Recommended trailer Brand

Which brand

  • Total voters
    21
Ron said:
We have a hot shot hauler out of Birmingham that uses one.
The only benefit I have seen is he can jack-knife it and turn it aorund in a super small area.....but only because he has a flat bed. If he had bedsides I think it would still get into those - and with the fklat deck he could just as easily use a goose
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Tight quarters turning is what piqued my interest in them tbh. I run equipment all around these tight neighborhoods in the LKN area for my landscape business.
That and I need to stay bumper pull as I use my bed AND I personally feel they work better in tight quarters
One of the reasons I went from my 20' equip to a 16'. Even though I REALLY miss the room
 
Maybe they did it for marketing? I mean...we ARE having a full blown conversation about them, right? :D

It's like flash art at a tattoo shop. It catches you eye and makes sales happen!
 
Ron said:
We have a hot shot hauler out of Birmingham that uses one.
The only benefit I have seen is he can jack-knife it and turn it aorund in a super small area.....but only because he has a flat bed. If he had bedsides I think it would still get into those - and with the fklat deck he could just as easily use a goose
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Interesting. It doesn't look tall enough to clear a flatbed, but maybe with bedsides removed on level ground it's possible. But then you can't have sides on the flatbed...
 
Has anyone found the pop up winch plate that Diamond C uses? I wonder if it's their design. I have not had any luck while snooping the net.
 
justjeepin86 said:
Has anyone found the pop up winch plate that Diamond C uses? I wonder if it's their design. I have not had any luck while snooping the net.
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it is pretty neat, but I bet it is heavy. From the claims, it is a full box, and I would think that maybe it is welded to the frame? I cant believe that those 2 carriage bolts are all that is holding it down. It doesnt look to be that complicated to replicate with a plasma table. @jeepinmatt built a similar setup without the fancy box.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
it is pretty neat, but I bet it is heavy. From the claims, it is a full box, and I would think that maybe it is welded to the frame? I cant believe that those 2 carriage bolts are all that is holding it down. It doesnt look to be that complicated to replicate with a plasma table. @jeepinmatt built a similar setup without the fancy box.
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I'm sure it is heavy, but sort-of enclosed would keep it cleaner. You can see in the pic that there are welds to the front of the frame right behind the carriage bolts. I would imagine they are just for the wood.
 
I also like what they did, and it's pretty simple. The plate and boxed in mount gives strength for the deck. The gas shock is a nice touch, and just a matter of spacing and shock force.

It's a pretty conventional striker and latch:
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Pivot pins are at the back, and latch pins with a simple hand slider at the front:
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Really wouldn't take much to replicate, just the tedium of finding the parts and figuring out how to lay it all out. I'm guessing the wires come in from the bottom in the deployed position.

A couple of criticisms:
I'd use a bar for the winch plate pivot pin instead of 2 stubby pins for more strength and double shear properties.
I'd inset the latch striker within the rectangle, and move the release handle so it didn't have a funky shape (more of a cosmetic thing than functional, but also less material/weight)
The tilt edge roller is way too narrow. I think mine is about 4ft wide. I'm pretty sure I drew a line from the winch to the back corners of the trailer and decided it needed to be at least that wide.
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Anyone buy anything recently? Local place in the ville sells Down 2 Earth. Anyone have any experience with them? I'm looking into a heavier duty trailer. I'm thinking 14K and about 20'. If I'm able to get a mini x in the future is that a good length or should I look at 22' or 24'? I'm also seeing a place near Fort Mill that sells Jobsite and GPS trailers.

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Brand new 7x22ft 15,000 gvwr tilt trailer16ft tilt 8 ft stationaryAdjustable coupler Cushion cylinder 2 7000lb break axles We offer rent to own an financing Sales tax does apply Title an bill of sale
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@ghost

My suggestion would be to buy the longest one you think you'd ever need. Also, get the most heavy duty one you can find. Especially when it comes to hauling equipment like an excavator. It's nice to have the room to figure out the best weight distribution so it pulls more comfortably and as safely as possible. The heavier tires always give me a little extra piece of mind and you can run the cheap, foreign ones. Just plan on replacing them every 6 or 7 years anyway, regardless of who makes them.

