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A tiny house trailer isn’t something you can just buy off the side of the road. Not unless you want to risk getting a faulty or damaged trailer. Even if you buy from a tiny house company, you can get into some trailer trouble just like these people did. They put a lot of money toward a tiny house that they didn’t mount on the right trailer. The hitch broke in transport, and now there’s so much damage they can’t even live in it! Add the massive price tag of over $100,000 that they initially paid, and you really do have a tiny house nightmare.
Problems like that can happen to anyone, especially if you don’t thoroughly research your trailers. Getting a trailer just for tiny houses is essential. As with most things in life, all the time and energy you spend planning will go straight down the drain if you don’t start with the proper foundation.
What Are Tiny House Trailers?
When you’re looking to build a tiny house, there are four different trailer options available to you that have the most popularity. The Deck-Between, Deck-Over, Dovetail, and Gooseneck are the most popular trailers you can find available for tiny house building. Each one of them has their design, letting you choose the tiny house trailer that fits your needs. It’s important to note that though some people do manage to build their tiny homes on regular trailers, it’s safer to build on one designed for tiny houses.
Some people have been building tiny house trailers for a long time. They have perfected their builds, which ensures their trailers are safe. It’s important to take a close look at a wide variety of different specifications; they’ll give you a general idea of what you should expect from the specific model of trailer.
Trailer logistics
When you’re looking at the different trailers, it’s wise to take a look at the trailer a little closer. The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is crucial because you have to know the weight of your house overall. A lot of homes have to be and stay under a specific weight limit in relation to the trailer they’re made on. The trailer adds to the overall weight of the trailer, which is a weight you’ll have to factor into the total weight of your home. A few more things to take into account are the number of axels, the weight rating of each axle, the deck height, and subfloor.
Hitch styles
There are a wide variety of hitches available to you, but the best functioning one seems to be a class V trailer hitch. They’re the only hitches that are safe enough to handle a tiny house without an issue. Each hitch has it’s own ability to hold weight, letting you know how much it can handle. Called the tongue weight a trailer that has a weak or improper hitch can be dangerous.
If the hitch breaks, you could lose your tiny house, even as you’re moving down the road. You also need to be sure whatever vehicle you have is strong enough to pull both the hitch and the tiny house. Any old four-door car won’t pull a tiny house accurately. Usually, you need an SUV or a truck. It really depends how much your tiny house will end up weighing.
What Kinds of Trailers Are the Best for Tiny Home Construction?
There are plenty of different trailers to use for tiny homes, but you’re going to want to stick to the four mentioned above. Getting them new is far better than getting them used. Used trailers could have damage or rust depending on their age, the previous owner, and a slew of other factors. If you’re going to stray from the above list be sure you’re getting the trailer new, used trailers could be damaged or unsafe. Check to be sure it can hold quite a bit of weight, even a small tiny house is heavy, and ensure your vehicle can handle the load the house is going to put on it.
How Much Are the Trailers?
Trailers, of any kind, can be a little pricey, but you’re looking to build a house on them so you will want to spend the money. You could easily go with an unreliable trailer for a cheap price, some people in small towns sell them in grassy lots on busy roads. Unfortunately, they’re not safe, and they’re not a tiny house trailer.
If you want a safe, dependable trailer, you’re looking at prices from $3,000 to more than $6,000 which will all depend on where you get the trailer and what brand you work with. Always be sure you work with a safe vendor that’s done this before. Otherwise, you could just get a rough and unsafe trailer to build your tiny home on.
Type of Trailer
There are dozens of tiny house builders, and those builders sometimes sell trailers. These trailers are the ones they use, and they use tiny house trailers on a regular basis. These builders craft tiny homes for a living, and selling those safe trailers is another income. These trailers are all offered by tiny house builders or those in the tiny house market, making them safe and reliable. There are a variety of sizes available you should be able to find one that’s perfect for you.
Gooseneck Tiny House Trailers
These trailers are a little different than the others. It has a deck that is easily hooked up in the bed of a truck. The upper parts of the gooseneck usually work well for a master bedroom or deck. The trailer itself though ranges from 92 inches to 102 inches in width for the decks, but you can get models in a wide variety of sizes. The deck sits at 52 inches above the lower deck. A lot of the tiny house builders can adjust the length and width to the trailer to meet your needs, which will, of course, cost more.
The total length is maxed out at 56 feet, making this a big trailer. There is of course only so much you can change before you make it a completely different trailer, but the Gooseneck is a very popular choice with tiny house builders. Tiny House Basic even has a quote system so you can tell how much a specific model will be.
