All up trailer weight?
 

Hi guys,

Does anyone have a wild guess of the gross weight of a 14-16 foot trailer, loaded up with say 2 or 3 guys stuff (4 or 5 planes, tools equipment, fuel)?

A guess is just fine, I actually have no idea and I am looking at new (tow) vehicles, hence the question.

Thanks in advance,

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I would say ~ 1500 - 2000k depending on trailer.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Mine is 4000 lbs unloaded. Fully rigged I'm at around 5k. I pull with an Excursion 6.0 turbo diesel.

That's 16.5 by 8.5 trailer with 3/8 wood paneling all inside.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I have a 15ft. by 7ft weighs about 3200lbs empty. maybe 38;)00 lbs loaded. I do not have a diesel, if you do not go with a diesel then you will need to use some thing with at least 350 hp. I bought a new truck with a least that much power and have had no problems pulling the trailer.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Matt,

My 7' X 16' is a little over 4000lbs loaded. A word of caution if you are planning to tow this kind of weight with a GM 1500 series truck/suv; don't be misled by the towing capibility claims of 8900lb+. The engine may be able to handle it but the experience around here is that the transmission will not and will eventually cause you problems. Moving up to the 2500 series gets you a heavier duty transmission as well as the extra power you need.

Craig

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

By the way, I also own an F-150 Lariat with the 8 cyl, and it is marginal in my opinion on my trailer. It'll do it, but I'm thinking about it the whole time, and you really really feel it back there in it.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

you guys ever seen the al gore movie?:D
i am sure if they impounded just your trucks , the whole state would coold down 10 degrees.....
5k trailer for model planes?
wow......:D

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I dont' want my Jet1 Trailing link gear to feel any road vibrations ;)

Torsion control baby :)

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

My 12 * 6 V Nose Wells Cargo is not that heavy.

I am enclosing some photos of it the all up weight is 1622lbs with 3 Airplanes in her and tools.

Here is a Link

http://www.wellscargo.com/wells/model.html?model=3

It shows the 14 ft model isn't that heavy

BTW Sean is right on the money
Torsion control baby

Ian

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Matt - am I correct in assuming that you don't currently have the trailer OR the tow vehicle, and are looking at buying both ?

If so, you may want to also consider what other ways you can achieve what you want in terms of transport.

I had a 14 ft trailer which - according to the specs - my vehicle at the time should have had no problems handling. I won't bore you with all the details, but I had to make upgrades to the tow vehicle suspension etc. and it still could not adequately handle the trailer, so I ended up looking to replace the tow vehicle with something else that was better equipped to do the towing, as well as be my every-day commute car.

That had me looking at vehicles in the $35k to $40k range ; I took a step back and re-evaluated my requirements, and realised that for the same price I could have a separate daily commute vehicle PLUS a dedicated 2nd hand cargo vehicle for my toys. Now I have what I want for each task, instead of an imperfect compromise. My van carries way more than my trailer did, and the best part of it is that for frequent longish-distance trips (e.g. going to Buttonwillow) the speed limit for the van is 70 mph, instead of the 55mph for the trailer - over time, that can make quite a bit of a difference.

So, depending on your actual requirements, you may also want to consider whether options that don't involve a trailer might better suit your needs.

Gordon

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Guys thanks for the feedback. This is a wider range of weights that I had anticipated, looks like they take a big jump at 16 feet.

Gordon, my wife might get her wish soon on that RV, so I am doing some research. Now we are looking at possibly one of the bigger, more powerful Class "C"s as opposed to a big 5th wheel toyhauler, for a lot of reasons. If I get the C then I have to get a trailer, and now I got yet another set of variables and constraints to deal with. We have been researching the 5th wheel toyhaulers for years and I feel qualified (to NOT buy one!) but this new scenario is difficult, as I do not know much about class Cs and trailers, and (even more friGhtening) we might actually get one!

