When you need to haul heavy equipment such as a skid steer, backhoe, tractor, machinery, or materials, the equipment trailer "hauler" is your best friend and tool. Next to the dump trailer, the equipment trailer is the most utilized work trailer in the industry. Equipment haulers or trailers are built specifically to manage massive loads or move extremely heavy equipment. Equipment trailers are made in C-Channel steel beams for strength, or I beam for extra heavy-duty haulers with heavy-duty axles.
Equipment trailers are available with a variety of options. The most important component of the equipment trailer "hauler" is the axle capacity. Equipment hauler axles typically start at 3500 lb axles for lighter equipment and go all the way up to 10,000 lbs per axle for heavier loads. In some cases, there are equipment trailers built with triple 7000 lb axles for super heavy loads.
Equipment trailers are available with traditional ball hitches for bumper pull trailer configurations. This is the most common trailer hitch for lighter axle trailers and lighter loads. Most of the larger axle trailers will typically transition from a bumper pull hitch configuration to a heavy-duty pintle hitch. The pintle trailer hitch would be coupled to a much larger tow vehicle that could safely manage the extreme weight of heavy equipment, machinery, or materials.
In addition to equipment trailer axle capacity, another critical angle is to consider the trailer construction. C-Channel is the most common frame design as it is more economical than I beams. C-Channel construction is very suitable for trailing or hauling lighter loads and machinery. When you step up to backhoes, bulldozers, and super heavy loads, I-beam construction is much more suitable due to its strength. The I-beam is the strongest frame construction available in the equipment trailer "hauler" segment of the market. Some manufacturers such as Diamond C actually engineer their I-beams on the equipment trailers to increase and maximize the trailer capacity while reducing the overall weight of the trailer. This allows for a greater trailer GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating), or capacity.
Another important component of the equipment trailer is the equipment or material loading components, and process. Some equipment trailers will come with stand-up ramps with "knees" the stand-up trailer ramps are excellent as most are spring-loaded. This means no bending over to pull out slide ramps. The stand-up ramps and "knees" provide extra support for the equipment that is being loaded on the trailer and prevent the trailer from taking too much weight in a small area of the frame, known as squatting the trailer. The ramp with the knee absorbs the majority of the load weight preventing damage to the trailer. Most of the knees are adjustable to specific equipment weights and specific trailer heights.
Lastly, another great tool for the equipment trailer is a deck-mounted tow winch. Murphy always strikes at the wrong time. Many times when you are trailering heavy equipment, or are on a job site things happen. If your motor fails, or a co-worker's truck goes down you have the ability to winch the broken machinery, a pallet, or a broken down truck onto the equipment trailer. This is a lifesaver being able to rescue your equipment onto the trailer and back to base without leaving valuable equipment or products behind on a job site. Diamond C LPX and deck-over trailers offer a deck-mounted flip-up winch system. This allows the full use of the equipment trailer bed and not obstructing the working surface. When the trailer winch is needed all you do is press a button and the winch flips up into its winching position. This is a super slick design that allows full use of the equipment trailer while having the winch on board for unplanned situations.
