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Coupler lock for Demco style on dump trailer?

Gatorgrizz27

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2020
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756
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874
Looking for a coupler lock for my dump trailer. It will be rented out so it may be parked in some less than ideal areas. It has the Demco coupler like this, which prevents many of them with the slot on the bottom that slides over the flanged lip from working.

B05041DD-8711-485A-A024-7FF4FEED0E8F.png


The ones that have the metal horseshoe bar going over the top look like they would take all of 30 seconds to cut with an angle grinder. I have a Master lock one on my boat trailer that fits this coupler, but sits on it weird so I think somebody could whack it with a hammer and break it.


What do y’all recommend? Would like something in the sub $150 range as the plan is to keep adding trailers. Would be nice if additional ones could be ordered keyed the same also.
 
With the advent of the m18 fuel grinder nothing is “safe” anymore. Money ahead would be to put a gps locator on it and make sure your insurance is up to snuff.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
With the advent of the m18 fuel grinder nothing is “safe” anymore. Money ahead would be to put a gps locator on it and make sure your insurance is up to snuff.
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So much this

My connex had the nice big box over the padlock, the connex next door didn't and would get broken into. Until tweakers brought a cordless sawzall and slipped the blade behind it.

I could see fabricating some sort of cup that slides over the coupler and some high security locking mechanism to the tongue, but your renters are going to be retarded, GPS and good insurance is the key
 
You can buy all the locks you want, but chances are, it'll be hooked to a pickup and it'll just be easier to steal that


Also, if you're going into the trailer rental business, which I've considered doing, I'd pick an ungodly recognizable color and have your fleet painted inside, outside, underneath.
Florescent orange, pink, lime green, bright yellow, etc. You want that fucker to be on everybody's radar within 300 miles.
When you see it 4 years later going the other way on the freeway, you want to be 100% it's yours when you flip that epic turn.

I'd see that as a huge theft deterrent
 
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Projectjunkie said:
You can buy all the locks you want, but chances are, it'll be hooked to a pickup and it'll just be easier to steal that


Also, if you're going into the trailer rental business, which I've considered doing, I'd pick an ungodly recognizable color and have your fleet painted inside, outside, underneath.
Florescent orange, pink, lime green, bright yellow, etc. You want that fucker to be on everybody's radar within 300 miles.
When you see it 4 years later going the other way on the freeway, you want to be 100% it's yours when you flip that epic turn.

I'd see that as a huge theft deterrent
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This also seems to be a factor where the Rolloff Dumpster style rentals are taking off. Puts you in control of your trailer and where your boxes actually get dropped. Opens up the market to non-truck owners also (and the undersized trucks from getting overloaded). But of course, that takes your time to deliver and pickup and dump, especially if running 4-8 separate roll-offs around town.
 
Didn’t get any of these replies for some reason, thanks for the feedback.

After pointing out how easy it is to swap the coupler I’ll probably just run the Master lock I linked. I may come up with a box to lock the 7 way plug in, running with no lights would draw more attention if it was stolen at night.

We don’t love in a bad area at all, my current woodworking business clients are all well on the upper end of things, but I’m not exactly sure who the dump trailer rental clients will be. I expect a mix of people cleaning out garages, landlords hiring a couple college kids to clean out a rental house, and the one man handyman types.

The trailer will not be towed by customers, it will be parked and picked up, so no worry about locking it to a truck. I ran a DeWalt Mobile Lock GPS deal in my enclosed trailer for awhile, but the lack of an app really sucked and when the battery stopped taking a charge I cancelled the subscription. They keep emailing me to try it again, I might give them another shot.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
I may come up with a box to lock the 7 way plug in, running with no lights would draw more attention if it was stolen at night.
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Kind of a pain in the ass, but at work all our trucks and trailers are wired "wrong". If someone hooks up to a trailer with a regular rv style plug the 12v charge circuit applies the brakes. You could rewire the trailer(s) and make a short adapter harness to use when towing.

Like I said, its a pain in the ass but kills two birds with one stone.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
The trailer will not be towed by customers, it will be parked and picked up, so no worry about locking it to a truck.
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Ok, my first thought was "You expect some brain-dead customer to lock up your trailer?"

I think ProjectJunkie has the right idea - pink, lime green, and black stripes. Everyone will know it's yours. Paint your truck the same way and if a trailer is being towed by anything else let people know there's a reward for information.
 
Projectjunkie said:
If they are only towed by your truck, I'd seriously consider the drop off dumpster packages, that seems like a no brainer
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I’ve looked at the math on it, you’ve got to buy at least 10 before the roll offs break even with the dump trailers due to the cost of the roll off trailer itself. Not to mention if it goes down, you’re SOL until it’s repaired. Down one dump trailer, no big deal.

There are plenty of dumpster rental companies here for the month long remodels, we are going after 2 and 6 day rentals, and tighter areas where a regular dumpster won’t fit or people don’t want it tearing up the yard or driveway. Attempting to modernize the industry a bit and target “average people” who aren’t in the construction industry.

Starting off with just one trailer (brand new and paid for), but toying with the model of adding to the fleet by putting 25% down, financing them as we will only add more once demand is established, and then selling them off every year or two depending on the level of wear. Should never be upside down on them and you wouldn’t have to deal with much maintenance at all.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
I’ve looked at the math on it, you’ve got to buy at least 10 before the roll offs break even with the dump trailers due to the cost of the roll off trailer itself. Not to mention if it goes down, you’re SOL until it’s repaired. Down one dump trailer, no big deal.

