Here’s some useful information not mentioned in the video. Cost of Harbor Freight Haul Master: $549.99 Towing Capacity: 1,720 lbs Size: 48”x96” You’re welcome.
@@300and2CI It comes in 3 boxes, the heaviest was like 70 lbs or something. It should be doable for one person. I would guess around 200lbs. Whatever your decking choice is going to add a couple of pounds.
@@conradmorgan5782yes just got 2 22 footers and 1 18 footer each one was free old lady was moving so I burnt everything stripped copper and made about 2 to 300 per trailer for the tin and everything was totally worth it gonna make me a car trailer
@@M.TTT. we’re dealing with that right now we’ve got an old pop up that got damaged when the shed blew down and it’s registered in my grandfathers name which passed away this year so we’re probably just gonna end up scraping it
@@benfrantz4585 ohhh I think usually you can get it registered as long as you have proof of death or something with the estate paperwork, but not 100% sure
@@jodygarcia9892 we had it bolted for a couple years but for the better part of it’s life it’s been welded now. We have no need for the folding feature and just wanted to reinforce it in genera plus stiffening up the axel. Only things lacking strength are the axel and tires. If anything definitely get a really good set of tires and a spare. We’ve overloaded it a time or two lol 😂
I was willing to pay more for a more premium, pre-assembled trailer. But there is nothing that takes up less space in the garage than a folded harbor freight trailer
I built one 20yrs ago, they have nylock nuts. Still have the trailer, if I had a welder I'd probably tack it. they definitely benefit from having decking installed(bolt holes all around for a good fit), otherwise it twists.
@@fordcougar99 Agreed installing a solid deck helps greatly. I picked up one of these trailers second hand, and I replaced the deck with 3/4" green treated plywood, with extra holes drilled for carriage bolts down from the top through both the main frame and the cross members.
@@juanguerrero6581I've had one for 25 years. Had a Volvo 5 cylinder engine on it, a jeep inline 6, and full of garden soil at different times. Check the bolts, use permanent lock tight, or weld it. Still on original bearings, but replaced the tires.
As someone in south Africa, whenever I genuinely don't get the hate towards harbor freight Which I did partially say it that way for the rhyme but like I get that some of their things are low quality, but like I would genuinely be so happy if I had an equivalent store this side of the earth that would do shit like this, because down here you either get the ok things that are fuck expensive, or shit things that are just average expensive
Here in the rust belt, plus the Calcium Chloride they spray on the roads, that powder coated piece of tin will be on it's way back to China in two years. Go buy yourself a quality steel, oil base enamel painted trailer and either park it in the winter or wash it regularly to keep the Corrosive material off of it.
I bought one used, fully built, with a plywood floor and a 1 ft tall plywood and 2x4 wall off marketplace for $250. I've been running that little 4x8 trailer into the ground, hauling everything with a Camry, lol. I use it like a pickup truck, except i get much, much better fuel economy. Ive owned several trailers over the years, all the way up to a 7.5 by 20, and this is by far my favorite. Light, cheap, and just so easy to manuver.
@countryboy302 im not sure about everywhere, but where im at it is, i wired up a light kit in the camry and put a hitch on it, the trailer had lights already.
My dad and I built one almost 10 years ago and put some lumber on it for rails and floorboards. Everything including the lumber is still holding up. Though the wood is a bit worse for wear last I remember.
for all of you who have said you have had one for 10 years. Question for you. Do you think the QUAILTY today is as good or better then 10 years ago? If you think it's BETTER, then I don't know what to say to you :)
The bearings are not pre-greased for installation to use. They are greased for shipment only to protect them from rust and moisture. It is not a high-quality, high temperature bearing grease, nor was it meant to be. It is up to you to clean the bearings and the hubs and repack them with a high-quality, high temperature axle bearing grease before assembly. Shitloads of people have complained that they burnt their bearings up, and they put the blame on Harbor Freight. When all else fails, read the instructions.
Happened to me and I even greased the bearings. It was a pain in the ass finding a match too in the middle of nowhere Kansas. Not a standard trailer bearing. Thankfully found an auto parts store with a caliper that could measure them and order replacements. Slept in my car for two nights in a wal mart waiting to get it back on the road.
