Perfect Hunting Trailer Design

Example of a specialised hunting trailer being towed

Perfect Hunting Trailer Design

Hunting trailer design introduction

What is the perfect hunting trailer design? Remember it comes down to; your purpose of use. Because our core purpose is to ensure you make your clear about your requirements and it’s reliable and easy to bush repair.

Because lets face it, we’re out in the bush, 1,000km from the major cities and you probably don’t want to run into trouble. The local mechanics don’t have every single part on the shelf (an unrealistic expectation). We just want to be able to have a good time and get home, without spending a million bucks on repairs.

So this article is a follow on from GVM and GCM, keeping your hunting vehicle legal and safe, whilst transporting everything you need.

Hog dogs and quads hunting trailer — Hogs Dogs and Quads trailer

Hunting trailer topics

So these are the topics we are covering for a hunting trailer design:

Hunting trailer design summary

It’s very easy to let people talk you into over-engineering things, especially if you haven’t had much experience with something. Go to your local service station that does trailer hire and you’ll see they are all the same simple design.

Like anything, maintenance is your friend. Some pre-trip checks can save you a lot of heart ache. But given the goal is reliability, ease of repair and suitability for use. For my hunting needs the perfect hunting trailer would have:

2,000kg load limit
Aluminum deck, 4,900mm x 1,900mm
Tandem axles
Roller rocker springs
Mechanical disc brakes
Over-ride 50mm ball coupling
Flatbed trailer
Falcon rims with light truck tyres
Powder coated, fuel container rack, under tray tool boxes

photo of a perfect trailer hunting design on the highway suitable for hunting — Ripper of a trailer spotted on Brisbane high way, dual axle, aluminum bed and off-road tyres

Make your trailer to suit your needs and use this as a guide to assist your designs.

Hunting trailer links

I haven’t provided information on steel dimensions or draw-bar lengths as there are to many variables. Please speak to a professional in regards to this.

To see why I decided on the above items read the below posts:

A reasonable plan that could be used for a hunting trailer design can be found on www.trailersauce.co.nz Check out the plans for the Flatdeck trailer.

Kits start from the $1000 mark including all the trailer fittings but not the steel for the chassis or decking. Here are a couple of links to some retailers kits (I’m not affiliated with these companies):
http://www.huntsmanproducts.com.au/
http://www.marshall-eng.com.au/
http://trailerspareparts.net.au/

Please if you disagree with any of my findings, leave a comment and explain why, I’d love to hear your reasons!

Hunting trailer topics

October 20, 2017January 18, 2019

Perfect Hunting Trailer Axles

photo of a single axle table top trailer with 2 quads coupled to a dual cab ute with dog box

Trailer axles

Single trailer axle VS Tandem trailer axle

Single axle trailers have one axle with two wheels. Tandem axle trailers (also known a dual axle trailers) have two trailer axles with four wheels.

Some people will argue that single trailer axle is fine they are lighter and reduce maintenance because of less parts. They do cost less, they are easier to maneuver by hand and easier to maneuver in tight situations.

10x6 tandem box trailer covered in mud carrying a Polaris SxS — Tandem axle 10×6 box trailer used for hunting – carrying a RZR Polaris side by side

There are a few reasons I like tandem axles.

They are a lot more stable when they aren’t attached to the vehicle. Less likely to tip up etc if you stand on the back or unintentionally put some weight on the back.
If you break; an axle, a hub, a wheel or a spring sometimes you can run the trailer on one axle (be mindful you have halved your GTM) by removing the wheels of one axle (preferably the non-braked wheels).
Better suspension set-up for off-road
Tow better at high speeds
Spread of load across the chassis
A flat tyre has dramatic less affect
Lower rated tyres (weight carrying ability)
A lot less wear on the tyres
Easier to learn to reverse

If your going to have a reasonable length trailer, a tandem axle is just common sense. As your spreading the load across the chassis which is important under heavy duty use like we do going out west.

With tandem axles it’s also harder to increase your draw-bar weight (you still need to need aware of it though).

Construction

It would be good at this point to point out to buy solid axles and not weld on hubs. Less points for breakages is a good thing, especially on corrugations along way from home.

photo of roller rocker springs with mechanical disc brakes — 2000kg trailer load limit roller rocker springs with mechanical disc brakes

Axle placement

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.

Trailer axles recommendation

Tandem trailer axles are the way to go. I’ve spoken to quite a few hunters about their trailers. Only those with single axles have regretted not going tandem and would definitely go dual axle it if they did it again.

