Utility Trailer Question

[WesKootenay]

This is my 'economy' setup.
Hope this helps you?
Have a great Spring.

 

[PhilG327]

Thank you! That's exactly what I had in mind. In fact my trailer is almost identical to yours except it is red (from Tractor Supply) and I upgraded to 2 never-flat solid tires after too many flat tires from prickly ash spikes.

 

[WesKootenay]

I'd never considered solid tires, must look into it.
I don't know prickly ash, we have mature Hawthorns all over our property - getting less as the burn pile expands.
Can't take too many though, they are a sacred Celtic tree - I don't want to pee-off the pixies.

 

[kavisiegel]

I went on a similar search a few years ago. I found a trailer with the axle biased towards the back of the trailer to put more weight on the BCS wheels for traction. It was a Polar HD1500. Also is a dump trailer and has super nice build quality.

I bought a solid Curt 2" hitch extender and drilled a hole in it to fit the BCS curved trailer adapter. This allows the wheels to articulate independently of the BCS. This same type of adapter will work for a lot of other trailers, anything made of 2" square tube.

Here's my adapter:


Here's my whole setup:


Here's the thread with more info on mine: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/2-wheel-tractors/381548-my-new-bcs-trailer-setup.html?highlight=

 

[PhilG327]

Nicely done. I have to ask though, is your father just sitting on the edge of the trailer? I would think that would be very uncomfortable. How well does it work on hilly, uneven land? Still worried about tipping over.

 

[kavisiegel]

Nicely done. I have to ask though, is your father just sitting on the edge of the trailer? I would think that would be very uncomfortable. How well does it work on hilly, uneven land? Still worried about tipping over.

Yes he's sitting on the edge. It's a 3" wide lip, comparable to the comfort of a bicycle seat. It would be very easy to attach a 2x8 to the lip for a more comfortable seat - there's a good 5 inches of flat just around the corner from the front lip and adding a bench wouldn't be an issue. At times I stand on the coupler for extra weight on the drive wheels - might be nice to add a standing platform to that, maybe attach through where the hitch pin is.

It works great on _dry_ hilly uneven land. I can add more articulation if I please, I would have to mill or grind a slot rather than use the clearance in the pin hole.

On a wet hill with a full load, traction is definitely an issue. I've had to get off and push. Wheel weights or engine weights would help.

It's actually very easy to steer with all that leverage on the handle bars too.

What direction are you worried about it tipping over? Sideways I think you'd have a hard time tipping it unless your load is very top heavy. Center of gravity is really low on both the BCS and the trailer. Tipping like BCS wheels off the ground shouldn't happen with the length of the coupler and the weight of the BCS.

 

[WesKootenay]

I went on a similar search a few years ago. I found a trailer with the axle biased towards the back of the trailer to put more weight on the BCS wheels for traction. It was a Polar HD1500. Also is a dump trailer and has super nice build quality.

I bought a solid Curt 2" hitch extender and drilled a hole in it to fit the BCS curved trailer adapter. This allows the wheels to articulate independently of the BCS. This same type of adapter will work for a lot of other trailers, anything made of 2" square tube.

I like this idea, much nicer than my piece of gas pipe Also, with the longer reach, I wouldn't be getting a handlebar in the arm pit on a tight turn!

:drink:

 

[PhilG327]

Thank you for all the ideas and help. My tow coupler should be here early next week (from Earthtools) and once I get it all connected I will post a picture. Wife is still convinced I need to buy something like a Kawasaki Mule to be safe, but the cost is just too much. We'll see...

 

[jeepcoma]

I had an old auto trailer that worked great when I had a little pickup. Rather than keeping it sitting around I thought I'd try to get some use out of it, since I already had the tow coupler. I brought the coupler in to a hardware store and found a piece of pipe that fit nicely, and welded it to the top of the trailer. I removed the pieces that lock the ball hitch in place so I can always convert the trailer back again if needed.

The trailer's come in real handy. My brush pile tends to be far away from wherever I'm working so trips with the wheelbarrow really add up. I can stack a lot more loose brush on top, and hay stacks nicely. My land is really soft and muddy so I've learned my lesson and don't drive my truck around anymore (plus the low loading height is much nicer than the back of a pickup). I've been thinking of converting on old metal horse gate into a ramp so that I can winch a couple implements onto it if I need to transport a few things.

The biggest downside should come as no surprise is traction. It's really easy to add a lot of weight to the trailer (first job I used it for was moving piles of rocks) and the tractor just doesn't have enough weight to it, even with the largest size foam filled tires plus the wheel weights. The real issue is the tiny trailer tires tend to want to get pulled through bumps rather than ride up over the top, so I the next best mod would be to cut the fenders off and install two wheels identical to the tractor.

Here was an early test run playing with how to attach the tow coupler. Hauling rocks with it was not a great idea, but a nice difficult trial run.


Dealing with brush was much nicer. In the near future I'm going to test out winching downed branches and logs, and pulling small shrubs. I'm thinking a tow strap around the wheel so that it's using the weight of the machine, pulling sideways, would be best.


Here's the pipe welded to the trailer hitch.


Load of hay. I think this was 19 bales and it was a traction limited load, even with the diff lock I got stuck a couple times. I did not have the wheel weights on at the time. I could probably fit 30 on there without much trouble when the ground is dry.


Ready to roll.


I think next I'd like to figure out a mount for a chainsaw, and maybe a better seating system. Still, I'm pretty happy with how useful it is given I had the trailer lying around. Anyone know if you can buy a rattle can of paint in Grillo Green?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

grillo green spray paint - Google Search

These may not even be a close match in use but looks to be in the lime green range. Your set up is nice.