What's a good price for a used trailer these days?

In reply to 03Panther :

$5 a bd ft is a good wholesale price for white oak. Local hardwood supply stores typically are around $10/ bd ft or more for better grades.

  But if it's laid on steel or bolted together with steel bolts the tannic acids  in  White  Oak will quickly cause decay and ruin  the frame, the connections and the fasteners. True you can do as I've done which is use stainless steel.  Or Aluminum. ( even silicon Bronze  if your wallet is fat enough) ;-) Then those problems will be solved.  
      I know that GMA pallets are made with white oak as well as other hardwoods  but those are really designed for single use only. Reused at the users discretion and liability. 
   I wasn't aware that white oak was a DOT requirement. I sure see a lot of trailers not using it.  Some of the major trailer builders don't seem that bound.       
    Since the companies building those trailers used the Forklifts I sold for over 20 years you'd think that I would notice that.  I've seen ash, red oak, hackberry tamarack, ironwood, elm, oh dozens of other hardwoods. Yes probably even some white oak.   You put some giant tracked piece of equipment  on a trailer and at some point the deck is going to be gouged up enough to require replacement. 
  Yes I've often seen plantation grown  pine on trailer decks. Usually pulled by big trucks. And once the wood deck starts to rot?   

All you just said is completely correct. (Well, except for the intentionally inflammatory last question) None of that is scary in any way, or causes the fiery doom and disaster (to paraphrase you) you have been implying. 
The $5 was a number of years, pre stupid crazy, ago, so 10 or more wouldn't surprise me 

As I mention the DOT white oak requirement, that's commercial only. The guy I loan my truck to, and borrow better trailers than I have from,  has a irrigation business, and subject to dot, where "civilians" are not. I don't know if that is a federal, or state by state thing, as I haven't used my CDL since the turn of the century!

In reply to frenchyd :

But if it's laid on steel or bolted together with steel bolts the tannic acids  in  White  Oak will quickly cause decay and ruin  the frame, the connections and the fasteners. 

That's why all decent trailers with quality wood (agreed, very hard to find quality wood these days) have a rubber strip between steel and wood, and use appropriate hardware. 
I'm in no way endorsing wood trailers. Just correcting things said that are completely incorrect, despite being said with conviction. 

In reply to 03Panther :

At least give me credit.  I don't see rubber under wood on most trailers.  If it was normal I'd have mentioned it.  Nor do I see stainless steel  fasteners used.  
     Perhaps you are talking about semi trailers?    Or are confusing Ash for Oak?   
Remember Ash has the strength of white oak but not the issue with tannic acids.  

In reply to frenchyd :

I did give you credit; only corrected stuff like "wood is scary". 'Cause that is not accurate. 
I also never said "normal". Just some. 
I've never seen the trailers you have seen. I can only comment on trailers I have seen. I never mentioned ash, and it is irrelevant to anything I have said. 
I think we have beat this horse long enough... don't you?

Darn I lost the bit.  
     I laid out my qualifications. 
 In short I've been building successful trailers since the early 1970's.   my trailer building company S.I.R. Trailers  since the 1980's some are still around for the past 40 plus years. 
  I'll be building another trailer using part of my molds for the Vintage racing XKE. Comvined weight, car and trailer to be under 2000 pounds. Might bring it to Florida. 

In reply to 03Panther :

I've got some photos I'll include tomorrow. 

I agree , and never said otherwise, you know 70s trailers well! Would have gladly done business with ya! There is a lot you know well. 

Even before covid, used open trailer prices were a bit nuts. I bought my Carson California for $2k new. Used was similarly priced and needed tires , bearings etc

I'll echo the concern about quality of new trailers.  I hired lots of structural steel welders at my previous job.  The absolute worst ones always came from a trailer manufacturer.  Always.  I trained several people who had never struck an arc before, and they were better than the people who came to us after building trailers.

This is 100% anecdotal.  Maybe in other parts of the country, quality is held to a higher standard.  Around here it is embarrassing.

Also, FWIW I prefer wood decks.  Rough sawn wood doesn't get as slippery when wet.  You can attach cribbing directly to the deck which is really convenient when you need it.  It is also way easier to replace than steel.  You have to replace it more often, but that trade off is worth it to me.

In reply to bigeyedfish :

That is true. But unfortunately most really don't check the trailer that often.  
   Aside from that pine bolted to steel doesn't offer much strength.  So the trailer tends to weigh significantly more to make up for it. 
  Finally by the 1960's most separate  frames and bodies had gone the way of the dodo bird.  Unibodies were stiffer and lighter.  
 

 My main objection is the extra weight  used to build trailers that requires a bigger heavier tow vehicle  and adds to the cost of racing without any  real benefit. 

My wood-deck car hauler was far from new when I bought it almost 20 years ago, and in that time I've had to replace probably 2/3 of the boards. Having no idea that there was any kind of requirement, I used pressure-treated pine. It's held up well for me.

frenchyd said:

Aside from that pine bolted to steel doesn't offer much strength.  So the trailer tends to weigh significantly more to make up for it. 

