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4 replies

Choosing a Trailer

N nordyMember
Hey experienced wise competition cooks...

I'm looking for an enclosed cargo trailer to haul my cookers and gear around to competitions next year. I have looked at a lot of trailers online etc and I've got a few questions...

1) What brands/dealerships are better than others? (Looking in Oklahoma/Southern Kansas)
2) What "options" (wall material, stablizing jacks, rv door, vents etc) should I consider
3) Single vs double axle?
4) Ramp back door vs barn doors?
5) Trailer brakes?

Right now I'm thinking a 6x12 cargo trailer with ramp back door and RV style front door. My thinking is 6x12 gives me room for cookers (PG1000 and FEC100) and possibly some shelves in the front. Those cookers will in general leave me about 800lbs of additional cargo before hitting the max weight of most trailers this size. Double axle would give me way more capacity than I would need which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Leaning toward RV door as there is a chance I'll be sleeping in this trailer... so RV door reduces the chances of some trickster locking me in...

Any insight would be helpful. I'm not looking at breaking the bank (extreme bbq trailers etc), but want to get a quality trailer that will last and meet my needs for now and maybe the future.

Thanks for your help,

Nordy
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FM Former Member
We have an enclosed trailer that we haul all of our stuff in. It is 7 x 16 Pace.
Think of this like you do a pit, bigger is better. You will probably want to do some prep in there as well as sleeping.
There are a lot of Brands, pick the one you can afford with the features you want. In your "options" considerations, insulated walls are good, you do want Jacks and RV door. We have A/C in ours.
Double axle rides better. Check out the torson suspension, it ride very easy.
Back doors are whatever you feel good with. We have the Barn doors and have to carry ramps. Good ramps are not cheap! Remember, they have to hold your cooker and you. Get good ones or your cooker will pay the price. Sometimes I wish we had the ramp doors, but then we get into a tight space and the barn doors are nice.
Brakes, Brakes and more Brakes. Some states require them.
A trailer sure makes set up a lot easier and storage a lot more organized.

Good Luck!
FM Former Member
I'll echo most of what Gary said. We have the ramp door and would not go any other way, just have to keep it in mind when setting up. RV style side door is a must, otherwise you'll be using a bungie cord to hold it shut when you're inside. We did that for about 4 comps then paid the money to get the RV latch put on.
This time of year you might find a used toy hauler at a good price....
FM Former Member
Check out this link.

S O 8 x 16 Trailer

I went with the taller/wider version for more room. Notice the wheel wells are inside, not outside, this gives more width overall, but cuts a little out where the wells are.

This is clean well before I did any mods.

Ramp is great because I would level the ramp with small jacks, roll both FE's out on the ramp and didn't have to go outside. I put a curtain up to hold out smoke.

Mine had electrical put it, a sleeping cot, a fold down table.

I put my own Tripplite Auto charger/convert in.

I put the D ramps into the wall so I could strap down the two FE's I would travel it. Not sure if I ever posted photos of it after I built everything into it.

Put a door with screen door on the side

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