Anyone haul a trailer? Having a logistics conundrum…

[WCB]

Take less gear plain and simple. No worrying about trailer tires, axles, b.s. No idea why guys bring so much crap with them.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Price a U-Haul rental before you set your mind on it. My local U-Haul wanted $1700 for a two week rental of their smallest enclosed trailer. Picking it up from him and returning it to him- I said "Thanks a lot", stuffed everything into my truck and made do without getting ripped off by the U-Haul bandit.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

We rented a 6x12 dual axel u-haul trailer last year for 10 days. $300 cost. Kept our stuff dry and towed exceptionally well at high speeds. It did kill our fuel budget for the 4000 mile trip. We did bring too much stuff because we had the space to do so.

 

[rayporter]

i would take your buds trailer and build a cargo box for it. if its 6ft wide make a plywood box 4x4x6 with a lid. you can get a lot of stuff in a box that size. even make 2 of them for the trailer and bolt them in good for the trip. pad lock on door.

 

[LongWayAround]

Price a U-Haul rental before you set your mind on it. My local U-Haul wanted $1700 for a two week rental of their smallest enclosed trailer. Picking it up from him and returning it to him- I said "Thanks a lot", stuffed everything into my truck and made do without getting ripped off by the U-Haul bandit.

Did they have a mileage charge attached?

The post below you had $300 for ten days.

It was probably ten years ago when I rented the one but I know it wasn't that expensive.

 

[hutty]

Done Maryland to Wyoming for the last 7 years with anywhere from 4-8 hunters. Enclosed trailer and never second-guessed it. Great to have everything stored inside and protected from the elements and other things.

 

[5MilesBack]

We rented a 6x12 dual axel u-haul trailer last year for 10 days. $300 cost.

Yep. Around here it's $30/day for that same trailer.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Yep. Around here it's $30/day for that same trailer.

Yup. We did have to pick through a couple of them to get a decent one though. Kids at the checkout didn’t know or care about them. One had a soft tire. Another had a brake light out. The older mechanic came out and went through the next one with me and verified it was ready to roll. We brought a couple of spares from our boat trailers fully expecting to smoke a tire over the trip but luckily never needed them. It did drop the rental suburban down to about 10mpg which hurt.

 

[JeffP_Or]

We've used one of our hunters open utility trailer forever though we don't stay at trailheads, most our camps are easily access from main forest service roads - as are the majority of non-backpacking/non-horseback camps. We stay overnight often at hotels all around the state and out of state [mostly Motel 6 level places easily accessed from freeways]. Maybe we've been lucky but have never had an issue to date.
The trailer gets tarped and double tied - mostly for weather so nothing is exposed. Camp gear and heavy items are in the trailer - tent, stove, poles, kitchen, tables, chairs, tools, water, firewood etc. Basically, anything that can get wet but also heavy stuff to lessen chance of loss. Remainder goes in the secured truck; expensive stuff comes in the rooms with us at night. Trailer gets booted/secured and then a second lock at the hitch ball.
All this same stuff is basically unsecured in camp. With the number of camps at a trailhead, seems like there is a good amount of eyes for that situation.

The idea of the hitch style cargo carrier and considering a rocket box or two might be good options for expanding just the truck.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

I think I’ve eliminated pairing down gear…

This is for rifle season. Sept Archery? I’d probably be fine pairing down gear, living out of our backpack tents regardless of whether we were at the truck or packed in.

Twice on Oct rifle hunts we’ve experienced multiple days with highs in the single digits or low teens and sub zero temps at night. Small backpacking tipis are kinda miserable to live out of for a week to begin with, but when the weather turns like that you either need a hotel or a wall tent to continue to really hunt effectively IMO, and I’m tired of the wasted time and expense of driving to town for hotel stays.

I’m a pretty dedicated backpack hunter, but a roomy 10x20 wall tent, stove, cot, and cooler full of real food and beer at the truck makes life much less miserable once the pack out begins or the temps turn frigid.

So the debate now is between the open trailer and the enclosed rental. I’m sorta leaning toward the open trailer. We can put the stuff on there that’s either not expensive, hard to move, or gonna go in the hotel with us anyway if we end up stopping. I’d love to see someone undo a bunch of ratchet straps, unfold a tarp, and dig out and steal a 100 lb wall tent/frame when it’s right outside our hotel room without waking one of us.

Not really worried once we get to the trail head. We will probably unload the trailer and set up the wall tent when we get there, then backpack in for 2-3 days. Then camp is set up for when we come back, hopefully with an elk.

 

[tim tarras]

Stuff gear in coolers on the way out and get a hitch hauler. If you get an elk put coolers on the hauler and the gear can still stay inside the bed. If you stop at a hotel bring the coolers in and replenish the ice before you leave in the morning.

 

[Wahlfactor]

I'd say plan B bud.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Had 3 in the truck (short bed crew max tundra) last year for the trip to Wyoming. Even with just one elk tag, it was tight, and it really got cramped once the meat had to go in the coolers. ETA that was with a bed extender and standard truck cap btw.

