djljeep
Well-known member
This will be overly detailed, mostly because I just went through 11 years of phone pictures. Prepare yourself for unnecessary backstory.
So I have a Pequea MP18 light equipment trailer I bought in 2014. I have no idea what year it is at the moment looking at pictures, but it was used and had been modified and re-painted atleast once when I bought it. Originally it would have been a 18 foot deck, no beaver tail, with 5200 lb axles (GVWR of 9999lb). The guy I bought it from (for like $3k) had added a 3 foot beaver tail to the trailer so they could fit (2) SxS on it by cutting the rear beam off the trailer, adding 3' of channel and 2 cross members in-between and re-welding the rear beam back on for 21' of deck total. They also modified the original ramps by cutting them down and tossing the feet. It scaled around ~1500 lbs, so really pretty light for what it is.
Pictures of when I bought it in 2014:
This was my second purchase after graduating Engineering School (after my CJ5) and actually before I had a truck to pull it with (I always bummed my dad's or my roommates, but all of my fathers trailers at the time were just too crappy or heavy for moving a Jeep regularly). So naturally the first thing I did was experiment with what fits on a 21' trailer.
Now the way the PO extended the trailer always had some problems. To start with, it just wasn't super rugged, and would deflect a lot. He literally butt welded the channel frames, added a small fish plate on the outside and called it good. Loading my CJ5 this is a non-issue, but I became interested in seeing if I could fit two Jeeps on it, and well it deflected so hard that the rear beam was only a couple inches from the ground. Needless to say I never actually did this, but that bug never left my brain. I'll circle back to that.
The other issue with the way it was lengthened was that in upset the natural balance of the trailer and made it very light on the tongue. When empty I could lift it off a truck by hand, and with the YJ & TJ on it in the picture above, I could lift the tongue with 2 fingers, which was more evidence that wasn't going to work.
Ultimately I used the trailer for 10 years, moving my CJ5, Moving my fathers Kubota around when I was building my house, and eventually all the other crap I've collected. I learned just load it a little heavier on the tongue than a normal car hauler, and It actually works really well with the 30 HP Kubota with a hoe (other than deflection when loading).
At some point I added a quick Receiver hitch mount for a winch to drag more **** home.
And then we have the issues that led to the current project.
-The deck boards were dry rotting and the self tappers were starting to pop. This was made worse because when the PO extended the trailer, He didn't add an Angle iron across the back of the flat deck like beaver tail trailers have to capture the boards.
-Growing concerns about the deflection in the Beaver tail when moving my WJ or the Wife's wheeling XJ. On those the only choice I really had for rear tie downs was wrapping the bar the ramps pivot on with my chain extension ratchets. There are no stake pockets or D-Rings far enough back and adding them wouldn't really solve anything - the angles aren't really right to pull to the outside of the trailer and I'm not willing to put D-rings in a places where it would fetch up something being drug onto the trailer.
-The above issue was made worse by the rear beam starting to twist because of the leverage the ratchets had on it when hauling the WJ or XJ.
-The wiring was starting to get pinched in places and the puppy kept ripping out the repairs.
-The fenders were failing. They had broken their welds 2 or 3 times and I just fixed them, but at some point they rotted through completely - Like literally crumbling if I stood on them and started to fall off.
-I've always run kenda bias 225/75D15s on this and they don't wear right. would like to go to Radial Es and I suspect the bushings in the suspension need replacement.
-The whole thing was getting rusty. I use this thing a lot in the winter for snow wheeling and when I was building my house I moved the tractor every couple of weeks it seemed like. More evidence below:
Literally plowed my way into Rocky Mountain Terrain Park with the trailer in tow from the Weld side after a snow storm because we had ill equipped tow rigs with us.
Originally I told myself I would trade the trailer and get a new shiny one. After all I've had it ten years and I paid like $3k for it then, and a new 20 foot 14k wood deck fold up ramp Rice trailer is like $5400 at the dealer in town here I think. The only thing I don't like about the new ones is that they are power coated (and I much rather have a painted one).
But one thing led to another and between a new job and a series of deals I couldn't say no to, I just can't stomach paying another 5k for a trailer, and the condition of mine had reached a point where the trade value was gone. I had considered a quick repaint/redeck/new fenders and sell it, but the math wasn't mathing and I quickly found out that there was nothing quick about prepping this thing for paint.
Also of note, One of the deals mentioned above was for a 33' big tex goose trailer, so the need to haul two rigs is gone for this trailer. For that matter, its days of moving the trailer are probably done too. And one of the other deals was this ****ing thing, which needs a deckover trailer to move period.
