I've got a 16' low deck car hauler style flatbed, we replaced the rotted wood floor with thread plate, we have a set of slide in cattle racks made from 1" square tubing.
It takes two people to slide them in, maybe one with a good back but two is better.
I drilled the racks bottom tube and side flange on the trailer at each corner so that four 3/8" bolts holds the racks in place.
It does a decent job and so far has keep me from financing a standard stock trailer.
It does have 3 issues that I'll list.
(1) utility trailers have a higher floor height than stock trailer, several times we've had cattle balk at stepping up into the trailer from ground level, hogs would try to go under so some type of loading chute is needed for easy loading of live stock.
(2) my trailer is the standard duty car hauler with 3500 lb axles (7000 lb gvw), 5 lug 15" wheels and tires making it very easy to overload, 8 1000-12000 lb cows will easily fit or 15-18 500-600 lb calves, this puts combined weight at around 10,000 lbs.
A trailer rated at 10-12,000lbs would be better but cost considerably more, stock trailers I've been looking at are rated for 12-14,000 lbs.
(3) in my case the steel thread plate floor gets slick and stock has trouble standing during transport, some type of rebar needs to be welded to the floor or a thick rubber mat to prevent falling.
This adds more weight and for me I'd want the mat removable to keep the floor from rusting or rotting out quicker.
One can find a good deal on a used flat bed trailer but needs to find one with weight rating equal to comparable stock trailer.
I found 16' slide in racks on the web for $2000-2500 so depending on trailer cost one can come out cheaper with a better built chassis, but you still have to deal with the extra 6-8" height when loading.
I'll have my new disc mower paid off next year, baler the year after that, at that point I'll probably get serious about a real stock trailer, although I hate spending money on a specialty trailer that will only be used 4-5 times per year.
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Today's Featured Article - Field Modifications (Sins of the Farmer) - by Staff. Picture a new Chevrolet driving down the street without it's grill, right fender and trunk lid. Imagine a crude hole made in the hood to accommodate a new taller air cleaner, the fender wells cut away to make way for larger tires, and half of a sliding glass door used to replace the windshield. Top that off with an old set of '36 Ford headlight shells bolted to the hood. Pretty unlikely for a car... but for a tractor, this is pretty normal. It seems that more often than not they a
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