We’ve got 3 this year again, also with one tag. I also bought one of those Ozark trail wall tents for near the truck. It’s not a bad glamping set up for the price, but it does take up a significant amount of room. If I haul it, it’s gonna make a trailer a must.

We are headed to a known trailhead. It’s our 3rd hunt to this location so we know the roads and what the general hunt plan is. The roads are relatively maintained and the trailhead is looped with ample room.

Suffice it to say, we have 3 options.

Plan A) Rent a small enclosed U-haul.

Pros
- Plenty of room for everyone’s gear, wall tent, coolers, etc.
- Relatively secure.
- It’s not mine, if it gets messed up, breaks, etc. I can probably swap it at a u-haul dealer along the way.

Cons
-Unkown maintenance status, some concern of hauling a rental trailer across county and on forest service roads.
-Difficulty with parking, turning around, higher chance of getting stuck, etc.
-cost (~$180)

Plan B - Take my hunting parters open utility trailer

Pros
- Free
- Known maintenance status
- Plenty of room

Cons
-Serious security concerns with any stops along the way. I’d probably cover everything with a tarp, park near our door if we stop at a motel, and keep the less valuable things on it, but it’s a major concern of mine.

Plan C - Ditch the trailer and pair down gear.

Pros
- No trailer to worry about

Cons
- Catching serious inclement weather (we have a habit of catching early winter storms) and be stuck in lightweight backpack tents and/or waste time/money at hotels.
- Ditch “what ifs” like recovery gear, nice to haves like cots, extra gear, and pair it down to coolers and backpacks.

Of all the options, plan A seems like the best. Having done this a few times, we’ve decided a plush “truck” camp to come back to after a few days backpack hunting is a must. That or hunker down when the weather turns. It’s cheaper than hotels and saves significant time over driving into town for the night.

That said hauling a rental trailer that far makes me a little nervous. Anyone rent a small trailer for their hunts?

Unfortunately buying an enclosed trailer is out of the budget. I looked, and quickly realized it wasn’t happening.

Just rent a U-Haul. It's not that bad and a small one should pull fine on dirt roads and be easy to turn around and back up. If you get in a real bind unload it, unhook it, drag it around by hand they aren't that heavy.

 

[Adam B]

We own a 6x14 enclosed trailer we use and it is great but we do tend to carry way more stuff then needed with it.
If it was me I would go with plan A just because I like making sure we have everything we might possibly need. Don't want to get out there after driving 24-30 hour drive and not be comfortable when back at camp we only get 10 days a year for us to hunt

 

[Silveroddo]

If you rent a trailer make sure you know whose insurance is covering it. We rented an aluminum car hauler to haul side by sides out west a few years ago and at first State Farm didn’t want to cover it, took several phone calls and a bunch of screwing around.
I bought a 6x12 enclosed trailer last fall on market place, used it for a month and sold it before anyone asked to borrow it. Made insuring it easy that way as well.
The build a box idea on the trailer you have, or any variation of using the trailer you have is probably going to be the least head ache.

 

[DAOutfitters208]

Option 4. You all go in on an enclosed trailer if this is something you plan on doing for awhile. Otherwise take the open trailer.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Did they have a mileage charge attached?

The post below you had $300 for ten days.

It was probably ten years ago when I rented the one but I know it wasn't that expensive.

Yep. Around here it's $30/day for that same trailer.

Yea, I think the guy was trying to rip me off. Next closest Uhaul was about 40 miles further away. I mentioned we were taking it to New Mexico, and maybe that was part of the reason. I was hesitant to mention we were taking it out of state, but I figured if I didn't and we had a flat or other problem, it might have created a real problem. I'm sure it was the exception rather than the rule in my case. That's why I suggested to get a quote before you solidify your plans to rent one. I could buy a small trailer for what he wanted to rent me one for the two week trip.

 

[Luckyrxc]

I've been using my open trailer for hunting trips for 25 years. However, I purchased a 6 x 10 enclosed to try this year. The only thing that gives me caution about the UHaul, is they don't provide a spare tire and as others have mentioned you don't know whether the trailer has been maintained. If you have a flat or mechanical issue, you could be waiting hours for UHaul to send assistance. And you might need to leave the trailer on the side of the road to get connectivity to call for assistance. As I recall, U Haul trailers use a funky wheel lug pattern/configuration, so you can't just toss in a Wal Mart purchased spare wheel/tire. When I go hunting, there's a mix of valuable items and items that don't have much value...necessary crap that goes along; gas cans, propane bottles, elk carts, lawn chairs, cases of water, water jugs, EZ-Up, charcoal briquettes, etc. It takes up a ton of space but it's really just a bunch of junk. If you took your friend's open trailer (free, spare tire, hopefully well maintained), and put your more valuable gear in the truck locked under the cap, and put the crap in the trailer, you should be good.