Is trailer building really worth it?

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Can you really turn a profit building trailers?  I know material is rolling up there, not to mentions buying lights, and axles and things you can't really build.  But really, can you make money off of it?  I know small utility trailers are pretty cheap to buy already, can they be built cheaper?  And what about larger car/equipment hauling trailers?  I just noticed Nothern sells plans for building many different trailer designs.
Reply:There is obviously some benefits to economies of scale.  Look at Big-Tex trailers they do a sizeable and profitable business however they have a large scale operation.  If you manage it well and have something that people want and do a good job you probably can make some money building trailers.  It won't be easy.Michael
Reply:I would think specialized, custom, etc . . . would be profitable in a one man or small shop . . . I do know a lot of the large trailer mfg. buy material in bulk & use cheap labor. In this area one of the trailer mfg. uses "hispanic" and people on work release from prison. But these type operations can not do specialized or custom profitably.Just my two cents . . . . .Steve
Reply:not a big profit margin in one trailer--or two there is a shop that sells them around here  16 ft utility tandom $695 usdbut he also sales them to other car lots and places and the more supplies you can order the cheaper the parts
Reply:In my opinion yes, and no.  If I charge my going rate there is no way I can build a trailer and compete price wise with the "cheapo" trailers.   HOWEVER, if I am gonna build a trailer I won't do it as cheaply as they do in the first place.  Most are not built out of much at all.  The bare minimum to get by with.  Mine will cost more, but I would have no problem honestly telling a customer that mine will hold up, and last longer strictly because it will be better built.  In my experience you always get what you pay for.  If you want to make a profit then go with the specialty or custom work.  I build a fair amount of trailers for farmers and loggers here.  I cutsom build them to do what they do and last.  You would be suprised what some of them cost but they don't mind paying it because they know they have a trailer that will hold up.  In fact the last trailer I built was a 500 gallon fuel trailer for a logging client of mine.  The finished product was over $4000, but try pulling one of those cheapo trailers thru the swap with a skidder and see how long it lasts.    Shoot for the custom work if you want to make money.  ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:If you have the material..Desire..Tools at hand already to do it..yes..If not then no not at all...For what you can build new vs. the cost of what you can buy out of the want ad's??Stick with whats out there already..The "big boys" are established..And it would be difficult to get into the market being a "nobody"If you have a "diffrent" approach..Patent it..Then proceed......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:me and my business partner had an order for a true 20' car hauler. we spent the better part of a friday looking for axles and the steel to build them with. i couln't even come close to what the lots want for a new one. i quoted the man $3,000 for the trailer with 2 brake axles and 80" wide deck. he said he found one new for $2200. i explained that mine would be better but he walked.we have done some of the small lawn trailers. i can sell a 5x10 for about $200 less than the box stores and the trailer lots. but this is using salvage angle and salvage expanded metal. getting the cheap chinese light kits from walmart and the tires. axles from northern and gas and wire the last fella paid for when i had to get out the bed at midnight to weld something."Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:Don't mean to sound like ...  I'm so smart ... As a business man you need to be thinking about what "specialty" product or "special" service you can produce or supply ...  If you must compete for sales when prices are so low as they are at places like Northern Tool, Tractor Supply, Home Depot, Lowes, Etc you will go broke. It's darn hard to make money in an area where the market (customer) sets the prices instead of the service provider (you). You can never compete with cheap labor and wholesale buying and pricing. End of Story!  Washman
Reply:Market, market, market.If you can't get them out there on a large scale, you can't sell them. If you try to sell them locally only, there will come a time when nobody else in the area needs them and your sales stop.Most of these cheapo trailers are, as stated, built cheaply with labor from our illegal border-jumping beaners by established companies. However, if you come up with something innovative, you can do good. As for a patent on something....Get out your wallet, grab your ankles and wait for 3 years. IF you are lucky enough to get one, your idea will certainly be ripped off by China or Singapore and they don't care. They'll build it cheaper and in larger quantities with a better distribution network. Patents mean nothing today- trust me on this one! When you do get ripped off, YOU have to come up with the tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars to fight a large company with eternally deep pockets that will "play" with you until you are broke. All along, they will keep production going just to **** you off more.
Reply:Building trailers was a very profitable thing and still can be depending on the market you have. I built allot of snowmobile, boat, utility, and custom trailers. I could build a better trailer then most people could buy from their local walmart, etc  but the major percentage of consumers look to the cost first than quality second. So my price might have been only 25% higher than the store bought one but my quality was well over the 25% better and most cases closer to 40%-50% better. This doesn't mean a thing to the average person. You can always find some work where their are people looking for custom trailers but this normally isn't enough for a shop unless you are doing other work as well. Also liability insurance is getting to be a big issue these days. All in all its hard to make much money anymore unless you go very big and buy in large quantities to get the price down.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:I find that customizing existing trailers makes me good money, you would be surprised how happy the landscaper is when you build him a locking rack for the weed wackers that usually bounce around on the deck, or adding that 12-18 inch beaver tail that reduces the loading angle. a few weld on D rings for tie downs, a holder that drops into the stake pockets for the extra bucket of a skidsteer. Anything that might make the day easier or faster is popular and people don't mind paying."Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:Originally Posted by kolotI find that customizing existing trailers makes me good money, you would be surprised how happy the landscaper is when you build him a locking rack for the weed wackers that usually bounce around on the deck, or adding that 12-18 inch beaver tail that reduces the loading angle. a few weld on D rings for tie downs, a holder that drops into the stake pockets for the extra bucket of a skidsteer. Anything that might make the day easier or faster is popular and people don't mind paying.
