Looking at buying a utility trailer to haul SxS

[SwampDonkey]

Hi all. I have my eye on a utility trailer for hauling the SxS most of all and firewood for home as an extended use. It's 6' wide x 12' long and has a 4 foot length tailgate/ramp, corner D ring tie-downs, top wind jack, 15" wheels. Treated plank floor. 3500 lbs axel weight, single axel, 2" receiver and a spare tire mount. Steel frame and body. The buggy is 1200 lbs 5' wide and 9-1/2' long. CDN $3900  Seems like a decent trailer for the money.

What do you haul your SxS's on?  I need a trailer to haul the buggy mostly, if I need any service done. But it's handy for firewood to, but I would only haul 0.5 cords. A cord of aspen or fir is 5000-5200 lbs and the trailer axel capacity is 3500 lbs. But I'm not needing a big trailer for wood, I only have a Tacoma not a potato truck.  Figure might as well get as much use out of it as possible.  

[WV Sawmiller]

  I don't have a SXS but haul my 4 wheelers on a 5'X8' trailer and don't see why it would not work for a SXS too. One thing I like about it is I can haul the ATV tot he work site, unhook, then haul the trailer around to haul firewood and such on reasonably level areas. For steeper areas I have a 3' X 4' cart I tow behind the ATV. I can get it around in the woods and up some moderately steep hills when empty.

[Wlmedley]

SD, I have a trailer similar to the one you are thinking about getting except mine is 6'x10'. I've had it for around 20years. I used it to haul my SxS home when I bought it which was around 70 miles and didn't have any trouble. I originally bought it to haul two 4 wheelers when my son was younger and we used to travel to different trails. Now it spends most of the time at the sawmill because I use it to put slabs and wood scraps in and haul to a large brush pile to dispose of. All I've ever did to it was replace tires because old ones dry rotted.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah Howard, my SxS is actually wider than 5', it's 62" and it's 9-1/2' long, so I need a little bigger trailer than yours. Plus gives me some wiggle room.



Shorter trailers I see around here are narrower than the buggy. 

I'd only haul wood with the truck on the trailer. My woods has no roads and is not smooth for hauling trailers around. I haul wood out on the buggy roadside. The buggy only has 1500 lb tow capacity. It's not one of those big $90,000 rigs. :D

[21incher]

Due to the weight of my side by side, hitch weight,  and brake requirements I wound having  to go with a dual axle 14 ft. Most single axle trailers were de rated to 2999 gvw so they didn't need brakes but my truck requires brakes over 3k pounds.  Also needed it long enough for the snow plow and being  able to adjust location for the proper hitch weight. Going  with aluminum keeps it under 1000 pounds empty and allows a 6000 pound load. My truck only has a 7500 pound tow rating but that's minus any loads in the truck so it's perfect  size and can carry other things. One thing I find is having side rails can be a pain if you buy things on pallets.  The ramp isn't heavy enough for a forklift and loading from the side takes straps weather it's  a pallet or log. I don't have pictures but here's an old YouTube video that shows the old side by side loaded near the end.  The new RTV is even heavier so glad I went with duals. Also duals tow smoother and have some  control with a blowout.  Up where you are there  may be different rules about brakes plus your machine is lighter.  
https://youtu.be/7vayb-RzJgg

[gspren]

I've been hauling my kubota 400 sxs on an aluminum 5'x10' for about 10 years and it's a tight fit but works. When I got it I went aluminum and smallest size I could because I towed it with a Subaru. Now with my Rover and its over 7,000 lb tow rating I'd go with the 6'x10'. You should be good with the size you're looking at.

[SwampDonkey]

Only need trailer brakes if the trailer is over 3300 lbs Gross, this is 1000 lbs and 1200 lb buggy, so don't need them. I won't be hauling heavy equipment, just want for buggy. A half a cord of aspen and fir is 2500 lbs and that only goes 3 miles on a rural road on which I never go the speed limit on a good day, maybe 40 mph max even empty in the truck. Speed limit is 50 mph.

[gspren]

Only need trailer brakes if the trailer is over 3300 lbs Gross, this is 1000 lbs and 1200 lb buggy, so don't need them.

Do they go by empty weight? Down here it's gross or loaded weight.

