5 Foot Wide Utility Trailer?

The back-up camera I had put on my truck lets me put the hitch EXACTLY over the ball, each and every time.
Impresses the hell out of people who don't know I have it.

Cost about $550, probably be cheaper in the US.
Most things are.
 
That, is.
Most physical things.
That is why we used to buy a pallet full of stuff from Bailey's once every second year.
Now they set their home page so it can't be accessed from Denmark, that probably put and end to that.
 
No idea.
I've always been very polite in my dealings with Sam Bailey, so it can't be because of me.

I'll call him up next time I need some stuff and see what we can figure out.

I just needed some hickory shirts for us all for the upcoming season.
Mine are in tatters.
 
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  • #107
Yeah I rent a dump trailer all the time for about 100, and if it's a big enough job, I just have my buddy drop a 30 yard dumpster, sometimes even just having him come out with his mini ex. You can fit a whole lot of tree in a dumpster if you load it right

Kyle, how does the dumpster pickup work? ... do you just load it and that's it and somebody else picks it up and dumps it? Thanks
 
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  • #108
Robert, Wives....they do have great advice often times. Being professional with the guy and taking the high road was THE good choice at the time. Now, is a new situation. You get to practice the next skill you need to learn - salesmanship. First and foremost you have to sell yourself that you're worth your daily bread.

When you talk to that customer next you can tell him how much you appreciate him, how much you love him, how much you wish him well, and whatever other good tidings you can think up. But, you also must tell him why your wood sells for $125 per load for the exact size of load delivered.

Don't have a lot of focused attachment on whether he buys from you or not. Have your focus on why he would do best to buy from you and express that naturally.

Great advice, Merle!
Since I've already compromised with this customer, and I don't have any other sales yet... I may go ahead and sell him another load for $115 if he wants it.
 
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  • #109
Send people a picture before you drive over there.







Those magnetic tow-hitch alignment balls are very, very worth the $8. Stick them on the sides of the trailer.


Set up a target cone. It helps you to have an easy to see target that is not that one green bush, by the other green bush, by the...

Yeah, that's really good, Sean... and I'll definitely be looking at those tow-hitch alignment balls.

Where I live seems to be just at the outskirts, "gray area", for people using firewood (not like up north where it is life and death).

There are 3 main terms and there is some vagueness among them:

A true cord of wood is exactly 4'x4'x8' = 128 cubic feet
A "rick" is 4'x8'x(length the firewood e.g. 18").
A "fireplace cord" is 2 ricks.

So when people say "cord" it could just about mean any one of those, or even something else........ and too much talk just confuses things.

Sending them the picture is a great idea.
 
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  • #110
electronic info is great.

I try to get on Google Maps when I'm in front of a computer/ tablet, and get a call. I can tell a lot about access that is not always evident from being onsite.

Spending a bit of time, sitting on my couch, and talking to the customer while looking at a map during the initial contact has saved me from wild goose chase bids before. During that discussion, I find out a lot about the customer's perspective, goals, values.

If they happen to live in a place where I can easily see the pool from space, might make me prioritize the bid.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0441139,-123.0067306,568m/data=!3m1!1e3
My customer's pool/ pool house/ outdoor kitchen/ fountain/ house and shop. Not in this older picture... the $65k treehouse. Neighbor has a small vineyard. I'm due back there to manicure trees as soon as they go dormant. snip snip snip.

If they have cars on the front lawn...pass.

Asking them to send a picture tells me about both the tree and them.

haha, good stuff!..
Those folks have a really nice back yard (woods)

... but if they have cars on the front lawn, I won't care as long as they will pay me :)

More good advice about customer relations too.... asking questions of the customer.
 
Yeah my buddy that got me started has a Mack rolloff, so I just call him, he drops it, I fill it, then he gets it. I pay him accordingly, but saves me the trouble of trucking if I have a bunch of jobs or a large removal. A 30 yard tub has 6 foot sides I think, and it's 20 foot long. He's got a cable deadlift one tho, he explained it to me that the hooklift ones have no balls, they work ok for the lighter weights, but the cable rolloff is needed for the heavy stuff. He takes it to his yard, so there's no such thing as overfilled. Wood is fairly light, so get a 30 yard one.
 
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  • #112
The back-up camera I had put on my truck lets me put the hitch EXACTLY over the ball, each and every time.
Impresses the hell out of people who don't know I have it.

Cost about $550, probably be cheaper in the US.
Most things are.

I have thought about getting one of those, but I was thinking about it for when I couldn't see out the back window, but I never priced them.
 
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  • #113
Yeah my buddy that got me started has a Mack rolloff, so I just call him, he drops it, I fill it, then he gets it. I pay him accordingly, but saves me the trouble of trucking if I have a bunch of jobs or a large removal. A 30 yard tub has 6 foot sides I think, and it's 20 foot long. He's got a cable deadlift one tho, he explained it to me that the hooklift ones have no balls, they work ok for the lighter weights, but the cable rolloff is needed for the heavy stuff. He takes it to his yard, so there's no such thing as overfilled. Wood is fairly light, so get a 30 yard one.

That sounds like exactly what I would want to use assuming the price was right and the amount of wood and debris warranted such.
 
That sounds like exactly what I would want to use assuming the price was right and the amount of wood and debris warranted such.

Let someone else be the big truck's provider and driver. Smile as the waste goes away.




Doesn't firewood become more valueable as the temperature drops? There are always people looking for dry wood too late, it seems. Sell at the peak! You've made that potential-customer contact for tree work. Now find another person who may also need some treework.


While working out details/ exchanging information on the firewood for sale, during the phone call, you might ask if they have any trees that might need to be removed, so you'll plan time for more than just delivering firewood into your schedule.