Maybe if you were custom building it to be as light as possible, but in off-the-shelf open deck trailers there's not really any weight difference between them.  Even aluminum trailers are only significantly lighter if you go with Trailex or a similar bolted-extrusion construction.

Wood needs deck replacement periodically, steel doesn't.  OTOH, wood is less slippery in the rain, less hot in the direct sun, and more convenient for adding stuff to the deck without using a welder.

                        Miata Trailer 

     Building a very lite, extremely cheap, durable trailer for a Miata.  I believe less than $1500 and a weekend or so to actually build. 
 I'll assume you can weld  and you have one of those cheap Harbor freight band saws  own a tape measure and can check and double check. 

  First buy your steel at the recycle place. ?!! Yeh, they will sell it to you for about twice what they paid for it.  If they are paying .30 cents /pd. offer them .60. It's more than they get at the smelters. 
 Why there? Why not just order it on line or from a local business?    The massive savings $$$ (have I explained how cheap I am)? 
   Minneapolis is a decent sized city. We have probably 10-15 places I can do that.  
   What you're looking for to start is a square post. Long enough to make your trailer bed.  About 10 ft. Wide enough for the tires  about 12"x12". plus a little.  About 1/8th thick. 
    I like my trailers short.  Easier to store and it saves money up front.   A foot or so past the rear tire.  Yes, the bumper of your Miata is going to be right about the height of a typical SUV 's bumper when it's on the trailer.  
   Thickness is important here.  Too thick and  it will be too heavy. As a guide I'd suggest around 1/8 th inch or so.   I've used thicker and thinner.  Just remember you aren't building a battle ship here. 
 You will also need some small square tubing.  Again about an 1/8th inch thick.  I like 1"x1"  but yes you can use what you find.  
       I like to use 3-4 inches for the flanges. They are what gives it the strength needed that. That And the 1x1 you weld along the outside top.   A real lowered car might need a shorter flange.  If you have to cut it much under 3". You might use 1x2 for the top outside flange. 
      To be continued 
      

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

My wood-deck car hauler was far from new when I bought it almost 20 years ago, and in that time I've had to replace probably 2/3 of the boards. Having no idea that there was any kind of requirement, I used pressure-treated pine. It's held up well for me.

The DOT requirement is for commercial. 98 % of us, there is no requirement. 
 

This thread has sure gotten WAY off track!

OP asked about trailer prices. Never said he could weld. Never said he wanted to build one. Never said he was a commercial hauler. 
 

There is a ton of info here that's just not helpful. It's addressing all kinds of things that are irrelevant. That just makes it confusing. 

In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :

The answer to your question is yes. $3100 is a fair price, but it should have brakes on it. 

5 years ago I bought two trailers for $1500ish each. Today, $3100 seems like a decent price for a decent trailer. 
 

edit: I didn't like either one and ended up building my own. Today I own a 12k equipment trailer that serves dual duty. 

SV reX said:

In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :

The answer to your question is yes. $3100 is a fair price, but it should have brakes on it. 

Probably, in these times, as answered several time. Brakes can be as easy as a simple loose wire, or as bad as all 4 loaded backing plates. No clue what trailer brake parts cost now, but Agri Supply, if you can find one around ya will be best price. Ya can mail order, but their web site is not user friendly. 
He also mentioned a metal deck on the one he is looking at... and the + / - of different decking came up

went off track since someone stated a wood deck would rot off the trailer before it got home, even though he is looking at a metal deck... 

But I assume he got his answers a while ago?

edit: BTW, the DOT came up in answer to others questions - not yours or the OP's. Just to clarify. And to avoid confusion, white oak certain other woods are calls out as better, but metal and other non woods are also meet DOT. To most folks that does not matter, as I've stated several times. 

In reply to 03Panther :

I understand brakes are easy. The OP should understand that brakes should be included in a $3100 trailer like that, and that he should be able to negotiate the price because of that. 

SV reX said:

In reply to 03Panther :

I understand brakes are easy. The OP should understand that brakes should be included in a $3100 trailer like that, and that he should be able to negotiate the price because of that. 

I agreed with this. For that price I would expect a trailer that doesn't need anything outside of routine maintenance. 

In reply to SV reX :

I never said you did not know that. That was a paraphrase of my original post to the op, since we are repeating them. 
And since the op asked about cost of them, it could be a loose wire, or get expensive. I am not being offensive to you, so I do not ... well, whatever. 
I agree with everything you said about trailers, and I thought any of my posts have reinforced that. 

In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :

If it helps I just paid $5700 for a similar spec trailer that is brand new, but it has brakes.  I still need to buy a spare and see about adding a tire rack.

In reply to 03Panther :

You have a PM. Thanks!

This thread whew. How did we get here?