[gspren]

SD did you change your post or did I read it wrong? I'm older than you so I could have had a senior moment 

[SwampDonkey]

I edit sometimes to add more stuff or clarify. That quick edit button is nice. 

Gross weight here.

[Old Greenhorn]

SD, that should work fine. I have a 6x10 that barely fits for mine, but closely. However, if you have doors on your buggy, watch the height of those side rails. I found that I cannot load mine on the trailer with the doors on if I want to get out once it is on the trailer.

[SwampDonkey]

No doors my friend, I like the wind blowing through my hair.    That be forearm hair.

I do have step guards that hang out a little, thus 62" and not 60" from factory, but I have 10" of width to spare. I'll tape the inside trailer dimensions to be sure. Have to make sure it's trailer deck dimensions and not over all.

[Nebraska]

I have a small Honda Pioneer  S/S that fits in the back of my truck no trailer needed. I can tow our little camper behind easily. Granted the 500 cc side by side can't haul as much stuff or pull as much but it will go most places a regular four wheeler will go with a nicer ride.  Otherwise I used an 18ft lawnmower trailer to haul the 700 cc Artic Cat I down sized to get the Honda. 

[Hilltop366]

My local garage says the weak spot is the axel tube, says the 3500 lb and under axels get bent a lot easier than the 5000 and up, often in campers with tandem 3500 when they run the right side off the edge of the pave (I don't think people realize how much weight they are putting in a camper when they put everything from home in there to go to the park for the weekend  ) however running below trailer capacity helps.

A lot of people around here go with galvanized too, they seem to last a lot longer.

I believe in NS you can reduce your trailer registration weight even if the trailer is built to haul more but don't get caught hauling over registered.

[Brad_bb]

I have an 2014 Aluma 7712 Aluminum trailer.  Has a rear fold down end gate the full width.  It's 77 inches wide inside and 12'long bed.  It's a ribbed aluminum floor.  It has a rail all around about 6" high.  It's great for hauling my Polaris Ranger.  I've also hauled beams, lumber and firewood ricks.  It has a capacity of about 2000-2500 lbs. I'd have to look to be sure.  I fold the end gate all the way forward and lay it on the bed when I'm hauling anything but the SxS.  It was $2700 US when I bought it in 2014.  I'd hate to find out what they cost today!  I think Deck choice is important.  Although I have an ribbed aluminum deck. I put 3.5" square stickers on the bed and load beams on those with the forklift.  When I load firewood it's in pallet ricks and lay a pallet on the bed to raise the height and then load the rick onto the pallet.  It's been a very useful trailer and especially nice to take it instead of my F350 and my 18' steel tild deck trailer which is a  lot more fuel.  I pull the Aluma with a 2014 F150 V8.  Fully loaded, or even half loaded, I would not want less tow capacity than the F150.  The Aluma does not have brakes.  If you can get electric brakes it would probably be better with your tow vehicle unless it's equivalent to the F150.  If so, then don't get the brakes(one more thing to work on).  I don't know much about a Tacoma.  My firewood ricks are made from 3 standard 40x42 pallets and scrap wood.  My fenders have been bent and welds broken from hitting with forklift or what's on it.  I've had them rewelded several times.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, nice trailer Brad. I bet with the metal deck she's pricey these days. 

I have no equipment to move wood around besides the SxS. And only a 1/2 cord load. And I may only use it for lumber. I prefer loading the pickup with firewood and not pulling it behind, anyway. But I'll throw a sheet of roofing on there, screwed down, to keep it from being banged up from tossing firewood.

I see a used single axil 2022 Aluminium model I'm going to also look at to.

[Big_eddy]

I would highly recommend getting brakes. You don't have to use them if you have them, but you can't if you don't. Simple enough to add a brake controller to a Tacoma. At not much more than 4K lbs, and light in the back end, a fully loaded trailer, even a small one, can be a bit squirrelly to stop hard without.

Easy to underestimate the tendency to " toss a few more sticks on" when moving firewood, especially if it's just a couple of kilometres down the road. 

