Buying your own folding utility trailer vs renting one from U-Haul

torontotim wrote: ↑ Really boils down to do you have room to store the trailer UNFOLDED. Don't get fooled by this folding nonsense. Nobody folds up their trailers.

If you have room, buy a used good quality utility trailer. Not Princess Auto or Harbor Freight. Aluminum if you can afford it.

Now, that being said, I own the red folding trailer you posted and its sitting up at the cottage. I paid a couple hundred for it and use it from time to time, but since getting it I bought a truck. It's been sitting outside for years and is still in one piece and I use it to haul trash to the dump if I'm cleaning things out. I bolted 3/4" plywood to the deck locking it into position.

I may toss a hitch onto the wife's Fiat to use it up there for that if my truck is elsewhere.

If you don't have room for it to sit without folding it up, just rent when you need one. I still rent trailers when hauling motorcycles etc. sometimes as it's a pain to put a motorcycle into my truck unless I have help.

torontotim wrote: ↑ To your original question about renting U-Haul trailers - it's dead easy. The online reservation tool tells you where the trailer you want is, reserves it, promises $50 I think if it's not available etc. Renting both here in Toronto and in the US has been painless. Just rent from the higher-rated U-Haul centers.

If a $500 trailer depreciates to basically $0 over 10 years, that's $50 a year to own it plus some maintenance, so maybe $60 per year over 10 years. You'll need a replacement tire/wheel from time to time, lube the bearings etc.

Do you use a trailer more than 3 times a year? More than 5?

I'd happily pay $100 per year to rent a trailer 4 to 5 times, get the trailer I need at the time (enclosed, motorcycle, large utility...) and not have to worry about storing it, maintenance etc. vs. $60+ a year to own one.

Why do you say 25 trips? Are you starting a reno project or something? If you need it on-demand and quickly, then buy a used one and sell it when you're done.

Or just end this and buy a pickup. GMC Canyon's are nice.

ChubChub wrote: ↑ The Harbor Freight trailer you linked is rated for 1,200lbs ... the "Canadian" one you mentioned looks to be 2,000lbs capacity. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, but the build quality difference between those two trailers should be not insignificant, and I personally believe justifies the price difference (assuming it IS actually built better). Also, Hazard Fraught doesn't exactly have a great track record for longevity/build quality, and with the folding, I can't imagine this added complexity bodes too well in that regard. As for resale: assuming the lights work, it's not too beat up, and the tires aren't cracked, you'll get $300 back for either of those trailers EASILY ... meaning the HF one is ~ $200, and the Kijiji one is ~$400.

Regardless, maybe the Harbor trailer is plenty for your purposes, and you're cool with rewiring it (unless you store it indoors, that wiring will almost definitely fail within a few years), and realise the platform needs to be purchased; that still only brings it to $500, which isn't too bad. OTOH, those UHaul trailers are SUPER easy to come by; there's always a ton of them available, if not at your closest location, one that isn't too far (generally). Now, it's a lot more convenient to hook up a trailer at your house in 5 minutes and continue on your way ... with UHaul, it's at LEAST 1hr to fill out paperwork, get it attached, then get it detached. I use a trailer for some random job at least once/month, so owning my own trailer is a given (also I built a light-duty 4.5 x 10' trailer, which doesn't actually exist to buy non-custom, so there's that too). I also easily have the space to store it though, which helps.

Another thing you might not have considered:, what vehicle are you towing with? That Harbor Freight trailer probably weighs like 200lbs, meaning it's carrying capacity is quite high, even if you've only got a Chevy Sonic (for example) to move it around with. The UHaul one, OTOH, weighs at nearing 1,000lbs with nothing in it, which could be a concern. I'd suggest you try and see if they'll even let you tow that trailer with your vehicle. For example, I can't tow the UHaul trailer you linked with my A4, meaning UHaul won't rent it to me (they connect the trailer themselves), even though my towing capacity is plenty for moving that trailer with my snowmobile in it.

CuriousC wrote: ↑ Yes I am starting some renos
I do not expect to need it after that
There is a long term owner review on Youtube a guy who owned it 7y and put like 7000miles on it

CuriousC wrote: ↑ A 4 cylinder outback will be able to tow both, before booking online from Uhaul you need to tell them what vehicle you have
the above UHaul print screen is based on that info