Enclosed Trailers - why 7' inline vs. 8.5"

[groomerdriver]

One thing I didn't like about the deckover was the steep ramp angle. It's a lot harder to walk up compared to a inline. .....one thing I can say for sure get the extra height, especially if your tall yourself.

Never really gave the ramp angle thing a thought! I'll have this trailer for a while and I'm not getting any younger and even now I'm a bit tentative walking on ice. Forget about iced up decks on trailers. I'm 72" tall go I'll be ducking anyway?

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So it sounds like you want a 23' long inline (18+5). As for your last question, if it were me I would park the 1 sled as the first sled all the way to the back. Then it is a straight pull off and back up vs having to navigate a corner.

So #1 sled would be farthest back but pointed forward. Put it in reverse and back it off? This is what I envision and want to be able to do.

 

[jedoyle]

Never really gave the ramp angle thing a thought! I'll have this trailer for a while and I'm not getting any younger and even now I'm a bit tentative walking on ice. Forget about iced up decks on trailers. I'm 72" tall go I'll be ducking anyway?

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So #1 sled would be farthest back but pointed forward. Put it in reverse and back it off? This is what I envision and want to be able to do.

I was thinking pull the sled you are going to use all the time in first so it would be all the way in the back of the trailer pointing the same direction as the other 2 which is toward the rear. You would load all from the front to the back and facing the same way. Then the sled you use all the time you drive off forward and then you would back it onto the trailer from the rear.

 

[groomerdriver]

Drive it off....back it on. Makes sense. I'll have ski guides and track mats so it should work out OK.

 

[sweeperguy]

IMO I think you'd be better off driving the sled on forward, and backing it out. It'd be easier to back out down the ramp instead of backing in,up the incline. Also I'm thinking that having the most weight of the sled (the one at the rear) nearer the axle would be better than the weight at the extreme rear of the trailer.
For towability you'd want the majority of the weight in the trailer between the axle and hitch.

 

[jedoyle]

IMO I think you'd be better off driving the sled on forward, and backing it out. It'd be easier to back out down the ramp instead of backing in,up the incline. Also I'm thinking that having the most weight of the sled (the one at the rear) nearer the axle would be better than the weight at the extreme rear of the trailer.
For towability you'd want the majority of the weight in the trailer between the axle and hitch.

Generally speaking the inlines are meant to load from front to back so the axles have been placed keeping that in mind. Also the inlines sit so low to the ground that backing one up the back drop down door would not be a big deal especially if you throw a couple traction bars across it. Just throwing that out there.

 

[groomerdriver]

Generally speaking the inlines are meant to load from front to back so the axles have been placed keeping that in mind. Also the inlines sit so low to the ground that backing one up the back drop down door would not be a big deal especially if you throw a couple traction bars across it. Just throwing that out there.

I can see backing up sled #1 into the trailer at the end of the ride. I get the tongue weight thing Steve. If I had to put 50# sandbags up front to correct any imbalance I'd be OK with that.

One other thing I'm seeing. 7.5' wide trailers. So what will the extra 6" get you over a 7' wide trailer? Is it the axle\wheel positioning or ??

 

[snobuilder]

I can see backing up sled #1 into the trailer at the end of the ride. I get the tongue weight thing Steve. If I had to put 50# sandbags up front to correct any imbalance I'd be OK with that.

One other thing I'm seeing. 7.5' wide trailers. So what will the extra 6" get you over a 7' wide trailer? Is it the axle\wheel positioning or ??

Axles and trailer are both 6" wider.

I drive on from the front in this order....lightest first...2 stroke... then the second lightest and then the Apex ....this gives me the best tongue weight. If the Apex went in first it might make the tongue too light due to most of the machine being behind the back axle.

The last 2 weekends, I been riding solo . The 2 stroke came off and then I backed it in at the end of the weekend. Very easy to do with the low floor height of the inlines.
I had a 25 mph headwind all the way home today and I thought about this thread. I am very happy with the way this 7' x 23' inline pulls.

 

[pistons]

I bought a new Stealth trailer this year. 8.5 wide deck over and 7ft. tall. 20ft. box with 5ft. vee. Beaver tail in the rear. Four, two-up sleds driven in from the back. The extra height is nice because the ramp is longer and reduces the angle of attack, not to mention not hitting your modular helmet on the ceiling. The trailer fit and finish were not as good as I thought a $9000.00 should be, but it is fully functional and should last a long time. I look at some of the camper trailers being hauled down the highway and figure this trailer is not the biggest fish in the lake! A 30 mile an hour cross wind gusting to 45 was indeed a hand full with the suburban. Also, the extra height is good for resale to a side by side user. I got the standard spring suspension so leveling the trailer isn't as critical as several different vehicles will pull this trailer. It looks ominously tall and caution needs to be taken under low hanging car ports, limbs, and such.

