It seems like a lot of guys start off with 10’ or 12’ trailers. I’ve seen where a few ended up upgrading to a larger size down the road. I was planning on a 14’ but can get a 16’ for about $50 more. I know everyone has their own opinion on sizes but, if you didn’t have to worry about where to park or being too long to turn around, what size would you prefer? Do you wish you would’ve went larger from the get go? Smaller? I feel like 14’ is a decent size but I could probably get by with even a 12 at first. Although, it would be nice to have room to grow without having to purchase another trailer later on if things work out. I’m just having a hard time deciding so hoping to hear some opinions. How many wish they would’ve went larger from the start? How many want to upgrade but don’t want to mess with swapping everything over? Any negatives on having a longer trailer?
I mainly plan on residential house washes, flatwork, and possibly adding a soft wash system for roofs down the road.
14ft would be ideal. 16ft is just cumbersome. You can get 12ft single axle trailer off cra igslist all day for $800ish. I would start there and save enough money to have a nice 14ft built to your specs during the next off season
Go with the 16, especially for later if you want to add stuff. I started with a 10ft, and then after two months I bought a flatbed truck, and then just bought an isuzu NPR…there’s n
ever enough room!
Also depends on what your using it for… we haul 700 gallons of water so larger is better… If i had just a 65 gallon buffer I would go with 12ft
We have 2-16’ with ladder racks. 2- 24hp 8gpm machines. 350 gallon freshwater and 65 gallon chemical. 2 Titan automatic reels for pressure cleaning hose and freshwater. 1 Titan handrail with yellow chemical hose. Like you stated it was only a couple dollars more to get the extra feet which in return allowed me to walk into my second machine on the trailers when I was ready. It creates a lot of room to be able to stay organized and not be tripping over things. I will have enough room to add a soft wash system in the very near future here. I enjoy the dual axle with brakes because it puts less wear and tear on my pickup trucks. Good luck with your new purchase!
@FATJOE I appreciate the advice. The main reason I’m asking is I don’t want to buy one trailer this year and then another next year. I weld for a living so can make changes as throughout the year if I feel anything needs changed. There’s a place around me with a huge inventory of trailers. 14’ dual axle, brakes on both axles, spring assist gate (I’ll probably remove and put rail), led lights, and easy lube hubs for $1799. The 16’ with same specs is $1849. With the decent prices I’d rather buy one now and be done.
@Patriotspwashing There are a lot of farmers, trucking companies, etc around here so I could maybe see myself needing to haul water at times. My buddy mentioned the farm auctions are always looking for someone with a portable pressure washer. I don’t know if there would be any money in that though.
@thepressureson I definitely like staying organized. I think it would be nice to have the room for an air compressor if I go with air instead of a 12v system in the future. I don’t want lack of space to hold me back on anything. I like the idea of having room if I want to add another washer or something. I just don’t know if a 14’ would allow that or not. I guess a lot depends on the size of water tanks. I can always throw an extra in the back of the truck if I needed to.
@ProClean_Plus Are you talking about an enclosed or an open aluminum? I’ve hauled aluminum car haulers before and they are so much lighter and you can easily tell. It makes a big difference. The bad thing about aluminum is it would be a bigger pain if you really wanted to customize it. That is unless everything else you attached to it was also aluminum or you were able to bolt most things to it.
