She's nuts. You need a spare either way. Go single axle and carry a spare and a jack.

Here is something you might think about. First you will
have to add an electic brake control to your car. If the
trailor is not fully loaded you are wasting the capability of the trailor. Here is the best part. My brother's dual axil trailor blew a tire on the rear axil.
the shreading tire parts got caught up in the front tire
and blew it too. He now caries two spares.

Without seeing the trailers, to me it's a no brainer, for $200 I'd double the capacity. Sounds like they're just charging for the cost of the extra parts. Aside from being able to haul more if you find you ever need to, two axles are a lot more stable towing down the road. Don't know what your maintainence concerns would be. If you're like most people, it won't take any more time to ignor two axles than it does to ignor one ;0) I guess it might take an extra minute once in a while to air up the tires. The only disadvantage I can think of is if you want to move it around by hand. Might not be able to turn it. jmo

I have had a cargo trailers since 1994, I have a 5x8 and just got rid of my 6x12. Kalining is correct. You will need a brake controller for your truck. And that can be a bit of money. Second, don't buy any more trailer than you think you'll need. Can your truck easily pull a 7,000 pound trailer? Can you? If not, don't get it. You're talking anti sway bars and weight distributing hitches. The added weight of the trailer is just wasted if you're never going to use it. The single axle trailers are excellent. You're getting the right size unit. And you can pick up the tongue and move it manually a lot easier than a tandem trailer.

Not only that with a twin axle rig you can't see if a tire is flat so you've got to use your jack handle, hammer or piece-a-rebar and thump yer tires every time you stop. Every time.

Not only that long as yeratit, might as well carry a pliers and screw driver to dig out the nails and glass etc (called lamping your tires).

Not only that but actually the chance of a flat is increased with a 2nd axle because the first tire may run over somthing like a bolt or similar object and set it up to puncture the following tire.

Not only that......Aw that's enough. :-)

Thanks for all your inputs... whether recommended single or double axles.
I went ahead and bought a SINGLE axle . The bed floor is made of chemically treated 2"x6" beams. It (wood preserving chemical) must have been very lightly applied since I can barely tell the difference between the the ones treated and not treated. Anyway, I want to paint the floor with paint for added protection but I don't know what kind; latex, oil based, enamel, varnish, ??? What kind of coating would be the best for the trailer floor that will carry loads like ATVs, motorcylces, etc.?
Thanks.

You guys are nutz. He was talking about tandam axles, not dual wheels. A flat tire will go down on tandam axle single wheel just like a single axle single wheel. Use of tandam axles results in less tongue weight, not more. He's talking about a small trailer, not something that hauls heavy equipment where there are tandom duals clear in the back. If he doesn't need a brake control to safely pull what he's hauling with a single, he doesn't need it with the same trailer with an extra axle either. The extra couple hundred lbs for the axle and tires won't matter. Even IF the trailer is equiped with electric brakes and one wants to use them, It's no big deal any more. Electronic brake controls can be purchased just about anywhere for $40 - $80. Installation is a snap. Stick the thing under the dash anywhere, 12v feed in, run a single wire back to the plug. Ignor the brake light wire. No more 'T'ing into the brake hydraulics. That's a real bank breaker and a complicated deal, isn't it? Same with the load leveling hitch, if he didn't need one before, he wouldn't need one now. He'd need one sooner with a single axle if anything. One thing I have noted about these small trailers is they will actually ride a lot better with a load leveling hitch regardless of the tongue weight. Little trailers tend to bounce when you hit any little bump on the road. The hitch significantly reduces that bouncing. At my work we have a yard full of small dual axle trailers. They started out as singles, but we had them all converted to tandoms. Results were nothing but an improvement all around, none of the negatives alleged here...aside from not being able to steer them when moving by hand like I said.