I open every power tool I get from harbor freight to replace the grease even. Never had a power tool from them burn out because of it too. I can't believe anyone would trust the grease they use in a wheel bearing.
The bearings they use are metric and almost impossible to find.I’ve seen people replace the whole axle to industry standards because they couldn’t find the bearings.They are pretty much disposable trailers.
I picked up one of these second hand for 150$ I welded every joint and added an "X" of 1" wide 10 ga. flat bar which greatly increased the strength. I sandblasted it and repowdercoated it and I towed it over 2400 miles with around 1000 lb in it and never had a single issue. These are great little trailers. The finish it comes with is totally garbage because they clearly dont prep before they shoot it but for the money it's a sure win. 10/10 would buy again.
@rickylee2477 on that little trailer it would not make a difference. I would understand if it was a trailer with a hydraulic lift then yes angle iron.
@@troymcclellan28426011 or 6010 will weld through that powder coating. I used to do production welding at Kawasaki and sometimes had to do repairs on already powder coated frames. Can be done without too much trouble.
Make sure you put on some roll on bed liner because I didn't and the flooring after a couple year rubbed away the cheap powder coating and it rusted out.
@andrewdean1761 depending which one he got there is one identical to this that's 1600lbs capacity. But then again it 4x8 ft can't fit much their anyway.
@yellowswagmuffin920 I've got a 2023 camper 43ft long with 2 bed 2 bath. I love it. 50k and its already paid for and I can go wherever I want whenever I want.
and if you have the skills or have a friend that does and don't need the foldable aspect of it, weld all the pieces together after bolting it up... makes for a much sturdier trailer.
Had one for about 10 years now. Never had a single bolt”rattle loose” like everyone keeps commenting about. It’s hauled everything from atvs and motorcycles to scrap metal, construction supplies and firewood. Never been babied, if it would sit on it, it hauled on it. It’s stable at any speed I’ve tried to pull it. Only problems I’ve had is one of the wheels was badly not true to center. Carried it to harbor freight and used a tape measure to show how far off it was and they gave me a new wheel and tire. The only other problem is the fender brackets. They are bad to stress crack where they mount to the trailer. I don’t recommend it to haul anything fragile because the suspension is stiff even loaded. I’ve also figured out it does best when you use 2” boards for the decking instead of plywood or thinner planks.
@@greenhornred7866 if I remember correctly it had a certificate of origin that I took to the DMV. The DMV is the one who issued the title when I registered it.
I got one of these 20 years ago. Here are my suggestions (which of course may be out of date): - do something to prevent the nuts from just vibrating loose at the pivot points. Buy Nylock nuts, use thread locker, weld them, or whatever. - the lights use the frame as a ground connection. This is sketchy at best, and hopeless at the hinges. Either run a separate ground wire to each light from the plug, or at least a jumper wire from the front to back half to bypass the hinges. - replace the flimsy office chair casters with sturdy casters -- although maybe HF has already made this design change? - get a couple of those reflectors on 4' plastic stalks that people put next to their driveways, mount them in short pieces of 2x4 and stick them in the brackets at the back of the trailer. This makes your trailer much more visible in traffic and easier to back up, as well as providing comic relief to other drivers as they flap back and forth in the wind.
Harbor freight trailers are great for light duty usage. If you want a heavy duty trailer, you pay a heavy duty price. Still, for what you pay for them, they do a decent job.
As a trailer builder I can tell you now you can definitely build them on the cheap, brand new stubs and hubs cost about $50 etc I think bang for buck the Harbour freight trailer isn't bad at all
This is a great trailer for someone who rarely need to trailer and doesn't want one taking up a lot of storage space in the yard or garage. If I needed to move something big, I would probably rent a U-Haul trailer. I'm rigging mine up so that I can use it as a tent when I go camping but take it apart when I don't need it.... The tent, not the trailer. I think that welding all of the joints that aren't part of the folding process would be a good idea. That would stiffen it up a little bit.
I bought one almost 20 years ago. It did good for a couple of years. I overloaded it and bent the axel though. Also, registering it was a big pain. My state wanted pictures from different directions and ami had to get a mechanic to look it over and certify it. I can’t recall how I got that done. Anyways, put 3/4” treated ply deck and it will haul 800lbs pretty reasonably.
