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Utility Trailer for Shooting Gear?

Of the box store ones I hate the tractor supply one least and HF most. Get the expandable lathe floor if stored outside. You can add wood if wanted. Bearing buddy grease fittings are a must.
The aluminum ones are nice but $$.
An enclosed might save a lot of loading and unloading.

I too have been wanting one for tractor and firewood.
 
A heads up on trailer floors if they're made of wood, thieves use a sawzall and cut a hole in them and the owner may not know for weeks that something is missing. Having said that, if I had valuables in an enclosed trailer, the floor would be at least 1/8" steel.
 
You may want to get an enclosed trailer so your gear/gun cases/targets are 1) out of the weather and road spray; 2) not visible by others. I'll bet gear will always increase to meet available space...yea bigger is better.

Always load with a 60/40 weight distribution...60% on the hitch side; 40% aft of axels. Loading too much on the aft side and you may likely go into a catastrophic sway that you cannot recover from. Check YouTube for some fails due to improper loading.
 
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Going to state land to shoot implies to me you will be off road. If it were me I would look for a trailer that the tire track width matched my Jeep and had ground clearance close to the Jeep. The low rider type beds are great for loading and unloading but not great for off road. Single axles are easier to maneuver off road than duals. Carry two mounted spare tires and tire repair kits and pump. Enclosed are great for protection bet heavier to hall. If an open trailer a heavy duty tarp is inexpensive with a bunch of bungee ties downs can save gear from rain and snow. I think your budget is doable if you shop around.

I have a Carson 4x8' that I don't use for your purpose but have hauled a bunch of shit over the years. It replaced the first little cheapy box store trailer!!
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Having an enclosed trailer with a cot and a reloading setup is a dream of mine, but a box trailer is not in the budget as of now.

I think I have come to the conclusion that I did about 4 years ago. I'll keep renting a uhaul when I absolutely must and keep gear and passengers to a minimum.

I'm not really at a place in my life where I want to skimp on quality just to have something right now. I can be have patience. So when I have a better budget, I'll go for one of the more expensive, heavier duty single axle or tandems. Or maybe I will score something cheap if I keep my eyes on used trailers.

But for now, I'll lay in wait. 700 bucks on hand and see if I can get what I want. Then in a year or so it will be 1700 bucks. and so on.

Thanks for all your info. I have learned a ton about trailers that I never knew.
 
Dimmer, I see you've got enough input to decide your needs, but seeing your post late made me think of what we did for many years in regard to a trailer.

For about 15 years one of us hauled an enclosed box trailer that held the gear for four of us in the field; benches, rifles, ammo, sun shades, the whole kaboodle. Secured shelves were added for extra wall storage. It had 15" wheels and 8-ply tires. Keeping all our gear out of the weather and out of sight was another added perk. It worked out great when we had a place to stay while in the field, but now we all haul travel trailers and camp on ranch property....about as good as it gets for us and what we do.

Just another suggestion to add to your pondering. Personally, I'd wait, save and do it right the first time now that you have beaucoup input from those that do the same thing as you plan to do. Best of luck in that regard. A nice used trailer is sure to come up from someone wanting to 'go bigger'.

 
Could I suggest making the top of an enclosed trailer into a platform for a shooting bench and observer's chair. I've had my 8' P.U. bed with 2 benches that swing 360 and a spotter's seat. Our bench's are home made but full swing benches are available. We are gopher shooters. Big tires and bearings are a real plus, careful with the 'Bearing Buddies', don't overfill and blow the grease seals, grease sparingly. If shooting off the trailer a 'tongue jack or 2 on the rear may be beneficial. I found and bought the trailer you need, it's about 10' X 6', big wheels and bearings, well cared for, near new tires, and 2" hitch for $1000. Check Craigslist, this trailer was 70 miles away, BUT.
 
Like you, I'm in no hurry. It's just not a priority at this time but I'm in the mood to buy a fairly small tandem enclosed, just for matches. It's hard to justify the purchase in any way and I like to be able to justify spending anything when I can. We won't get into beer money. That's a different kind of justification...kinda Lol!

Anyway yeah, I think a good used uhaul would be great. I could just spend some time outfitting it to suit a single purpose for the most part. It'd be pretty sweet and I could just keep everything in it without loading and unloading every time I go to a match, as well as at the match as lots could just stay in the trailer. Absolutely unnecessary luxury item is all it'd be and only because I can't begin to justify a million dollar motor home. Lol! Height would be a biggie to me as well. Gotta be tall enough to walk around comfortably inside.
 
Dimner said:
View attachment 1549547

what do you guys see here? I have not seen this kind of hitch attachment.
Click to expand...
That is adjustable for height, take the two bolts out, move the hitch up or down, useful for leveling out the trailer deck. The round sleeve you see in front of the bolts slides back to release the female latching mechanism. ( the most forward part of the hitch) When the ball hitch is properly connected, the sleeve slides forward, and retains the ball,and hitch mechanism in proper position. Usually a safety pin behind the sleeve, to prevent any chance of the sleeve moving when towing. Seen them mostly on 2 5/16 inch balls, for bigger or heavier trailers. Maybe available for 2 inch balls, I just haven't seen them.
 
I'd buy a van. I've thought about it a lot.
Install a small workbench with a reloading press for range use. A van is secure & dry.
 
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