Reply:For a living..... you may make a few bucks.  Liability would be a huge factor.  An associate went south to buy a couple trailers.  The idea was buy three.. sell two and be into the third with the profit plus a few bucks and have a new factory trailer.When they got to looking at the quality they found out why they were so competitive in price. I think he made enough to cover the road trip.I have been looking at a 12' dump trailer for the past couple years.  I have been collecting parts because i can't see 6k in a metal trailer.  So far I have 11 -  5" pieces of channel, 2 - 7k Dexter axles with brakes / tires/, hydraulic cylinder with a double action lift assembly, bent sheet metal for sides and bottom ( had 10 gage 5x12 sheets bent to form angle sides + front and gate ) and misc. iron for hinges, pins and attaching points.  So far $1100. spent.  Oh I forgot a 44# spool of welding wire $110.00 and twenty dollars of grinding discs / cut off wheels.  I have an Ellis bandsaw , 255 Lincoln wire feed, and several grinders.  One major component I need to shop for is the 12 volt hydraulic pump which I have two to look at, new never used items.This is my plan for the boring winter ahead.
Reply:Just remember, if you are going to build trailers and sell them you must have a permit from the State DOT to do so, in order to get that you also must have a liability policy. The price of the second item is enough to drive away most potential trailer builders. I needed a 20' flat bed a few years ago for a delivery and looked into building one at the time. I decided to buy one. I went in with my father as a co-owner and I think we each put in $1100 and drove away that afternoon with a spankin new 18' car hauler flatbed. It is stoutly built, though I would have built it with a little better design, but for me to build it would have cost roughly 75% plus the time to build it. I also would have likely changed the design, bought stouter axles, better wood for the deck (8/4 oak instead of 2x fir), and wih all that I likely would have spent $3000 and had a pile of materials. With all the trailers on the used market going for pennies on the dollar, I think I would buy a used one, and rehab it (new bearings, brakes, deck, lights and paint) and still been into it for half price of building it.
Reply:Originally Posted by walkerJust remember, if you are going to build trailers and sell them you must have a permit from the State DOT to do so
Reply:Repair and alterations will make you more money than manufacturing. Big Tex, only for example will use a large number of fabrication shops other than their own to fill their inventory. There are alot of trailer shops around where I live and each one builds a differant quality trailer that goes to lots all around the country. Your best bet is to get a jobbers account with a trailer supply company (Redneck) and do repairs and alterations....If you get the time and some parts then build one or two custom trailers and see how it goes. I do know the price of metal is by the pound so no matter if you are buying 500 or 10,000 lbs its the same price per pound. You might get enough drop off to build a couple of "free" trailers if you do your math right. So metal is the same cost for you as it is for the "big" guys. They will just have more drop off's to play with.A young green pipe welder asked an old salt one day...How can I make the weld on the bottom of the pipe look like the top.......The old salt replied....Screw up the top......
Reply:Originally Posted by LoansharkWhat if you build trailers for "off road use only"?
Reply:Originally Posted by AwelderiamI do know the price of metal is by the pound so no matter if you are buying 500 or 10,000 lbs its the same price per pound.
Reply:Originally Posted by AwelderiamI do know the price of metal is by the pound so no matter if you are buying 500 or 10,000 lbs its the same price per pound. You might get enough drop off to build a couple of "free" trailers if you do your math right. So metal is the same cost for you as it is for the "big" guys. They will just have more drop off's to play with.
