got stupid and trusted somebody- trailer

got a reasonable deal on a newer 16 foot tandem utility trailer, guy said he was using it to haul a small kubota, could use another one, only had 3, all busy, so i bought it, this pos has 2 3500lb axles under it so i decided to load a tractor up and use it, wrong ,the trailer folded up like a pop can, i dont know what a small kubota weighs, but my tractor weighs around 5000, looked under the trailer.. no frame, all it had was angle iron all around, now i know its my bad for not thinking to crawl under the trailer before i bought it, but why would they even build a pos like this? and just what would they be used for atv's?

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Years ago when I bought my first 16 foot tandem, the dealer gave me the choice between a cheaper angle iron and a heavier, more expensive c-channel. I went with the c-channel. It is only rated for 7k, but it has been good for one or two loads which I have reason to believe were up to 9k. Of course trailer brakes are really nice.

Hope you can work something out with that trailer.

Christopher

Kubota sells a ZTR, a garden tractor, and a couple of different tractors about the same size as a John Deere 2300.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I would think that it would be smart to check for bad welds etc before you haul with a trailer anyway if you've never used it before. Are the axles okay so that you could reuse them and at least get something out of the deal?
Zach

A lot of new trailers don't have any metal in them, I noticed when I was shopping that they looked like the tonque would pop off or fold with any weight. I bought a super heavy duty one w/ 3500 lb axles but I would think it would handle 7000 or more axles w/o a problem. Got it off ebay for 1600.

I traded and got a trailer,supposed to be 7,000 lbs, I loaded a 3/4 ton truck on it and the axle broke,It had axle tubes that wasnt much more then 16 ga . I milled the ends of the spindles down to fit in a 2X2 square tube,1/4 thick and bought heavy springs, The frame was heavy,just bad axles

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.
My Dad hauls a small Kubota in his Ford Ranger pickup = Lawn tractor.

Something else to consider - what's the definition of a small Kubota. I've got a small John Deer - its a model 318 garden tractor and weighs 800 lbs. I understand the frustration - I've learned a lot in life the hard way.

can you stop payment on it?

around here that is known as an "education tax".

Probably homemade. Sounds like you might have a good case of misrepresentation.

What grounds would you use to stop payment. Sounds like the seller didn't state anything fraudulent. I have a "small Kubota." It's a BX2230, I believe it weighs around 1600 lbs. That trailer would [probably hold it.

The buyer cannot take all of the "education tax" all the time, that is part of the reason that car dealers and others still get by with crooking people.
If it is manufactured trailer (not home built), it must have a class tag and indicate weight ratings. If you loaded it with something less than the tag weight and it folded, you were mislead.
What would the seller be doing if you paid in cash with bills that said "$100" but were really only "$5"?
On the other hand, if it is a home made trailer with 3500 LB axles stuck under it, you just paid for "Trailers101' in your education.

Eric

This sure must dump a trailerload of anger and frustration on your doorstep..

Well; on the brite side of the cloud; the trailer buckled in the yard instead of out on the road.

Some may not agree with this, but I would invite the DOT over to look at that trailer. They maybe would be interested in finding out who designed and built that trailer..


Then again, run this past the seller; might get him (or somebody) thinking about a prompt refund.. ((thinking!??!#))

If the trailer is homemade (ya,makes for more thinking, time for another pot of coffee for me) Good Luck on Your Outcome BDT

I'd talk to the seller, splain what happened, and go from there with whatever his attitude is...

My opinion after searching for 3 months and finally buying NEW.... there are NO bargains on used trailers this size!! Finally bought a Load Trail (made in Texas only , sold everywhere) 18' w/2' beaver tail , 83" between fenders ,9900 gvw (act 10400) all brakes , adj. 2 5/16 hitch , spring fold up 5' ramps , all LED lights , 2" all treated deck built with 6" and 3" channel , radials on 6 bolt wheels. Trailer weighs 2700. considered an implement trailer. Just love it. $3400 and worth every dime. I can load it up full of equipment at the sale or haul my A or B with a plow or cult. and have plenty of safety margin left. Buy new , keep them nice and they won't depreciate.

Buyers remorse sucks. Pays to look stuff over and maybe even 'sleep on it', before getting 'married' to it. I'm sure you will crawl all over looking at tires and wires and springs on the next one.

Sorry but it's your responsibility to know the load capacity of any trailer before using it. Per US DOT law, which means it's applicable in all states, it's also your responsibility to check the material condition of any trailer before use on a public highway. That would have involved atleast a quick look underneath any trailer that you haven't used before. I really don't mean to be a know it all but you really open yourself up to liability when you haul anything on a public road, especially if done for commerce.

I don't mean to add insult to injury, we've all( I definitely have) made inadequate assumptions at one time or another, but I've never seen an equipment trailer that had axles as light as 3,500#, that's a landscape trailer, meant for lawn tractors/mowers. Any real equipment trailer that I've seen had atleast 6,000# axles.

