The paint? It's doing ok, I suppose. It doesn't hold up to dragging brushhogs across it or rolling bare rims over it. But not much short of powder coating would. I tried doing some quickie touch ups a year or two ago with a sponge brush. I didn't mix it with the catalyst for the touch ups and they didn't hold up well. I'm sure there's a variety of reasons for that besides lack of hardener (heat/sun/dirt/etc). But I really can't complain about the paint.
Short story: I would/will use this paint again for a similar application.
Last summer I pulled something fun home on the Trailer.
Ford 8N Tractor.
And then today I pulled something home that I'm particularly excited about:
1983 Buick Regal Wagon
Man, I really love owning this trailer 
Since Woody is spiffing up his trailer it reminded me to share some more photos of mine in action.
Sometime back Mrs. Sparks bought a manure spreader:
A couple years ago I dragged home a '90 Camaro parts car. (not very good photos...evidently I only took photos of parts to sell and was deliberately not trying to get certain parts in the photos...ones I was keeping):
A year or so ago this '86 Capri came home on it:
A no-headgasket-integrity-havin' Legacy wagon fell into my lap. A good parts donor for one of my daily drivers and/or potential cheap-car-roadtrip rally (Gambler/Lemons/Whatever). So, it came home as well:
This '02 Sonoma with a "bad headgasket" seemed like too good a deal to pass up:
I dragged the old Tetanus wagon out of the field where we do the Back40 Racing so it can be dispatched to scrap. It's sad but it's time:
Notice, the truck pulling the trailer in the shot above came home on this trailer earlier in the thread ;)
And, a little New Holland L325 Skid Steer rode home on it:
This shot reminds me...I've really been meaning to stencil "No Step" on the top of the fenders. Neither the Previous owner of the loader nor his dog were coming home with me or they would have been properly strapped down.
I've hauled quite a few vehicles with my trailer, but you really must hold the "personal, non-business" record for towing the most different stuff with one trailer lol...
I'm surprised you don't have a winch on it, towing home all those old cars.
Lol...I'm just a guy (with a junk habit).
I really should put a winch on here. Not sure how/why I haven't gotten around to that yet.
This trailer has also hauled home hundreds of bales of hay over the past few years and the entirety of the materials (at once!) used to build the shed addition to the back of our barn seen here (just the addition, not the whole barn, mind you):
I don't have a photo of the materials on the trailer. Probably because once I saw all that weight on the trailer when the wife brought it home my main concern was to UNLOAD it as FAST as I could.
Your wife went and picked up all the materials and brought it all home towing a trailer. Nuff said!
To say she's a keeper is an understatement ;)
Yesterday the old trailer was called into action to help a friend and a forum member. First, I had to unload the trailer. 7 pounds of fluffy feline:
Then it was off to town where Singleslammer’s Mazda had overheated. They were in need of a lift:
The fifty-dollarest S10 I've ever brought home:
Sometime since the last post, forum member Psteav needed a lift to the Honda shop. I didn't get an in-the-dark photo of that, but after we offloaded his CRV, we went and retrieved a free subaru parts car:
Then it was time for some tires. I've been running cast-off, wrong-size tires on this trailer forever. By now, all 4 tires and the spare on the trailer were straight-up JUNK.
So this spring I found the intersection of Trailer Tire Sale Price and Sock Drawer Funds to be favorable and bought some legitimate trailer tires.
Yesterday was the first time I got to use the trailer with the new tires. Hauling home an old trail toy from a friend's private automotive paradise.
In reply to ClemSparks :
Nice - and glad to see you're still around!
I've been eying trailers recently too, but I think what I want is like the old dirt-track type trailers: two channels for the car to roll into, but no deck, with an enclosed/lockable storage area/wind-break at the front. Though sub-$2k wood deck car haulers are very tempting.
This thread really pulls at me, especially the more recent photos. Fairmont, Fairmont wagon, early 80s fox mustang, mazda 6 wagon, and a really cool trailer.
