I'm New....trailer?

This is only my second year striping. I don't have a Line Driver, just a graco 3900. My trailer is open and I am seriously considering purchasing an enclosed trailer. What do you guys think? Is it a necessity?

No, it's not, but they are sure nice, you can hang stencils on the walls, and build shelves for paint and other tools, all with out the fear of them getting stolen or damaged by weather etc.. We have a Haulmark enclosed, and love it. We also have an open trailer, but it is only our back up. One other thing, is with an enclosed trailer, you can have it lettered with your logo etc, that kind of advertising is priceless, and in my mind makes the extra cost of the enclosed well worth it..

Does the advertising on the trailer generate much new business?

Yes. Sean Paramount Asphalt

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I highly recommend an enclosed trailer. I just started this year and I love it!! Get one big enough to grow into. I have a 3900 and a line driver . 6x12 enc trailer and I fit both units, a leafblower and hang stencils on walls. Room left over for plenty of paint and misc..Only had three jobs so far but its nice saving the room in my garage also. I am in the process of getting my advertising put on.. Great billboard.. Good luck

I have used both and the enclosed is great cause when you are done, all of your equipment is (semi) secure and hidden from prying eyes. The open trailer has the advantage of never bumping your head

We get calls and jobs all the time from people who saw our trailer. If you are seen doing a larger job maybe more of a prominant facility in your area then that is always a plus, I have had people call and say "we saw your guys at ....., and since they hired you, we trust you will do a good job for us" It's kind of a credibility thing, and the trailer is the reason they knew it was us and who to call..

Congrats on spending the money and starting out with a great striper! I don't think I could ever part with my enclosed trailer. They are very nice to have. All of your equipment can be put inside the trailer and locked. Out of sight out of mind. You can set it up any way you want. I hang my stencils on the walls. When I bought my trailer I got one with the extended height and I am very glad I did. I can easily walk around inside with no worries of bumping my head. Some people prefer the barn doors but I got mine with the ramp rear door. I have my name and phone number accross both sides and the rear door. I know for a fact it has gotten me business and I have even had people follow me until I stop to ask about getting work done. If you buy and enlosed trailer you will not be sorry.

rrline wrote on Apr 20, 2005:Go to #9

I can easily walk around inside with no worries of bumping my head. Some

times it's good to be short, I don't have a head banging problem, I just can't reach anything.

I have a 6x12 trailer about one year old. If interested email me at [email removed]

You will have spent your money well with an enclosed trailer. IMO you should get one as big as you can afford 7x14 or larger,dual axles with brakes . Lettering is a good investment also better than the yellow pages by far. We pulled into our first job this year and picked up 35 other jobs because they had seen our lettering on the trailer! (32 of them where a chain of stores). Can't say enough about the lettering the best advertising money we have spent. Make sure when you pull into a job site that you place your trailer where it is most visable even if you have to walk farther!

I will throw in to definitely look to get a little larger than you think you may need (ours is a 6x10with extra height), I wished I would have gone bigger. Before you know it you will need a larger one, you can fill the smaller trailers so fast with just a few machines, let alone a driver. I would also reccomend to get the ramp style door, we just have the regular barn style doors, so we need to haul around ATV ramps for the Line Driver. By the way if anybody needs ramps we had a hellava time finding some that the striper's wheel would not fall through the supports, but I finally found some at www.atvexpress.com they were the cheapest around and also had horizontal cross supports as well as the vertical bars, so that the tires would not fall through...

We used to have small enclosed trailers, that the machines would fit snug inside of.... Then I brought my first rideon from Jimbo and the another from Fineline so we obviously had to get a larger trailers, I looked on the pictures here, and people sent me pictures of their trailers from here.. So I rushed out and brought this huge trailer for the machines........ I some how forgot that I was in NZ and not in the U.S.A..... We couldn't get it in multi-level carparks in the city as we would have decapitated the trailer! It was really difficult to find parking for it. We couldn't get it around the ramps, it was a nightmare! I had to sell it in the end and we now have this set up, we only use two colours in this country so we don't need to carry a lot of machines around. We have every thing we need in the trucks locked away and the machines fit snug on to the trailers. The trailers we have are converted jetski trailers and they are just the right size, I got some one to weld up ramps for me that folds out and down, so the are nice and long.

Wot! I Say! I see the shadow of a basketball goal in your pic. (Lord knows what they call it in New KeeWeeLand, prolly something like....round-thingy-in-the-basket or basketshag or some such) Do your employees have spare time in which to play or do they just use it to hang clothes on to dry?* The trucks look tops. Very well setup and they show like a Grand National winner. *OK just kidding. An Australian bloke is our 2005 National College Basketball Player of the Year. Won all the awards. Stands about nine feet tall. Talks funny.

Nice looking trucks Wendy! Our trailers are 7x18 covered with side door and rear ramp. I would not have a trailer smaller than 7x16. In these larger trailers, after mounting paint racks that fit 15 buckets and mounting a water tank, there is still room for 3 machines and a rider.

I'm just starting out and purchased a rolyal Cargo, I'm able to put my line maker and the tennant 6400 along with all my equipment in it. Have had a ramp built and it works like a dream. I will be opening for business the first week of May and I'm a hoping all goes well, I have done estimates and the response has been good, I may not be charging enough. I Have been practicing doing lines and lettering at a church and did my first curb. Thanks for the help, did it today. A freebie, they paid for the paint.

I have a friend that has a 14 foot gooseneck. The overhang (the part over the truck bed) is 8 foot I believe. He uses the overhang to store all his stencils flat. The gooseneck is easier to back up also. I'm thinking about buying one myself.

Rock, Do you know the cost of the gooseneck your friend bought? I unfortunately bought a trailor too small (3 years ago - 10' single axle) and I am thinking about replacing it with atleast a 14' double axle Thanks

In this case, size does matter. If you are buying your first trailer OVERSIZE what you think you'll need. You will be surprised how fast if fills up. I have an 8 x 18 and it is too small.