Thanks again everyone, keep the trailer specs coming, I appreciate all feedback.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Matt,


make you wife and kids happy. With this setup right here you will never know the trailer is there and weight is certainly not an issue ;)

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I used to pull my buddies 14x7x7 tandem axle trailer with my 170 hp S-10 all the time. It weighed about 4000lbs loaded. Torque is the key not horsepower. The early 90's Dodge diesels only had 170hp but they had 400ft/lbs of torque. It all depends on what kind of driving you have to do. If you're in hilly country I wouldn't try it with an S-10, but here in California we only had one 1500' pass to go over and it wasn't that bad. I'd highly recommend load levelers on a trailer this size. It makes a big difference.


Chris

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

5000 lb.
Darryl

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I was unable to find any load levellers to fit on my Interstate trailer due to the way the V-nose used up so much of the space at the front of the trailer chassis. You may want to bear that kind of thing in mind when selecting the trailer - a V-nose is great for giving more space, and is a bit more aerodynamic, but issues like the inability to install load levellers was something that I didn't know about until it was too late.

Gordon

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

I am towing a 19 foot RV with a '96, GMC, K1500, pick-up, 4X4, with 8' box, and extended cab.
My truck has 214K miles on it and the 350 engine and trans are doing just fine.
My RV weighs 4400 empty and I load it to around 5500 for going to a flying event with a lot of stuff in the back of the truck.

One more thing to consider is that as the trailer gets bigger so do the springs and the weight capacity and dry weight to carry the load weight.
With your couple of hundred pounds of jets fuel and tools the springs may be very stiff and not really soften the ride much.
You could look at one of the places that build custom trailers to get one with a size AND weight rating to match your needs, it would be a better ride for your toys and weigh less.
I have seen a number of converted snowmobile trailers that need big volume but do not ned to carry lots of weight. (Not that some of you have any clue as to what snow is :) )

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Matt,
The gross weight of the trailer is based on it's size and number of axles and the axle capacity.
I have a 8.5 wide 20 foot long Haulmark race car hauler that has a gross weight of 7000 pounds. If you were to look on Haulmark's site, you will find all of the GVW info for each of their products. The model number of mine is TH85X20T2.....TH is for Thrifty Hauler, 85 is 8.5 wide, 20 is the box length, and T2 is for 2 tandem axles.
I suppose that other brands products are equivalent.

With a 7000 GVW, and it's curb weight of 3325, I can pack 3675 pounds of stuff in it.

I pull it with my trusty 2002 AWD Escalade, which has a towing capaccity of 8200 lbs. Believe me, it knows that it is back there. It gobbles fuel faster than my P-180 at full thrust does.
On a recent trip to the High River jet meet in Canada, it barely made 10 mpg on level ground....5 to 7 climbing. I had 5 jets and my support equipment on board. Poor gas mileage and other hassles aside, it is a good set-up and I am happy with it.

If I ever replace it, it will be with a big diesel pickup and a big 5th wheel toy hauler.

See Joe Martin's site (Sherline Lathes) www.sherline.com for his neat trailer hitch weight scale...Joe is an oldfriend and modeler and ex-formula 1 racer...one of the founding members of the NMPRA. It is smart to know what your hitch weight is so you can distribute the wight properly. He also has a great trailering information dissertation on his site. It's well worth reading.

Harley Condra
BVM REP
JetCat REP

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Harley,

Thanks for posting the reference for the Sherline. I have one of their small lathes, but did not know of the trailer tongue weight gauges, or the info on the site. What a great reference!

FYI, I two a 6x14 Wells Cargo with a 2007 Yukon ... as you may imagine this does not make the Yukon sweat too much, and the trailer tows beautifully. Weight is about 2000 lbs.

Thanks for the pointer.

Dave McQ

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

If you can, avoid the tandem axle trailers. Unless you're going to use it to haul heavy loads they are really overkill and alot of dead weight.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

We have a 6 X 10 Wells Cargo, that has a slightly reduced height that fits in a standard garage, which is currently carrying 5 jets; 2 bobcats, 1 kingcat, 1 bandit and 1 f-100, and it could carry 2 maybe 3 more bandit/F-100 type models. It also carries all the support gear, fuel, and two tents which do take up the room for 1 model. It's empty weight is about 1200 lbs, and I figure the fully loaded weight is about 2000 lbs. It has been towed comfortably with an Oldsmobile Silhouette (V-6, tow package), Ford Explorer (V-8, tow package), Ford Expedition (tow package), and a Chevy Suburban (LT3, tow package).