Tilt trailers are pretty sweet, I won't lie. I know a few guys on here love theirs. I opted for ramps. It at least gives me something that I can see when backing and I use my trailer for a little bit of everything and it helps with that too. I'm sure it adds some to the price though. You could probably get a few feet more length for the same price, maybe less. Not sure.

Also, FWIW, you can get a 22' tilt on 17.5s, direct from Kaufman, for 8190. They have a nice website that lays out all the specs, options, and prices. If nothing else, it's a good way to figure out what you want and what comes on them.

www.kaufmantrailers.com

17000 GVWR Deluxe Wood Floor Tilt Equipment Trailer

17000 GVWR Deluxe Wood Floor Tilt Equipment Trailer. Fixed front deck. Rear tilting deck. Load your equipment with no ramps. Call today!
www.kaufmantrailers.com www.kaufmantrailers.com


That being said, I had an older Down2Earth equipment trailer and it never did me wrong. @justjeepin86 bought it from me and had it for a while, I think. They're solid trailers. You'll find that most brand are built about the same anyway, so if you find something from a certain manufacturer that you really like, I'd go for it.

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful!
 
When I was trailer shopping, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. After that, it was mostly comparing prices vs. what I was getting. Oh, and how far I had to drive to get it.

Used trailers just didn't make sense to me, so I figured new was my best bet. I thought 6300 was expensive when I got mine built back in 2018. That same trailer is right at 9000 now. 😬
 
@ghost The down 2 earth 14k was a good trailer that i picked up from @Croatan_Kid

The only downfall there was it was 16'. If it was a 20, i would still have it.

I now have a Rice 20' 10k. It's built pretty solid as well. I would have either brand again. I would get longer than a 20' if i was going to haul any equipment.

I second what Jake said about Kuafman's site. It gives you a pretty good guage on prices.
 
@ghost if you're looking at value being a consideration (that's my nice way of calling you a cheap ass :flipoff2:),call Hurst Trailers in Washburn TN. Their trailers aren't the most attentive to detail, they torch holes instead of using a holesaw and the paint isn't the best by any stretch. But, they're usually a good 20% cheaper than others out there.
I've had a couple as have my friends. You don't really show them off like a better trailer. But they get the job done.
 
I had a 14k-rated 38' bumper pull made by Down2Earth. Build quality was ok, but the trailer dog tracked pretty awful. It towed smoothly, it just looked like the back end wanted to pass the front. I have one 10K 18' Kaufman I bought for the Fire Department and it's built pretty well and tows decent also. My personal trailer is a 20' 14k buggy hauler by Load Trail, and even though their plant is directly across from the PJ factory, the powder coating and the welds on that trailer far surpass my PJ trailers. I'm well satisfied with that trailer. Also Texas PJ Trailers are better in quality than their Mexico built ones from my experience and I've owned both

Either way, just put your hands on one to check the welds and test tow it if you can.
 
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Croatan_Kid said:
When I was trailer shopping, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. After that, it was mostly comparing prices vs. what I was getting. Oh, and how far I had to drive to get it.

Used trailers just didn't make sense to me, so I figured new was my best bet. I thought 6300 was expensive when I got mine built back in 2018. That same trailer is right at 9000 now. 😬
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When I first looked at the Kaufman I was like that's pricey. Then I looked at some comparable one's on FB and realized they were about the same price. Fact they are in NC makes them more appealing to me.