So I have a Pequea MP18 light equipment trailer I bought in 2014. I have no idea what year it is at the moment looking at pictures, but it was used and had been modified and re-painted atleast once when I bought it. Originally it would have been a 18 foot deck, no beaver tail, with 5200 lb axles (GVWR of 9999lb). The guy I bought it from (for like $3k) had added a 3 foot beaver tail to the trailer so they could fit (2) SxS on it by cutting the rear beam off the trailer, adding 3' of channel and 2 cross members in-between and re-welding the rear beam back on for 21' of deck total. They also modified the original ramps by cutting them down and tossing the feet. It scaled around ~1500 lbs, so really pretty light for what it is.
Pictures of when I bought it in 2014:
This was my second purchase after graduating Engineering School (after my CJ5) and actually before I had a truck to pull it with (I always bummed my dad's or my roommates, but all of my fathers trailers at the time were just too crappy or heavy for moving a Jeep regularly). So naturally the first thing I did was experiment with what fits on a 21' trailer.
Now the way the PO extended the trailer always had some problems. To start with, it just wasn't super rugged, and would deflect a lot. He literally butt welded the channel frames, added a small fish plate on the outside and called it good. Loading my CJ5 this is a non-issue, but I became interested in seeing if I could fit two Jeeps on it, and well it deflected so hard that the rear beam was only a couple inches from the ground. Needless to say I never actually did this, but that bug never left my brain. I'll circle back to that.
The other issue with the way it was lengthened was that in upset the natural balance of the trailer and made it very light on the tongue. When empty I could lift it off a truck by hand, and with the YJ & TJ on it in the picture above, I could lift the tongue with 2 fingers, which was more evidence that wasn't going to work.
Ultimately I used the trailer for 10 years, moving my CJ5, Moving my fathers Kubota around when I was building my house, and eventually all the other crap I've collected. I learned just load it a little heavier on the tongue than a normal car hauler, and It actually works really well with the 30 HP Kubota with a hoe (other than deflection when loading).
At some point I added a quick Receiver hitch mount for a winch to drag more **** home.
And then we have the issues that led to the current project.
-The deck boards were dry rotting and the self tappers were starting to pop. This was made worse because when the PO extended the trailer, He didn't add an Angle iron across the back of the flat deck like beaver tail trailers have to capture the boards.
-Growing concerns about the deflection in the Beaver tail when moving my WJ or the Wife's wheeling XJ. On those the only choice I really had for rear tie downs was wrapping the bar the ramps pivot on with my chain extension ratchets. There are no stake pockets or D-Rings far enough back and adding them wouldn't really solve anything - the angles aren't really right to pull to the outside of the trailer and I'm not willing to put D-rings in a places where it would fetch up something being drug onto the trailer.
-The above issue was made worse by the rear beam starting to twist because of the leverage the ratchets had on it when hauling the WJ or XJ.
-The wiring was starting to get pinched in places and the puppy kept ripping out the repairs.
-The fenders were failing. They had broken their welds 2 or 3 times and I just fixed them, but at some point they rotted through completely - Like literally crumbling if I stood on them and started to fall off.
-I've always run kenda bias 225/75D15s on this and they don't wear right. would like to go to Radial Es and I suspect the bushings in the suspension need replacement.
-The whole thing was getting rusty. I use this thing a lot in the winter for snow wheeling and when I was building my house I moved the tractor every couple of weeks it seemed like. More evidence below:
Literally plowed my way into Rocky Mountain Terrain Park with the trailer in tow from the Weld side after a snow storm because we had ill equipped tow rigs with us.
Originally I told myself I would trade the trailer and get a new shiny one. After all I've had it ten years and I paid like $3k for it then, and a new 20 foot 14k wood deck fold up ramp Rice trailer is like $5400 at the dealer in town here I think. The only thing I don't like about the new ones is that they are power coated (and I much rather have a painted one).
But one thing led to another and between a new job and a series of deals I couldn't say no to, I just can't stomach paying another 5k for a trailer, and the condition of mine had reached a point where the trade value was gone. I had considered a quick repaint/redeck/new fenders and sell it, but the math wasn't mathing and I quickly found out that there was nothing quick about prepping this thing for paint.
Also of note, One of the deals mentioned above was for a 33' big tex goose trailer, so the need to haul two rigs is gone for this trailer. For that matter, its days of moving the trailer are probably done too. And one of the other deals was this ****ing thing, which needs a deckover trailer to move period.
Last edited:
