Looking To Buy a Good Collapsible Trailer
 

All,
As the title states, I am looking to buy a trailer that I can collapse and store in my garage. I have looked on Harbor Freight and Northern Tool and saw what they have. Does anybody have a history of either of these? Is there anything else out there could be recommended?
I need the bed to be at least 4'X8'. Primary uses would be; hauling bikes, lawn mower, lumber, appliances, small amounts of firewood, etc.
Any advice is appreciated.

I don't have any experience with either one. I think either would be good so long as you can do general maintenance on them (which I know you can do). It's a fairly simple, steel design on both.

I have the foldable Harbor Freight trailer, for the price, it rocks. $257 out the door with one of those 20% off coupon. Spent extra money for plywood flooring and the bolts to bolt the flooring down. I dont have mine foldable, its a little more stiff that way. I haul my bike to and from the track with it. About 400 miles round trip. I also tilts to load and unload but its hard to do it gently. So I just use 8ft ramps, one for me to walk up and one for the bike. I use the fence stake brackets to hold the ramps in place while rolling down the road. Google "harbor freight trailer mods". It'll show you some of the pros and cons of the trailer. Such as, If you want it to tilt and fold you have to leave enough slack in the wiring so it dont rip it apart, and the "ground" need to be ran to each individual section since it basicly 3 parts hinged, so the lights work. It was kinda of a PIA to license and title here in WV. Since its a kit you put together, its the same as building one from scratch with scrap metal you have lying around. Your state might be different. I had to get a trailer kit package (forms) from the DMV. Take pics, have a police officer look at it and sign the papers they sent me, I didnt have to weigh it, I just used the shipping weight on the box for that, fill those forms out, how big it is, how much can it haul, how much does it weigh. Walk in to DMV pay $90 for title fee and plates. Its say not to go over 55mph but, I roll about 70mph on the way to the track and even faster on the way home. Havent had any problem at all. I bought a spare and bolted it to the underside of the flooring, just in case. I also put a pump or 2 of grease in the bearing before heading to the track. I pull it with 02 Chevy Venture mini van ( the Bugs Bunny Warner Bros. edition) with 180,000 miles.

Also it wont fold all the way with motorcycle wheel chock bolted to the floor. And its a PIA to take the bolts out so it will fold.

Thanks man. I appreciate the honest review with all the plusses and minuses. As I'm sure you know, HF usually has two classes of products; really great and total crap. I wasn't sure I wanted something attached to my vehicle if it's crap. I would want to haul bikes if need be, but mainly I want to haul lumber and firewood. I will probably give it a try. Thanks again.

After I used it a couple times I was looking at the ones they have in front of Tractor Supply, those ones are crap if you asked me. You grab one of the corner and lift and the dam thing twist like a sheet of poster board. The only advantage they have I think is the mesh drop down ramp thats attached to them and the short fence built into them around the perimeter. And it might be easier to license since its already built etc. I dont know. Anyhow I love my little red Harbor Freight trailer I would definitely buy one again if needed.

I did see a company out there that one that had a decent suspension. But it was almost $800.00. Then it was going to be close to $300 in shipping charges. If I were going to use it all the time, I'd consider something like that but for my needs it's just too much $$. The Northern Tool one gets good reviews except the instructions are for crap and the electrical harness is about 3'-5' too short, depending on the review. I think I'll just go with your recommendation and get the HF one. When I get it I may post a thread on it. Thanks again.