Hersheyfarm
Veteran Member
Let’s see what happens.
Riding horses doesn’t hurt, either.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.
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?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.
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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.
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.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.
Nice trailer and you should be fineLet’s see what happens.
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.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.
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.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.
Looking at the bones of those trailers, I'd never consider one of I was in the market.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.
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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.
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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.