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Thread: Utes Vs Trailers

  1. #1
    Member of forum Woodchip's Avatar
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    Default Utes Vs Trailers

    Gday,

    I have always just worked from a ute, load on green waste then find space for the mowers & equipment ontop, or leave it at the job & pick it up after going to the tip.
    However I hired a 8x5 trailer with cage on the weekend to do a overgrown garden cleanup,....Im now in the market for a trailer!
    Found I could load about 3 times the amount of vegetation on the trailer as opposed to the ute & it was easier to hop in it with the chainsaw to get even more in it.
    trailer cons:
    cost more to dump at the tip
    took a lot longer to unload.
    harder to manouvere, reverse up driveways etc.

    trailer pros:
    carry alot more waste away.
    Nice to keep the tools on the ute,(just like a big work-bench!)

    Anyone got any thoughts on what type & size of trailers to buy, just to cart away vegetation(not carry equipment)?
    Mesh cage or sheet metal etc

    cheers

  2. #2
    Member of forum SM MOWING's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I always found the trailer easy to dump, just back it up to the pit allocated area, unhook the trailer from the car, remove the rear gate, tip the trailer up til the back almost hits the ground then using a rake or spade push the stuff off as you move the trailer forward...easy bear in mind that i use a 6/4 so its not to heavy to manuver
    Independent and i know it

  3. #3
    Senior Member RSM-Gazza's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    If I wasn't towing this trailer around daily, it would feel like leaving home without my Jocks on.

    The interior of the cage is all smooth and the chequer plate floor is reversed thanks to very good advice from this forum when I was designing it.

    The amount of green waste from tree jobs is amazing what I can fit in, I stomp it 4 or 5 times and can fit what seems a forest in. I always get in to the tip using a free tip pass from the clients. Have not paid at the tips all yr so far.
    When I empty it out, people are amazed at what comes out as it un compacts.
    Usually about when it gets to half emptying, grabbing the right branch or hedge matter and the remainder just slides out. Love it. It was also built to measurement for the Ride On when needed.
    Rear has a full tail gate up to the height of the brunswick green and two mesh lockable barn doors above it.
    Been towing large boats/caravans since I was 18, so reversing is a no issue to me.





    Cheers Garry

  4. #4
    Senior Member PaulG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I'm the same. I'd be lost without a trailer.

    Mine started out as an 8 x 5 box trailer. I then had mesh side added that stand about 1100 - 1200mm high. Just prior to Christmas I had a mower-deck built on the draw-bar.

    I can take 3 cubic metres of mulch to a job although I'm sure the bearings aren't happy. Same as Garry says too; The amount of branches and prunings that can be compressed is pretty good.

    I started out with this size and don't think I would ever go back to anything smaller.

  5. #5
    Member Jippo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    cant imagine doing it without a trailer honestly

  6. #6
    Senior Member 63impala's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    That trailer riverside is a work of art....
    But if you aint ''STIHL'' you aint real....

  7. #7
    Senior Member 63impala's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    Just mowed 7 lawns and 4 hedged beautiful day out here....
    But if you aint ''STIHL'' you aint real....

  8. #8
    Senior Member RSM-Gazza's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    Quote Originally Posted by 63impala View Post
    That trailer riverside is a work of art....
    Thanks Impala,

    If was to build it again, for me there would nothing to change. Maybe a internal Loo would be handy.

    I'm home for some lunch as all jobs today are within 4 streets from home, so I'll post another picture from a job one street behind home.

    Cheers Garry

  9. #9
    Senior Member edbeek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I prefer to do my resi lawns trailer-less, but it's a pita atm. Just gear everywhere and clippings go onto a tarp(with flaps) across the back of the tray.
    Over winter, I'm hoping to build a box down the full length of the passenger side, headboard high and about 450 deep. That should give me room for 4 woolpacks at the front driver's side for clippings, and room at the back for the mower as I have a under-body ramp.
    I don't do that many resi lawns so don't need a huge area for waste.
    I have a 7x4 box trailer that the ztr travels in and thinking of putting some higher sides on it for smaller cleanups if I don't have the ztr on.
    For bigger cleanups, I have the use of a 10x6 tandem but I only use that around town when absolutely necessary.

    Out of curiosity, how heavy is an average cubic metre of stomped grass clippings? 500-600kg?

  10. #10
    Senior Member 63impala's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I usally use the rig but some days tend to just use the truck{ute}....
    But if you aint ''STIHL'' you aint real....

  11. #11
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    a good tip (esp for gazza) put a bit of shade cloth in the bottom of the trailer, then wehn you get some of the weight off, just pull the shade cloth , voila, the lot comes out

    care needs to be taken you dont get the cloth stuck under the load on the ground, im gonna experiment with tying a rope to it, then half pulling it out then driving away so the trailer pulls the cloth out of the pile (last time i did it i lost the cloth under the load and it was a pita to roll the lot over to get the cloth back)

    but it sure unloads the trailer/ute quickly

    also use it on the ute, but roll the load over by grabbing the opposite side and rolling it off, then the cloth ends up on top - sweeeeet



    and i couldnt do without both ite and trailer now, all my tools are in the trailer boxes, i can put the ride on in the trailer or leave her at home to pick up extra stuff (easier to load up the trailer ramp) and i can put waste on the ute to roll off.

    cant imagine not having both (*shudders*)


    cheers

  12. #12
    Senior Member 63impala's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    Any one got a tilt tralier dump tralier with hydros or whinch???
    But if you aint ''STIHL'' you aint real....

  13. #13
    Senior Member geoff's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    Both is good depending on what on for the day....for just straight hand mowing i like to zip around park in driveways etc with just the ute....my run pretty tight so i can either use the bins or land the bags back at home on the regular tea breaks ....a few of my jobs dont allow to park outside due to no standing sighs or double lines so ute is handy....Trailer is used for ride on ( srping ramp set up ) or big pruning jobs...no trailer less on clutch and petrol is one bonus i guess....

  14. #14
    Senior Member Wyadra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I use a 1.5t truck with a 3x2 m tray. There is always of room for all the equipment and garden waste. When I have a tree job I won't need to take the mowers so there's a huge amount of room for vegetation. With my setup I have no need at all for a trailer.

  15. #15
    Member of forum Stump's Avatar
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    Default Re: Utes Vs Trailers

    I think the ideal set up for resi jobs is a larger cab chassis with a caged trailer type back on it like a long chassis Ford Transit or similar, with a tipper system.
    I am currently converting my Rodeo tray to an American style compact set up with tools in lockdown clamps out in the open,...not in enclosed boxes etc. I just finished my whippy rack yesterday minus a lick of paint. I will have rails to hold chaff bags of grass, but I won't have a cage set up. For the large greenwaste jobs I will hitch up my trailer, but I am sick of towing it around busy streets, trying to back in tight areas etc, and burning heaps of fuel, for only a dozen bags a day, as I mulch most jobs anyway.
    I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my Grandfather.....not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car!!!

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