Jody Treadway said:
@ghost if you're looking at value being a consideration (that's my nice way of calling you a cheap ass :flipoff2:),call Hurst Trailers in Washburn TN. Their trailers aren't the most attentive to detail, they torch holes instead of using a holesaw and the paint isn't the best by any stretch. But, they're usually a good 20% cheaper than others out there.
I've had a couple as have my friends. You don't really show them off like a better trailer. But they get the job done.
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The Hurst site doesn't show much on details on the tilt so I emailed them.

HANO said:
I had a 14k-rated 38' bumper pull made by Down2Earth. Build quality was ok, but the trailer dog tracked pretty awful. It towed smoothly, it just looked like the back end wanted to pass the front. I have one 10K 18' Kaufman I bought for the Fire Department and it's built pretty well and tows decent also. My personal trailer is a 20' 14k buggy hauler by Load Trail, and even though their plant is directly across from the PJ factory, the powder coating and the welds on that trailer far surpass my PJ trailers. I'm well satisfied with that trailer. Also Texas PJ Trailers are better in quality than their Mexico built ones from my experience and I've owned both

Either way, just put your hands on one to check the welds and test tow it if you can.
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Thanks for that info. I'm definitely planning on putting eyes and hands on it.
 
ghost said:
When I first looked at the Kaufman I was like that's pricey.
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They used to be on the cheaper end, but they did the Covid price bump like everyone else, and haven't come back down much if at all. Their wood deck 15k was $4500 when I bought mine in 2020, and I got my steel deck for $5040. Now they are both over 50% more :eek:
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jeepinmatt said:
They used to be on the cheaper end, but they did the Covid price bump like everyone else, and haven't come back down much if at all. Their wood deck 15k was $4500 when I bought mine in 2020, and I got my steel deck for $5040. Now they are both over 50% more :eek:
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Yes but when you look at others. They are in line. The one I posted they make a tilt and it's $7700

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7x22 gravity tilt trailer. 7k axles each so 14k trailer. Has tool box on front. Has adjustable coupler on front. Comes with title and bill of sale. We do offer rent to own.
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So I didn't think until now to google them. Lexington, NC too.

www.jobsitetrailers.info

The best Tilt Trailer for the money, with a 3-year warranty

Jobsite Trailers has a large selection of Tilt Trailers available, in Bumper Pull or Gooseneck. We use heavy-duty materials to build our high-quality products. 15K and 17K sizes are available.
www.jobsitetrailers.info www.jobsitetrailers.info
 
If those aren't built by Kaufman, then they are built by people who worked for Kaufman and are knocking off the design.
 
So I'm picking up a Kaufman Saturday. FDWT-7K-22D DELUXE Equipment Tilt / Wood Floor / 7k Axles / 22` Total is $7003.40. I'm already thinking about a winch. More than likely a badlands. I remembered @jeepinmatt post about his winch so came looking for pictures of it and other ideas.
 
ghost said:
So I'm picking up a Kaufman Saturday. FDWT-7K-22D DELUXE Equipment Tilt / Wood Floor / 7k Axles / 22` Total is $7003.40. I'm already thinking about a winch. More than likely a badlands. I remembered @jeepinmatt post about his winch so came looking for pictures of it and other ideas.
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If yours is the same as my new Kaufman 17k tilt, they put a toolbox on them where Matt mounted his flip down winch.
 
YotaOnRocks said:
If yours is the same as my new Kaufman 17k tilt, they put a toolbox on them where Matt mounted his flip down winch.
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Probably about the same.
Yes I saw that in the pictures. So I'll be looking for ideas.

FDWT 09.jpg
 
ghost said:
So I'm picking up a Kaufman Saturday. FDWT-7K-22D DELUXE Equipment Tilt / Wood Floor / 7k Axles / 22` Total is $7003.40. I'm already thinking about a winch. More than likely a badlands. I remembered @jeepinmatt post about his winch so came looking for pictures of it and other ideas.
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I got the harbor freight one from the 12 days of Christmas brand new in box. I’m obviously not gonna do anything with it. I’d hook you up
 
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