School me on trailers

I have a wheel stop on my enclosed trailer. Makes loading solo really easy. Obviously that works best if you're loading similar cars all the time.

Best part of a wooden deck is that it doesn't try and kill you when its hot. 

One note about beavertails - my little lightweight had a sloping deck, which is one reason the thing was so easy to load. The size and weight meant I could basically pick it up and put it on the trailer ball instead of having to maneuver around. Time from "I need to move the car, get the trailer" to pullout was just a couple of minutes.

It would be simple to build as well. I never tried to carry anything but cars on it.

The thing I don't like about beavertails is that they basically eat up the last 4' of the trailer as a permanently fixed ramp.  If I'm buying an 18' trailer, I want 18'... not 14' and then an angled part.  The real benefit to a beavertail is simply that the ramps can be shorter, but for me that makes no sense.  I'd rather have longer ramps and the full use of the entire deck.

I like that lightweight trailer.

frenchyd said:

In reply to Curtis :

Well, respectfully I guess we will just have to disagree.  

That doesn’t make you wrong, just that since my first car trailer in 1970, every electric brakes trailer I’ve used has had terrible brakes that I couldn’t get fixed in time to make the race.  Surge brakes mostly have worked.  

When I was selling my own trailers not a single customer opted for electric brakes except the triple axle  28 foot trailer.  The owner of that loaded his trailer tail heavy and counted on the trailer brakes to stop him swaying. A few years later He lost control and totaled it.  

Agreed.  Just personal preference.

You go with the sickness you know 

Curtis said:

The thing I don't like about beavertails is that they basically eat up the last 4' of the trailer as a permanently fixed ramp.  If I'm buying an 18' trailer, I want 18'... not 14' and then an angled part.  The real benefit to a beavertail is simply that the ramps can be shorter, but for me that makes no sense.  I'd rather have longer ramps and the full use of the entire deck.

I like that lightweight trailer.

It was your comment that made me make that post. The sloped deck meant that I had the advantages of a beavertail without losing some of the length. I don't know how much of a difference the sloped deck would make for hauling non-car loads, but I suppose you could always just use a lower ball on the tow vehicle for that sort of operation.

I liked that lightweight trailer a lot too. I miss it. Maybe someday I'll build a more robust version and sell the little enclosed. Not that my truck has any trouble pulling a 16x7, but it's not as easy to hook up or load so it's more of a PITA if you're just running around town picking up scattered cars - as I tend to do.

In reply to Keith Tanner : I made a light one like that to haul my race car to and from.  I made it so the fenders unbolted.  Took off the wheels, Then I could  tip it up on edge and it took very little room in my garage.