buying a trailer

[88beast]

i want a trailer and i need to haul junk cars and backhoe type equiptment.
my truck has the hitch for any weight needed or i can buy a gn hitch if needed. what would you guys recomend i get?

i was looking at a diamond c trailer with 2 7k axles and a tilt deck
is that too much ?

and is steel or wood better for stuff that will cause damage. i thought the wood can be replaced if needed but the steel is really strong, maybe it wont get beat as much as i thought.

[NickKent]

There are a lot of factors to think about. If you are going to be hauling 12k+ most of the time I would get a gooseneck trailer. Otherwise, I would get a bumper pull with a good w.d. setup. I like wood decked trailers, but they will get scratched and beat up quicker, but replacing the deck is a piece of cake compared to a steel deck. Wood will be cheaper, but the trailer might not be as stiff with wood. I would just make sure the trailer has 16" o.c. cross members or tighter.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by 88beast

i want a trailer and i need to haul ... backhoe type equiptment. ... trailer with 2 7k axles and a tilt deck
is that too much ?

Not enough. Backhoes are a lot heavier than most folks would guess.

That's only 14k GAWR. A full-size backhoe weighs around 17,000 to 19,000 pounds. For example, John Deere's smaller full-size backhoes:
310J = OPERATING WT, 16,900 lbs.
410J = OPERATING WT, 19,000 lbs.

So your trailer needs, as a minimum, two 10k axles to haul the backhoe plus the weight of the trailer without being overloaded. If you have a choice, you want a gooseneck trailer. Here's my choice:

Auto Haulers

Yes, those are dually trailers. The tandam axles with single wheels are fine for hauling cars, but not for heavy stuff such as a backhoe.

[88beast]

wow ok smokey not that hardcore ill have to be more specific rental stuff maybe a bobcat (i meant it to be taken as small equiptment). but id also haul large stone thatd need to be rolled off thats why i was pushing the tilt

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by 88beast

maybe a bobcat (i meant it to be taken as small equiptment).

Bobcat skid steer loaders come in several sizes, but common is the S220 at about 7,500 pounds. The Bobcat T250 track loader weighs 9,350. So a trailer with two 7k axles would handle those fine - as long as you didn't try to haul two at a time.

That trailer is certainly not overkill, but it will probably be okay as long as you don't try to haul something that weighs over about 10,000 pounds - such as a 17k backhoe.

But caveat. A 7k axle with single wheels means a tire rated at 3,500 pounds. That ain't no ordinary tire. So pay attention. They are available, but not cheap. For example, the Goodyear Unisteel® G614 RST®:
Goodyear RV Tires || Unisteel® G614 RST®

[88beast]

let me ask this then smokey (or others) where/ what axle combo will get me more common tires? i know i paid a pretty penny for the tires on my truck i dont also need to pay that much for them on a trailer too

[RatherBNtheWoods]

Have someone custom build a trailer for you. I needed/wanted something similar to what you describe, so I built a 30ft half tilt bed half flat bed gooseneck. Two 7500lb axles, 8 lug rims with 16" E tires. Loaded correctly it will hold 18K lbs. 15 on the axles and 3 on the ball. The back half is metal floor tilt bed and the front half is wood and flat. I can load one car/tractor on the tilt then drive/move it to the front and load another on the tilt and leave it there. You could load a big rock, roll it to the front, then load the skid steer on the tilt bed.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by 88beast

...what axle combo will get me more common tires?

You can use that same axle and wheels, but simply mount cheaper tires. You won't still have 7k GAWR though. Ordinary LT235/85R16E tires have a weight capacity of 3,042 pounds, so two of them would be 6,084, so basically you would have two 6k axles instead of two 7k axles. And that will give you a trailer GVWR of around 13,000 pounds.

You can probably buy Wal-Mart brand LT235/85R16E tires for around $100 each. You can buy General Grabber AT 2 for $111 at TireRack.

[88beast]

would duals on that work better for load i dont mind going over what i need just dont like under rated (cheap tires)

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by 88beast

would duals on that work better for load

To convert the trailer to a dually, you'd need two 10k axles as well as new wheels and the tires to go with them. That's quite a bit of spare change - around $3,000 - from Trailer Axles that carry 20,000 lbs.

i dont mind going over what i need just dont like under rated (cheap tires)

Then don't go with cheap tires. The best in size LT235/85R16E for 6k axle rating would be Michelin XPS at over $200 each. Or the Goodyear RV tires in load range G to retain the 7k axle rating would probably not cost much more than $200 each.

[DonWarkentin]

Originally Posted by 88beast

would duals on that work better for load i dont mind going over what i need just dont like under rated (cheap tires)

Yes, duals will carry more load than single wheels. For example, the trailer shown in this link Diamond C Trailers - lowboy steel floor hotshot car haulers gooseneck tandem axle utility trailers flatbed has tandem duals with 10,000 lb axles. Total gvwr of 22,500 lbs.

You can also order it with a hydraulic dovetail for easy loading. Diamond C Trailers - lowboy steel floor hotshot car haulers gooseneck tandem axle utility trailers flatbed