Next hunting trailer topics

Deck Material, Length and Width
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 hunting trailer topic

Trailer Load Limit

October 20, 2017January 18, 2019

Perfect Hunting Trailer Springs

photo of roller rocker springs with mechanical disc brakes and 2000kg trailer load limit

Deciding on trailer springs

Trailer springs – types

There are a few types of trailer springs; slippers, shackles, roller rocker and coils (ignored but not forgotten – airbags). All have there place, purpose and cost.

Since tandem axles are our choice, we will review the trailer springs from that perspective.

For trailers over 2,000kg GTM load sharing trailer springs are required for tandem axles. When you are travelling on rough terrain or corrugations you would be crazy to not use load sharing springs. Even with a 2,000kg GTM trailer, the load sharing will work wonders on its own on rough roads.

Slipper leaf springs

Slippers are the most agricultural of them all, basic in design and cheap. Most trailer shops will not sell a load sharing kit for slipper springs. I would suggest there is a reason for this.

Shackle leaf springs

Shackle springs used to be very common on tandem trailers. I’ve personally used a shackle sprung trailer out west many times with out any issues and couldn’t speak highly enough of.

Photo of roller rocker load sharing arm trailer springs — Roller rocker trailer springs load sharing arm

Roller rocker leaf springs

These have since replaced the once common shackle springs. Instead of mounting to a fixed shackle the the eye of the shackle is elongated and as the spring flexes the bush slide across the eye. This is supposed to significantly reduce the stress on the spring at the eye under constant vibration. In theory reducing breakages. My question is what about the other eye? They are however easier to grease up and maintain than shackles.

Coil springs

Coils (and airbags) are used on independent suspension setups and are very costly. Top end camper trailers are all set-up with coil springs or airbags. You only have to talk to an over-lander and they will tell you the back roads are full of broken camper trailers. Regardless of suspension type they fail and get stripped of good stuff and left behind.

Airbags

Air compressors, airlines, self leveling system etc. Not worth the big $, end of story from me.

Bush mechanics

There are plenty of stories of people repairing broken leaf springs with tree branches and such, I’ve seen it with our family boat trailer. I’ve not heard of similar bush mechanics on coil springs or airbags. Given you probably don’t want to leave it on the side of the road, leaf springs are probably the ticket by far.

Trailer springs recommendation

On my next project I will be installing roller rocker springs. A better product at nearly the same price. With the ability of a bit of bush mechanics if required.

Next topics

Choosing trailer brakes
Which coupling/hitch for a hunting trailer coupling
Perfect hunting trailer type
Wheels for a hunting traile
Trailer finish and accessories

Previous topics

Trailer load limit
Trailer axles
Deck material, length and width

October 20, 2017January 18, 2019

Perfect Hunting Trailer Couplings

photo of a 50mm ball fitted to a 2 inch tongue hitch

Hunting Trailer Couplings

There are 3 main trailer couplings/hitches in Australia (of course there are many others); 50mm ball, Treg hitch and Hitchmaster DO35. Searching online you’ll find tons of articles written about trailer couplings and they will all tell you to get the DO35. Let’s look at why this might not be the best option for you.

Hitchmaster DO35

The Hitchmaster DO35 is the best trailer coupling on the market. It’s much easier to hook up than a Treg hitch, it’s super quiet and allows the most ridiculous angles at the coupling.

The DO35 does not come with a brake over-ride option (for mechanical trailer brakes) as is strictly for use with electric brakes (or similar). You’ll also need a dust cover to protect everything, which often goes missing.

Treg Hitch

The Treg hitch (also known as poly block trailer couplings) are one of the most common couplings found on camper trailers.

They have fantastic angle movement at the coupling and are available in a brake over-ride option.

The poly block removes most of the “knocking” from the trailer, so they are quiet. They are however, incredibly difficult in comparison to hook up. The height has to be perfect, the block has to be straight and there is a small hole that has to be lined up for the pin to go through. You have to reverse it in, you can’t just lower it.

Lastly the poly block can deteriorate over time and need replacing.

photo of old rusted 50mm ball trailer couplings — Old school 50mm ball coupling with mechanic brake over-ride

50mm ball coupling

The 50mm ball hitch is standard on just about every ute in the country. They are incredibly easy to hook up, even on your own, basically maintenance free (might need a little grease at some stage) and available for trailer brake over-ride system (for use with mechanical brakes).

Because I’m not going hardcore off-roading I don’t need a coupling capable of ridiculous angles, I’m only using it to hunting gear there and back.

We got stuck in some serious black mud on on trip in 2016. We simply unloaded the quads unhooked the trailer and towed the trailer with the quads (because the quads to had 50mm ball hitches). If it wasn’t for that we would not have got out with the trailer.

Recommendation

Don’t over engineer it, don’t complicate it, keep it easy for yourself and stick with a 50mm ball coupling with a brake over-ride for mechanical brakes.