I was planning to buy a trailer this year, but I spent the money on another car. Now I'm just hoping to survive.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
This thread really pulls at me, especially the more recent photos. Fairmont, Fairmont wagon, early 80s fox mustang, mazda 6 wagon, and a really cool trailer.
You'll like this one I took today, then:
Fairmont Futura headed to get some new exhaust tomorrow.
what are you using for a winch ?
In reply to ClemSparks :
Growing up my mom had a Mercury Zephyr that same color. I still remember the license plate number. I also remember the tape player never worked. It was totalled when some car came out and hit my dad while he was driving my sister and I home from bowling in the late 80s.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to ClemSparks :
Nice - and glad to see you're still around!
I've been eying trailers recently too, but I think what I want is like the old dirt-track type trailers: two channels for the car to roll into, but no deck, with an enclosed/lockable storage area/wind-break at the front. Though sub-$2k wood deck car haulers are very tempting.
Thanks Pete!
I'd say that, generally, a flat deck with no void in the middle would be more versatile. I've hauled a lot of weird stuff (besides weird cars) on this over the years. A sailboat, a bunch of horse stall wall panels, roll cage tubing, Hay Bales, boats ON trailers, etc. But the open center is more of a hindrance to versatility (I think) than a benefit.
I guess the fact that my tie down points are 2' inboard from the corners is kinda handy...but that could be addressed on a solid deck, I'm sure.
I'm not saying this setup is bad. Just that if I were building/buying another one, I'd probably opt for the versatility of a full deck. I also wouldn't probably go for 4" drop axles. Food for thought as you consider options.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
I don't have an electric winch mounted to the trailer. I really ought to make that a priority. Well...at least I have good tires now.
When a winch is necessary, I have one of these I got when I worked for the manufacturer a few years ago:
It's WAY better than a cable come-along. It's still a workout and a bit cumbersome, but it does the trick.
A wood deck trailer is like a poor man's lift. LOL
I just removed a car from an engine on my parents trailer over the weekend.
ClemSparks said:
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
This thread really pulls at me, especially the more recent photos. Fairmont, Fairmont wagon, early 80s fox mustang, mazda 6 wagon, and a really cool trailer.
You'll like this one I took today, then:
Fairmont Futura headed to get some new exhaust tomorrow.
Indeed I do!
It's a good point of discussion, comparing flat deck and open deck trailers. I wonder if it would be possible to have a full deck trailer with a removable center section.
Way back when, I had thought this trailer (or others like it) would be cool because I could get under it and work on stuff under a car.
No. That's just not the case. The trailer is too low so it's kind of like the car is on an awkward-height lift that has bars and fenders obscuring access.
my open deck ramp trailer was built for a VW drag car and works great .....
BUT the ramps are set up for the track of a VW and I had to make another inner "ramp" so I could put a narrow Fiat 600 on it ,
This would be the same if you had the ramps set up for a Full size American car and then needed to haul a small car.....
My other trailer has a wood plank full floor , works fine for a VW , Renault or a narrow Fiat 600 ,
But its a little hard to get under the car to hook on the ratchet straps.....
If I would build another trailer it would be a wood deck with removable stake bed sides ,
It's that time of year again.
Thanks to forum member Bent Valve, I have another update of things I've dragged home on the car hauling trailer:
Last summer some guys were doing some "beater car" field racing (rallycross, 2 at a time in 4 cylinder crapcans) so the trailer came in handy for procurement of said crapcans and transport to the raceday events...
That's a 2007 Ford Focus. The newest vehicle I own, ironically.
Cavaliers seem to do well in beater racing so I picked up a couple of those as well (but only got a photo of one on the trailer it seems)...
That is a BEFORE photo. Hard to believe this one hasn't already been raced around the track a few times.
This past weekend the trailer brought home something potentially fun. My first Jeep. Also, as forum member Psteav pointed out, my first-ever Chrysler product:
YJ, baby! One of the few vehicles that has been on this trailer and the doors will actually open.
