Foldable HF Trailer?

Hi all

I've been considering putting a hitch on my Focus ST and getting a small utility trailer for light towing - stuff like car parts, a replacement snowblower, lumber, and so on. Possibly a teardrop trailer at some point in the future.

The foldable 4'X8' trailer from HF has a coupon right now for $260 - I know that these trailers are perhaps a bit sketchy with more weight than they're designed for, and that the wheels should be replaced with better ones, but is it usable for light duty? Or should I be looking at one with a solid frame, so I can reinforce wherever might be required?

I have the folding 4x8 HF trailer and have used it a fair amount. It's done well for me. Folding it is involved - you have to take some bolts off and crawl around the thing - so isn't something you want to do every day. But it's handy if you're not going to be using it for a few months at a time. I also made sides for mine to use as a brush hauling trailer and that's worked well, but it is a bit small for that.

Go for it. I'm very happy with mine. Mine has a solid deck so it does not fold, but it has thousands of trouble free miles on it. There are a couple threads on here about how GRMers have used and abused these trailers, and in some cases, even improved them...

Mine has served me well. It's mostly stock, I painted all the frame bits black before I assembled it, I cleaned the Chinese grease out of the wheel bearings and repacked with Lucas, I mounted the license on a hinge, and put some turnbuckle hold downs on the sides to hold it together while folded. I upgraded the casters to larger, heavier duty ones for ease of rolling it around when folded too. I broke one of the stock plastic casters early on, they sucked anyway, they'd lock up on the smallest of pebbles, let alone try to roll over an extension cord or expansion joint in the concrete.

I shopped around for larger wheels and better tires to replace the 12" Chinese bias-plys that it comes with. I eventually found some 13" wheels and set of cheap passenger car tires that I think will fit, but have not done anything about it. I bought a pre-mounted tire/wheel combo from HF for a spare, when I bought the trailer, it lives with a 4-way in the back trunk of the car I tow the trailer around with. I may re-evaluate when the time comes, the tires are about 5 years old now, don't have a ton of miles on them though, and I can't really justify replacing them yet.

If you want to fold it up, don't use carriage bolts, or anything with a head that protrudes through the deck. I ordered some tapered socket head bolts from McMaster only after I realized the heads of the carriage bolts I used initially interfered with one another while folded.

Directions call for 3/4" plywood, but if I had it to do again, I'd buy 5/8", the 3/4" is just a little too thick to allow the two halves to fold flush with one another.

As for the bolts to hold the back half in place during use, I just run a carriage bolt through the hole from the back side, the hole is square, so it keeps the carriage bolt from spinning, and I zip a nut and washer on the carriage bolt with the electric impact, or ratchet wrench, doesn't take long.

My biggest complaint is that it's bouncy, and unless I've got something loaded on it, I can't see the dang thing. I call myself fairly skilled at backing a trailer, but this little thing has had me questioning my ability a time or two.

Frame folded up before decking was added:

When the deck was new and one piece:

Hauling stuff:

Awesome. That's exactly the kind of stuff I want it for - I've had enough of dirtying up the interiors of my cars.

I have used mine extensively. I kept the OEM wheels, but swapped the hubs to a set from redtrailers.com. WAY better quality, the bearings are a common size and I have not had an issue in years. I haul an ATV without issue, and have used it for furniture, scrap metal, landscaping supplies...you name it.

I turned mine into a boat trailer for a 14' aluminum boat. All I had to do to help it (aside from using a longer tongue I scavenged from the old wasted trailer) was I bolted a piece of 2x2" angle steel under the rear crossmember for loading and unloading the boat when the majority of the weight was resting on that steel. I just put a piece of ply on the bed and a couple 2x4s covered in carpet up the center, then a couple of tapered 2x6s further out to support the chines and it has worked great for 15 years.

I bought the 42x48 one and put big sides on to hold a yard of dirt or mulch as we garden a lot. The large landscape suppliers hate me as they want to dump a giant bucket with no overflowing. They now have a three yard minimum and it must leave all at once so I sold it.

It bounced like a basketball and I couldn't back it up. I regret getting the little one always wishing I had bought the 4x8 one.