How big and what material should you make the trailer deck from?

The chassis of the trailer is going to need to be made from steel, I don’t think this is avoid able. Aluminum will fatigue and crack on corrugations, that’s way no camper trailers have aluminum chassis’. So we are only looking at trailer deck.

photo of steel checker plate trailer bed — heavy duty steel checker plate trailer bed

Deck material

Deck material and sides affects the trailer in 2 ways; weight and usability.

If you choose to make the trailer deck from steel it’s going to more resistant to abuse but weigh more. But make the trailer deck from aluminum it wont handle abuse but will be much lighter. A wooden deck will not last in the whether and can be very slippery.

As I mentioned in the GVM article aluminum is strong enough for general use, treated with care it wont let you down If you use ute tray back style aluminum flooring you could save considerable weight, with fantastic usability.

Photo of an aluminum extusion trailer deck unfinished — lightest trailer deck option is aluminum extrusions

Length of the trailer deck

Don’t make the trailer to long, it’s too easy to go “Well I’m building it, let’s go BIG”. Just make it long enough for your needs, to keep the weight down and maneuverability.

What are you going to tow? Remember you still need to be mindful of your GCM.

The quad is 1,200mm wide and a side by side is about 2,500mm (not including tray over hang). If I wanted to fit 2 quads and a side by side this should fit on 4,900mm. This is getting very long though and I wouldn’t consider going much past this.

If you just want 3 quads on, you only need 3,600mm etc. I think for 3 quads would be the smallest I would consider building.

Be mindful of your axle placement, there are lots of camper trailers out there with single axles placed to far back and this puts massive draw bar weight on your vehicle. Draw bar weight is included in your GVM and excessive weight ruins the ride handling. At www.trailersauce.co.nz they recommend 75mm rear of centre.

Width of the trailer deck

The width of the trailer should be similar to you tray somewhere between 1,800 – 2,000mm – as the wheel track really determines the width.

Trailer deck recommendation

Next topics

Deciding on trailer Springs
Choosing trailer brakes
Which coupling/hitch for a hunting trailer coupling
Perfect Hunting Trailer Type
Wheels for a hunting Trailer
Trailer finish and accessories

Previous topics

Trailer Load Limit
Trailer Axles

What is your hunting vehicle and trailer weight?

Previously we spoke about your hunting vehicle weight and determined that the best option was to use a trailer to keep you legal. This should help you avoid overloading your hunting vehicle. So lets look at why this is the best option.

What is GCM?

GCM is Gross Combined Mass, that is the maximum weight the vehicle manufacturer has allowed. That is the total weight of the vehicle, trailer and all the contents. This is one of the reasons the Ford Ranger is a favourite amongst caravaners, because of it high GCM.

Hunting vehicle and trailer weight example

If we use our example of the 2013 Toyota Hilux dual cab manual turbo diesel from the hunting vehicle weight article, it has a GCM of 5,210kg (sourced from redbook.com.au).

Previously the maximum weight we could carry was 990kg (including occupants and everything) with out a trailer.

Lets say the average dual axle steel trailer with brakes weighs 650kg (guestimate based on approximate weights sourced from www.trailersauce.co.nz). We will not talk about the trailer GVM (maximum total trailer weight) to keep it simple.

GCM Table	weight	quantity	Sub-total
Hilux	1720	1	1,720
Tray	250	1	250
Side steps	15	2	30
Bullbar	75	1	75
towbar	40	1	40
Under tray tool box	7	2	14
winch	27	1	27
recovery gear	20	1	20
Water	20	1	20
Long range tank	40	1	40
Air compressor	10	1	10
Bash plates	30	1	30
spotties	2	2	4
Occupants	85	2	170
Dog cage	40	1	40
Dogs	40	2	80
Fridge	40	1	40
Firearms	5	4	20
Ammo	50	1	50
Quads	300	1	300
Unleaded	15	2	30
Cooking gear	40	1	40
Sleeping gear	30	1	30
		Total	3,080
Hilux GCM			5,210
Trailer			650
		Balance	1,480

So straight away you can see you have an extra 1,480kg of carrying capacity, simply by towing a 650kg trailer.

Lets put that in perspective. Let’s add 2 more occupants and 2 more quads and see how much spare weight we have in a hunting vehicle and trailer weight combo.

GCM Table 2	weight	quantity	Sub-total
Hilux GCM			5,210
Hilux and load			3,080
Trailer			650
Occupants	85	2	170
Quads	300	2	600
		Balance	710kg

Instead of being over weight by 370kg like in the Hunting vehicle weight GVM article with just a hunting ute, we now have 2 more hunters and 2 more quads and still room for 710kg of heaps of other hunting gear!

As you can see the advantages of taking a trailer on a hunting trip is significant. In the past I’ve personally towed a boat just to move the weight load off the tray (we didn’t even think about actually using the boat).

The boys from www.hogsdogsquads.com.au have a custom built trailer purely for the purpose of hauling quads for massive hunts up in the Cape. Check out their YouTube video below for a quick look at the setup they have created:

Towing a hunting trailer

For those of you who have never had a trailer before and are concerned about the difficulties of it don’t be. Normal driving with a trailer is very easy. There is only one thing to remember: that you have a trailer on when changing lanes/overtaking.

If your trailer is wider than the tow vehicle, just check the mirrors to make your the wheels are in you lane or not in the gutter. I find it help full to find a spot on the bull-bar to keep aligned to the centre stripe on the road.

Reversing a trailer is something that takes practice. Just take your time and get someone to make sure you don’t hit anything including the trailer on the tray of the ute. Once you learn how the mechanics of reversing a trailer works it’s a breeze.

Dual axle trailers are actually much easier to reverse than single axle trailers, mostly because of the increased length. So don’t be scared to go big straight away.

Conclusion

Get your self a hunting vehicle and trailer setup, stay legal, stay safe, take more mod cons and really be able to enjoy your trip.

But remember shift all the weight to the trailer. The towball weight is part of you GVM. If your not careful you will still be over your GVM but under your GCM and therefore not legal.

Coming soon the best hunting trailer setup.

Category: Trailers

Perfect Hunting Trailer Deck Material, Length and Width