# Utility Trailer Advice



## CAExpat (Oct 27, 2013)

Well, put the cart in front of the mule...or something. The new Mule is too wide for my little trailer, looking for recommendations for trailer sales. Probably only need a 12' but needs to be at least 6' wide. Anyone have any good experiences with some dealerships? 

Would love to buy used but more and more there's not much difference in asking prices. If there's any dealers that that trade in that would be nice but I doubt anybody does it. Any advice on brands or features to look for or stay away from? Looking to buy ASAP as the Mule is sitting at the dealer ready to come home.


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## DUSTY NOGGIN (Feb 27, 2017)

buy double the gvwr / axle capacity that you think you might ever put on it .. 

grease zerks on the wheel end are a must 

aluminum trailers look good and are light , but they will crack all over the place very quickly any steel trailer would last twice as long 

get the same ball size as everything else you have


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

I have a used trailer that will fit a mule I'll let go for 500 bucks. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

We just got an Echo 16' that can load from back or sides for about $1,600 through my buddy who buys lots of them for his business. it will hold a Teryx 4 and a King Quad.
As someone else mentioned, EZ Lube axles are a must, anything that is newer and doesnt have them must be garbage. Hardly adds cost to the axle, but so easy to maintain, in theory never have to manually pack the bearings. 
Try Carbon Emery RV in Helper, they really do have great prices and are willing to deliver anywhere in the state.


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## CAExpat (Oct 27, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. After looking at the specs I definitely need a minimum of 6' wide and 12' long, the new FXT is over 11' overall. I have a cheapo little 5' x 10' I got from TSC a few years back that has worked well for the quad and was tempted to go the same route. I was thinking of going with a small tandem axle though, may be overkill. 

Also, what's the pros and cons of angle vs. tube? I see a lot of ads specifying one over the other. I'm in Ogden so i'm going to Big Tex, Big Bubba, and TJ trailers today to look and see what's available. If I wasn't such a nerd I would just drive the thing home being that it's less than a mile from my house, that would give me more time to be choosy, my luck though i'd meet Johnny Law a block from the dealership.


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## Ifish (Aug 22, 2008)

When I lived up north, I had great experience with the guys at TJ Trailers and they know their stuff. They will give you straight info without a lot a baloney to go with it. Great for service, too.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

borrow one from a friend to get it home. or drive it. take your time and get the right one that will both last, have optimal utility... as you see from your last one, was good till the new toy came along. there are a ton of options out there with good features.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

One thing that I have found with trailers is that you need some kind of lockable storage on them. This usually means some kind of tool box that you can mount on the front of it. So if you need something like that you might need to add a couple of feet more. 

I have a 16' one that I placed a nice tool box on and bolted it to the frame and bed. It is nice to put tie downs or a tool box into along with a hydrolic jack but as I mentioned it turns a 16' trailer into a 14' one.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I liked my 14' Echo trailer. It was all steel, no wood to rot away and I could straight load or side load machines.


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## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> As someone else mentioned, EZ Lube axles are a must, anything that is newer and doesnt have them must be garbage. Hardly adds cost to the axle, but so easy to maintain, in theory never have to manually pack the bearings.


You gotta be kidding me, if they don't have easy lube axles there garbage and you never have to repack bearings? Ya right.

Wheel bearing that are packed right don't need extra grease between packings. Once you squeeze enough extra grease into the easy lube and have it push out the rear seal making a mess all over the underside of the trailer you're going to have to pack the bearings anyway. Funny how we got along for many years without easy lube but now if you don't have them the trailer is garbage. I have easy lube on 2 of my trailers, yep I noticed them the first time I repacked the bearing never used them except to squeeze some grease through them to remove the old grease and cleaner when cleaning the hubs during a repack. I'm over 100 thousand miles of driving down the road with some type of trailer chasing me I have never had a bearing related issue.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

muddydogs said:


> Wheel bearing that are packed right don't need extra grease between packings. Once you squeeze enough extra grease into the easy lube and have it push out the rear seal making a mess all over the underside of the trailer you're going to have to pack the bearings anyway.


This is so true, just ask any duckhunter that has the easy lube axles and never pack their bearings. They end up buying a new axle when the bearings seize. I have bearing buddies on my boat trailer, and I still pull the bearings every year and pack them with grease. I have never had issues with bearings either. I think a ATV trailer would be more forgiving because it's not in and out of water constantly, but I would still pack the bearings once a year, even with easy lube axles.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

One thing if you pack your bearings once every year or even every two years you won't be the person that had to leave you trailer with you toys sitting on it when you have to drive to a town to buy new bearings. You'll see if they are OK for another year or if they need to be replaced. I usually see dozens of trailers over a years time sitting on the side of I-70 with one wheel jacked up and torn apart with no vehicle with it. Occasionally I'll see someone sitting off to the side of the freeway waiting for someone to get back with the parts.

My brother in law was one of those kind of people one year headed deer hunting with a trailer and two ATV's on it when he seized up a bearing headed up a dirt road. We pulled into Richfield's NAPA parts store just as they were locking the doors and was able to get some new bearings and grease.


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## CAExpat (Oct 27, 2013)

Yeah greasing bearings is elementary, as long as you're doing it on your terms (not on the side of the road). I really like the Echo's, was liking the long and narrow look. I was a fair weather shopper yesterday and with the rain I decided to stay home so I didn't look at any. Honestly I can't stomach eating the markup and overhead so i'm shifting my attention to the used market. 

I got to talking to a couple guys at work who are UTV owners, they said I would regret not getting an enclosed trailer. Any validity to this? I can see their point about getting eaten up with rocks, crosswinds, or ripping the roof or windshield off etc. Any body had any of these issues? My first year in UT I did a spike hunt down past Strawberry and took my little Jeep, driving into the headwind I don't think I was making any forward progress, going through the crosswind I thought I was going to blow into the lake. I did like the discussion of moving camp into the enclosed trailer if the weather gets bad. Being a veteran I still hunt CA and ID since it's so cheap so i'll be putting some miles on it and in potentially poor weather.


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## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

If you want to spend the money on an enclosed trailer i'd go for it. An enclosed trailer is going to protect your UTV during trailering and makes a nice storage shed for it at home plus will detour theft of accessory's and add on's when stopped somewhere along the road for the night or lunch.

I towed the ATV to AZ this last Feb in a snow storm, first thing I had to do when I got to were I was going was wash the dirt and road salt off the quad. Couldn't even tell what color the plastics were under the mix of brown road grim and white salt spray.


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