I just bought the bigger trailer, at least bigger than you have. It's 6.5 between the whell wells, 16' bed, 7000lbs. My B8200 fits it really well. It handles like a dream with the weight on it.
That brings me to borrowing. I had been borrowing trailers. BUT... then I had to repair the brakes on one. Something wierd happened. I used it Friday, no problem. I got home, and disconnected with it fully loaded, since I needed to be on the same job Monday(I wont leave my tractor).
I get down to the bottom of our road, and I notice a brake is smoking. I check it out, but can not find anything wrong. I tried the next mile, up to my freeway on-ramp. Every thing looked ok when I checked it again.
I start up the on ramp, and one brake, the that had smoked, grabbed. I stop and look at it; nothing obvious. I disconnected my brake controller thinging it was flaky. It still grabbed off and on.
So, In the end, I wound up fixing the trailer(moral thing to do). Now, I broke my buddies trailer. I got it fixed, and he wasn't concerned, since we have a "only borrow it if you can afford to repair it" clause...
<font color="red"> "only borrow it if you can afford to repair it" clause...
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I always try to bring something I borrow back in better shape then when I get it. I tend to spend a few hours fixxing things that are busted, before I can use it. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Last time I borrowed my B-I-L's trailer, I had to fill all the tires, and rewire the lights. Oh well, at least it was safe when I used it. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Oh then he sold it, I had offerd to buy it a ton of times becouse he could not afford it, and never used it. Then I fix it, and he sells it with out eaven giving me a shot at it. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Oh well, what can you do.
I have a similar clause. Mine is "Only borrow it if you can afford to repair it OR REPLACE IT."
My Dad always said the following about borrowing things; "You borrow something because you don't want to spend the money to go out and buy a new one of your own. The problem is, if you break the one you borrowed, you still have to go out and spend the money to buy a new one and then you STILL don't own one."
I guess the borrowing thing could work that way -fix it, but not own it. I grew up in a community that was a hundred years behind in lots of ways - all poor folks that worked hard and shared the blessings they received. When there was a building to be built, the neighbors showed up to build it. When someone was ill, the neighbors showed up to help take care of you. When there was food & celelbration going on, the neighbors showed up to eat and celebrate. Well . . . you get the picture. To this day, I long for more of that and you don't find it much. I try to be that kind of neighbor to others and have many friends who do the same, although some of them are too far away to quickly share the tasks or borrow something from. One other point - many of my tools and things spend so much time idle, I enjoy knowing someone is getting some benefit from them, even if it isn't me. My step-Dad and I borrow back and forth so much, sometimes I forget which one of us bought some of the tools!
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