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Got my eye on a couple of different utility trailers. Similar size (5'x8') and GVWR (3000 lbs). One has a tilt bed, the other has a large tailgate that acts as a ramp. Otherwise, they're similar in price, tire size, wiring, age (~3-4 years), previous use, etc.
This'll just be for yardwork, trips to the dump, etc. I won't be carrying a quad or sled. We've got major landscaping plans in the offing for the backyard, so it'll mostly be used for that.
Is a tilt bed as useful as it seems it'd be? Any other advice as to things I should consider in selecting a trailer for myself for the use outlined above?
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RolHammer said:
Is a tilt bed as useful as it seems it'd be? Any other advice as to things I should consider in selecting a trailer for myself for the use outlined above?
I've found my tilt capability to be about as non-useful as it seemed useful when I got it. I'd go for the ramp in a heartbeat. Unless the tilt function is powered (hydraulic), anything I might want to dump is too heavy to dump by hand, and putting the tractor up there with the bed tilted leads to a big crash when it tilts flat, and can't really be controlled by careful driving. Mine has to have the tilt capability because it's a folder, but if it was rigid, non-folding type, I'd go for the ramp without a second thought. That's based on what I use it for, not what someone else might do with it. I use it for mulch, firewood, moving by tractor to my in-laws' place for fall cleanup and winter storage, that sort of thing.
Tom
“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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Another vote for the ramp---You said you had a lot of landscaping work-----seems to me the ramp would make loading any large rental equipment a snap. I'd just get one where the sides were high enough to hold a yard of material or more picked up from the landscape supply yard.
I just went through all of that landscaping stuff and while I love my pick-up, more often than not I longed for a decent trailer.
Dave
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I would go for the ramp as well.
Help a friend all the time who has both.
We use the ramp style 99% of the time.
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Yeah, I forgot about that part. I recently rented one of those commercial vee-edgers for landscaping, and had to use my 2x10 planks with home-made angle hooks for the stake pockets on the back frame member to get it into the trailer, which in turn was too narrow at 4 ft (it fit, but with a shoehorn). A 5x8 or 5x10 with ramp would have been just right. I use that thing a lot. Best $300 I ever spent, cheap and flimsy though it may be. 
Tom
“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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Got a tilt trailer. Hate that same tilt trailer. Go with the ramp. Gonna convert the one we got later this summer to a ramp.
It's all good till it's no good anymore.
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Add one more to the list of folks voting for the ramp. It's a rare thing that I find myself wishing for a tilt function, but I am frequently grateful I have a ramp. Of course, next, you are going to want a bigger trailer, then tandem axles, then tandem with brakes, and then... You are going to want a big Dodge Ram with a Cummins turbo diesel 
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I have a 5X8 trailer with a ramp, and have used it alot for landscaping projects. From what I've seen of dump trailers I don't think they would be useful unless you got a larger one with a powered dump feature. The ramp allows me to use a wheelbarrow to unload dirt, etc.
If anything, I'd go for a little larger trailer - maybe 5X10 or 6X10 - there are times when I wish I'd gotten one a bit larger. I added plywood sides to mine for when I haul dirt or gravel, and I've welded on some additional tie-downs. Around here they require most loads to be covered.
I'd also get a heavy duty one - I have a Big Tex - and not one of the Harbor Freight type of lightweight models. Ones with 3000 lb. axels should be plenty strong enough for homeowner use.
I have a pickup as well, but I wouldn't be without my trailer.
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Thanks guys. Makes me wonder what the point of these tilt-bed trailers really is.
In the spot in the side yard I've got for it, a 5x8 will fit nicely. 5x10 would just fit, but would be pretty tight. I was thinking a 5x8 would allow me to do the landscaping thing as well as be able to carry plywood or baltic birch as needed. And regardless of which one I'll get it's going to be a heavier-duty, steel framed unit.
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A 5' x 8' might be tight on length for sheet stock.
The fold up ramp might eat into the 8' length slightly, especially the higher up you go. The ramps usually lean in and are not perfectly vertical. If you can get a 10' for not much more money that would be my vote.
Some trailers have attachments for 2 x 4 stock racking to fit into. Racks for added height would be handy if you are hauling something bulky like mulch.
my .02 Karl
My .02
Karl
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