# does anyone have this little harbor freight trailer?



## josh870

i cant afford the harbor freight boat trailer and i cant find anything used, so i was thinking of making one out of harbor freights smallest trailer. i have a couple questions for anyone who owns one, first, can a leaf be removed to soften the springs? and can someone tell me the inner diameter of the tongue? if anyone has a link to someone making a boat trailer out of one of these that would be great. thanks


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## earl60446

I used to have one of those. It is only 36x48 inches. You can take a leaf spring out but it is easier to just adjust the tire pressure a little to keep it from bouncing around. Tongue was not a box channel, it was more of a C channel, whole thing is pretty lightweight.
Tim


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## Flat_Bottum

I would get the 4x8 "heavy duty" one if you want to go that route. They come on sale and I got mine for about $280 out the door. It was a decent trailer and would do fine for a tin boat for sure. I had my dog box mounted to mine which weighs close to 600 lbs and it held it fine and that was with the bottom leaf removed.


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## josh870

i actually had the 4x8, but i sold it over the winter figuring i could buy a real boat trailer. #-o turns out i cant.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls

I've seen small boat trailer that look just like that but with very long tongues. Also guys put longer tongues on them to haul kayaks. IIRC the trailer is 48"x48". I wouldn't worry about the springs and always run the tires at max inflation.


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## josh870

lckstckn2smknbrls said:


> I've seen small boat trailer that look just like that but with very long tongues. Also guys put longer tongues on them to haul kayaks. IIRC the trailer is 48"x48". I wouldn't worry about the springs and always run the tires at max inflation.


thats what i was planning but cant find steel square tube long enough.


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## Flat_Bottum

the trailer in the picture should be 36x48 iirc, or at least at my local HB they are. For the tube, you can get it by the foot at a local metal distributor. My old 12' aluminum had a square trailer with the long tongue and it worked out just fine.


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## lugoismad

I had the 4x8 one, but sold it this last winter. Don't really need it since we have a minivan now, I can fit tons of stuff in the back of that.


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## lovedr79

i have one of the "boat trailers" like that. did very well when i used it for the jet ski i used to have. the one i had had 2"x 4" tongue.


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## allfordhouse

I just bought their boat trailer. I have a 12' aluminum. Put it together in about 6 hours. Took my time and drank beer haha. Have only used it once but very impressed with the quality. Use their super coupon any single item 20% off. $300 shipped to the door got it in two days. Can't beat the price. I added a winch to the front and done.


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## allfordhouse

It comes with certificate of origin if you need to register it. 

Looking at used ones were about $400 anyways.


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## allfordhouse

Sorry didn't read the first sentence. What's the price on the little one?

I would think you would be $300 into by the time your done modifying.


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## josh870

tomorrow is 25% off so i am probably just going to get the same 4x8 trailer i had, but i will take a leaf off each side this time. will probably get the small one later and make it into a proper boat trailer and build a camper on this one. thanks for the replies!


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## josh870

so i got the 4x8, and i got it mostly together, and well....


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## lckstckn2smknbrls

Now that you have your immediate need for a trailer taken care of you should put a trailer wanted listing on CL in the wanted and boat sections.


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## josh870

lckstckn2smknbrls said:


> Now that you have your immediate need for a trailer taken care of you should put a trailer wanted listing on CL in the wanted and boat sections.


well i did, but now i dont have the money so i took it down. i didnt get this trailer together yet, having some large fitment issues


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## Flat_Bottum

I bought the same trailer a few months back to build my dox box trailer with. Putting that thing together is a PAIN to say the least and like you said, it seems like nothing fits like it should. One thing that I did that I STRONGLY recommend with these trailers is that once you get it all put together, take a wire wheel, clean up ALL joints and weld the crap out of it. Took an hour or so to do this but it took almost all of the sway out of the trailer. Good luck.


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## josh870

i had no problem getting my last one together, but i sold it. this one was crap, the brackets for the tongue were crooked so it wasnt going together. had to take it all apart and bring it back. on the bright side i may have finally found a boat trailer! guys bringing it by today


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## josh870

Yayyyy


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## lckstckn2smknbrls

Looks good, just add a tongue jack.
How are the tires, lights, bunks and bearings and seals?


