tag for small homemade mower trailer?

jdubb

jdubb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2005
Location
Gastonia
I am thinking about building a small trailer that is low to the ground so my dad doesnt have to load his mower into the back of his truck. He is 73 years old and I dont like the idea of him driving up ramps. If I build it small enough does it need to be titled and tagged? I cant find anything on the NCDMV site. He said he would love to have a small trailer as long as he doesnt have to deal with the headache of renewing the tag every year.
 
Every trailer in NC has to be tagged. You can also buy a multi year "permanent" tag for $75. I have a small 5x8 tilt trailer that I use to haul my lawnmower. It is homemade and does the job really well. Dont have to mess with a ramp at the back, just drive up on the trailer. If you want to come by my place and look at it to get measurements and make a materials list, just let me know.
 
If he can have a friend in SC "own" the trailer it should be fine. SC trailers don't have to have a tag (or working brake lights going by what I see around here).
 
^Both of those are true. He can either buy a multiyear or just say yolo and drive tagless. Many people do it and never get hassled. My 5x8 has thousands of miles on it without a tag and my old bosses (though bought through his SC company) doesn't have working lights or a tag and we hauled it past the DMV guys watching westinghouse blvd plenty of times with no issue. It would have to be the biggest dickhead cop in the world to actually give a 73yo man hauling a mower trailer a ticket.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
Every trailer in NC has to be tagged. .
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I don't think this is true. If I'm not mistaken a purpose built trailer doesn't have to be tagged unless things have changed in the past couple years.
A guy from Hotsy pressure washers told me this so don't hold me to it but he said when they bolt their pressure washers to a trailer it no longer needs a tag on the trailer because it is used for one purpose. It essentially becomes a piece of equipment kinda like a cement mixer.

But to answer the OP's question Yes a general use trailer to haul merchandise or materials no matter the size should have a tag.
 
lockedup5 said:
I don't think this is true. If I'm not mistaken a purpose built trailer doesn't have to be tagged unless things have changed in the past couple years.
A guy from Hotsy pressure washers told me this so don't hold me to it but he said when they bolt their pressure washers to a trailer it no longer needs a tag on the trailer because it is used for one purpose. It essentially becomes a piece of equipment kinda like a cement mixer.

But to answer the OP's question Yes a general use trailer to haul merchandise or materials no matter the size should have a tag.
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Boat trailers still need a tag and they are only designed to haul a boat. I have seen a ton of small cement mixers with no tag or lights. That may be a small loophole in the law.
 
I was told cookers and mixer etc etc that cannot haul stuff on where expempt....
 
tknopp said:
Under NCGS 20-111 All trailers used to haul property have to be registered. A cement mixer or stump grinder that is being pulled would be exempt. Its not on a trailer. It has its own wheels and hitch.
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So am I right or wrong?

I just know Hotsy sells their pressure washing units bolted/welded to a trailer w/o a title and the guy told me they don't have to have a tag since the unit isn't removeable from the trailer.

This was as of a couple years ago.
 
matt. I asked an officer about the SC owner thing. a nc car tag cant pull a trailer with out a tag (even if its a friends in SC) they make tags for trailers down there for ones that go out of the state of SC.

I was told that a 4x8 and smaller trailer didn't need a tag, but I cants back that up. other then when ive seen.
you could buy a cheap craigslist trailer and modify it.
 
To answer Kennith, the way it's being stated here, the Pressure Washer/Trailer, IS, purpose built, making it a unit, or piece of equipment, just like the cement mixers, ect. I wouldn't worry about a 4x8 trailer, with a lawn mower. If the "biggest dick head cop" stops you, just plead stupid! I buy 5 tags,every year, & pissed at all the trailers, mostly full size, loaded with equipment, that have No tag,& No Lights!
 
The pressure washer deal is that as soon as you bolt or attach a piece of equipment to a trailer, that small trailer becomes equipment and is not a trailer, therefore does not require a tag. Same reason that welders, generators, and mixers As far as lights go, I always heard that if the trailer or the load on the trailer did not block the tow vehicles tail lights, then lights were not a requirement.
 
fordwheelinman said:
The pressure washer deal is that as soon as you bolt or attach a piece of equipment to a trailer, that small trailer becomes equipment and is not a trailer, therefore does not require a tag.
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This.

Except that if you put a jug of soap on the trailer, it's now a property-carrying vehicle and needs a tag. The example of the pig cooker is actually the one that DMV uses to explain the law -- if it's just a pig cooker, no tag. If there's a pig in it, it needs a tag.
 
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