Utility trailers (rant)

rwsmith

rwsmith

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I KNOW that the fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high, so people are doing a lot outdoors, but I've never seen so many utility trailers in my LIFE (60 years). Besides getting behind them, when they cross in front of you, the vehicle clears but you have to brake for the trailer. When they turn left, they can't take a break in traffic that a single vehicle can so you sit behind them watching cars go by. And they don't take bumps well and have to poke along any rough road. I know this is a dumb rant, but it's like a fad or something around here. Everybody has one. You shake one and run right into another.:mad:
 
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My neighbor uses my utility trailer

way more than I do. In fact, a few years ago he asked to borrow it and I told him "no", as it needed tires. I came home from work and the trailer was gone. The next day I came home from work and there sat my trailer with new wheels and tires, including a spare. He left a note on it thanking me for the many times I had loaned it to him.

Folks like him are few and far between.
 
Now We Notice

Thanks to this forum, my wife and I comment every time we have a trailer in front of us.

20-mile round trip today. Got stuck behind three trailers. I know it'll get worse.

I have a single axle enclosed trailer. Now I'll feel guilty about using it.
 
Two Anti-Trailer Stories ...

First Story:
I was coming home on the freeway through Grand Rapids (on my way back from a gun show). Grand Rapids drivers are noted for cutting across four lanes of traffic (no lane change signal of course) to go from the fast lane to their exit. This is often referred to as the "no look pass". It happens every day so you might as well expect it.

Well, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a guy slicing across all the lanes, clearly on his way to the exit lane, and I said to myself "Wow! He's cutting that really close---OH MY GOSH! HE'S PULLING A TRAILER!!!!!!!!!!" :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I had to swerve off onto the shoulder and slam on my brakes to avoid being slammed by his trailer! He merely continued to exit the freeway. Lucky for me the shoulder was wide and did not have the usual Grand Rapids collection of rusting junk heaps parked on it.

Second Story:
Heard this on the news yesterday. A motorcyclist was riding along behind a guy pulling a trailer full of home remodeling discards. Of course nothing was properly secured on the trailer.

All of a sudden, a door blew off the trailer and knocked the guy off his cycle! Fortunately, he was not killed. "Trailer Boy" just blithely continued on his way, never stopping to see if he had killed somebody! :mad:
 
Nah...utility trailers aren't bad, they're being pulled by fun-lovin' folks with some high powered toys in a hurry to get where they can use 'em. Now...Ma and Pa with that 12 foot high, 35 foot long aerodynamically challenged fifth wheel wonder...those are the ones to look out for (especially if the grade exceeds 1%).
Of course, if you get to stick around and watch Ma try and direct Pa backing into a space it is well worth the time. (Especially if that tight turn pops the back window out of the truck).
What lunatic decided anyone who can totter their way into an RV dealership can drive away with one of these behemoths without at least some type of upgrade to their driver's license??
 
There's nothing here in Iowa to put fear in your gut like a semi-truck stock hauler. Most of those guys are independent operators (no corporate oversight) and they drive like maniacs! Also, you never want to be along-side one when the cattle cut loose.

Out west there's plenty of stock haulers but the worst are the RV buses and trailers struggling up a mountain.
 
I own a small construction company and have always driven pickups but when gas was $4 a gallon and I was spending about 800 bucks a month on fuel, and I decided to make a change. So I bought a Toyota Rav SUV and a cut my fuel bill in half, and I bought a 4x8 utility trailer for when I actually need to haul something but that's only a few times a month. I like my Toyota SUV so much I doubt if I will ever by another pickup and I love the small utility trailer. It is so handy and I also pull it with my Suzuki four wheeler when doing chores around my property. The only problem is, those 8 foot long dinky trailers are MUCH MUCH harder to back than a big trailer.
 
It is a up scale version of living in your car. The modern car dweller has learned to pull a nice utility trailer behind for more storage space and better sleeping accommodations. As our economy continues to slide, you can expect more and more such living arrangements. A good utility trailer that is well planed and built out makes a fine home for those who can no longer afford the luxury of real estate and does so at a fraction of the price and without the illegal burden of property taxes.
 
finesse_r said:
It is a up scale version of living in your car. The modern car dweller has learned to pull a nice utility trailer behind for more storage space and better sleeping accommodations. As our economy continues to slide, you can expect more and more such living arrangements. A good utility trailer that is well planed and built out makes a fine home for those who can no longer afford the luxury of real estate and does so at a fraction of the price and without the illegal burden of property taxes.
Click to expand...

That sounds a real step up from my cardboard shack. I was going to chuck a gopher gas bomb in to fume out the rats, then move into that abandoned semi trailer at the dump, but a utility trailer sounds like the high life indeed.
 
Try driving behind a trailer full of cows with a severe case of the runs. The cows would stick their rear ends near one of the slots for ventilation and let fly. Ever see what a cow puts out and gets hit by 40 mile an hour wind. cowcrap all over the truck. And the looks you get from the guys at the local car wash. Frank
 
I've seen a big increase in utility trailers and most are lawn mowing services or people hauling ATVs. The lawn service guys seem more experienced and drive better but some hauling other stuff seem inexperienced and often underestimate the length overall and are apt to cut you off changing lanes. Expecting the worse most times I give them a wide berth and don't follow closely for fear of items falling off. If I stay back I'll have more reaction time if that happens.
I also see Tractor Supply and other places are selling utility trailers pretty cheap now so more people can afford them. I was thinking about getting one just to haul my quad but wound up selling the quad.
 
We have a lot of them around here, most of them are like the one in the picture above, it's mostly carpenter's, plumber's and electrician's, they have them set of as workshops, the lawn guy's have smaller ones, they pull into a gas station or a convenience store and block everyone in or out.:mad::mad::mad:
 
Jst1mr said:
Nah...utility trailers aren't bad, they're being pulled by fun-lovin' folks with some high powered toys in a hurry to get where they can use 'em. Now...Ma and Pa with that 12 foot high, 35 foot long aerodynamically challenged fifth wheel wonder...those are the ones to look out for (especially if the grade exceeds 1%).
Of course, if you get to stick around and watch Ma try and direct Pa backing into a space it is well worth the time. (Especially if that tight turn pops the back window out of the truck).
What lunatic decided anyone who can totter their way into an RV dealership can drive away with one of these behemoths without at least some type of upgrade to their driver's license??
Click to expand...

Is there any way I can give this post a 1000 likes. I thought I was the only one who felt this way.
 
I have been delayed by a lot of overloaded trailers being pulled by under powered trucks in my life, but I think people driving huge RVs in general, drive slower than anyone else. It's REALLY frustrating when you're on a long single lane highway and the RV driver is going 30 mph under the speed limit.
 
Frank46 said:
Try driving behind a trailer full of cows with a severe case of the runs. The cows would stick their rear ends near one of the slots for ventilation and let fly. Ever see what a cow puts out and gets hit by 40 mile an hour wind. cowcrap all over the truck. And the looks you get from the guys at the local car wash. Frank
Click to expand...

One point, is that if you are being hit by flying cow dung, you are too close!!
 
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