which trailer, how many ?

[Renze]

I have a very old single axle trailer with a steel floor, which needs new lights. I use it for scrap, i haul it off whenever the trailer is full. That means its never available for the odd jobs. Because of its condition, scrap hauling has to happen at saturday morning when there is no police on the road, at daylight for safety reasons. There is a pretty good stealth route that takes me over paved farm roads straight into the industrial area in the outskirts of a nearby city, where the scrapyard is located.

I was thinking of refurbishing it, putting the rear axle and wheels of my old car under it because it vibrates so bad, sand blast it at work and put new plywood sides in it. However, it would be a waste to chip off all the new paint when i continue using it for hauling scrap.

So i am thinking of building a brand new trailer for the odd jobs, like hauling a length of tube from work, for home projects. The trailer should be safe but i dont want to haul unnecessary weight and wind drag for a 30 kg steel tube.

Now what should i do?

A. get a one ton runner axle (no brakes) which would give me 750 kg max allowed trailer weight and a total of 350 euro build cost
or B:
Buy a set with 1.5 ton brake axle with surge brake head, which would add up another 300 euro to the build cost...

In Holland, brakes on all axles are mandatory over 750 kg (1653 pounds)
When i build the braked one, i would be a lot safer because i tend to overspeed with small trailers because my TDI tows them so easily (80 allowed, i mostly run 130 km/h because overspeeding more than 50 km/h can cost you your license) but I am still not allowed to tow over 750 kg even when i have brakes, unless i tag it (with license fees etcetera)

So on one hand, using a one ton axle already gives it 25% more capacity than allowed on an untagged vehicle, and when i buy a brake axle anyways, i would rather get a 1.5 ton axle because the price difference is so little. Then, if i already have to pay to get it tagged (plus all the fuss with getting a home built trailer approved) i would rather build a 3.5 ton tandem tilt bed, even thouhj i can also borrow it from my brother whenever i need one....

I think i must concider the cost/benefits before building something...

Whats wisdom ? the cheap route for the odd jobs up to 500kg, borrowing for the bigger jobs ? Or get the safety of brakes even though its not mandatory for many light loads, and stretch the single axle trailer as far as i can go, to get as much benefit from the more expensive running gear which i have already bought for the sake of safety ?

Whatever i build, i would put the axle further back to give it more tongue weight to make it jerk less when empty, and probably use air bags inside the rear axle coil springs of my car.
Then tag it ($$$) or no tag, and taking the risk of still getting a fine because it doesnt have a tag even though it technically is up to any legal requirement ?

 

[wushaw]

Build more than you need. You never know when you will need it till you need it. But keep it within your vehicle tow ratings.
Borrowing can be a hassle at times when you need the trailer at a time they are using it.

Interesting your local goverment makes it hard for you to tag a home built since here it is just a matter of how much weight you want to tag it for....no pictures of trailer or even proof it even exist.
We must have brakes on anything over 4500lbs (2041kg)
My 16ft (4.87m) trailer is rated for 7000lbs (3175kg) and only has brakes on one axle, someday I will add brakes to the other axle to assist my Tacoma when I get a little too much weight on it.

Don't forget to post your build pictures, your last trailer was a very cool design.

 

[Renze]

I might need my connections in the trailer build scene to find a shortcut... I used to draw trailers for a living, but after i said i found another job and he realised he couldnt keep me, my former employer suddenly would not wholeheartedly pay overtime and other benefits as per contract... So i dont expect much helfullness from that side.

Maybe i must get with the highest capacity standard axle (means most bang for the $$) 1800 kg axle, it would have enough capacity for most of my jobs, but still would carry less dead weight (meaning the same net cargo) than a 2 ton tandem trailer if i use it to only bring home some lightweight tubes from work...

My idea is that i want to borrow least as possible (means more capacity needed to suit more tasks), but also keep a lightweight trailer that isnt overkill for carrying just 100kg of steel from work, for one of my projects.
So i think i must decide 1000kg untagged unbraked (750kg legal) or 1800kg tagged, braked. I will call some companies that we used to buy axles from, they might be willing to give me some of the discount we used to get when buying through the trailer company...

About our regulations, a tagged trailer (over 750 kg) also needs an EG approved towbar, surge brake head, axle, it needs an underride protection if the rear end is higher than 55cm off the street, and you need a brake scheme with calculation which has to be stamped by the national authority of traffic. With the papers and everything else, you can go to your local certification station and request for tagging. On your tag paper, empty weight, length width and permissible load are described, allmost like a car......

You could say the Dutch small trailer industry is pretty well protected from shade tree DIY competition..

Don't forget to post your build pictures, your last trailer was a very cool design.

I will, and thank you