Doesn't hurt to say, "I'll have to check my calendar for availability" when they ask if you can deliver firewood on Tuesday. When scheduling, first try to make it easy on you, and them them. When they say when can you do it, suggest two somewhat specific times. I could drop the wood Wednesday around X:00, and also Thursday around X:00. If they ask for another time, see how it works for both of you.
 
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  • #115
Thanks a lot Sean!
This is very good and valuable information! .... and for affirming (again) about the waste handling.

speaking of trailers........ my son made an observation about the wire sides.

>>> per your comments.... the totally flat bed with removable wooden sides seems to be the ideal.....
however I haven't seen any totally flat beds with the necessary sockets for holding 2x4 posts. (and at this point I don't have the heart/determination/drive to fabricate my own metal sockets).

I told him what you/y'all said about the wire sides hanging up in every little twig.

But he suggested that the wire sides would be much easier to attach wooden sides to...
...e.g. a short bolt with big washers on each side.

Short wire sides (e.g. 1') .... attach side boards/plywood to match the side height.
Then the 4' plywood pieces strapped inside that (e.g.). when needed.
 
Most smaller (made for pickup trucks) utility trailers use the sides as a beam for strength/cheapness of materials. By having a 2' angle iron or square tube, or expanded metal side they have created a beam that is stronger than those materials alone. A true flatbed will be more expensive because they need to use bigger materials to achieve this strength. I repeat, for the last time, if you have a thousand or more to drop on a trailer, don't buy those lightweight brand new mower trailers. You will completely destroy them, or you will work so gingerly around them you lose any advantage of using them in the first place. If you want to make money doing tree removals, you need to buy a used trailer that is on the upper limit of what your truck can pull. Dump is ideal, lacking that, get one that is even bigger, and preferably a flatbed for ease of unloading. If you don't want to do that yet, rent a trailer, they rent cheap. I rent a 12k dump trailer all the time. Just figure it into the bid. Doing that you will be way ahead of using a mower trailer you bought for 1k+
 
1' sides are too short.

If you're buying new, they can make it any way you want.

My flatbed didn't have 'stake pockets', nor chain hooks. My welder bought a piece of 2x4 tube steel, and cut the pockets.

If you are going to have 4' stationary sides, just buy a metal sided trailer. It will look better, be more sturdy, and you won't be spending time and money futzing around.



Again, this is just another tool in the toolbox. I use this as a labor saver, ONLY when its is a labor saver. I know that this doesn't look fancy, but I don't like hauling brush farther, especially steeply uphill, than need be. That load is still sitting in my trailer, waiting for a convenient time for an employee to take it to the dump. I have 4 trailers. One tiny 4x8x2', one tandem HD, one 5 lug, and one 6 lug.

The 6 lug has 4' stationary wood sides that I use as a 5 yard chip box moved by the mini-loader., which also hauls the mini-loader, stump grinder, mulch, soil, brush, etc. Last time I used it that way was about a year ago. Moved the chipper and then the trailer to within 15' of the tree. My chip truck would have been a 100'+ drag. I can move the trailer to make many small dump piles on a property where people will use the mulch, rather than one big pile in the driveway, where they won't want it, so it will have to go offsite.

Also, for me, I can drop that trailer off in a tight spot for a friend to unload mulch when they can get to it.

My point is that may tools in the toolbox help you work different situations different ways. Multi-purpose gear is great. Figure out how to make things work for YOU. You have to find a niche, or you're competing against everyone, and they are better equipped and have more man-power.

The more you can be good at the technical stuff, and make a mess for the homeowner to clean up, the better off You'll be, IMO. You're not in shape, or age for hard physical labor. It will make you strong, if you don't get an acute injury in the process, but the wear and tear will catch up to you. Mick, Marc-Antoine, and I all have sore shoulders at the moment. I'm only 44. Strong for my age. My shoulders are very strong. Strength doesn't prevent inflammation.

Niches! Another niche I exploit in my market is making habitat snags. The taller the snag, the less wood for me to handle, plus a value-added service (IF I'm using that term correctly). That tree hugger thing separates me from many places in town that are just removal services.

$0.02
 
Robert,
To sum up what Sean is saying, you have to outsmart the log. Many (most) people try to out muscle the log. I think you began this journey with the idea that you could out muscle the log. Hopefully you are beginning to see that is not a very fruitful method of doing this work long term. Poor people out muscle the log. The guy with money has figured out how to outsmart the log.
 
Find a 10 foot x 6 X2 dump trailer 7k rated two axle for around 3400 in excellent condition and don't look back. Fug all that utility trailer shat. Waste of labor.
With pockets of course so you can add 2 more feet of wood sides to keep weight down

Yep, dump trailer or get and older F350/ F450 with dump bed...you will thank us later ;)

That trailer your looking at is not a good choice...anything that dumps is king
 
Dump trailers are hard to beat. I'd really like to move towards a chip truck and chipper soon. If it all pans out like I hope it will. And if dreams really do come true. A tracked lift and mini skid. But for now it's me the tundra and my homemade dump trailer.
 
Gravity and friction NEVER get tired, EVER.


It was painful for me to watch my friend unload logs off my trailer this morning at his house. I gifted him a bunch of 8-13' doug-fir logs, small diameter, some dry, some green, some in the middle. 12"(-) diameter.

He was telling me that his body hurt from carpentry/ sports.

It was painful to watch because he was doing 3-4 times the work I'd have done if I were doing it. Efficiency, and machines (preferably self-powered machines).


I used to build granite retaining walls on trails in the backcountry. Sierra granite is about 175-200#/ Cu.Ft. Efficiency of action is crucial. The stone never ever got tired. We used to move big stones, only though efficient teamwork, and big levers, and a grip-hoist. You can't be sloppy when dealing with those masses. Have to be smart and strong.
 
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