Craigslist Addict Finds Deal

Along with other tiny house builders, we view the trailer, the foundation, as a crucial element. Now, how do you find a structurally sound trailer that fits the bill that doesn’t cost over $4500? You spend hours and hours on craigslist—that’s how! We found quite the gem with the essentials.

Time to Write the District Attorney

Bringing the trailer home, we pull over to double check that the trailer is pulling okay and nothing is amiss. Police officer notices us and pulls over to check if everything is okay. “Wait, the trailer isn’t registered?” Ticket written. “Shit.”

Heading North

We feel lucky with our trailer. It’s a lot of steel. It’s rated for 10k pounds lipitor dosage. It has strong wheel well covers, an eight and a half feet width (max), bed in-between the wheels, double axles, and two foot on center steel framing. We’d like to thank Gary Cooper, an aspiring nurse, for cutting us a deal.

Although listed at $3200 and built at around $6000, we scored the trailer for $2600; he liked our idea. Thanks again Gary! Although it contained quite a bit of surface rust, the steel was very sound. After registration, flashing, materials, and paint, it will probably be around $3000 for the trailer—not counting a lot of labor!  Will have to add chiropractor fees to all these numbers later on!

Here was my search criteria:

• Flatbed trailer, utility trailer, car trailer (no beaver tail)
• GVWR: 7,000 lbs or 10,000 lbs (3500 per axle at least)
• GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: shoot for the 10k.

Questions for Craigslisters:

• Pounds per axle?
• Height of framing from the ground?
• Electric brakes on both axles? Auto stop brakes?
• Build a house on it? Any known issues?
• Hitch Size?
• Sweet ass trailer?

Visit the Daedalus Project’s trailer page for a thorough trailer purchasing, selecting, and searching guide. I also recommend watching videos and information about finding the right trailer on tumbleweedhouses.com. There seems to be four options: recycle an old RV, find a used utility trailer, custom order a trailer, or buy a well-designed tiny house company trailer. Specialty designed tiny house trailers have a lot of nice perks, but don’t rule out repurposing an older trailer; don’t forgot the energy use prevented with the ladder.

Cost for a New Yorker: For a twenty-foot tiny house trailer delivered to New York, it would have cost $4500-5500. Hopefully, you have a local option like California’s Tumble Weed Houses ($4500) or Florida and Colorado’s Tiny Home Builders ($3450). I’ve read that calling a trailer fabricating company directly can be very affordable.

Other tiny house blogs have been innumerably helpful. Please check out the resources below for some highlighted shout-outs.

The reins are ours,
Chris

Reflections, Hindsight, and Alterations

• If we had a local new purchase option, we could have picked up the trailer for only $500 more new from Tiny Home Builders, but repurposing an older trailer has it’s own value—fits with our goals.
• Would like to have experimented with renovating an old camper but the steel framing can be pretty weak—unless you can reinforce it and add more joists or steel tubing. View this page for a very awesome breakdown of recycling an old trailer: http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-concept/recycling-old-rv-trailers/

Resources

• Tumbleweedhouses.com – Jay Shafer
• The Daedalus Project –Choosing your Trailer: http://thedaedalusproject.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/choosing-your-trailer/
• Tiny Home Builders – http://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/