[Costco] Freedom 4 ft. × 8 ft. Single Axle, 3-in-1 Folding Utility Trailer Kit - $699.99

nigeljoiner wrote: ↑ Not true. I bought this trailer last year, it comes with a prefilled registration document. I took this to the MTO, got it legally plated and registered as per serial number. Plates in Ontario don't require stickers so it is a lifetime 40$ purchase.

You can do that, but you certainly don't have to. I don't expect any OPP officer gives a rats ass if my boat trailer registered as 'home made' is actually home made.

If you have the document, then by all means get it all done up nice and neat. But it wouldn't stop me from buying a used trailer for 1/3 the price without a title.

I bought the Galvanized version of this trailer a couple of years back to haul my riding mower, etc.

A couple of notes. DO NOT tighten any frame bolts until the frame is completely assembled and squared up. Also take special note of the wiring routing path and especially how it goes past the trailer bed hinge area or the first time you fold the trailer you can tear the wires.

Keep in mind, which many people miss....the folding feature can become a non-feature depending on how you plan to use this when fully built.

torontotim wrote: ↑ Yes, if you put a 3/4" plywood deck on this, you can put an ATV on it.

In Ontario, you just walk into the MTO and tell them you have a home made trailer. No registration needed. $40 or whatever the fee is these days and you walk out with a plate and registration papers. No inspections, no taxes, no annual sticker needed. I have 2 trailer plates I swap between my 2 utility trailers and boat trailers as needed.

This is a lot of money for what is a Harbor Freight / Princess Auto folding trailer painted black. I have the Princess Auto version that I bought used for $200.

If I was buying new, I might go to these guys instead. Save $50, support a local business and it might even be a better trailer.

$646 for the 4 x 8 model. But if I was buying, I'd spend the extra $75 and get the 5 x 8 version. That's a lot more convenient. A pain to do the decking on as you can't just buy a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, but it's better for hauling 2 motorcycles etc. and easily worth the $75 premium.

www.htstrailers.com

Do you need a VIN when you tell them the trailer is homemade? Or even length Weight etc? I'm In a market for a frame, But im unsure of how the registration process works.

Hm.. I could use this to transport lumber and full sheets of plywood...

ozzi12 wrote: ↑ Do you need a VIN when you tell them the trailer is homemade? Or even length Weight etc? I'm In a market for a frame, But im unsure of how the registration process works.

No - you don't need anything. Just walk in and tell them you have a home-made trailer and need a registration and plate.

Are the MTO Service Centers even open?

CHIA wrote: ↑ Keep in mind, which many people miss....the folding feature can become a non-feature depending on how you plan to use this when fully built.

+1 First thing I did when I got my 'folding' trailer was to slap a full sheet of 3/4" plywood on the deck and bolt it down. I bought the trailer used for a good price - I wasn't looking for a folding model.

I don't have a large garage to store it in. It lives outside at the cottage. I suppose if I had a 2 car garage in Toronto, I might consider folding it up and putting it in the corner, but there's no room in my 12 x 20 garage for the trailer along with all the other stuff I have in there.

Can anyone in BC confirm how registering this kind of trailer works? Is it like a motorcycle (cursory glance and VIN check by an autoplan agent who couldn't care less), or even possible right now?

Anybody know what kind of tires these come with? Manufacturer, size, rating?

I worked at a tire retailer long enough to know that trailers can come with tires that aren't fit for the highway, or public roads in general

BTW - this is the trailer with two 2 x 2 x 1 foot pre-cast concrete anchors in it. When I picked them up, the company told me they weighed 250 pounds each. No problem I thought for 2 of them.

Lowered them into the trailer with a forklift, and my trusty Cooper towed them to the cottage no problem (floating dock anchors). When we went to unload them by hand with a moving dolly we realized that they in fact weighed 250KG each or so. I looked up the weight of a cubic foot of concrete to confirm (150 pounds or 600 for each anchor).

Was an adventure, but the trailer stood up to about 1200 pounds no problem as did the MINI.

TwistedKestrel wrote: ↑ Anybody know what kind of tires these come with? Manufacturer, size, rating?

I worked at a tire retailer long enough to know that trailers can come with tires that aren't fit for the highway, or public roads in general

5.30 x 12'' 5 bolt tires

Does anyone have a folding trailer, with some sort of box, that comes apart relatively easily to allow for folding and storage? I wouldn't mind a trailer, but don't really have driveway storage for it.

torontotim wrote: ↑ Yes, if you put a 3/4" plywood deck on this, you can put an ATV on it.

