a sure-trac dealer and will have them add some sort of heavy d ring if rub rail seem to fail. Would have bought from them but there was no delivery date sure-trac could give. Drove to the cat scale today and not surprising I’m running out of payload. I unhooked the trailer so it was a separate weight and it came to 13800lb. 200lb shy of gvwr. Only thing else going on trailer is a 20lb aluminum tongue box. Excavator has a full tank also. My last trailer had a gvwr of 14900, but i derated it to 14500, it weighed 4400lb which technically gave it a payload of 10100lb. I was putting 12k on it. Zero issue and pulled great, but, you know….
Was still bellow 26001 just couldn’t deal with being technically overloaded. Didn’t need that responsibility issue. This thing is light, I’m under its capacity and it pulls fantastic, which was a relief cause i was worried it would wiggle being it was a shorter wheel base.
Heres the worthless D rings

I also chalk lined the tongue wile loaded, it has a 3/16” deflection. Kinda surprised me, this is in about 6’.

Here’s tool box I’m going to mount, I’m going to recess it so it doesnt stick up, just need another aluminum 1/4” strap.
lol, it was made in 2020, got it at rural king. It had 3 price tags on it placed on top of each other. The top one, which i payed, was $329. The next one was $250, and the bottom one originally put on in 2020 was $179. Luv uncle sugars inflation.

Here’s at the cat scale as it will sit, total weight with me is 23100, with other trailer it was 25400 without gravel bucket.

Also heres a vid showing the trailer and how its built. The axle housing is a galvanized steel setup, about 4’ span that the trailer is sitting on. I’ll keep up dating this with any issues, but so far it seems good. Not what i want, but it’s all uncle sugar says i can have without joining his…I’ll just leave it at that and say I’d much rather have a bigger, heavier trailer. i hate the fmcsa and the arbitrary numbers and laws legislators pulled out of their rears.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

OP
[IMG alt="Hersheyfarm"]https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/data/avatars/m/80/80632.jpg?1666393830[/IMG]

Good catch! That doesn't look very strong.

Any chance there is a maximum load rating stamped into it?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

OP
[IMG alt="Hersheyfarm"]https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/data/avatars/m/80/80632.jpg?1666393830[/IMG]

Good catch! That doesn't look very strong.

Any chance there is a maximum load rating stamped into it?

6000lb…no way. The D part was already bending, it’s bent now. It was close to popping off.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I got the cheap tool box mounted on tongue. I DID NOT want to drill the tongue. So i cut some square tube up and cut some slots to set on tongue. If it was steel i would have drilled or welded to fit it up, This being aluminum, i feel as though i have to treat it like an egg. Was able to add hook storage holes.

This trailer is low enough i can access my slide out wile hooked up, other trailer had spare tire and jack in way.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

6000lb…no way. The D part was already bending, it’s bent now. It was close to popping off.

View attachment 782609

Thank you for the follow-up. 6000# sure seems optimistic!

 

[4570Man]

I got the cheap tool box mounted on tongue. I DID NOT want to drill the tongue. So i cut some square tube up and cut some slots to set on tongue. If it was steel i would have drilled or welded to fit it up, This being aluminum, i feel as though i have to treat it like an egg. Was able to add hook storage holes.
View attachment 782610
View attachment 782611

This trailer is low enough i can access my slide out wile hooked up, other trailer had spare tire and jack in way.

View attachment 782612

I had to mount my toolbox on the deck because my truck bed overhang was wreaking the hitch box. After having the room of the truck box it would be hard to go back to the little hitch box.

 

[bcp]

i wonder how hard it would be to replace those rings with something like this concept for steel trailers.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Tie_Down_Anchors-sf-Trailer_Tie%7EDown_Anchors-pc-Chain_Ring.aspx

Bruce

 

[Hersheyfarm]

those are interesting

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I had to mount my toolbox on the deck because my truck bed overhang was wreaking the hitch box. After having the room of the truck box it would be hard to go back to the little hitch box. View attachment 782632

You sell logs? I am planning on getting a sawmill and selling rough cut lumber instead of logs. And firewood on the side. My place is due for logging but just hate to take such a huge loss if I can avoid it

 

[4570Man]

You sell logs? I am planning on getting a sawmill and selling rough cut lumber instead of logs. And firewood on the side. My place is due for logging but just hate to take such a huge loss if I can avoid it

I used to sell a few but the local mill closed down and without having an actual log truck it wasn’t worth the effort to haul to the next town over. I kinda want a mill but I’m not sure if selling lumber in smaller volumes is all that profitable either.

 

[crashz]

Hershey - I think you misread the D ring stamp. It says 6 000lbs. Must be 6 pounds. I would say it's safe even up to 12!

The set-up looks good, and I was going to ask if you could put the extra bucket in the bed of the truck, but I see the slide-out and load of tools. Question for you: When you weighed the rig, did you have all of your hand tools loaded as well?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Hershey - I think you misread the D ring stamp. It says 6 000lbs. Must be 6 pounds. I would say it's safe even up to 12!

The set-up looks good, and I was going to ask if you could put the extra bucket in the bed of the truck, but I see the slide-out and load of tools. Question for you: When you weighed the rig, did you have all of your hand tools loaded as well?

Yes, when I weighed both mini ex and my truck were full of fuel and all tools. My extra bucket is a homemade gravel bucket and will go on top of my bed cover. It’s rated for carrying 1600lb on it. Diamondback bed cover. The bucket weighs 500lb, I’ll set it on a pallet.

 

[Brendanspapa]

Anybody got one, like a 14k? Looking at getting a 14k suretrac. It has like a 12k payload capacity. i know steel can be abused abused, aluminum is good but seems to crack unexpectedly.

After reading about all the other comments, my recommendation would be to get a good steel 9 ton trailer and get on with it. That’ll give you some reserve capacity and a reliable trailer.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Get on with what ? Running over capacity? An 18k trailer would weigh about 4500lb plus and I’d have to derate it to 14600lb.
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.
This trailer is 6061, yield strength of about 42ksi. Most trailers are made from a36 that has a minimum strength of 36ksi(but can be much more). 6061 is 1/3 of the weight of a36, but we are not dealing with equal sizes of plates and channels. This is thicker metal. I drilled the top of the beam to put a rivnut in to hold the fender, it was about 1/2” thick. The fenders are removable and i use them as steps, there is just a little play cause it’s not fastened to the deck. But the fender itself is solid, they are stand on and no to very little flex when even standing in the middle. Also, this trailer is not 1/3 of the weight of a steel one, equivalent steel trailer sizes are 3000-3300lb. This trailer is 2000lb so it has more material.

Personally, I’d like to have a heavy steel trailer, just cause…but we live in a land of rules. This trailer cost a lot more but puts me inside those “rules”.
I’ll run it and see how we do and if need be make changes down the road. I’m not shy about making changes, in fact, its a hobby.

 

[5030]

My only comment is, for 30 years I pulled Reitnauer and East alumium flat bed trailers hauling steel for a private concern and every one of the trailers we had, all spent time in the shop, getting repaired and some were scrapped, all from cracks that needed to be fixed. Of course we had a couple very accomplished TIG welders but like I said, some got to the point where they weren't repairable and had to be scrapped.

If it was me, I'd get a steel trailer. I have one and it's never broke and I haul over gross with it all the time.