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farmboy

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Just curious what others look for when choosing a stock trailer? I just purchased a 24' titan with the poly floor, father-in-law bought one a year ago and we love the floor, what sold me was the floor warranty which is ten years, and the titans seem to hold up. Just wondering what others think?
 
I have a Hillsboro endura 24. I liked it because it has smooth wall on inside for cleaning and smooth wall on the outside for pulling easy. It's lightweight and pulls very nice. Also went right to where they were built to pick it up, saved some by doing that. I wish I would have waited a year or two though cause now they make one with an adjustable front cut gate which would be nice for hauling pairs, could get more in the trailer adjusting the front gate just as big as the calves needed. I put a mat in the back of mine cause I didn't like the way the cattle slipped when jumping out of the back, then ended up putting mats in the whole thing, which I think I would do on any trailer I bought from now on.
 
farmboy said:
Just curious what others look for when choosing a stock trailer? I just purchased a 24' titan with the poly floor, father-in-law bought one a year ago and we love the floor, what sold me was the floor warranty which is ten years, and the titans seem to hold up. Just wondering what others think?
Click to expand...

I don't think you can go wrong with the 24' Titan. Our current one has the "rumber" floor (2" x 6" tongue-and-groove boards made from recycled tires). This kind of floor will last a lifetime, but it can be a bit slick. We always scatter some sand which gives solider footing. The back four feet has grooves and ridges to give traction as cattle jump out of the trailer. I like the three eight foot compartments, each with sliding gates. Titan is a good brand. Other makes of trailers might be just as good, but it's hard to imagine they could be any better.
 
We had a Titan steel trailer before we went to aluminum and other than the paint, it was a great trailer. Titan ran into some paint problems back then, and when I called the company, I was put straight through to the owner. That was impressive. Like Soapweed says sometimes about other things, "TItan has stood the test of time." :D They continually strive to improve their trailers, seems to me.
I'm sure you will be very happy with your purchase.
 
A few things I like about my current trailer (02 Diamond D steel - not in production anymore I believe)...grease zerks on all hinges, slam latch on both center and rear gates with secondary latches for safety, a rubber stop for the rear gate so it doesn't bang when it opens up all the way, and D-rings attached to both sides in the rear for tying on porta-panels when loading out in the pasture. Most of the lights are standard "trucker" lights, where the bulb and lens are one piece. Pretty easy to replace, and every truck stop probably has them.

A couple other things I wish it had...access to the gooseneck from outside the trailer. Makes it much handier for getting at stuff up there when you have a load of cows in tow. An adjustable center gate, as has been mentioned, would make hauling pairs, or a horse/ATV along with a load of bulls or something, a little handier.
 
Any, have an opinion on the aluminum trailers. I think I might like to have one with the new WERM flooring. If you do like an aluminum trailer which one do you like and why, and if you don't like them why? thanks for input.
 
Sandhills boy said:
Any, have an opinion on the aluminum trailers. I think I might like to have one with the new WERM flooring. If you do like an aluminum trailer which one do you like and why, and if you don't like them why? thanks for input.
Click to expand...

This has been discussed here at length and probably more than once.
I think you will find Wilson trailers are the favorite, and rightly so.
We have a Featherlite, 1999 model and it's really good. We haul a lot of
mineral in it--and have for 15 years--like 7 ton at a time. Our pickup doesn't go anywhere without pulling a trailer, it seems. We had a Wilson and traded for the Featherlite. The only reason we traded was because of the floor. We run a cart and ramp delivering mineral and the Wilson floor wasn't suitable for that. For some reason the Wilson
we had was really low to the ground, too. We haven't seen any others that
was that low. Still wondering about that. I am not knocking Wilson trailers,
at all, so please don't think that. They are wonderful stock trailers.
 
Faster horses said:
Sandhills boy said:
Any, have an opinion on the aluminum trailers. I think I might like to have one with the new WERM flooring. If you do like an aluminum trailer which one do you like and why, and if you don't like them why? thanks for input.
Click to expand...

This has been discussed here at length and probably more than once.
I think you will find Wilson trailers are the favorite, and rightly so.
We have a Featherlite, 1999 model and it's really good. We haul a lot of
mineral in it--and have for 15 years--like 7 ton at a time. Our pickup doesn't go anywhere without pulling a trailer, it seems. We had a Wilson and traded for the Featherlite. The only reason we traded was because of the floor. We run a cart and ramp delivering mineral and the Wilson floor wasn't suitable for that. For some reason the Wilson
we had was really low to the ground, too. We haven't seen any others that
was that low. Still wondering about that. I am not knocking Wilson trailers,
at all, so please don't think that. They are wonderful stock trailers.
Click to expand...

