Other Vehicles You Are (Fo' Real) Contemplating...

[Mark]

I just finished looking (online) at brand new pickup trucks. I just like to be aware of what's out there. Limited my search to full size pickup trucks, and including 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. As far as I can tell, there is NO MANUAL TRANSMISSION trucks left at any model, tonnage, or trim package. And 40 grand is about as cheap as a truck comes these days. They're all crap. It's very depressing. You can't even get a basic truck any longer. All that is left is a Glorified Grocery Getter Warranty Nightmare. Matter of fact, I think that might have been one of Ford's trim levels.

Gloom, despair and agony on me...


However, a manual transmission Tacoma can still be had! I sure wish I could put one on layaway.

I am considering upgrading my 29 year old $387 4' x 8' tilt bed steel trailer with a larger aluminum one. I use my trailer quite often, but my 2006 Kawasaki Mule 610 just barely fits. I have to remove my side board every time I want to drive it on. If I have tire chains on, it won't fit. It's that tight. Thus, I am considering a 5' x 10' or 6' x 10' aluminum trailer. If I replaced my 30 year old John Deere lawnmower some day, I would buy one with a larger deck (the current one is only 38"). A wider trailer would be nice for that, too.

I recently noticed these are built in Wisconsin, and one of the dealers is near my parents.

https://madison.craigslist.org/trb/d...623943257.html

A $2,200 new trailer is much cheaper than a new truck. I've been looking for some time, and this is a good price compared to others. Personally, I would pick a nice SUV with a nice trailer over a pickup truck any day. Trailers are so much easier to load & unload. Some things I don't want to haul in a trailer, and a SUV is like a station wagon in that respect. I haul stuff all the time, and I would be lost without a trailer.

[Wallythacker]

That's a really nice looking AL trailer. What about the floor? What dimensions are the boards and how many crossmembers support it? Pressure treated?

My AL trailers are a 4x8 (260lbs), 5x8 (425 lbs) , and a 40"x48" (125 lbs) . The first two are 12" box design with AL floors. I don't worry about what I load, I can always pressure wash it after.

I really don't notice my 4x8 with my 500 lb. lawn tractor behind the Mirage. I DO notice my 5x8, even empty, behind the Mirage as I attribute that to the ramp creating a wind dam. I personally wouldn't buy a trailer that wasn't a box as I don't want to deal with wood sides or welding up additional AL material to form a box. I can easily heap lots of sand/gravel/mulch/etc. in .either of my trailers and not worry about losing a lot of it on the road. I also based my trailer on my lawn tractor size and my 4x8 holds my 38" cut just fine.

[Fummins]

And I thought i was a hoarder!

[Mark]

That's the wonderful thing about trailers! It's easy to buy the type that suits you the best. Trucks don't offer that much flexibility. Trailers don't need oil changes or much upkeep. I must admit that I really like what I currently have, but I wish it was 5' X 10'.

On my old tilt bed trailer, the floor has a thin sheet of 4' x 8' treated plywood on top of the trailer planks. The wood sides are rough lumber I got from my dad for free. He had someone come in with a portable sawmill years ago, & he still has a number of planks stored in the barn.

My wooden box is held into my trailer with two bolts. Rear ends have one bolt attaching them to the frame of the trailer, & that holds everything in place. The front board & rear board just lift out. I use the rear board to drive stuff like the ATV in the pic. The board just tilts the bed down so I can drive up, and the trailer flops back down as I get the front. I have no need for a huge gate hanging off the end.

The sides are adequate to hold a yard of gravel (over a ton), which is more than that trailer should probably hold.

I prefer the wood sides. I buy 10-12 foot lumber & remove the front/rear boards & let the lumber extend out in both directions. It's easy to strap things down in a utility trailer like this.

More width would be better for my Kawasaki Mule. More length would be better for my old compact tractor (last pic) with a tiller or mower deck on the 3-point hitch. Bolens tractor has a diesel Mitsubishi engine!

If I wanted a lightweight box trailer, my local Powersports dealer carries the Floe CargoMax trailer (clip attached). A 5' x 8' is a little over $2,000. They offer larger sizes, too. It's a neat little trailer, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWzBUVjhmw

[Basic]

Man that Fourtrax is MINT! Wish I could find a 2wd that clean.

[Mark]

Man that Fourtrax is MINT! Wish I could find a 2wd that clean.