Might as well just build one from scratch using parts off scrapyard trailers. I have 4 different size axles, couplings, mechanical disc and caliper sets from the scrapyard. Even tail light sets. Have built a small tipper trailer using an alloy tray off a dual cab using a $35 boat winch to lift the tray. Ripper trailer but now building a 12' tipper trailer using the tandem axle set from a rusted out boat trailer. Proper diy is way better than kit garbage.
@@bretlovitz3068 exactly why I promptly returned Horrible Fright folding trailer. PennDOT wanted almost the kitchen sink, first born child, Hen's teeth and proof I can walk on water to be able to register trailer. pfft screw that
@@rossbrumby1957 It depends on what you need and what you have. It's hard to justify building a proper trailer if you're barely using it once a year for light loads. And the trailers you describe are *far* beyond what a modern car can safely pull. These trailers are meant more to allow a Cavalier or Neon to barely fill in for an S10 or Dakota than to do proper trailer work. When kept to that role, they're a hard value proposition to convincingly beat. Outside that role, you're probably right that they're crap.
@@Pippy1 watch some actual videos where they show the bearings, or better yet go ACTUALLY BUY one of these and take a look at how and WHAT they packed the wheel bearings with. It’s absolutely not “ready to go”
I put plywood wood on mine and the trailer outlasted the wood. Which reminds me I gotta put it out of the back yard and get to fixin it I’ve had mine for Atleast 10 years and only blew one tire in the scrap yard. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I purchased a Harbor Freight Trailer in the 80s put many miles on it moved out of state 1200 miles sold it in the 90 for more than I paid for it .awesome little trailer
We got one of these when i was growing up. Built a wooden box trailer out of it to haul bikes and suppies for camping trips. 15 years later pops still uses it.
A friend of mine has one that folds up for storage. He put removable sides and flooring and it works great. He drove it over 1400 miles to pick a couple of toolboxes and a compressor.
“ your friend “ is obviously you. Dunno why so many people on the internet try to hide behind the anonymity of “ their friend “ when in reality these stories are far to in depth to just be friendly banter, you own the trailer. Period.
@@yorselrus1996 right you couldn’t possibly just be another account made by this guy, very likely he had his friend hunt down the RU-vid video where someone called him out in the comment section so he could back up his buddy 😂 nobody believes that brotha.
@@the_kombinator if you ask me no. Very evident that guy just commented the little story on his secondary account, so as far as I’m concerned that trip never happened. However, I don’t own this specific type of trailer so I can’t comment on its quality, I’ll tell you that I personally ( not my friend ) was debating this trailer & ended up finding a 200$ pop up tent trailer on kijiji, knocked it down to the frame in about 30 minutes and just put a new floor on and wired lights, under 250$ for everything. Can’t beat that.
One caution: the wheels are mounted to the hubs but the lug nuts are not tightened. I lost two lug nuts and banged up a couple more before finding out! Couldn't get metric studs and nuts in a small town outside Yellowstone so I installed SAE studs and the parts house thru in the nuts; wish I could give them a shout-out but that was 2013. Hell, I can't remember what I had for dinner last night.
hmm, So you found out everything isnt always right out of the Box but may need improvement, lesson 2 correct parts are the ones that work best but parts are not always available. Someonez giving you crash course into mechanic and heavy repair.
I got one in 2017. Still going strong and i load it with firewood till i see the tires start to buckle. Curious if yours came with the trailer jack because mine didn't.
@@notpoliticallycorrect4774 😂😂 I’ve used all of those and all come loose or break welding trailer nuts is common when do you take apart a trailer 😂😂 because I have never taken one apart and welding them takes 5 seconds all the other are a waste of my time I’m a welder so that’s what I do
Do you remember when you could buy a whole house from the Sears catalog and it would be shipped in Parts in boxes and you had to put it all together yourself the entire house
Thx for the video. Personally, I would have put some cardboard or a thin sheet of mdf underneath my work area to protect the powder coat during assembly.
I built an entire 108 sqft shed for about $1,200 (CAD on top of that) including a concrete pour and rebar (I prepped it myself, truck just came in and dumped the concrete, driver helped me move it around a bit). Are you telling me that my 2 storey shed that has a car in it and a 4 ft attic (at peak) filled with spares for it was entirely built for less than the cost of your trailer's flooring? Keep in mind, I did this one year into the pandemic.