If the trailer had torsion axels you can order them with different angles to them which will change the ride height. Same as tube axels you can buy the with over slung or under slung springs .Straight axels or a 4" or 6" drop back in the 80's and 90's it was common to go with 6" drop axels which would get you low to the ground but caused alot of tail draging in rough conditions anymore its quite standard to have torsion axels with a 10 degree up angle that gives you some height but sometimes hog farmers want them lower to make them a little easier to load.
 
does anyone use the ground loader semi trailers?? my trailer is needing replaced, (old trailer/ new pickup....trailer hits the bed rails) where I already runs several semi's, it seemed that a ground loader would be smarter..... pros? cons??
 
Ground load would be OK if you were hauling them any distance, but how about maneuverability? You know as well as I do the jackwagons around here don't know where to place a gate, let alone make them wide enough. Also no 4WD with a semi.

Either put a flatbed on the pickup or buy a used pickup with a flatbed already on it. That's your cheapest fix.
 
We run a 48' aluminum ground load on a single axle tractor. Has been very handy for us. Don't have many issues getting hung up as long as I use my brain.
 
Faster horses said:
Sandhills boy said:
Any, have an opinion on the aluminum trailers. I think I might like to have one with the new WERM flooring. If you do like an aluminum trailer which one do you like and why, and if you don't like them why? thanks for input.
Click to expand...

This has been discussed here at length and probably more than once.
I think you will find Wilson trailers are the favorite, and rightly so.
We have a Featherlite, 1999 model and it's really good. We haul a lot of
mineral in it--and have for 15 years--like 7 ton at a time. Our pickup doesn't go anywhere without pulling a trailer, it seems. We had a Wilson and traded for the Featherlite. The only reason we traded was because of the floor. We run a cart and ramp delivering mineral and the Wilson floor wasn't suitable for that. For some reason the Wilson
we had was really low to the ground, too. We haven't seen any others that
was that low. Still wondering about that. I am not knocking Wilson trailers,
at all, so please don't think that. They are wonderful stock trailers.
Click to expand...

I really like the 24' Wilson I traded for this year. I got it with the flat floor option so I could put mats in it to make it better to haul horses. Another nice feature on the Wilson is the slam catch on the back gate, makes it easy to get the lever latch closed on a full load of cattle.
All the Wilson owners I talked to liked their trailers.
 
Denny said:
Faster horses said:
Sandhills boy said:
Any, have an opinion on the aluminum trailers. I think I might like to have one with the new WERM flooring. If you do like an aluminum trailer which one do you like and why, and if you don't like them why? thanks for input.
Click to expand...

This has been discussed here at length and probably more than once.
I think you will find Wilson trailers are the favorite, and rightly so.
We have a Featherlite, 1999 model and it's really good. We haul a lot of
mineral in it--and have for 15 years--like 7 ton at a time. Our pickup doesn't go anywhere without pulling a trailer, it seems. We had a Wilson and traded for the Featherlite. The only reason we traded was because of the floor. We run a cart and ramp delivering mineral and the Wilson floor wasn't suitable for that. For some reason the Wilson
we had was really low to the ground, too. We haven't seen any others that
was that low. Still wondering about that. I am not knocking Wilson trailers,
at all, so please don't think that. They are wonderful stock trailers.
Click to expand...

If the trailer had torsion axels you can order them with different angles to them which will change the ride height. Same as tube axels you can buy the with over slung or under slung springs .Straight axels or a 4" or 6" drop back in the 80's and 90's it was common to go with 6" drop axels which would get you low to the ground but caused alot of tail draging in rough conditions anymore its quite standard to have torsion axels with a 10 degree up angle that gives you some height but sometimes hog farmers want them lower to make them a little easier to load.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clering that up, Denny. We bought the Wilson trailer as pre-owned from someone whose intention was to not take it off-road, so I bet he ordered it with lower ride height. I'll tell ya, that trailer pulled like a dream. They all pretty much pull good but that lower-to-ground Wilson was great.
 
I bought a 20 ft. Merritt 4 years ago. I didn't think it would hold up on all these rough dirt roads. But am pleased with it, it has held up well.
 
Aluminum will take a lot more abuse than people think. They flex a lot more without bending than one would think. Pretty much the only down side to aluminum is the price. No paint to worry about, lighter, no rust, can have corrosion but clean it once in a while and good to go. Pretty much any name brand aluminum trailer made now will hold up really well I believe. The one problem I see with a ground load is they cost a lot. Saw a new eby sp? at 3 I show few years back. That thing was pretty sweet. Person can buy a used pot and put a ground load on the back for half of what ground load cost. But I think one would be really nice.
 
I have a fifteen year old Titan steel and have had nothing but good luck with it. I have noticed that Titan makes an aluminum trailer also. Does anybody have any experience with these? Since their steel trailers are so good the aluminum one I would think would be well made also.
 
I have a 42ft Barrett groundload. It was originally a hog trailer, I converted it to haul cattle. It loads extremely easy, I am finding that more of the troubles that I have with it are due to the lack of craftsmanship by the welder that did the welding for me. I haul out of places that are a little soft and don't seem to have a lot of problems. It is easy to maneuver and pulls great with my 350hp freightliner.
 

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