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## josh870

the wiring doesnt look great, the previous owner ran the wires on the top of the trailer instead of through it so lots of little cuts in it, but the lights are good. i dont know anything about bearings. everything else is good


how are those harbor freight trailer jacks?


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## lckstckn2smknbrls

For that light a boat any tongue jack should hold up, but for the same price you should be able to find a better known brand.
I have several Reese tongue jacks and winches then there is Fulton and a few others.
Bearings are not hard to check or repack or change.


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## jethro

I can tell you that Fulton is superior to Reese. At least in the tongue jacks.


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## FloridaDad

I tow my 12' Cadillac on a 4x8 Harbor Freight Trailer. Been to West Coast and back from here in Florida Twice. Been good to me so far.


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## Al U Minium

I bought mine when it was on sale and used a 20% OFF coupon. Got exact size steel tubing and new 1 7/8" coupler from Amazon. When the boat gets done I will install bunk beds. I went with the 4x8 size because it had road worthy tires. Everything is bolt on although I could have welded if I wanted to.


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## Al U Minium

Sorry about two of the same pics. I also use it as a spray paint stand. When finished it will be red with black fenders. But I like the paint over spray to build up coats against rust.


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## lovedr79

i had no issues putting mine together. no fitment issues what so ever.


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## -CN-

I know this is an old thread, and it looks like the original issues have been addressed. 
However, I wanted to chime in about Harbor Freight trailers!
The one that's pictured in the original post - that's a 48x48. I have one that I modified to be a single-motorcycle hauler by running a plank that hangs about a foot off the back and then runs all the way up the tongue with a wheel chock installed. It carries 600 lbs plus with no problem. I suggest you get the model with the 12 inch wheels. I did take a leaf out of the springs. Another thing that makes life easier is to install the axle on top of the leaf springs by flipping the u-clamps over. You will have to flip the axle as well. This makes the trailer ride 2 inches lower. 

If you're looking for it to be a boat trailer, why not just start with the Harbor Freight boat trailer? I have one of those as well. I bought three 12" wheels for it (one for a spare) instead of using the supplied 8" wheels. Again, I flipped the axle over (made up the height difference of the bigger wheels) and removed a leaf from each spring. It's perfect as is for a 10 foot boat, up to a 12 foot boat. I have a 14 footer on mine so I used long 2x4s for the bunks so that the bunks could overhang the back and go all the way to the back of the boat. A 14 footer should really be on a bigger trailer IMO, but if you can find the odd size metal stock that fits around or inside the tongue (1-1/2" by 3") you can extend that by 2-3 feet and it would be perfect. 

Then there's the 4x8 trailer. I had one, got years of use out of it, and sold it. Again, get the model that has the 12" wheels for longer bearing life and it also has a higher weight capacity than the 8" wheel model. I did not use the supplied nuts and bolts when I put this together. I bought stainless steel ones that are longer for the places where one bolt can go all the way through the c-shaped stock rather than the short bolts that are supplied to go one in top and one in bottom. Get all the pieces laid out in front of you and analyze where longer bolts can be used and use them in every place possible. This helps with rigidity.

The weak aspects of all Harbor Freight trailers are:
- the supplied hardware - I replaced it all with stainless nuts/bolts/washers. Friends' trailers who used the stock hardware had theirs rust within a year.
- the paint. Again, friends' red trailers rusted quickly. I sanded all components to all of my trailers and spray painted them with Rustoleum "hammered" finish spray paint before assembling them. My 48x48 is dark gray, my 48x96 was light gray, and my boat trailer is bronze. 
- the 8" wheels on some models. Get the 4-hole 12" wheels for around $40 a piece from Harbor Freight or various other stores. *You may have to modify the mounting for the fenders to clear the bigger wheels.
- the ride height of the trailers. Flipping the axle over to the top of the leaf springs is a cure. *You may have to modify the mounting for the fenders to clear the wheels.


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## Kismet

josh870 said:


> Yayyyy




I'm happy for you. 

checkbearingscheckbearingscheckbearings <--voice of experience.


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