For the decking, what can be used depends on what's already been applied. If it's been treated with some kind of water repelling stain or wood preservative, neither latex or oil base paint will stick very well. If you're concerned, towards the end of summer when the wood is real dry, applying either stain or a product like tompson water seal. Once a year or every other year will probably work as well as anything. jmo

Gary.Where the hell did you get the dual wheel idea from ?
this guy IS talking about tandam axils. you might want to talk to my brother about flats and blow outs on a tamdam
axil. It took out two tires on the same side. i took him the other spare. a 58 mile drive.

**Gary.Where the hell did you get the dual wheel idea from ?**

From this comment... **with a twin axle rig you can't see if a tire is flat so you've got to use your jack handle, hammer or piece-a-rebar and thump yer tires every time you stop. Every time.**

That is the process you use to check duals. I'm calling bs. that might be true IF both axles are independantly attached to the frame without that rocker peice between the two spring packs allowing the axles to move independantly. If it is built that way, it's a POS anyway. Even a tire on an empty single axle trailer might only have 13 lbs of air out of 30 - 60 lbs it's supposed to have and still appear fully inflated...untill you put your load on it.

Same with the brake control. Same trailer, same load, gotta have a brake control. I call bs. Even if so, $40 material and an hours time and it's done. Big deal.

Same with the comment about ez lift hitches and added weight. For $200, all he can be getting is another axle, not an entirely different trailer.

Same with **If the trailor is not fully loaded you are wasting the capability of the trailor.** You will not find a single example ever of an axle or tire failure because it was underloaded. I bet just about everyone's seen a single axle trailer laying dead along side the road missing a wheel...spindle and all. That didn't happen because it wasn't loaded to capacity.

**you might want to talk to my brother about flats and blow outs on a tamdam axil.**
Why would I want to? I believe you. Maybe your brother hit the lottery for a million too. That doesn't mean everyone that buys a ticket does.

For comparison to your brother's experience, I've worked for a construction outfit for the last 26 years. Got lots of tandom axle trailers that leave the yard daily. There are staples, nails, and bits of wire on the ground where the things are parked. Not to mention the stuff in the road like that your brother evidently failed to avoid one time resulting in the loss of two tires, and then the construction sites. Those are always tire freindly environments you know. Anyway, in all that time, I've seen a lot of flats. Don't remember a single time where two tires went bad on the same side at the same time, much less the front tire causing the rear one to fail.

The positives of a single axle, all other factors equal, are it's ease to move around by hand, and the once every 12 years you need tires for it, most likely because the originalls are rotten from old age, it will in fact cost half as much.

The positives of the dual axle in this instance are twice the capacity, virtually the same money.

Either one will serve the purpose.

GARY IS RIGHT ! He should go with the 2 axle. As for the brake controller, IMHO the "PRODIGY" is the one you want. It's inertia controlled,as oppsed to elec. and you can adjust it so the trailer "leads" the tow vehicle by a 1/10-1.5 of a second. I have used just about every brake controller out there and the Prodigy blows them all away.
Good Luck

First, I know, everyone hates someone who posts years after a thread has ended, BUT, none of you guys got the point here. mister_h is a very lucky man! His wife actually wanted him to spend more money, and get a better trailer!!!! WOW!

To the rest of you, thanks for the trailer input on the single axle vs dual axle pros and cons. I have limited space to store a trailer and I had not even considered the ease if moving a single axle trailer so this thread was helpful.

Ned

hera guys i am suggestion new site thay Delivery direct from the factory to anywhere in the United States or Canada available. Thay have 100s of trailers in stock including a large selection of living quarters trailers.
http://www.milltrailers.com

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.milltrailers.com

I don't think those guys have been sitting around their computers for 6 years just for you to post a trailer site. Maybe you should have jumped in a little sooner. Say like 5 years ago or 4 years ago or maybe 3 years ago. But 6 years.

The Op decided in 2007 to purchase a single axle trailer. That was all he needed to haul his ATV or motorcycle. Most of the single axle units are rated for a minimum of 2,500 pounds, so evidently that's all he needed.

And I never click the spammers who try to sell something here. There are plenty of local trailer sales so why would I buy without actually seeing the unit for myself?