 

[Go Fast or Go Home]

A deck over trailer 8' or 8'5" have smaller tires under them.

With the inlines 7' or 7'5" they have full size tires. I have 235 15" radials under mine. Lot better piece of mind as opposed to smaller trailer tires.

 

[Highflyer]

Have made one decision based on the feedback so far......forget about the SxS option.

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Another question has popped up in my mind:

The trailer must have capability of 3 ea. 137" sleds. Honestly, 90% of the time I'm only using one sled. So my questions is......with a 7' wide trailer, if the front two sleds are facing the rear, can the rear most sled be backed off and driven back on into the same slot?

I too am looking at inline trailers as I am done with using a clam shell two place. Trying to load a tilt clam shell by myself a couple of times this winter nearly destroyed my new sled. In my pursuit of an inline, I too decided to forget fitting a SxS in it. My recommendation is this 6'6" height. you may be under 6' tall but when wearing a helmet you could easily smack the ceiling of a 6' tall.

I assume you are looking at Pete's trailers....I love driving by that place on my way up as he always has a nice selection of trailers to admire from 53.

 

[groomerdriver]

I assume you are looking at Pete's trailers....I love driving by that place on my way up as he always has a nice selection of trailers to admire from 53.

Yes they do but as far as enclosed sled trailers all they carry is Stealth, which by all accounts is a very good brand. Pete's nearest competitors are in Eau Claire and Elk Mound, WI which is upwards of an hour away from me. It sounds as if there's never a sale on Stealth trailers. The price quoted is the price you pay. I think competition is good in that there's others vying for your dollar. I see this at dealers in the Twin Cities.

I don't know how many times a new enclosed trailer, on average, needs to go back to the dealer for warranty work. I don't want to drive 2 hours one way to the Cities to get something fixed. Pete's would be the place that would maintain the trailer brakes....I'm not going to 'eff with them. I want to hook up and go in the winter and not worry.

 

[xcsp]

I too am looking at inline trailers as I am done with using a clam shell two place. Trying to load a tilt clam shell by myself a couple of times this winter nearly destroyed my new sled.

What was the issue with loading your sled in the trailer?

There are times when I'd like to go with an enclosed trailer with a ramp door, but with my tilt-bed clam shell, I can tilt the trailer at home to let the snow melt off and run out of the trailer.

I think Triton trailers still makes a trailer that tilts AND has a ramp for drive on/off.

 

[longtrack]

There are more uses for a 8.5 wide Trailer. I can haul 2 ATV's and my Jeep in my 25' V Nose Trailer behind my Motorhome. I also haul 4 Sleds. The 2 in the back have to be opposite one another and we load the front two from the front facing the rear.

I could not do that with a 7 or 7.5 wide Trailer.

I use my Trailer all Year.

I have a 25' x 7' high Stealth with 5200# Axles. It does flex more than I think it should and they had Luan Wood trimming out the Floor. That was a complete mess after the first year. My Dealer tore it up and replaced it with Aluminum Trim. I looked at Stealth Trailers at Hays Days and ask the Dealer that was there about the Luan Trim and he said it was no problem. I know its a problem and they need to address it. Stealth is an OK Trailer but not the best by far, that's why they are cheaper than Triton, Legend or Feather light. My opinion is if there built in Indiana, buyer beware.

 

[Highflyer]

What was the issue with loading your sled in the trailer?

There are times when I'd like to go with an enclosed trailer with a ramp door, but with my tilt-bed clam shell, I can tilt the trailer at home to let the snow melt off and run out of the trailer.

I think Triton trailers still makes a trailer that tilts AND has a ramp for drive on/off.

My trailer sits outside at my cabin (Northern Wisconsin) all winter. While my snow removal guy does clear the snow off it, early this past winter a 2-3" layer of ice formed on top of my clam shell. You wouldn't believe how heavy it was and the it never warmed up enough to melt off. Because of this, the clam shell would not stay up without someone holding it nor would the trailer stay titled for me to load the sled. I had to place three cinder blocks on the trailer to hold it down and then place a piece of pipe holding up the clam shell. The clam shell almost came down on the hood of my new Pro X. I eventually had to take it to a car wash and power wash it off. After three cycles through the wash, I had a bout 50% of the ice off.