I would second not getting a dual axel. You will not be that heavy, it cost more, weighs more, takes more fuel to move it down the road, and you will have a hard time moving it around by hand.

Steven

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Steve,
The dual tandem axle trailers have a 2 5/16" ball, using a larger and stronger hitch and also have electric (usually, but sometimes hydraulic surge) brakes, so they are somewhat easier to stop. I use a Tekonsha "Prodigy" brake controller, so stopping the trailer is much easier than using just the tow vehicle brakes. I think that these braking advantages outweigh the weight savings of the single axle no brake trailers, plus I have a nice place to hole up if it rains at the field.

Harley Condra
BVM REP
JetCat REP

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Harley, I'm probably talking out of place, but Steve didn't mention that the times I've seen that trailer towed, it was behind a better than $200,000.00 Diesel Pusher Motorhome.

I would tend to agree, I have a bigger trailer, and getting out of the rain, or needing a place to sleep, is a hell of an advantage over sleeping in the dirt.

I can carry better than 8 to 10 jets of varying size and still have room for a bottle or two of Jack Daniels.

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Sean,

you are correct and right now the motorhome is getting an "extreme make over"
but for years we pulled the same trailer behind the vehicles mentioned, and in
fact the Suburban pulled it to Lake Jackson Texas for their Jet Rally. The only
problem is the Jet Dogs could not go to the field ;)

And FYI I have pushed for a new bigger trailer but I keep getting voted down.
So as long as there is room for my Jet's, Steven can bring as many as he wishes:)

Dawn Ellzey

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Interesting comments from everyone. Though I don't currently own a trailer exclusively for model use, I have owned and put more than 300K towing miles on a variety of tow vehicles (from 3/4 ton Toyota to my present 7.3L Excursion) and trailers (16' flatbeds to 32' enclosed car haulers) towing full scale sailplane and race car trailers. Here's a few comments based on my experiences..

- Bigger (within reason) is better, both in trailers and tow vehicles. If you can afford the cost and storage space, it is very nice to have a "stand up" height enclosed trailer. I've had the pleasure to use the workbenches and shade in a large hobby trailer (Harley's, among others) and these "mobile shops" can be a godsend when you need them.

- Don't go marginal on the tow vehicle; I've burned up MANY GM trannies and at least one Ford transmission by frequently towing a load at the upper limit of the rated tow weight range. I also second buying a diesel if you can (for torque and fuel economy). My gas 7.3 V-10 gas Excusrion gets 8-10 MPG towing an 8,500 lb, 26' car hauler; the same trailer and load gets 13-14 MPG using a buddy's diesel 6.7L F350 dually (which is essentially the same weight and drivetrain as my Excursion). HUGE difference on long trips.

- Braking performance is as important as pulling power - another reason to "go big" on the tow vehicle. If you get a trailer over 3500 lb, get a trailer with electric or hydraulic surge brakes and a decent brake controller. IMHO.

- Single axle trailers are a heck of a lot easier to move around!!!! But most of the small enclosed trailers are fairly narrow inside. It's awful nice to be able to store a fully assembled model in your trailer... just arrive, pull it out, and go.

Good luck in your choice!

Barry

RE: All up trailer weight?
 

Sean,
Steve didn't mention the fact that he sometimes pulls it with a mega-motorhome.

For the price of one of them, I can spend many a night in a very nice hotel, and never have to make the bed.
I have always admired them, but I just can't justify the expenses involved.

My HOA is complaining about me keeping the 20 footer on my property between Oct 1 and May 30 as it is. I can imagine how loud they would howl if I had a 40 foot motorhome and a jet hauler!!!!!!!
I have a move in the planning stages, and hopefully there won't be an HOA involved.....


Harley Condra
BVM REP
JetCat REP