HF Utility Trailer

[MBG]

HF has there 90154 folding trailer on sale with coupon for $229. Seems to get decent reviews.

[Uncle Cracker]

Had one. The fold-up feature is pretty much crap, but if reinforced a little in the open position with a rigid floor, it works pretty good, particularly for the money. Likes to bounce off the ground when trailing empty, though. Eventually moved up to a bigger and better unit.

[MBG]

Don't know which one you had but I read HF makes two models - a lighter duty one w/8" wheels (42709) and this one w/ 12" wheels.

[ExYankee]

I love mine. We are a two car - no pickup family, so I had a hitch put on my Taurus. I use it for dump runs, wood buys, garage sales etc. One tip, if you build a wood wall with vertical 2x4 in the holders and plywood on the inside a 4x8 sheet will not lie flat. Also the hinge mechanism will damage sheet goods laid on the floor. So what I did was to run two 2x4 on joint hangers across the center even with the top rail and then mounted three 24” long 2x4 outside of the rim to form a stop ( I will try to take a pic tonight) This lets me stack sheet goods on the top fully supported and slide 2x4 down below. The hinge/folding thing really is sort of lame, but if you had to hide the trailer (condo associations etc) it does give you a smaller footprint to roll into the garage. Also the wires will come loose from the little clip thingies. I am going to rewire it so I can see the wires and where they will not be pinched by the strap hooks I use. I’ve never bottomed out the springs and I hauled a lot of ceramic tile. I need to get a pallet of sod and that’s a full 1500 -2000 lbs so I guess I will have to do two trips. Plan on a full 6-8 hours to put this together if working solo, a second pair of hands will speed it up.

[Uncle Cracker]

Don't know which one you had but I read HF makes two models - a lighter duty one w/8" wheels (42709) and this one w/ 12" wheels.

Had the 12"...

[paynea]

I've been very happy with my own HF folding trailer w/12" wheels, also bought on sale. I mortised in six of these recessed tie-down rings: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_13465_13465 and put on a cheap swivel trailer jack on one of the A frame arms in the front to make it a bit less unwieldy to move around the driveway. One of the more useful add-ons was a bolt-on handle for a few bucks from Wal-Mart that attaches to the coupler (looks like this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...139_200331139). It makes it a great deal easer to position things when attempting to attach the trailer to the car in the rather steep driveway.

Unfortunately the casters for storage while folded are a joke -- the are the same style found on cheap office chairs (two plastic discs for wheels). After they promptly self-destructed, I bought some small "heavy-duty" casters at Lowes with 4-hole bolt-on mounting. With 3/4" plywood in place, this is a pretty heavy, wobbly beast when you're folding it and moving it around. I did have it flip on to its back once during the "heave the 300lb trailer into vertical position step." Note, this step is one that ensures my chiropractor sees my repeat business.

I also picked up the HF spare tire when I ordered the trailer. Note you will not need a trailer spare carrier per se--it bolts right onto the cross-member of the A frame up front.

Oddly, I still haven't found a need to put walls on the thing (and dread finding a place to store them when removed for folding the trailer up) but am quite interested in seeing John's promised photos of his setup. That may be just what I need to motivate me to further pimp my trailer.

Adam

[padboy]

HF Trailer

I've got one of these too. Mine also has the 12" wheels. I put in a pressure treated 3/4" plywood floor as I don't need the folding feature. I also lined the trailer on all 4 sides and the top with spare exterior paneling I had left over and now I use it for a winter storage shed when I am not hauling stuff.
Very handy indeed, and much cheaper than the annual upkeep I used to have when I had my trusty 1/2T Chevy PU.

[ExYankee]

I could not get to taking the trailer pic yet, so here is a crude sketch to give you a better idea of what I did.

[ExYankee]

Hey! I just noticed that I am no longer a "Forum Newbie", gosh it only took 2 1/2 years!, not counting the first two I was here as "doctordremel"

Thanks guys and gals for all the help!

[asdf]

I like that idea Ex-Yankee, I might do it on mine one day. You should be able to fit MDF sheets (49x97) on there right?

[rabidog]

It looks fine. I want to go "green" and dump my 12 mpg SUV. Maybe a Prius and a little trailer. Could I extend the tongue so I can carry some 16' lumber? I see that the Prius has no manufacturer's towing rating but a trip to the local lumberyard shouldn't stress it out much.

[ExYankee]

Its measures something like 51" between the stop blocks. One unforeseen benefit was that its easier to slide the sheetgoods of the top deck onto sawhorses than from the bottom of the trailer.