Complete newbie question about trailers for hauling vehicles and equipment

[kurtomatic]

My first question I have as a new forum member today is regarding trailers, and if there are any recommended trailers I should be looking for.

My use case is, I recently purchased land in Navarro County TX; I already own a sub-compact tractor and a significant collection of attachments (JD 1025R + plus all the usual toys); but my gear is stored a few hours away, and I need to move it. Additionally, I will not be able to securely store my tractor gear onsite for a while, and until then some friends that live nearby have offered to store my gear at their place when I'm not there. So I don't need to just move it just once (or I'd borrow a trailer), but instead keep it loaded for portability most of time.

The equipment currently all (barely) fits in a 20ft shipping container. I can simply go buy me a typical 7.5k capacity, tandem axle car hauler new for about $4k. I would expect that to hold all the larger equipment, with a few extra bits needing to go in the back of the truck. I pretty much have that all worked out.

However, after having my mind blown by the availability of surplus military gear, I'd like to at least explore the idea of a military functional analog of the typical civilian car hauler. Something outside the box.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions for surplus military trailers I could consider?

Cheers,
Kurt

 

[juanprado]

Hi Kurt

Welcome to the madness!

What will be your tow vehichle so we can guide you?

 

[Barrman]

That is something many of us have looked for. However, the military didn’t ever really use anything smaller than a semi truck to fully haul vehicles. Yes, there are some trailers that can be made to do the job and I am sure an owner of one of them will write something.

The military used tow bars for inoperative vehicle moving. That doesn’t help you any though.

There were shipping container dollies that maybe, possibly, almost might work for you. Since it seems you need to move stuff and store it securely.

I will suggest that a 7,000 pound car hauler with 2 3,500 pound 5 lug axles is just a car hauler. If you get a military vehicle bigger than a Jeep or Mutt, you will probably be close to max gross weight or over real fast. Getting 6 lug 6,000 pound axles is not much more money and almost double capacity.

There is a trailer parts place on I-45 at the north end of Huntsville called Trailer Parts Unlimited. They don’t sell trailers, But have great prices on the parts to upgrade them.

One last suggestion. If you have to securely store your stuff far from home a few months and done. Get a regular trailer that fits your needs and just rent a storage space big enough for the time you need it.

 

[kurtomatic]

What will be your tow vehichle so we can guide you?

Thanks, great question. I have a couple of answers.

1st: I currently have a typical Dodge Hemi Ram pickup rated for 10k towing, but only 2-wheel drive. There are some smaller miliary trailers I can probably get away with towing on an infrequent or temporary basis. (I can also theoretically use the tractor with an appropriate adapter to reposition stuff on the property, but it's a 24hp sub-compact, and isn't going to move anything seriously heavy.)

2nd: Due to the above, and my newfound sudden urge to look at military trucks, I'm open to hearing about trailers my pickup can't effectively tow due to height of the ball or other load balancing concerns. In that case, if there is a logical truck or class of trucks I should pair with it, that would be fun to consider. However, my property is less than 5 acres, and I just can't justify a really large truck, no matter how cool that would be, hahaha.

 

[flyfishtrailer]

Why not haul the 20 ft container to your property? Or better yet have a larger one delivered?

 

[kurtomatic]

That is something many of us have looked for. However, the military didn’t ever really use anything smaller than a semi truck to fully haul vehicles. Yes, there are some trailers that can be made to do the job and I am sure an owner of one of them will write something.

This is all good to know, thanks very much! The only thing I found just googling was the M1061A1, which is a very interesting trailer, but seems to maybe be a bit rare, and the deck height would require a good ramp solution for the small tractor. I was hoping there might be other similar options. If not, beefing up a car hauler the way you suggested is also a great suggestion, thanks again!

I will eventually get a secured 40ft high cube conex on the property to secure my tractor gear. I'm looking at a bit of a bootstrapping problem, however, in that currently there is no access to the property for a truck hauling a large load like a shipping container, or a prefab shed, or anything like that until I can do some clearing and driveway work.., which will be easy-peasy with my tractor if it's already out there. I have friends a few miles out that are going to allow me to store my gear at their gated, lit, camera'd property on the other side of town. Getting a storage unit was also on my list, and is available as a fallback. So the reason to invest in owning a dedicated trailer is to have on-demand portability of my gear.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

 

[kurtomatic]

Why not haul the 20 ft container to your property? Or better yet have a larger one delivered?