Thanks! It belonged to a little old lady (everyone knows that story right). I bought it from a farmer in my area who has a cabin in northern Wisconsin. He remembered when his neighbor bought the ATV in 1996, and she never used it much. After she passed away, he bought it from her family members. He was going to use it on his farm, but he soon decided he would rather have an UTV. I honestly don't think he used it. The battery was dead, but it was easy to kick start. I paid $2,200 for it. Honda sold these from 1988 to 2000, and they are solid little machines. I do my snowplowing with it. I enjoy finding deals like this versus buying new stuff.

My latest find was last week. I found a 1993 Johnson 3 hp Outboard for my 15' Old Town Discovery Sport (square stern canoe). Unlike most small outboards, this one has a twist throttle, neutral/forward lever, one knob for turning off gas & choke, simple 2-stroke, & a smooth running twin cylinder engine. They just don't make motors like this any more. Personally, I prefer 2 strokes. They are somewhat light & powerful. You could carry it upside down like a chainsaw, & it doesn't matter.

I have been looking on & off for a motor like this for a number of years. I haven't used my Discovery Sport for a few years, but I want to get it back out in the water again. I have a nice trailer for it, & it's a breeze to pull with my Forester.

The nice thing about this particular motor/deal was it was brand new. I got it for $350 cash, and it's never had gas in it. It's 30 years old, & I will have to follow the break in procedures. Someone received the motor as a gift, and they never used it. It spent the majority of its life in the box it came in. My Discover Sport is only rated for 4 or 5 hp, & this little motor will do just fine. The same vintage Evinrude is the identical motor (both made in Belgium). I love deals like this! I have a small trolling motor that I use on lakes that don't allow gas motors. I paddle or row it at times, too. It's a fun little boat as long as the waters aren't that rough!

[Wallythacker]

And I thought i was a hoarder!

shhhh. don't tell anyone about my back yard....

[Wallythacker]

That's the wonderful thing about trailers! It's easy to buy the type that suits you the best. Trucks don't offer that much flexibility. Trailers don't need oil changes or much upkeep. I must admit that I really like what I currently have, but I wish it was 5' X 10'.

On my old tilt bed trailer, the floor has a thin sheet of 4' x 8' treated plywood on top of the trailer planks. The wood sides are rough lumber I got from my dad for free. He had someone come in with a portable sawmill years ago, & he still has a number of planks stored in the barn.

My wooden box is held into my trailer with two bolts. Rear ends have one bolt attaching them to the frame of the trailer, & that holds everything in place. The front board & rear board just lift out. I use the rear board to drive stuff like the ATV in the pic. The board just tilts the bed down so I can drive up, and the trailer flops back down as I get the front. I have no need for a huge gate hanging off the end.

The sides are adequate to hold a yard of gravel (over a ton), which is more than that trailer should probably hold.

I prefer the wood sides. I buy 10-12 foot lumber & remove the front/rear boards & let the lumber extend out in both directions. It's easy to strap things down in a utility trailer like this.

More width would be better for my Kawasaki Mule. More length would be better for my old compact tractor (last pic) with a tiller or mower deck on the 3-point hitch. Bolens tractor has a diesel Mitsubishi engine!

If I wanted a lightweight box trailer, my local Powersports dealer carries the Floe CargoMax trailer (clip attached). A 5' x 8' is a little over $2,000. They offer larger sizes, too. It's a neat little trailer, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWzBUVjhmw

The XRT 8-57 would be perfect for my needs. Maybe if I sold both my AL box trailers I could rationalize the Floe. The prices are really good considering the standard features, made in USA, materials used, etc.

[Mark]

The XRT 8-57 would be perfect for my needs. Maybe if I sold both my AL box trailers I could rationalize the Floe. The prices are really good considering the standard features, made in USA, materials used, etc.

The Floe CargoMax is a nice trailer. My personal knock on it, would be the size options. A 5' x 10' option would be better for my situation, & I wouldn't be interested in their next size up. The 5' x 8' plastic cargo box would make it hard to haul long items like a 12' board. You could hang it off the back, but the other style allows you to center/balance lumber better. I do like the combination tilt bed/short cargo gate on these trailers, & they are lightweight. If your tow vehicle is limited to begin with, you don't really want a super heavy duty trailer that weighs a lot empty.

I probably won't buy a trailer this year, but I see myself upgrading in the near future. My dad & brother have nice full size pickup trucks. When they haul stuff, they seem to use a trailer. Between the two of them, they have 3 different size trailers. If I didn't live 4 hours away from them, I would be borrowing their trailers all the time!

[7milesout]

My utility trailer is a 5'x10'. That size seems about optimal. Narrow enough to fit through a standard double gate. Wide enough to haul most reasonable items.