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"side kit" on utility trailer- Anyone here use one ?

Milacron

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Fairly common on semi trailers but don't recall seeing one used on a pickup truck pulled trailer (photo of one below however) Can be done but wondering without a permanent headboard structure how the front panels would hold up to the wind. Downside (besides cost and labor to install/remove as needed) is standard panel size is 4 x 4 feet with 2 foot arch on the steel tubes, so 6 foot* in center is max height. Also you need some sort of tie down system integrated into the floor of the trailer so your chains or strap can be attached inside of the panels. Cost for 20 foot deck over trailer about $2,400. That's posts, panels, loops, tarp all the way around.

Side Kits B-Trains Side Kits Truck Bodies Sidekits Flatbed Trailers

http://www.loadcovering.com/sidekits/specialized-big.jpg

You can go taller of course but anything above 4 foot panel gets iffy in the rigidity department according to the salesman at loadcovering.com. Also, the material comes in 8 foot lengths so one 4 x 5 panel costs as much as two 4 x 4 panels.

Thoughts ?

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*I suppose in theory you could have a 7 foot tall machine poking up between the hoops. The tarp would look a bit screwy in that area but seems like it would work in "get 'er done" situations.
 
Not a user, so an unqualified response. However, a FRP nose cone over the gooseneck might help smooth the breeze over the "sail area" of the cover.

Rigidity could be helped by placing "X" bracing (with rachet straps or solid tube) from side to side, as space permits, fore and aft of the load.

Chip
 
Not a user, so an unqualified response. However, a FRP nose cone over the gooseneck might help smooth the breeze over the "sail area" of the cover.

Rigidity could be helped by placing "X" bracing (with rachet straps or solid tube) from side to side, as space permits, fore and aft of the load.

Chip
Not gooseneck, but the pintle hitch deckover that is to come. Trailer maker could add steel headboard but I'd prefer it not have 4 x 8 feet poking up even when not hauling anything due to wind resistance...although maybe 4 feet wouldn't be too bad wind resistance...hard to say. Another trick would be to make damn sure the trailer maker placed all the stake pockets in exactly the right place.
 
Typically they are used on semi trailers to convert flatbed to grain hauler.
It's been years ago but IIRC they are a PITA to install and remove.
Worked on a 40'er way back when, it had corn all over the floor and a large tank mounted dead center on the trailer. We assumed that they had been hauling Shine hidden in a load of corn!!
For some reason I remember them being called a "Connestoga Kit" as in Connestoga Wagons of old.
 
Most of the panels ride on the rub rail. The straps should never be put around the rail but between the rail and frame. If strapped first the legs and panels are a drop in deal.

As for the headache rack, we had steel trailers with a built in rack. Steel held up all welded to the frame. Don't know about aluminum post and plywood. Maybe with a top rail it holds up ok.

Ben

Ours were used for steel coils and wire coils so the little air gap wasn't a big deal. If we hauled grain I guess none of it would have made it to the destination. Fuel mileage would get better as we went down the road though!
 
I used to pull a flat and step deck and used a side kit many times. You do not need to have a bulkhead, you can use a set of panels that are cut to fit the width of your trailer. It's obviously better to have a bulkhead, but I ran many miles without. A lot of times I would kit up around a machine that was in the center of the trailer and use a piece of 8 foot plywood to make the front and rear of the enclosure. A lot of guys would cut small notches in the bottom edge of the panel so chains or straps could be used without "lifting" up the panels. They work great, but typically you try to keep up your side kit and not make a habit of removing it completely. Usually you strap down your load in a way so you only need to remove one side of the kit to unload.
 
It's been years ago but IIRC they are a PITA to install and remove.

For some reason I remember them being called a "Connestoga Kit" as in Connestoga Wagons of old.
RE PITA factor, I can see that but seems like would be less PITA than a regular tarp, plus anything loose that might fall off machine would be contained better, plus loose items like boxes that were ok to slide around some would be contained nicely.

Conestoga these days seems to be used more to describe a tarp assembly that slides on a track system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoSZ8g1QESI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQQtFBEQplE
 
What about a curtain side
With a little bigger investment you could even have a roof that you can shift open
One side opend and closed in less than 10 minutes
But perhaps hard to find in the US

Peter from Holland
 
What about a curtain side
With a little bigger investment you could even have a roof that you can shift open
One side opend and closed in less than 10 minutes
But perhaps hard to find in the US
The problem with any trailer enclosure situation other than a side kit or tarp is the considerable wind resistance (and resultant major decrease in fuel economy) that is present at all times, empty trailer or not. With the side kit one has the option to not use it when the load does not need it... the entire kit can be disassembled and stored in the pickup truck bed (assuming the trailer it fits on is not a gooseneck trailer of course)
 
And that is relevant to this discussion, how ?

Well, it was an answer to Peter from Holland. As for price, I talked to a driver that had one made from a flatbed, and it was as much to add it to the trailer as he paid for the flatbed. If a contract requires it, cool. You can get your money back pronto, as was his case. If you don't have a tall enough tow vehicle to break the wind for it, your fuel would suffer greatly.
 
RE PITA factor, I can see that but seems like would be less PITA than a regular tarp, plus anything loose that might fall off machine would be contained better, plus loose items like boxes that were ok to slide around some would be contained nicely.

Conestoga these days seems to be used more to describe a tarp assembly that slides on a track system.

Overview - Conestoga 2 - Aero Industries - YouTube

Chameleon Rolling Tarp System Demonstration - YouTube

I watched the videos, DAMM, I want one and I have nothing to haul and no semi trailer!! ;)
I would like to see it open and close after the driver uses the rub rails to go around corners and obstructions.

Pic is bulkhead that I fabricated on my 16' trailer after trying to haul a fridge with the short rail.
I haul 20' steel and 24' box tubing often placing it on top of the bulkhead and tail gate. Have had over 1000lbs with no problems once I strap it well.

As to hauling kit unassembled, you also have the roof bows to deal with which would be 96" or what ever width the trailer is.
 

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As to hauling kit unassembled, you also have the roof bows to deal with which would be 96" or what ever width the trailer is.
My pickup has an eight foot bed, but I can also imagine vertical posts at the head of the trailer serving as a storage rack where the bows could be stacked in a horizontal pile, one on top of another. Course if the rack got too high that pesky wind resistance becomes an issue again. I wonder if one could just remove the tarp, front and rear panels, while leaving the sides and roof bows so the wind could flow thru and that would be good enough ?
 
Fairly common on semi trailers but don't recall seeing one used on a pickup truck pulled trailer (photo of one below however)


I have seen them on goosenecks before.
I don't think I've ever seen one ona bumper hitch unit.


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