Thanks for the reply! I absolutely intend to eventually get the 20-footer moved to my new location. It's a bit of a chicken-egg problem. The container has to be empty to be moved. Also, access to the property is terrain challenged at the moment, and there's no way a delivery driver is going to bring his container trailer over the lip of the culvert as it currently stands. The front loader on my little tractor will take care of that, but it will require some modest effort to accomplish. So getting the tractor moved, the driveway access installed, and the container delivered, all in a tight highly orchestrated window of time just seems like unnecessary logistical risk. I like to break complex problems down to simple actions that I can execute on my schedule and not someone else's whenever possible.

Also, as much a I love my super clean little 20-ft 1-trip container, it's all that was available during the height of the pandemic, and it's really too small for this job. The ROPS barely clears the ceiling, and that's without the nice big canopy I bought with this thing (and can't really use until I get a high cube container).

Added note: Yes, a 40-ft high cube is on the shopping list. Very much looking forward to getting one on the property as soon as a delivery rig that long can safely drive onto the property for delivery.

 

[flyfishtrailer]

Thanks for the reply! I absolutely intend to eventually get the 20-footer moved to my new location. It's a bit of a chicken-egg problem. The container has to be empty to be moved. Also, access to the property is terrain challenged at the moment, and there's no way a delivery driver is going to bring his container trailer over the lip of the culvert as it currently stands. The front loader on my little tractor will take care of that, but it will require some modest effort to accomplish. So getting the tractor moved, the driveway access installed, and the container delivered, all in a tight highly orchestrated window of time just seems like unnecessary logistical risk. I like to break complex problems down to simple actions that I can execute on my schedule and not someone else's whenever possible.

Also, as much a I love my super clean little 20-ft 1-trip container, it's all that was available during the height of the pandemic, and it's really too small for this job. The ROPS barely clears the ceiling, and that's without the nice big canopy I bought with this thing (and can't really use until I get a high cube container).

Can you start with the container at the edge of the road at your property or is it off the beaten path enough. You could always move the container out in the property later. Least the tractor would be onsite and not require trailering just to work out there.

 

[kurtomatic]

Can you start with the container at the edge of the road at your property or is it off the beaten path enough.

That idea was my original starting point. It was hard to tell how bad access was going to be until I cleared at least some of the overgrowth from the culvert. It's really not bad, relatively speaking. Just not good enough to be certain a contract driver isn't going to refuse delivery on me, which is not a risk I care to take right now. Two or three days of tractor work clearing and earthmoving will open up all the access any heavy delivery could ask for, as long as it's not too muddy.

I do have other choices, none of this is unsolvable, and really, I have plenty of ways to skin this cat without involving surplus military hardware... but what's the fun in that?

Worst case, I can find a local who can come out with a load of gravel and build me a new driveway across the culvert in a couple of hours. I can hire a lot of this work out if I really wanted to. A big part of my motivation for this project is sinking my own sweat equity into it, and not throwing money at labor-facing problems unless that really is the compelling solution (which sometimes it will be, no doubt).

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I really appreciate the attention this topic is getting.

 

[juanprado]

The challenge you will have is most military trailers that might work for you are going to be air over hydraulic and designed to be towed with trucks having air brakes.

Yes, they can be converted to electric and there are threads on here. I believe the average cost was $1000.

M1061 has a high bed as you stated. Ramps can be fabbed and kendelrio has an excellent thread on how he did his.

 

[kurtomatic]

In general for this thread, to give everyone an idea how small my tractor setup is (it looks like an overgrown lawn mower ), I'm going to attach a photo of everything crammed into the 20-footer. (Not pictured is the backhoe. Not sure where my brother-in-law had that when this pic was taken.)

The challenge you will have is most military trailers that might work for you are going to be air over hydraulic and designed to be towed with trucks having air brakes.

I love EVERYTHING about Ken's trailer, that is completely awesome, thanks so much for the tip! Regarding vehicle compatibility , voltage standards and other things of that nature seem solvable, it's things like the brakes and the load balancing and such that will pop this bubble I'm riding at the moment.

Not the best forum for this question, but as a follow-up, are there diesel MV trucks between a Humvee and a Deuce? I can easily believe there isn't; this is all about mission profiles and use cases after all, and there simply may not be a case for a medium-sized truck like that. Is that even a thing?

 

[kendelrio]

As far as my M1061A1, I built the dove tails. There are MUCH better (stronger) ways to build, based on the weight of the vehicle going on the trailer. We're I you, I would build longer ramps than I did as my angle of approach is STEEP and honestly the pucker factor on your tractor would make me hesitant...


Obviously, I use my M923A2 to haul mine and the only issue I have is all the weight sits in the middle of the trailer as there's no "spread" on the axles, which can cause the occasional "wiggle" while going down the road. It's straight air brakes, so keep that in mind. Towing is easy, stopping is the key to success!

If thats the way you're looking to go, I have several friends with them, some already dove tailed and some not.

