I cant blame ya. I have both an open and enclosed trailer setups for all the above reasons. If I could only have one it would be an enclosed trailer for my neck of the woods.
My main reasons is for security and weather. Sometimes in the winter months I just put a small heater or turn on flood lights in trailer to keep everything warm enough so we can go out and make some money and also some of the bigger jobs we take on we can leave the trailer on site completely locked up and we can scoot off to a hotel to get some shut eye.
Both open/enclosed trailers have their upside/downside to each so figure out whats the most important factors as to why you’ll pick what you need. The only solid piece of advice I can give here is to buy a trailer either open or enclosed that has enough space for future expansion of your company. Next thing you know is you may need to buy something else to add to your equipment and you find out you just cant fit it onto your trailer. Been there & done that.
I have a 5x8 enclosed. It’s a little cramped in there but I like the security. My machine has never seen the rain & looks as new as the day I got it. A rolling bill board is also a plus. Only down size is when I gotta climb in there for whatever reason. Can’t tell you how many times I burnt my leg on the muffler. It hurts like a mofo.
Personally, I would love the convenience of an open. But… On numerous occasions my shorts were saved by the enclosed, so to speak.
With my stomach sometimes I gotta go RIGHT NOW !! I have a 5 gal bucket with a garbage bag in it and a plastic toilet seat that fits on top
( got it at BassPro). It’s set up in corner just in case. Step in, pull the doors shut and nobody knows a thing.
Might seem funny but it’s a life saver. Sometimes customers aren’t home or you’re on a weekend commercial job with everything closed.
It’s something that isn’t thought about until the time comes. I have wondered what the open trailor guys do? Squat in the bushes???
Another tip, put some water in the bag. Cuts the smell factor fo sho!
Let’s give some likes to Mst’s post cause anyone of us who worked those long hours in the field we have all been there at one time or another. Got to like his honesty.
#1 reason… It makes it harder for them to steal anything out of it or mess with anything. Of course, If they want it bad enough they’re going to take it regardless.
#2…It’s a billboard. I pulled a ton of jobs just from that.
#3…near the end of the season when it gets cold I just throw a t-stat controlled space heater inside.
Cons… It gets tight in there. It can also get hot and you can only pull hose from whatever openings you have. The funny thing is, every time I’ve been at a job and wished I had an open trailer I then remembered that I got that job because of the vinyl on the enclosed.
+1 on the space heater in an enclosed, although winterizing doesn’t take long, it sucks when its freezing outside and you are wet and its dark etc. A heat bulb in a cheap light fixture works well too.
