I searched but couldn’t find a thread on this topic…
First, I’ll admit I’m a trailer newb. Never owned one but have a little experience hauling one.
I’m in the market right now for a trailer and the first question I need to answer is which material I want. I’m hoping to keep the trailer in good condition for as long as possible. I will be looking to get the best undercoating and deck coating installed before mounting any equipment.
In your experience with residential/commercial power washing is there any clear advantage/disadvantage to using an aluminum vs a steel trailer? Either will have roughly equivalent specifications - size, axles, GVWR, etc. Does either have a clear advantage? Which do you recommend and why?
I’m looking forward to learning from your comments.
Go with steel and go ahead and get a dual axel. This on is 12 yrs old just repainted it and changed out the board’s. I painted the board’s with Olympic rescue. Then put horse mats over them they work awesome to keep ur boards from rotting and rust issues. And are good shock absorbers to mount stuff to.
Got a new van, got nice fitted rubber mats. Worked for a year, pulled the mats up and the floor was rusted out. The friction removed the paint and the trapped moisture did the rest. Same story with the trailer.
Honestly, I’d say go with a steel trailer. Not only are they far more abundant but they also withstand abuse quite a bit better. Not to mention the cost and difficulty of personalizing an aluminum trailer–if you have someone you trust to weld aluminum in the first place. Don’t get me wrong there are some super nice utility trailers out there but I’d stick with a relatively basic one and just plan on it being ruined in X number of years. I went with the 16’ tandem axle Texas Bragg. Cheap, tows amazing and was already prepped for trailer brakes should I want to add those later.
Steel a lot cheaper and a lot easier to customize when you want to start adding some. Can always find someone to weld steel stuff. Plus i’ve heard horror stories of aluminum fatiguing and cracking.
I started my mowing business in high school with a 4x8 aluminum trailer. I literally tore the gate off of it when the welded steel deck on my Hustler caught a corner. It was like paper!