In Ontario, you just walk into the MTO and tell them you have a home made trailer. No registration needed. $40 or whatever the fee is these days and you walk out with a plate and registration papers. No inspections, no taxes, no annual sticker needed. I have 2 trailer plates I swap between my 2 utility trailers and boat trailers as needed.

This is a lot of money for what is a Harbor Freight / Princess Auto folding trailer painted black. I have the Princess Auto version that I bought used for $200.

If I was buying new, I might go to these guys instead. Save $50, support a local business and it might even be a better trailer.

$646 for the 4 x 8 model. But if I was buying, I'd spend the extra $75 and get the 5 x 8 version. That's a lot more convenient. A pain to do the decking on as you can't just buy a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, but it's better for hauling 2 motorcycles etc. and easily worth the $75 premium.

www.htstrailers.com

I had the Harbor Freight one from the states. I think I paid about $300 + 3 tires from Princess Auto for about $50 each. I also registered it as 'home made' with no issues.

The trailer is fairly capable, but it was never fun pulling it out of the garage and setting it up. Plus you had to store a 4x8 plywood piece and some home made sides that you need to make a box. I don't think the price is bad but I would consider other options unless you absolutely need the folding feature.

You can split the deck and put the plywood on with the trailer folded, I think. But I'd never fold one of these things up TBH.

I also have a much smaller 4 x 4 trailer that I would simply prop up against the garage.

Then I bought a truck

I have one of these for 10 years from Harbor Freight for about $200 USD. I bought a 4x8 sheet of 1/8 aluminum for a deck.
There were and still are several problems with this trailer:

- The fenders: They are made of heavy steel plate (10lbs each) held on by a bent steel bracket. Metal fatigue causes the fenders to break off while you're towing it after only a short time, hopefully not causing an accident as it bounces around into traffic. Sometimes the fender bolts eat into the tires over bumps and cause a blowout. I never installed the oem fenders and made my own from the curved bottom of a plastic 40 gallon drum. This saved about 20 lbs of weight. Google "Harbor Freight trailer fenders" to read horror stories of fenders falling off.

- Wheel bearings. Before towing for the first time, I cleaned all the grease and metal shavings out of the bearings and repacked them. The shafts are also not machined cleanly and eat up the grease seals so after every trip I have to clean black grease off the rims and re-grease.

- The hinges: A 4x8 sheet of anything will not fit until the hinges are modified and moved outwards.

- The folding procedure: It can be like a huge mouse trap and break your forearms if you do not look up how to do it safely. There are also bolts that have to be installed and removed when unfolding and re-folding. This is a real pain involving crawling partway under each side with various sockets and wrenches.

- Comes with no tiedowns: I bought 8 stainless steel eyebolts, installed on the sides instead of some of the included fasteners. This worked out very well, hauling lawn tractors, snowblowers, etc.

- The tail lights: They can drag on the ground when maneuvering by hand and the license plate gets easily mangled as it sits too low under the light.

- No spare wheel is included. The tires are made in our favorite country that also has a very nice microbiology lab near a wet market. There was a major safety recall of these tires which HF replaced for free.

- Very thin metal: The frame is very flexible, torsion-wise, made of very thin sheet metal. A deck of plywood or anything else will stiffen if up a bit but be sure to use Loc-tite and check all the bolts often.

- The OEM casters: They are fairly small (2inch) and the plastic wheels are brittle and break easily. They also don't roll nicely over rough concrete. These I replaced with 4inch casters from from Princess Auto, but cannot be left on since they interfere with the unfolding and folding. Not a big deal as I just finger-tighten them for storage.

- The springs: They are the trailing-slipper kind and will rub metal on metal. I cut up an old polyethylene kitchen cutting board and used pieces to make friction reducing pads

I have used the trailer many times, but never on wet roads. There are so many crevices and channels to collect dirt, a pressure washing will also remove the cheap paint. Backing up is impossible due to its low profile unless there are sides on it high enough to view from the drivers seat. It's very noisy when unladen. So lightweight that I forgot it was behind me at times, so low profile that I could not see it in my rear view mirror.
It served me well over the years but the folding procedure was such a chore that it had to be a really special need to go through all the trouble.

Last year (thanks to RFD) I bought an aluminum folding 4x8 trailer from Reno-Depot for under $1K that unfolds in seconds and uses 4 pins to hold it open or closed. It has no casters and uses its own wheels to roll around when folded. Soon, my Lil Red Trailer will be up for sale.

I am selling a 4x6 trailer. Pm for details if interested. GTA.

While I appreciate the OP brining up this item, I wouldn't call it a hot deal. At best, I'd say it's about worth what they are asking...

How often does Costco put these on sale?