The title usually works if you are on a perfectly level area but if not I will usually need someone to hold the trailer down. Given I sometimes go up by myself, I'm looking for a trailer that I can just drop the ramp and pull in.

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There are more uses for a 8.5 wide Trailer. I can haul 2 ATV's and my Jeep in my 25' V Nose Trailer behind my Motorhome. I also haul 4 Sleds. The 2 in the back have to be opposite one another and we load the front two from the front facing the rear.

I could not do that with a 7 or 7.5 wide Trailer.

I use my Trailer all Year.

I have a 25' x 7' high Stealth with 5200# Axles. It does flex more than I think it should and they had Luan Wood trimming out the Floor. That was a complete mess after the first year. My Dealer tore it up and replaced it with Aluminum Trim. I looked at Stealth Trailers at Hays Days and ask the Dealer that was there about the Luan Trim and he said it was no problem. I know its a problem and they need to address it. Stealth is an OK Trailer but not the best by far, that's why they are cheaper than Triton, Legend or Feather light. My opinion is if there built in Indiana, buyer beware.

The hard part of the trailer decision for me is that the Tritons are not just a little bit more money........They are damn near double if you look at the PR line (I'm looking at the PR-187). Are they really that much better?? I'm by no means a trailer expert so certainly interested in hearing about how much better the tritons are built. And I'm by no means knocking the tritons.....My clam shell is a Triton.

 

[durphee]

I have the 24 foot V 8.5 trailer. Yeah it does pull a little more difficult, not really a big problem for me, but the biggest negative is the smaller tires. I would rather have full sized tires on my trailer. But we take care of them and have never blown a tire in 6 years. My trailer is used year round also so its pretty versatile for four wheelers, fishing trips to carry gear and even moving peoples stuff to their new house. the ramp incline is another negative but not really a big issue.

 

[groomerdriver]

I envision this trailer to be used in the winter only. Will I have garage space for my three sleds, I'd like to free it up by storing them in a trailer.

longtrack stated = My opinion is if there built in Indiana, buyer beware.

I was involved in the motorized RV industry for a number of years and assuming very little if anything has changed, I fully get what you are saying.

 

[snobuilder]

I envision this trailer to be used in the winter only. Will I have garage space for my three sleds, I'd like to free it up by storing them in a trailer.

longtrack stated = My opinion is if there built in Indiana, buyer beware.

I was involved in the motorized RV industry for a number of years and assuming very little if anything has changed, I fully get what you are saying.

LOL isn't that where they all are built?...SMD

 

[groomerdriver]

LOL isn't that where they all are built?...SMD

Don't know about ALL of them but many of them? Will be looking out for this but I don't have too many choices.

 

[Go Fast or Go Home]

May want to consider a NEO or an RnR.

Both built in Michigan. NEO would be the better of the two. Very good quality fit and finish.

 

[rich_jelinek]

One thing that I know that someone incorrectly mentioned above - as far as the width of the axles 7 wide vs. 7 1/2 wide vs. 8 1/2 wide ( NOT deckover ) - most that I know of, the OVERALL width of the trailer is the same. Meaning that the overall outside dimension of the fenders/tires is usually 101"/102" on all of them. On a 7' wide you will have NO fender boxes inside the trailer, smooth walls inside because the entire fender is on the outside. On a 7 1/2' wide you will have approx 3" of fender box inside on each side, the rest is on the outside, and on a 8 1/2' wide you will have most of the fender box inside, very little outside as the walls of the trailer are almost just as wide as the wheels/tires.
So you gain some space with the wider trailer BUT then you also have the fender boxes to maneuver around with the sleds.

We have an all aluminum 7 x 25' ( 20 + 5 ) inline and I am very happy with it. We usually only haul two sleds in it, and I back them in from the rear keeping them right inline with each other nose to tail and drive them out the rear. Our 137 and 129 take up just about all of the 20' of straight box to stay nose to tail, which is why I got the 20+5.

I do this because we also use it for road racing motorcycles in the summer and I have some cabs/shelves up in front so I never use the front ramp door. Due to the low floor and slight ramp angle it's pretty easy to back them in from the rear. Like others have mentioned, these trailers are mostly designed/balanced to have the sleds facing the rear, and I did pull it once with the sleds facing forward and it seems to tow nicer with them facing the rear.

Just some more food for thought for ya...............