For reference, the trailer is rated 5 tons offroad, 10 tons on, and the M715 weighs in at a healthy 5,500lbs.

 

[chucky]

In general for this thread, to give everyone an idea how small my tractor setup is (it looks like an overgrown lawn mower ), I'm going to attach a photo of everything crammed into the 20-footer. (Not pictured is the backhoe. Not sure where my brother-in-law had that when this pic was taken.)

View attachment 913492



I love EVERYTHING about Ken's trailer, that is completely awesome, thanks so much for the tip! Regarding vehicle compatibility , voltage standards and other things of that nature seem solvable, it's things like the brakes and the load balancing and such that will pop this bubble I'm riding at the moment.

Not the best forum for this question, but as a follow-up, are there diesel MV trucks between a Humvee and a Deuce? I can easily believe there isn't; this is all about mission profiles and use cases after all, and there simply may not be a case for a medium-sized truck like that. Is that even a thing?

First thing i would do with that nice stuff is lojac every piece of it if its going to get left untended in remote areas and buy some ABLOY puck locks for the container and some game cameras !

 

[kurtomatic]

First thing i would do with that nice stuff is lojac every piece of it if its going to get left untended in remote areas and buy some ABLOY puck locks for the container and some game cameras !

The container has serious lockboxes that your typical tweaker isn't getting past. Not that it's invulnerable by any means. A plasma cutter would make short work of the sidewalls, so locks are useless at that point. Still, in the 2 years that gear has been socked away, no one has gotten into it without a key. And if somebody does cut their way in, well, that's what my John Deere insurance coverage is for.

Cameras and lights are a needed upgrade, however, and I completely agree on that point. I have not heard good things about the results of LoJac on farm or construction equipment.

 

[juanprado]

As far as my M1061A1,

. It's straight air brakes,

The brakes are air over hydraulic. You should have 2 boosters and master cyls- one for each axle with wheel cyls activating the brake shoes.

Same air over hydraulic on many series sharing common parts such as bolster, m105, m149, m103, xm 1073 etc...

 

[kurtomatic]

The brakes are air over hydraulic.

Air over hydraulic means the brakes don't have to be caged, i.e., not like what I'm used to on my Spartan and Freightliner chassis?

 

[kendelrio]

The brakes are air over hydraulic. You should have 2 boosters and master cyls- one for each axle with wheel cyls activating the brake shoes.

Same air over hydraulic on many series sharing common parts such as bolster, m105, m149, m103, xm 1073 etc...

You're absolutely correct sir! I've read the TM and knew that... but it completely slipped my mind.

 

[Jbulach]

A civy car hauler is most likely your best bet, I think the m1061 is way to much for your current truck, but if you’re dead set on a military trailer check out an m353, your tractor may be small enough to fit with some modification.

 

[Barrman]

A deck over trailer or a trailer with reinforced drive over fenders is pretty much the only thing that will work if you ever need up with a HMMWV as well.

I would imagine your 1/2 ton truck is rated at 10K towing only with a weight distribution hitch. All of the military trailers use a pintle hook attachment. That will not work with a weight distribution hitch made for a ball set up. Basically the lesson I have learned in the past 20 plus years of military vehicle addiction is this:

Military trailers get pulled by military vehicles meant to pull them. Civilian trailers get pulled by civilian vehicles meant to pull them following manufacturers guidelines.

The M416 and M101 trailers cross over with adapters. But, they are about the only ones I can think of.

Kendelrio posted his M715 is only 5,500 pounds. Which makes one think a 5 lug tandem axle trailer rated for 7K gross weight will work perfect. Not in my experience. Broken wheel lugs (3 time), broken wheels (2 times), broken receiver hitches (2 times) and more flats than I can count with load range D tires on the trailer have convinced me pulling M715 trucks on my then 5 lug trailer was a no go. It now has 6 lug axles and always 2 years old or newer load range E tires. Works great.

Which puts you in the chicken/egg scenario you mentioned already being in. Getting a civilian trailer over rated by a bunch for your current needs and current truck to get your home base started and set up won’t cost much more than getting one just good enough. Then once you have a base to work from you will be able to delve into the smaller MV world without upgrading At no extra infrastructure investments.

Just remember all military vehicles are herd animals that multiply with amazing speed. You have been warned!

 

[juanprado]

You're absolutely correct sir! I've read the TM and knew that... but it completely slipped my mind.

You are good.
I know air over hydraulics can be converted to electric but not aware if you can covert full air to electric.

Unfortunately I had to get up close and personal with my xm1073 as either a GSA or military forklift driver chose to hit one of my boosters. Another kind ss member gave me one off a m105 he did not need.

Happy New Year!