Reply:Competing for plain vanilla trailers with huge corporations doesn't seem to make much sense.  One of the most interesting and growing areas in trailers is  specialty trailers... like for ex: Concession trailers and trucks.  These things are very unique, lots of special codes to learn, stainless to fabricate and TIG,  electrical and plumbing... yet, the consumer/buyer has very unique ideas and needs.  Kettle Korn, BBQ, or Fireworks as a product he knows exactly what he wants. Big Tex has no time for that;  but a small group of good welder/fabricators could develop a strong reputation in a region with just a few real nice examples.  A market could be tradesmen who go from festival/fair to fair for ex> like key /locksmiths, graphics, guns at gun shows,  or musical instruments and repairs at Blue Grass festivals etc. These are not cheap trailers either... so as the $ increase, and lots of hand  detailed labor becomes the focus... that is made for a weldor who has skills and desire.  You don't need to sell steel with a small margin, sell your labor and skill.Last edited by PapaLion; 12-30-2011 at 12:49 PM.Lincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools
Reply:You will build only so many trailers for a given area that are priced higher than what can be bought at Tractor Supply, Lowes, etc. before you have reached market saturation based on the higher quality and costs of your trailer. You will start out with a higher price based on the fact that you won't get the volume pricing that the big boys get ie axles bought through a middle man (Redneck) instead of from the manufacturer, steel bought again through a middle man and not from the mill (and how many of the small steel suppliers in your area buy from another wholesaler (around here the steel has gone through at least one and most of the time two). This doesn't even take in the cost of insurance and the time/money spent dealing with whatever state dept. you have to deal with. This isn't guess work this is from experience.  Building a few trailers a year that are custom is a good way to fill slow time but you better be sure that your skills and equipment are up to the task. This means no 120v welders and you better be able to make a quality weld. Remember the person pulling this trailer doesn't have a clue how to load it or pull it and it might be a member of your family following it when your weld gives way."Liberalism is a mental disorder" Dr. Savage
Reply:I have built every thing from a 3 axle lowboy to a lawn mower trailer.Most were built with used steel some had used axle some had had homemade axles.They were used by us then somtime sold. Wright now we need a trailer to move cars around I have the steel, hitch, jack, lights but I think if my time is worth something it would cheaper to buy a used one.JOHN DOE can buy steel for less than a big shop can around here if he  drives to the supplyer instead of haveing it deliverd.Yes It scares the crap out of me to see some thing I build going down the road with 50 tons on it. It take God,Skil,LUCK to build something that can indanger peoples lives.The ownly time I fill real good about something I built is when its out lived its usfulness and No one was harmed.
Reply:Most of these cheapo trailers are, as stated, built cheaply with labor from our illegal border-jumping beaners by established companies. However, if you come up with something innovative, you can do good. haha i completely agree with turboblownQuality is our policy.
Reply:Not trying to beat a dead horse here... however this morning on CL here it is?  Pizza, hotdogs and has a reefer 2007... not bad for Twelve Grand used?  Can U say  bend SS polish  & TIG Attached ImagesLincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools
Reply:I have a few things to add to this thread. First, you do get breaks on steel pricing depending on how much you buy.  A local supplier here bases pricing on tonnage, and you get a 5% discount for every 1k# you buy. Just ask your vendor if they are giving you the best price for your shop.  Second, I am a Jack of all trades shop, and we build the tig stainless stuff as well as the angle iron stuff.  We build a higher quality version of some of the common utility trailers when we get slow. A real generic 16' trailer has probably 750# of angle iron in it, whereas our designs will use around 1200# of channel steel to build the same dimension trailer. I have to ask $800 more for mine because it's that much more vehicle, and someone shopping will see the difference between mine and "theirs".  Some will cheap out and buy the angle iron hot mess, and a few will buy my US labor built, heavy duty version.   It's all who we want to cater to: cater to the classes, or cater to the masses. I find that the classes have more money they are willing to pay out than the masses.Originally Posted by onomadoI have a few things to add to this thread. First, you do get breaks on steel pricing depending on how much you buy.  A local supplier here bases pricing on tonnage, and you get a 5% discount for every 1k# you buy. Just ask your vendor if they are giving you the best price for your shop.  Second, I am a Jack of all trades shop, and we build the tig stainless stuff as well as the angle iron stuff.  We build a higher quality version of some of the common utility trailers when we get slow. A real generic 16' trailer has probably 750# of angle iron in it, whereas our designs will use around 1200# of channel steel to build the same dimension trailer. I have to ask $800 more for mine because it's that much more vehicle, and someone shopping will see the difference between mine and "theirs".  Some will cheap out and buy the angle iron hot mess, and a few will buy my US labor built, heavy duty version.   It's all who we want to cater to: cater to the classes, or cater to the masses. I find that the classes have more money they are willing to pay out than the masses.
Reply:Wow, a 6 year old thread.
Reply:I was the shop manager at a trailer dealer for quite a while. Several times I would make a material list off of a trailer we had in the shop to see if I could make money building trailers. I would figure the price of all the suspension, lights, tires, wheels everything but the steel for the frame and the wood/ steel  for the floor from our dealership with my employee discount. Then I would call the steel yard and lumber yard and get those prices. Never once was the price of the materials less than we had that trailer for sale for. The markup for utility trailers isn't much at all. Many months two guys in the repair shop made double what four people made up front in sales. Many times we would add a spare tire rack or ramps or a tool box or tie downs or something and double the profit on the sale. As many others have said repair and addons is where it's at.
Reply:have you been watching that youtube guy who says you can make 3000.00 a day building trailers in your backyard??i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:Well, if it's on YouTube it MUST be true... Lol.   If I make $3k a month building them, I would consider myself fortunate!I agree that the limiting factor of all trailers built is the axles, and I also agree that the cheapest material from the start is best to build, but the price difference in a ton of angle vs. a ton of channel is negligible at best, so I use better steel where possible.  If I miss the guy who wants the cheapest price for the lightest duty possible, I don't mind.  At least that guy isn't coming back with a pretzel on wheels after loading his backhoe and saying I owe him a trailer for his stupidity.   You have to be able to out-engineer stupid when you build a trailer...
Reply:Originally Posted by BobWow, a 6 year old thread.