My Hotshot Trucking Life | 5 BROKEN TRAILER! - I QUIT!?

[@tonychilds884]

Lawn boy, I was hauling a 10k skid steer from PA to home in NC. I have the same mobile home wheels and a few of the wheel studs snapped and the wheel went rolling past me on the highway! After a lot of learning on the side of the road, the best fix is a simple and cost effective. Go to a decent NAPA store and buy all new wedges, actual bolts(instead of studs), and lock washers. Replace all of your old wedges with the new ones. This is because the old wedges get worn out and lose their square shape and allow the doughnut wheel to shift and start vibrating. The new bolts, lock washers and wedges really hold it together. I've been hauling big loads of hay from farm to farm and everything is staying tight with the wheels.

[@lawnboy81SMS]

Tony Childs Thanks for the tip! I’m assuming the reason two bolts snapped when I tried to remove them is either because they just tight/rusty over time or the last person over tightened them.

[@douglasrykerd6266]

Not sure your future plans, but if you plan to keep that trailer I’d definitely upgrade to regular trailer axles, wheels, and suspension. Those axles and tires are only intended for temporary moves. I think the tires even say that on them. You’ve done well starting with what you have, but definitely time to upgrade

[@lawnboy81SMS]

Douglas Rykerd I’ve upgraded all the tires so they are designed for modern use and don’t say mobile home only on them. I believe it is illegal to run mobile home tires on anything but mobile homes, and even then they blow out all the time. The axles and hubs are ok to use but being a homemade trailer it really limits the weight and size of what I can put on it safely. The trailer house hub makes it hard to find tires is the only downfall. My biggest issue is when I was 18 I racked up a couple credit cards and 4 years later they aren’t any better as I’ve never worked a job that paid that much. This is finally something that might actually allow me to get those paid down. I have a stellar 100% perfect payment history but banks don’t like the revolving balances and therefore won’t give me even a few grand for a new trailer without a co-signer. I’m trying though, I definitely am. But it’s hard. I just got done replacing all the shackles and the bushings in the hangar and hopefully I did it right. Suspension still seems loose but maybe it’s supposed to be a little bit? I’ll have to look more into it whenever I get home this week and hope I can get home without more problems. Now I need to find some air, try to fill the tires back up and see what happens.

[@douglasrykerd6266]

lawnboy81SMS just keep plugging away and make the best decisions you can with the available information at the time. You’ll get there. Being young doesn’t help with the credit either, but you’ll be better off in the long run if you can save and pay cash as you go. Even the nicest bumper pull trailers are only 5-6 grand. That may seem like a lot if you don’t have it, but if you keep hustling and watch your numbers you’ll have that in just a few months. Best wishes.

[@VelvetElvis8]

Dont give up. You have a good attitude. I really hope this works out for you and you can work your way up to a better truck and trailer to become financially successful in this business..

[@motofarmmx2430]

Looks like you're having good luck so far. Especially for what you started with. I've seen guys go thru trucks and trailers in that amount of time that cost them much more.

[@Farmerdan_1]

The best thing you can do is get a new trailer when you can.

[@lawnboy81SMS]

Dan Wyman That’s what I’m hoping to do. Unfortunately I have lots of personal bills (tools, credit cards, personal insurances, utilities, rent, etc) so that doesn’t leave much money left over right now. And when I got my first couple credit cards 4 years ago at 18 I was stupid and racked up more than I could pay off at a time so although I have a stellar 100% payment history on all my credit accounts, banks won’t give me a loan even for a few grand because of my high credit card balances until I can pay them off/down more. Which is unfortunate and makes it tough when most used trailers aren’t much cheaper than buying a new one anyway unless buying a homemade one like I did with this one. For now it’s patch it back together until I can afford a bigger/better one. But I’ll get there. It’s very frustrating some days not having the equipment I want, but I’m trying. I’m not making as much money as I’d like to right now but on the flip side I get paid more often so it’s easier to balance/pay bills at home since I don’t have to stretch a paycheck for 2 weeks at a time. And on top of that I’m now happier in life than I’ve been before and I love getting to be my own boss and work my own hours! I may be gone from home a lot unfortunately, but I love that I’m in complete control of when and where I am and I can take “time off” whenever I want without approval. I do work for a couple companies part time when I’m home for a while though. One is a snow plowing company the other is a lawn care company and I can work for them whenever I want as long as I want. Doing the lawn care though reminds me of how much I hate not being in charge of my hours or where I eat since I have to pack a lunch for that instead of sit down and eat somewhere.

[@lawnboy81SMS]

Dan Wyman Check out my Huge update video! I finally was able to upgrade to a bigger trailer!

[@Farmerdan_1]

Atta boy!