Need advice on trailer purchase

[Emainiac]

I'm building a house for my daughter about 30 minutes away and want to buy a trailer to haul my tractor/loader plus one attachment. Tractor and loader weigh about 3250 lbs. Since I cannot find anything used, I've decided to take the plunge and am considering a Big Tex car hauler (6000 lbs GVWR, model 60EC, 14' or 16'). This will handle a payload of about 4300 lbs, depending on length. This is more than ample weight for my tractor/loader/implement. The tractor/loader with an implement attached measures 14'.

On the surface, a 14' trailer seems a good fit for my needs. The ramps are slide in and not fold-down. My question is, what are some of the considerations I needs to take into account to be sure I don't make a mistake.

Big Tex Trailers | Car Hauler Trailers

Big Tex Trailers | Car Hauler Trailers

www.bigtextrailers.com

 

[bcp]

Are you sure 14 will work? My BX with loader and rotary cutter is about 17-18 feet long. About 16 with rear blade.

Has anyone ever said: I wish my trailer was smaller.

Bruce

 

[nikerret]

Right now, trailers are in short supply and going for higher than usual prices. What would be ideal and what you can get may not align. In general, buy 10-20% more than you think you’ll need. That way, you only wish you had bought a little larger, instead of a lot larger.

Before getting into trailers, what is the tow vehicle?

 

[Emainiac]

I think you're right. The small difference in cost to go to 16' would be money well spent and give me a bit of breathing room.

 

[Emainiac]

Right now, trailers are in short supply and going for higher than usual prices. What would be ideal and what you can get may not align. In general, buy 10-20% more than you think you’ll need. That way, you only wish you had bought a little larger, instead of a lot larger.

Before getting into trailers, what is the tow vehicle?

I have a 4 WD Nissan Frontier which is rated for 6800 lbs GVWR.

 

[4570Man]

A 14’ is too short. When I put my L3800 on my 16 foot trailer it fills all but 18” of it with the box blade and loader on. If the bushhog is on vs the BB is sticks off the back.

 

[nikerret]

I have a 4 WD Nissan Frontier which is rated for 6800 lbs GVWR.

Any idea what the tow rating is?
You’re not going to want much more than a 7k GVWR trailer, with that vehicle. Even then, you’ll probably not want to max it out, very often.

If budget isn’t a major concern, you might consider an 18’ aluminum trailer. It will weigh less than a similar sized steel trailer and you will have more space. An 18’ can do full size cars.

An 18’ will have better resale and allow a lot more uses. Even if you have someone else tow it.


This is an 18’ (14’ flat with a 4’dove) I used to pick up my gigantic Buick Roadmaster. I’ll post a pic of my BX on it, too.

View attachment 693956

View attachment 693957

 

[WM75Guy]

Big Tex makes a good trailer. If it was me I would step up to a larger size and capacity, if you have the towing ability. I imagine you spent a fair amount of money for the towing vehicle and tractor. Don't go getting cheap on the trailer. The 60EC has 15" Load Range C tires and only one axle has brakes. Same with the 70CH. The 10CH has Load Range D tires and brakes on all hubs.

I use my 20' Big Tex 12GP, 12,000# gooseneck pipe top to haul my TC40DA. The newer model is the 14GP. That way I have room to move forwards or backwards, to get the tongue weight correct depending on what is attached to the tractor. Having a trailer the same length as your tractor/FEL/implement does not let you do that. I also like to have a fair size cushion for carrying the weight and not max the suspension out every trip. I borrow my neighbor's 14GN 20'+5' to move the WM75.

I use 16" Load Range E 10 ply LT tires, not ST trailer tires. The big difference is max rated speed. The LT tires are rated at 105 mph while the ST tires are rated at 81 mph. Again, I like to have some cushion so the tires are not close to max highway speeds.

You never know what you will need to haul going forward, so a little larger trailer capacity may come in handy during construction. My trailer weighs 3,100# leaving me 8,900# for payload. The most weight I have hauled with it was 120 square bales, about 7,200# of hay. That's considerably more than the tractor, which was why I bought it to begin with, to haul the tractor home.

 

[Emainiac]

My truck, which is a mid-size, is rated for 6800# total trailer and payload. I looked at the 7K Big Tex 70EC which is longer and has a larger payload, but is about $500 more. You know how this works...you start out figuring you can get by with one model and before you know it you keep taking steps up and are soon out of your budget.

I had thought I should go bigger at the beginning to give me room for growth. I have an antique MB 380SL that I would like to haul, so maybe I look at an 18', 7k rated trailer since I cannot haul more than that.

Aluminum are a great alternative, but man the prices...

 

[nikerret]

For a lot of people, the trailer is a one time investment. You will likely change vehicles before you change trailers. To me, it sounds like the 18’ 7k is the way to go. Get brakes on both axles, if at all possible.