Deckover Tiny House Trailers
This trailer from Tiny House Basic is another popular trailer that usually has a maximum of 36 foot long. This trailer gives you a nice even flat surface to start with, without any wheel wells to maneuver around. Wheel wells can be a bit difficult, making this tiny house trailer a popular choice with tiny house builders. Note that if you’re looking to build a loft of some kind, this is probably not the trailer for you.
It is a bit taller off the ground than other trailers. You’d find traveling difficult if you had a tiny house with a loft. You can also get a Deckover in just about any weight rating. Making it easier to focus less on the weight and more on the home you’re about to build. Tiny House Basic even has a quote system so you can tell how much a specific model will be.
18-Foot Tiny House Trailer
These trailers are a little smaller than the others at about 18 feet long. They’re usually built with a small loft for the bedroom and are relatively lightweight in tiny house terms. You still get 102 inches of width at maximum, but you will have to tolerate wheel wells on this trailer. You should be able to fit a bathroom, kitchenette, and bedroom in this little trailer without much hassle. Tiny House Basic even lets you drop axels, flush cross members and extend the tongue of the tiny house trailer as you see fit. Each trailer built by this company is custom built. The company handles the build which means there’s no builder markup or a dealer trying to increase the price on you.
Medium Duty Deckover 6″ Channel (L6) Trailer
This trailer doesn’t give us a total cost wise, but you can get financing with this trailer provider. PJ Trailer seems to be the only provider of this trailer at tiny house quality. Tiny house trailers can be difficult to make. With lengths ranging from 14 feet to 24 feet, this provider seems to have it under control. This trailer comes with some awesome standard features which include safety chains, and DOT approved Flushmount Lifetime LED lights, along with much more. Though they don’t provide the overall cost, they go in-depth with pretty much everything else.
Tiny Home Builders 24-foot trailer
This company does an excellent job of showing you a trailer and the prices for the trailer. At 24 feet, this tiny house trailer ranges between $4,000 and $4,500, making it the easiest cost to pin down. You even get to choose what type you want. So you can make it a Gooseneck and add a platform if you’d like. Any additions cost extra of course, but Tiny Home Builders does a great job of making their trailers customizable. You can choose the axels, deck width, and even add in any special requests. You can request for pickup or delivery and even add in a trailer lock if you’d like one.
Iron Eagle PAD Series tiny home trailer
Iron Eagle has quite a thorough series of trailers. They have quite a few to comb through and plenty of photographs their website has a less than appealing feel to it. Each tiny house trailer they make is designed for tiny houses specifically though. They also have cross member supports and even room for insulation. With the addition of space for insulation, you can be sure your tiny house doesn’t get cold in the winter months. This company tries to give you the most extra living space possible by giving you the maximum legal limit of 102 inches in width, like the other trailers above.
The trailers are tubing instead of steel making it lighter so your tiny house can weight more. Unfortunately, there isn’t any pricing information, just a single homepage with some pictures and a phone number. You’ll have to call to get any relevant information about a tiny house trailer.
Tumbleweed 20-foot tiny home trailer
The 20-foot Tumbleweed trailer is one that easily impresses. With scissor jacks on all four corners to level the trailer easily, an anti-rust coating, an embedded floor design, and a standard issue tongue plate they do a great job of making you feel like you’re getting your monies worth. They provide high-quality pictures of the trailer, so you know what you’re getting. You can see all the different lights you get, and they offset the axels to make sure your tiny house is well balanced. This 20-foot model hovers between the $5,000 to $6,000 price range. Making this a great tiny house trailer for just about any tiny home you may have in mind.
Tumbleweed 26-foot tiny home trailer
This tiny house trailer which is on the same page as the 20-foot size from Tumbleweed, but it still has awesome features. Along with the scissor jacks, the lights, anti-rust coating and more it has the additional 6 feet added to the back. That room can make a difference. The detachable and replaceable jacks, and the fact that your walls will line up right on your trailer frame it makes it easy to fall in love with the 26-foot model. One thing Tumbleweed does that a few other vendors haven’t is that they tell you the prices upfront. This tiny house trailer runs between $6,000 and $7,000. There is also a shipping fee if you’d like them to deliver.
Different Trailers for Different Tiny Homes
Picking the right tiny house trailer is incredibly important. You want a solid build with a trailer that works well with a tiny house. Any of the above trailers would work well to build a new home. The fact that they all work so well is what makes it so hard to choose the right trailer for you. You need to know what’s best for you. How big do you need your home? What kinds of luxury items do you want in your home? A painter is going to have a different home than a software engineer. What kind of trailer are you getting for your tiny home? Leave us a comment about the next step in your tiny house plans.