A 50mm ball is compatible with most vehicles and does everything you need to for hauling a trailer.

Next topics

Perfect Hunting Trailer Type
Wheels for a hunting trailer
Trailer finish and accessories

Previous topics

Trailer load limit
Trailer axles
Deck material, length and width
Deciding on trailer springs
Choosing trailer brakes

October 20, 2017October 18, 2019

Perfect Hunting Trailer Wheels

10x6 box trailer with dual axels and 4x4 offroad tyres and wheels

Trailer wheels and tyres

There are 2 easy options for trailer wheels; standard Ford Falcon style rims (same stud pattern as 2WD Hilux) with light truck tyres and 4×4 rims and tyres that match the tow vehicle.

Of course there is everything in between but these are the realistic choices as we discuss in detail below.

photo of tandem trailer with falcon rims and tyres — Ford Falcon type rims with load rate tyres to suit trailer wheels for 2000kg load limit

Ford Falcon style trailer rims

The reason I say Ford Falcon style rims for use as trailer wheels is because this is the most common stud pattern for trailers and a very common rim on passenger cars.

Ford Falcon rims are smaller width and take a smaller overall size tyre, this will lower the deck height of the trailer significantly.

Keeping the deck height lower to the ground makes the trailer easier to load and lowers the centre of gravity making it safer to tow.

Light truck tyres are cheaper and easy to obtain than bigger 4×4 off-road style tyres. Having cheaper trailer wheels means you can probably afford to have multiple spares.

Clearance of the axles on a trailer is not as much of an issue as you would think. 2,000kg tandem trailer axles are 45mm square, which is approximately 2/3 of a 4X4 diff. Trailer axles also do not have a differential pumpkin hanging down from the centre of the axle, creating a lot more clearance.

photo of tandem trailer with 4x4 off road trailer wheels fitted with all terrains — 4X4 off-road rims with 31 inch all terrain off-road tyres for trailer wheels

4×4 style trailer rims

Trailer wheels that match your tow vehicle are great in that you can carry extra spares across the vehicle and trailer.

Having 4×4 off-road trailer wheels however will raise the deck height of the trailer and center of gravity. The tyres will cost you more and if your they are not standard sizes you may have difficulties buying spares when your way out west.

4×4 wheels that do not match your tow vehicle are a waste and you might as well have Falcon rims. Which bring me to the point; if your going to use the trailer on another vehicle and it has different size tyres, then you have voided the benefits of matching tyres.

Trailer tyres

Just like your ute there are lots of tyre options out there. For a really good read on bias ply vs tubeless radials for off-roading read this article by Beadell Tours.

I’ve done a lot of research on the best tyre options for hunting. A very common search result is “Best tyres for roo shooting”. What you’ll find is that for “roo shooting’ the best tyre is a bias ply light truck tyre with aggressive tread such as a MRF M77.

The reason roo shooters choose a bias ply tyre like an MRF M77 is because they have a very thick side wall and very resistant to being stacked. When your constantly driving through sticks and rocks like roo shooters this is a constant problem.

However, these types of tyres are very expensive ranging from $250 – $360. I found the cheapest place to buy these types of tyres was out west like Goondiwindi (I’m from Brisbane).

I spoke at length with 2 tyre shops, they both recommended bias ply for roo shooting. However they said that they are horrible on the highway due to being a heavy tyre and the tread patterns. Both agreed that they basically just melt on the highway, expecting only 20,000km out of a set vs 50,000km from tubeless radials. For ride, comfort, longevity and cost tubeless radials are easily on top.

The trailer is not for roo shooting, it’s going to be used 90% of the time on the highway. So really you only want highway tyres. The trailer is only being pulled so mud tyres are no advantage (they cannot spin to clear the grooves either).

Trailer wheels recommendation

I’ve change my mind several times on wheel choice for a hunting trailer. But sticking with my purpose of use the decision is easily made.

Ford Falcon rims would be my preferred option for a trailer wheel. But for me it will come down to cost and the fact that I will be using the trailer across different vehicles with different tyre sizes.

The tyres I would choose would be a reasonable tubeless radial light truck tyres. They are cheap, great on the highway and mostly only used on roads. Once I get to my destination the trailer is unhitched and not used until the return trip. Just make sure they are rated to the load limit of the trailer (ie 2000kg = 4x 500kg tyres).

Next hunting trailer topic

Trailer finish and accessories

Previous hunting trailer topics

Trailer load limit
Trailer axles
Deck material, length and width
Deciding on trailer springs
Choosing trailer brakes
Which coupling/hitch for a hunting trailer coupling
Perfect hunting trailer type