Post a picture

What does DOT have to do with a trailer that was lighter than he thought? Nothing. DOT is involved in the enforcement of the FMSCA rule and regs for motor carriers. They aren't the trailer builder/seller police. Sounds to me what you need is an attorney if the guy won't make it right.

I'll tell you exactly what the DOT has to do with transporting anything on a trailer. If you are involved in an accident where there is a personal injury while towing a trailer on a public highway, the personal injury lawyer for your opponent, often known as the plaintiff's attorney, will be so far up your backside on the technicalities of DOT CFRs that you'll be lucky to have coffee money by the time you are done paying your attorney and any possible damages or fines.

Are you familiar with caveat emptor? Why be stupid or careless when you have liability, even if you had no ethical concern for anyone else's well being? I don't see anything in the OP's post that suggested that the seller gauranteed or even stated that the trailer would handle OP's tractor, the seller only stated what he had done with the trailer and as you and I both know, tractors can weigh relatively little, as in a few thousand pounds, or a lot more so a statement that the trailer will support my tractor does not mean that the trailer will support your tractor. It isn't that simple. I'm sorry that OP had this bad experience but a guy has got to cover his own backside.

(quoted from post at 11:08:31 03/05/11) I'd talk to the seller, splain what happened, and go from there with whatever his attitude is...

Click to expand...

Love how you created the word of "splain"! :lol:

well i fixed this thing today what i did was load a lighter tractor a ford jubilee to give the trailer some weight, parked it just foward of the bent area, then placed a 12 ton hydraulic jack under the rear corner where the rear crossmember and the side rail meet raised trailer, then heated the area top and bottom untill the bent area became level again, let the load off the jack and held just enough trailer to prevent dropping again, let cool naturally,did the other side, and checked for square, reworked as nessassery, and straightend out the 'fold' with a 4lb sledge in each hand like oversize body hammers, it looks good, and will be ok, to remedy the situation, the bottom crossmembers are angle iron with the edge pointing down, so welding anything to those under the trailer would be pointless, no structural support,since i cant put a frame under the trailer im going to put one in the trailer, i plan to remove the trailer wood decking, and weld channell over the top of the angle on the flats front to back , the channell will actually replace part of the trailer decking, 1 piece each side, and 1 in the middle, then reinstall the decking trimming where i need to to work,also i got me a pair of 5 ton screw type jack stands that will fit under the rear corners when loading and unloading to support the rear of the trailer, this should make a good light duty trailer, the jubilee will be the largest tractor put on it,its 2600 lbs, 3000 with the brush hog, attached, anything else goes on a larger trailer its a shame to buy something then have to tear it apart and fix it before it can be usefull but lesson learned
went by to look at the "kubota"
that supposedly used this trailer- shoot, a small tractor, not too much larger than a large garden tractor probably weighs around what my ford weighs

out here the dot confines itself to hasseling big trucks,[ another reason i sold mine] meduim duty and under they dont bother with, good thing as most ranchers, and construction guys around here are overloaded

If I read your repair description correctly, save your time & money, cut it up & use for spare parts.
A channel iron has its strength in the web, not the flanges. The flanges keep the web from buckling. Channel laying flat is no stronger than 2 seperate angles.
Your earlier comment about DOT not checking small & medium size rigs is a bad thing, not good. Wreck caused by overloaded equipment kills people just as dead as if it fell off a big rig.
My rant, 7 I'm sticking to it.
Willie

Always "caveat emptor".

Well, "splain" is one letter shorter than "explain",
and I get lazy like that... :lol:

Hi Eric, sorry that you are getting this experience.

I'm not saying that the DOT will necessarily pick on you or anyone else, I'm saying that if there is a mishap and there is a lawsuit, every aspect of DOT regs/law will be scrutinized to be used against you, another reason not to use a home made trailer to haul anything with any weight to it but atleast if you have a state inspection prior to being granted a serial number, as is the case here for trailers weighing in excess of 1000# empty or 3500# gross you share some of the liability with the state inspector, but if you overload your trailer, you're still open to a lot of liability. Seen it in the news quite a few times and recall a couple of times where the guy towing the trailer was cited for criminal negligence.

One time infact it was a professionally built and registered low boy being towed by a a 10 wheeled dump truck that in a bizzare accident came unhooked while in transit, and believe it or not killed the guy's brother traveling in the opposite direction at a railroad crossing. Unfortunately for the guy towing the lowboy he had somehow modified the pintle hitch arrangement and that was all it took for him to face civl and criminal law suits, which he very publicly lost. It was in the news here for probably about a year.

the c channell im using will more than exceed the limits of the axles on this thing, its just for light duty use i have 3 other trailers for heavier loads, the law here is scarce to say the least 2 to 3 deputies to cover an area larger than some eastern states,the dot only has 1 to 2 officers to cover the same area with 3 major hiways in the county, so working the big trucks is about all they can do, plus they also realize that most of these 1 tonners and medium duty rigs are just making a living localy and let them alone unless they do something really out of line