[SwampDonkey]

These small single axil trailers don't seem to be set up for brakes, just the duel axil ones hauling over 2500 lbs capacity. I won't be hauling more than that because that is 5 buggy loads of wood. But I will probably stick to my firewood being in the truck bed, that hauls 5 buggy loads. I know 2500 lbs payload is a bit heavy behind a Tacoma. Some models are actually heavier than others. The early 2000 ones where lighter vehicles and less cab space, then 2013's.  However, I have hauled a way bigger trailer than this with roofing steel behind the Tacoma. And I never felt any weird sway, went 30-40 mph, not highway speeds, just paved farm road. No traffic at all around here.

[Old Greenhorn]

When I pulled my trailer, loaded with the buggy at highway speeds with my smaller Dodge pickup I did get some sway. I attribute this to the issue of having too much weight forward of the axle. My buggy is closer to 1500 pounds and you can't get the weight centered over the axle well, heavy in the front. Sometimes brakes would be nice. I have hailed it with my buggy moving wood, lumber, and some odd stuff. The firewood adds to most weight, I get nearly a half cord on, sometimes more, but towed at 2 mph at best around the yard.

 I did modify the hinges on my tailgate so that I could slide it off. When I do firewood it's much easier without the gate on. Also, no gate allows me to hang logs and lumber out the back a bit.

 For a while I was looking for a 14' trailer with dual axles and brakes to augment my hauling capacity, but the COVID pricing at the time was just nuts for clapped out garbage and I dropped the idea.

 Yes, you could add brakes. Etrailer.com has all the parts and kits for that. The axles are usually the same, so just buy the kit and put it on. My son got a dump trailer for nothing 2 years ago. Axles were rotted through and bent. He just ordered new axles and he is good to go along with some body hole welding work. If I had known about hat trailer I might have beaten him to it.

[21incher]

One thing I use and recommend for a small truck is a weight safe hitch. Really makes it easy for me to set the weight for safe handling.
Found som pics of mine with the wife's golf cart. It has a lower deck height that is great for my zero turn

[tule peak timber]

I have an 2014 Aluma 7712 Aluminum trailer.  Has a rear fold down end gate the full width.  It's 77 inches wide inside and 12'long bed.  It's a ribbed aluminum floor.  It has a rail all around about 6" high.  It's great for hauling my Polaris Ranger.  I've also hauled beams, lumber and firewood ricks.  It has a capacity of about 2000-2500 lbs. I'd have to look to be sure.  I fold the end gate all the way forward and lay it on the bed when I'm hauling anything but the SxS.  It was $2700 US when I bought it in 2014.  I'd hate to find out what they cost today!  I think Deck choice is important.  Although I have an ribbed aluminum deck. I put 3.5" square stickers on the bed and load beams on those with the forklift.  When I load firewood it's in pallet ricks and lay a pallet on the bed to raise the height and then load the rick onto the pallet.  It's been a very useful trailer and especially nice to take it instead of my F350 and my 18' steel tild deck trailer which is a  lot more fuel.  I pull the Aluma with a 2014 F150 V8.  Fully loaded, or even half loaded, I would not want less tow capacity than the F150.  The Aluma does not have brakes.  If you can get electric brakes it would probably be better with your tow vehicle unless it's equivalent to the F150.  If so, then don't get the brakes(one more thing to work on).  I don't know much about a Tacoma.  My firewood ricks are made from 3 standard 40x42 pallets and scrap wood.  My fenders have been bent and welds broken from hitting with forklift or what's on it.  I've had them rewelded several times.

What a nice little trailer Brad. Here they are 5200$ now. Ummmm, maybe.

[Magicman]

Tom, all of the trailer sway that I have ever encountered has had too much weight rearward of the axle, not forward.  ?? 

[doc henderson]

I agree, you need a certain amount of tongue weight or risk unloading weight off the rear suspension.  unstable.

[SwampDonkey]

Yup, most of the weight needs to be forward toward the truck.

[YellowHammer]

Yes, always tongue weight at least 10% of the full load. A 2,000 pound fully loaded trailer needs at least 200 lbs tongue weight.  If you are not sure, and to calibrate your eye, stand on the ball and see how much the suspension defects and depending on how much you weigh, that will give you an idea of your tongue weight when you hook up the trailer. 

I haul my SxS in my dump trailer.  Since you mentioned firewood, it would be handy for that, also.

Steel bed, D rings, and it has ramps that slide in under the deck.