Ask most people what trailer they need for their excavator or skid steer, and they’ll give you a weight.
“It’s a three-point-five-tonne machine, so I need a three-point-five-tonne trailer.”
Makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, excavators didn’t get the memo!
Weight is only half the story and usually the easy half.
The numbers that tend to cause trouble are everything else:
- tray length,
- track width,
- ground clearance,
- attachments,
- the counterweight hanging out the back, and
- the height of the boom when it’s folded down for transport.
Get the weight right but the dimensions wrong, and you can end up with a trailer that is technically rated to carry your machine… provided you don’t actually try to put your machine on it!
Or perhaps it fits, but sits awkwardly across the axles.
Neither is ideal when you’re heading down the highway at 100 k an hour..
It’s not always a weight problem
We see this mostly with excavators and mini loaders.
A 3.5-tonne excavator might look perfectly comfortable on a standard trailer deck. Then you factor in the counterweight and suddenly its backside is hanging over the tray like it’s looking for somewhere else to sit.
Likewise, a skid steer with wide tracks can be comfortably within the trailer’s weight rating while still hanging over the edges.
That’s not a weight problem. That’s a tape-measure problem.
And it’s one of the reasons off-the-shelf trailers can frustrate plant operators and civil contractors.
But, never fear, we’re here to help!
Why custom makes a lot of sense
This is one of our custom plant trailers earns its keep.
Rather than building around a general weight category, we build around the machine you actually own.
That means looking at tray length and width, loading angle, axle position, tie-down points and weight distribution.
The result is a trailer designed for your equipment rather than a rough approximation of what a “3-point-five-tonne machine” should look like.
It means safer towing, better weight distribution and considerably less standing beside your trailer scratching your head and muttering, “Well, it should fit.”
Measure twice, buy Once
The good news is that getting it right isn’t complicated. Not for us anyway!
Before buying a plant trailer, measure your machine from end to end — including attachments. Measure its widest point and check its actual laden weight, rather than relying solely on the nice neat number in the brochure.
Bring those figures to AllTrades Trailers and we can match them to the right build, whether that’s a straightforward 2-tonne excavator trailer or a heavier-duty custom plant trailer designed around your fleet.
- Weight tells you whether a trailer can handle your machine.
- Measurements tell you whether it can carry it properly.
At AllTrades Trailers, we want both — because a trailer that’s rated right but built wrong is still the wrong trailer.
Ready to get the tape measure out?
Get in touch for a free quote on a custom plant trailer built around your machine – not just the number printed on its spec sheet. We’re here to help on 1300 611 301 or use the form below.
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