best (compromise) large hard side trailer/loading options

[akjw7]

wanting to build a new hard side on skids - something larger than 7x10 I have now.  Maybe 16-18 foot shack and a trailer that big or larger. figure I need steel for a trailer, aluminum doesn't seem to hold up to the weight a large shack would have. Other requirements are I need to be able to load it by myself without any equipment (no bobcat!).

I'd like to have your ideas and input on loading hauling methods for larger shacks - here's the problem - I don't want to have to have a trailer just dedicated to hauling the shack. I want something I can use to haul sleds, ATVs, lumber, etc.

*   drop axle trailer built into the shack - obviously this is the easiest - no loading/unloading...but the trailer isn't available to haul other things.  I also have concerns with road worthiness over 60 miles of bumpy road and also with the possibly increased theft risk. I consider this a non-option for my needs.

*   car hauler style trailer -  Pros - Lower to ground trailer has to be easier to load due to the shorter height and smaller angle needed. Easy to mount a winch up front in the trailer to help with loading. Cons - not wide enough so either have to shim the house up for transport or build narrow skids and a knee wall to get it to clear the fenders/tires? Also not great for hauling sleds. (great for hauling a side by side probably)

*   deckover trailer - Pros - full width possible, great for hauling sleds.  Cons - higher in the air and a bigger challenge to ramp/winch a large shack up onto the trailer.  Guessing you'd have to build some custom ramps, maybe longer than normal to cut down the angle, maybe with rollers or UMHW.

*   tilt deck equipment trailer - car hauler or deckover style?  probably best option for loading, but these are such stout trailers they'd be dramatic overkill for hauling sleds. (and a car hauler style is still narrow) 

*   dump trailer like a maxidump - even stouter trailer and although I'd love to have one for hauling gravel it wouldn't be good for hauling sleds and atvs.


for whatever kind of trailer you use or have seen used - please share loading methods, tips, etc. for a large shack/trailer

[akjw7]

I'll go first! My current shack is 7x10 and I haul it on a two place tilt bed sled trailer.  Aluminum trailer and it's broken a few welds due to the weight even though it's only on at the start and end of the season.

Originally I loaded it by jacking up the front of the shack, tilting the trailer deck and getting it under the front of the skids of the shack, then winching it up with an atv loaded backwards in the pickup bed.  Worked decent even though it was too much weight for the little trailer.

Then I had to adapt to getting by without an ATV backwards in a pickup. Solution was an electric winch, but I needed a way to mount it and there wasn't enough structure or room on the front of the trailer deck for a good mount.  Because the tilt deck trailer tilts up and away from the tongue I was able to get a piece of steel rectangle tube the same size as the tongue and I pin that replacement tongue to the deck while it's tilted up and that gives me a simple easy place to put the winch. Only complication is once the shack is winched up enough to gravity tilt the deck down there's a problem since the replacement tongue is in the way of the deck tilting down onto the actual tongue. I have to block things up and disconnect the winch and remove the replacement tongue then the deck can tilt the rest of the way down.

This works fairly well, but I need a bigger shack and a bigger trailer and this easy tilt the trailer and winch the shack up method wouldn't be so easy without a tilt deck trailer. A) a much longer winch if the deck was flat and then using ramps to get the shack up and on B) sharp angle to get the shack up ramps onto the trailer.

[jethro]

What about building a house like a toyhauler? Maybe find a used 18 foot enclosed trailer with bad axles or something and put drop axles in. Ramp doors for loading machines and using year round. Just an idea.

[WalleyeBird]

I went for a standard 7x12 galvanized atv trailer. I would take the sacrifice of 7’ wide to gain the height advantage from a deck over.

There are 7x16’ tandem atv style trailers that would suit you well I would think. Mount a big winch at the front and off you go. Then the trailer is way less of overkill for atvs and such that you would have buying a car hauler or equipment trailer.

Where are you located?

[kasilofchrisn]

I've never had a shack that big only smaller ones.
I've always been able to fit them on a to place tilt bed snowmobile trailer.
The trailer I have has a handle on the front the manufacturer welded on for a hand grip I'm guessing.
Anyway what we've done in the past is using a rope along-rope come along.
The rope a long is hooked to that handle with the trailer tilted we just wrapped the rope around the shack and started winching it on and it worked fine.
It would start pulling The shack on at the trailer and then start pulling the deck down on the trailer.
Or small shacks this work pretty good.
If you don't have access to an electric winch a rope along is a good option for pulling a shack onto a trailer.
I'm guessing with some good ramps a rope along hookd to the back of your truck or hitch of your trailer would be able to pull a decent-sized shack up.