That’s cool but I think you would’ve been better off. Buying a welder, and teaching yourself how to weld. Or going to a local trade school/community college.
Be aware it has metric hubs. I replaced the whole axle on mine because the cost of parts is too high and they are not available locally. If you have a problem on the road like a bearing failure, you will be able to find inch sized parts at every autoparts store. Metric ones may or may not be available and will be twice the price.
My wife's a Harbor Freight manager and she sells a ton of them. Great trailer for the money, the only problem is people trying to over load them, a lot, then complain they're not strong enough. Follow the instructions for assembly and use and you'll be great.
Most small trailers are on the flimsy side even though they're welded. People always overload them too because they're too lazy to borrow a suitable trailer for a one off use. Powdercoat always peels off in sheets because of no prepwork on what is usually lightly surface rusted bare steel by the time it gets to the painter.
If the mower isn't too heavy for the trailer. And you need drop legs to support the ramps, as this trailer would not be able to support the weight on the ramps hanging off the back while loading/unloading.
Interesting, no body else said that. I did just that. why spend money on plastic lock nuts, or weld. It's made for light stuff. Everything has a performance standard, know the limits
I have one that's over 10 years old. I have thousands of miles on it. I've welded additional metal to it so it doesn't fold. The ONLY issue are the tires. Get better tires
You might have light issues over time. The problem area is the folding hinge in the middle of the trailer. If it rusts or oxides you lose ground between the hitch and the rear lights. I screwed a wire to the frame bridging the hinge. Be sure to leave a little slack in case you want to fold the trailer up later. This gave me a good ground signal. Be sure to cover it with silicone to protect the screw from rust.
Dont use the harbor freight wires and lighting. Buy some from an auto store. Dont trust their greased bearings. This trailer cant carry much, but its good for home depot runs.
Paint faded rather quickly. Installation was a pain. Bearings cannot be repacked. Hitch was nearly unworkable from the beginning. Drivers do not see it quite frequently. I was hit several times. The last time required a drive to a scrap metal yard.
I remember in the late 90’s my dad bought one and we used it every weekend tell last year when someone hit the trailer . But all I can say is best bang for your buck trailer for under 500 bucks
Yeah but harbor freight tools last for 1 job if that. Milwaukee and Dewalt quality tools will be there, harbor freight will be in the trash with this pos trailer. They need to be welded and ridgid, the harbor freights are not
WOW, I don't go to Harbor freight often so I didn't know they had trailers like this. I will be going tomorrow to check them out. Thanks for the video.
I had one that used only once for my motorcycle hauling, did the job well. Unfortunately due to space limitations, I gave it away to my friend. But, he been putting it to good use as well so glad it’s being used.
I'm not sure how much the material or design changed but I have a 30 year-old Harbor Freight trailer my late grandfather bought. It was a utility trailer for ATV's. Being repainted every 5ish years and has a wooden deck and sides that last about 6-8 years if you keep them painted. So as long as you treat you equipment right it'll last a long time.
Sure, no problem, just make sure you use styrofoam!😂 The weight capacity of this trailer is very low; you notice the boat used on this video could be picked up by one person…
I am a little too OCD for bolts holding a hundred connections together, I would have to hit everything with a flux welder when I was done bolting it together.
I tried to sell my dad's HF folding trailer for him, registered in Florida, selling to a guy in Pennsylvania. PA titles them, FL does not. The notary said because it was a folding trailer, I had to get an "enhanced inspection" before it could be titled in PA. First inspection shop told me on the phone that it would need mud flaps to pass inspection, so I made some, called him back, first available appointment was two months out. Called another shop; they could do it the next day. AFTER doing the inspection - for $80 - the second shop told me the part of the vehicle code requiring mudflaps for trailers applies only to semi trailers, so I didn't need them, and also that I definitely didn't need an inspection to title this trailer. Went to a different notary; not only did it not need an inspection, THERE WAS ALREADY A PA TITLE ON FILE. Called the first notary back, a two-person operation, and this time got the guy's wife. She said "of course it doesn't need an inspection, who on earth told you that it does?" 🤦♂️
