|
| Well my thoughts are forget about building your own. It will cost you more in the long run, plus you will make too damm heavy to pull! Trust me I know, we did that back in the 80's. You can't beat somebody at their own game. Somebody set up to build trailers&flatbeds will always do it cheaper than you.
Looking at your livestock numbers, I would go with 20' to 24' trailers. I wish I had only 40 miles to comission house to sell stock. The closest for me is at 80 miles. I've beat the ground load thing around for a while in my head for quite some time. I would like it, but you spend that much money just as well go a used cattle pot and get it over. When I need to move bigger numbers I call my buddy's that run two late model cow buses, They have the need for pots, they run over 800 of mother cows. It's a lot easier to let them clean the trailers out!
And if you have to deal with DOT ports look out! they will hang you. They just love to pick on older cattle pots. Everybody here that runs pots keeps in good up to date ones to keep them off their backs. I can't leave my county without running into one if I go very far. They will leave pickups & trailers alone, infact we don't even pull over any more inless they have extra signs out on hiway that day. Last time I got the red lite at the port, I went in and officer said o'heck I didn't fiqure you would be pulling a old used trailer( I had borrowed a used trailer w/ out of state plates from my brother for a week while mine was in the shop). He told me to get out of there. So it pays to run good looking late model equipment.
If I was you, I would go make the deal on the new trailer, agree with dealer to park your old one on his lot on cosignment for 10% try to get $800 or best offer over $650 for it. And take the wife out for a nite on the town with the money. That way she won't say a word about the new trailer.
As for brands of trailers they all have their good and bad points. Looks like all the prices you've got are in line. I know when pricing trailers last month, all the dealers were within $100 of each other on first qoute. If they don't get you on the first qoute they lose you as a sale. I don't deal with dealers I have to dicker with over prices, I don't have the time to screw around trying to beat them on 100 bill. You do what you feel is right, it's your dollars not your buddy's. My gosh Rich, and I and a few others beat the last post on trailers like a red-headed step child!
The biggest thing I feel is which is the better dealer to deal with, the guy I buy all my trailers from, will loan me a trailer if I'm broke down or will resuce me on the hiway with in reason. He loaned me a cargo trailer to haul building supplies, and windows for my new home I built a few years ago at no charge. And If I'm needing repair work done his shop will fit me right in and do the work right. | |
|
Another stock trailer thread.
