How Much Should Trailers Weigh Empty?

What I mean is: If a trailer's GVWR is say 12,000# then in order for this trailer to be really able to handle that much GW, how heavy would you expect that trailer would need to be empty in order not to be cutting corners on having enough steel for the GVW?

In my last thread someone mentioned that a 12k# trailer should weigh about 2 tons itself.

Does anyone have a link to some reference that lists for each trailer GVWR such as 3K, 7.5K 12K etc those trailers should be expected to weight at least approximately X,Y,Z #s empty in order to have enough metal.

You can zip over to uhaul, penske, etc .. they list this data with trailers you can rent

I think you'll find that much depends on construction & materials used, naturally a pre=stressed aluminum frame makes a tremendous difference but the price puts it out of reach for most. There are a lot of makes out there & you can probably get a ball park figure, when you get into the braking system & side wall material, if you want a dump capability everything adds.

My 10K weighs 1900# but it is a flatbed. Add about 400 or more plus options, tilt, hydraulic package, ramps, sides, etc. 2 tons is on the high side but within the relm.

I think a 15,000 lb trailer weighs about 4,000 lb..
12,000 lb. 12' trailer about 2800-3000 lb. and depends on what duty.

http://www.pjtrailers.com/trailers/dumps/ "best"
http://www.bri-mar.com/products/dump-trailers/
http://camsuperline.com/ "they don't believe in grease fittings"
http://www.bwisetrailers.com/# "I don't think they have a 12K"
http://homesteadertrailer.info/hydraulic-dump-trailers/ "I don't know anything about this trailer line".

I have a 6 x 12 x 4 dump trailer, rated for 10,000 pounds. It weighs about 2300 pounds empty. I recently had an 80" x 12' All Aluminum "V" nose trailer custom made. It's rated for 10,000 pounds. Even though it's all aluminum, manufacturer's paper work says it weighs 2500 pounds.

My 4.5 Cubic Yard dump weighs a little over 2000, dry, 7000 GVWR, but home made which might account for some of the weight.

2001Sierra wrote:My 4.5 Cubic Yard dump weighs a little over 2000, dry, 7000 GVWR, but home made which might account for some of the weight.

Any pics of the home made?

Why not get the trailer you use or will be using and go to a coal yard and have it weighed. All manufacturers rating plates should have the info you are looking for. Going to build your own? Do your homework diligently because in Penna at least, it is not particularily easy to get a homemader tagged. I know a man that welded up his own tandem axle car hauler and proceeded to get it licensed here in Pa. He eventually got it done but it was not easy. The paperwork was quite extensive. Cross sectional support steel callouts, nomenclature of the welding rod , type of machine used to weld, welders name, spring ratings, etc, etc. Just remember if the good officer slides one of those portable scale under your tire he won't care much about estimates, only the numbers on his scale and the numbers on your owners card. Mike P.S. my little dump trailer with a GVWR of 5000 weighs 1500 empty.

Mike - I would never build my own since it requires too many skills and tools I don't have.
Ive been scanning all the sites that give empty and GTWR for each trailer and it seems like the good trailers have a dry weight that is between 20% and 25% of their GTWR.

The cost of doing business and there seems to be no way around it for weights too great for the truck bed.

stovepipemike wrote:Why not get the trailer you use or will be using and go to a coal yard and have it weighed. All manufacturers rating plates should have the info you are looking for. Going to build your own? Do your homework diligently because in Penna at least, it is not particularily easy to get a homemader tagged. I know a man that welded up his own tandem axle car hauler and proceeded to get it licensed here in Pa. He eventually got it done but it was not easy. The paperwork was quite extensive. Cross sectional support steel callouts, nomenclature of the welding rod , type of machine used to weld, welders name, spring ratings, etc, etc. Just remember if the good officer slides one of those portable scale under your tire he won't care much about estimates, only the numbers on his scale and the numbers on your owners card. Mike P.S. my little dump trailer with a GVWR of 5000 weighs 1500 empty.

My 6x10 10k Brimar weighs 2750#.

Smokey, I appreciate your thinking regarding the load/empty ratios. One other thing to put in the front row if you choose to buy a used trailer. Make very sure that the tires are up to or exceed the maximum load rating of the trailer. People change tires indiscriminately on trailers all the time because after all , it is only a trailer. Wrong. A trailer tire is constructed differently than a passenger car tire. It has to do with sidewall loading etc. It is an inspection item in Pa. although I am sure some look harder than others when it comes to trailer tires. Good Luck. Mike

A trailer should weigh as little as possible so you can haul as much as possible & still stay as legal as possible without the light as possible trailer breaking too soon.

I've got a Dively 18' flatbed with dovetail - 9990 GVWR. Trailer weighs 2k, so can legally haul 7990 lbs.

I think I exceeded that by a large margin yesterday, hauling a '69 Case 580 with backhoe and loader ... That SOB was MUCH heavier than I expected!!

Here are some found pictures of what I made. And NO I do not burn wood never have, just trying to help a friend.