Question Any recommendations for a Box Trailer?

Steve

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Hi All,

I've been looking at box trailers lately and I've found a couple of decent looking units but I thought I'd throw out the question and see if anyone had any recommendations for companies. I guess living in the Brisbane area i wouldn't want to travel more than an hour or two for pick up so that's a consideration.

I'm looking at a 7x5 box trailer, single axle, with cage (if possible) and hot gal dipped.
That's about all I have as far as requirements. Draw bar length, gauge of the floor plate, etc etc are all 'nice-to-haves' so if the right price comes along then I'd be happy to go without some nice to have's.

Any thoughts or advice?

Cheers
 

Mark

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I have a Nathan trailer 7x5 I can't remember how much it exactly was but I do remember haggling a good deal - it was still pretty expensive (at least 2.5k I think). These guys are based at Lawnton on the northside.

Basically, I got sick of rusting out trailers and decided to bite the bullet with a galvanised dip one. I'm a shocker when it comes to looking after a trailer - it gets left out in the weather - sometimes full of water and junk... I know I'm bad :(
However, being hot dipped, a slack bugger like me can get away with it - hurrah! :twothumbsup:

This one is 5 years old and no rust. I've had boulders dropped into it from a loader, and carried everything from sand to poo and really worked it hard generally - it's in good shape with no rust.

nathan trailer 7x5 box.jpg

The only thing that annoys me is the locking rings for the rear tailgate and cage gates - not that I've had any issues with them coming off just that I would rather a locking latch instead of fiddling with these stupid rings pulling them on and off to open the gates.
nathan trailer locking rings for rear tray.jpg


Here's the Nathan website (not the best website BTW - terrible actually... but you can get an idea).
 

Steve

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Yeah thanks Mark, good feedback.
That's around the same price I've been seeing so I'm prepared for that shock now.

With websites these days, i think I've turned into bit of a snob.....if I can't see what your offering and a price then I'll normally just move onto another company's website. I really value a good website. To me it shows they are keen to show off their product. It's not always the case but its my general rule....

I see what you mean about those locking rings. My dad had a trailer with them and in cold weather they were a bit hard to play around with frozen fingers, plus if they weren't tied on it was easy to lose them. The trailers i've looked at so far dont have these so that's a plus.

I've found a couple but one is a lot tougher with more heavy-duty material with inertia brakes but I'm trying to weigh up if its worth the extra $700 or so? I'd get a much better product but it's just a trailer for soil, timber, mulch etc so do I really need to go the extra bit. Hmmmmm :dunno:
 

Mark

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I'd get a much better product but it's just a trailer for soil, timber, mulch etc so do I really need to go the extra bit. Hmmmmm :dunno:
Yeah maybe... because there are times when I wish I had the extra braking system to carry an even ton. I can fit 750 of dirt in mine pretty easy but I always get 700 anyway just to ensure I'm under the load limit (ex truckie lol) if you have an accident and they establish the trailer is overloaded there goes your insurance so it's not worth risking.

Also, wet material can weigh quite a bit more than when dry and there have been times when I've had to waste half a trailer load of space due to weight.

Just saying...

My motto is get the best you can afford at the time :)
 

Ash

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Great stuff. Serendipity calls as I'm also on the lookout for a small trailer mainly for hauling in dirt and slabs of timber for constructing. There more to a trailer than I thought... Thanks for the advice.
 

Steve

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So I've been looking at a few Trailer places but two have stood out to me, mainly I think because they have decent webpages that actually tell you what you get for what price. How hard it that?

So the first is www.ozwidetrailers.com.au
They have what I would term medium duty trailer with quite a few options available so you can choose the additions that suit your needs (higher sides, longer draw bar, spare tyre etc). They seem reasonably priced. I went out for a look and they were very helpful and the trailers looked pretty good and couldn't fault them.

The second place is http://www.boxtrailers-goldcoast.com.au on the Gold Coast. These guys are more heavy duty and are solid as a rock. i doubt you could break one of these. They say they are capable as off-road trailers too which is a good endorsement. With these guys you seem to get all the add-ons that the others offer as standard but of course the price is a little higher. These trailers have a braking system too so are rated to carry higher loads. Just a note here, it's easy to overload a trailer and if you have an accident while overloaded your insurance will be unlikely to pay.

Both would do the job and of course there are a heap of other providers out there but these guys stood out to me. The other good thing i found with both of these is they are tilt trailers so it might be a handy function when unloading loose material like mulch, soil etc.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my findings in case it helps anyone.
Cheers :cheers:
 

stevo

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I'm browsing sites Steve... the trailers look ok.. I think this one might suit me.. (if I were to get one )
http://www.boxtrailers-goldcoast.co...-trailers/6x4-box-trailer-tilt-high-sided-hd/

but gees, it might be an optical illusion but those tyres look tiny, maybe it's because of the big wheel arches.

6x4-Series-4-24-600x600.jpg


So that's $1690, seems ok. When I was at Bunnings the other day they had galvanised box trailers out the front for sale at $1500, and they looked very minimal standard and no cage.
 

Mark

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The other good thing i found with both of these is they are tilt trailers so it might be a handy function when unloading loose material like mulch, soil etc.
I have a tilt on mine but I haven't found it to be very useful to be honest. But all extra features are a nice to have in case.

The GC trailer guys 7x5 looks pretty solid. It's an expensive investment but whrn you use a trailer a lot it's definitely worth it.

I don't know what I would do without the high sides I'll never get a short sided trailer again after having this one. Maybe I won't have to buy another trailer anyway... galvanised dipped is the bomb ;)
 

Steve

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Yeah Stevo, that's a beauty.
They actually are 185 x 14" tyres with Sunraysia Rims so not tiny at all.
The other trailer place i was looking at has 13" with the option to upsize to 14".
I think the shadow is giving an optical illusion as I didn't feel they looked too small in the flesh.

Probably the only downside I can see with these is that they are heavy duty so are a bit heavier to move around by hand in the yard. Probably not such a big problem with the 6x4 but might be a consideration for the larger trailers.
I lowered the rear tailgate on one and it took me by surprise how solid it was, or maybe I just have muppet arms! :dog:
 
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