Before You Order
Need help deciding what type of trailer to order?
Here are some of our suggestions:
When to consider a 5’ Wide Trailer:
- You live in rough country like the mountains of West TX, NM, AZ, CO, UT, NV, WY, ID or MT
- You have muddy fields or sandy roads
- You plan to keep the trailer mostly on ranch roads
Why a 5’ wide is good in these cases:
- The trailer will track inside your pickup tracks to reduce the risk of getting stuck (in sand, snow or mud) or bending an axle in rough country
- You can get around easier in pastures if you need to drag something in
Limitation of a 5’ wide trailer:
-
- A horse or bull can’t turn around
- Less hauling space
When to consider a 6’ Wide Trailer:
- You live in fairly rough country
- You have muddy fields or sandy roads
- You plan to keep the trailer mostly on ranch roads
Why a 6’ wide is good in these cases:
- The trailer will track inside a dually pickup tracks to reduce the risk of getting stuck or bending an axle
- You can get around easier in pastures if you need to drag something in
Limitations of a 6’ wide trailer:
-
- Too wide for narrow roads (consider going 6’ wide with 5’ axle(s))
- Less hauling space than a 6’8” wide
When to consider a 6’8” Wide Trailer:
- You plan to mostly keep the trailer on highways or well-maintained county roads
- You do not plan to use the trailer to travel on rough ranch roads or for going out in the middle of a pasture to rope and drag something in
Limitations of a 6’8” wide trailer:
- A 6’8” axle is the widest axle legally allowed. This is the same width of the axles under a cattle truck. These are not meant to be used on a 2 track road or taken out in the middle of a rough pasture (consider a 6’8” wide trailer on a 6’ axle)
- Less ability to get into tighter spaces or travel on narrow roads
When to consider a 7’ or wider trailer:
- You need to maximize hauling space and plan to keep the trailer on the highway only (i.e. you haul in between sale barns, etc.)
Limitations of a 7’or wider trailer:
- These are not meant to be used on rough roads or taken out in the middle of a pasture
- Less ability to get into tighter spaces or travel on narrow roads
When to consider an open top trailer:
- When you need to catch wild or sick cattle that have to be roped and pulled into the trailer or if you have an item such as a large square or round bale of hay and you can pick it up with your front end loader and back your open top trailer under it to load. Great for loading anything heavy that has to be loaded with the help of a tractor so you can back under the item and set it down on the floor of your trailer.
Advantages:
- You don’t have to worry about threading your rope through the sides of the trailer, so you can just flip it over the Lazy L and drag the critter into the trailer
Considerations:
We recommend the butterfly rear gates on this style of trailer because you are able to split the weight on each side.
- We STRONGLY discourage putting a swing/slider on the rear of this type trailer as that gate is way too heavy to have on one corner of the trailer with no bows over the top.
- We STRONGLY discourage going 6’8” wide or more than 8’ open in the back. The wider or longer you go on this type trailer the harder it is to hold the back end of the trailer together without any bows over the top. (If you are going to be roping wild cattle and dragging them into your trailer, chances are, they are not on the highway or along a good county road. Most likely, they are in the roughest, hardest to get to places, so you shouldn’t be going back into that type of rough country with the 6’8” wide axle. We suggest a 5’ wide or 6’ wide axle for that type application with the butterfly rear gates
Here at our ranch we have a 16’ X 6’ single axle trailer on a 5’ axle (we can pull this trailer with a half-ton pickup) to go get the wild ones in, or to help a neighbor.
Then we have a 24’ X 6’8” wide trailer on 6’ axles to use around the ranch day to day. If we are weaning calves and hauling them to market or to another ranch we have a 32’ X 6’ 8” or 32’ X 7’ or a 32’ X 8’ drop deck. We can go 7’ wide on a 6’8” axle without putting a fender on the inside and the cost to get the extra 4” is pretty minimal and it makes the cattle load & haul easier.