There are plenty of dumpster rental companies here for the month long remodels, we are going after 2 and 6 day rentals, and tighter areas where a regular dumpster won’t fit or people don’t want it tearing up the yard or driveway. Attempting to modernize the industry a bit and target “average people” who aren’t in the construction industry.

Starting off with just one trailer (brand new and paid for), but toying with the model of adding to the fleet by putting 25% down, financing them as we will only add more once demand is established, and then selling them off every year or two depending on the level of wear. Should never be upside down on them and you wouldn’t have to deal with much maintenance at all.
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How much is a dumpster that you can compete with a little dump trailer?

Last I looked a big dumpster was pretty cheap.

I thought about trying to rent trailers out, but the thought of idiots abusing my $10k trailer for ~$100/day was tough to swallow. I thought about the "I drop it, you load it" but I pictured me dumping it at the dump and all the wet paint/antifreeze/batteries/dead hookers falling out and me having to deal with it.

Hopefully it works out for you.

On the other hand, there is a guy local that rents trailers. He's not online at all that I can find. He has a lot on the corner of 2 highways. You just text him, go hook up and drop off yourself, then he sends you an invoice through email :laughing: seems scetchy, but he must be doing good. He has been buying stuff left and right. A few months ago, he had just a few trailers a couple skid steers, couple mini ex's, attachments ect. He's added 2 tandem dual gosenecks, 2 dump trailers, 3 or 4 equipment trailers, and just recently picked up a bunch of bigger mini ex's and skid steers. He's so easy and convenient that I got rid of my dump trailer. For as little as I use it, I'll pay the $100/day once or twice a year.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
How much is a dumpster that you can compete with a little dump trailer?

Last I looked a big dumpster was pretty cheap.

I thought about trying to rent trailers out, but the thought of idiots abusing my $10k trailer for ~$100/day was tough to swallow. I thought about the "I drop it, you load it" but I pictured me dumping it at the dump and all the wet paint/antifreeze/batteries/dead hookers falling out and me having to deal with it.

Hopefully it works out for you.

On the other hand, there is a guy local that rents trailers. He's not online at all that I can find. He has a lot on the corner of 2 highways. You just text him, go hook up and drop off yourself, then he sends you an invoice through email :laughing: seems scetchy, but he must be doing good. He has been buying stuff left and right. A few months ago, he had just a few trailers a couple skid steers, couple mini ex's, attachments ect. He's added 2 tandem dual gosenecks, 2 dump trailers, 3 or 4 equipment trailers, and just recently picked up a bunch of bigger mini ex's and skid steers. He's so easy and convenient that I got rid of my dump trailer. For as little as I use it, I'll pay the $100/day once or twice a year.
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We aren’t really trying to compete on price, particularly for longer term remodel type stuff. Charging $350 for a 2 day rental and $450 for a 6 day rental, including dump fees up to 1.5 tons. Not targeting roofers and concrete cutters, like I said going for the homeowners, DIY types tearing out decks, designers dealing with the cardboard, styrofoam, etc from a house full of new furniture, and the handyman who is already pulling an enclosed trailer.

Stuff like a Facebook page, QR code on the trailer, online rental and payment, etc.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
We aren’t really trying to compete on price, particularly for longer term remodel type stuff. Charging $350 for a 2 day rental and $450 for a 6 day rental, including dump fees up to 1.5 tons. Not targeting roofers and concrete cutters, like I said going for the homeowners, DIY types tearing out decks, designers dealing with the cardboard, styrofoam, etc from a house full of new furniture, and the handyman who is already pulling an enclosed trailer.

Stuff like a Facebook page, QR code on the trailer, online rental and payment, etc.
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Hope you can make it work. That's more than what a 20 yard dumpster was last I looked.

Just out curiosity, what style trailer are you using? Like a 14x7, or deck over?
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Hope you can make it work. That's more than what a 20 yard dumpster was last I looked.

Just out curiosity, what style trailer are you using? Like a 14x7, or deck over?
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It’s a 10k low profile dump with extended sides. A smaller dumpster here is $450 whether it’s a day or a month, and dump trailers are $450/ week from Home Depot and United Rentals. We are mostly marketing to people who don’t have a vehicle to pull one with, want to deal with it, or already pulling an enclosed trailer.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
It’s a 10k low profile dump with extended sides. A smaller dumpster here is $450 whether it’s a day or a month, and dump trailers are $450/ week from Home Depot and United Rentals. We are mostly marketing to people who don’t have a vehicle to pull one with, want to deal with it, or already pulling an enclosed trailer.
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Man, a 10k is sooo easy to overload.

How are you going to make sure they don't fill the thing with double what it should be?

Ever notice the big rental companies have like 10x6x2 sided trailers with 14k axles? :laughing:

Sorry for all the questions, just was very curious about doing something similar.
 
My business partner filled it with cut concrete chunks, stacked tight, and it was 7k worth, taking it to GVWR.

The form we have the customer fill out lists “primary materials to be dumped”. Yeah a roofing company could easily overload it, but a typical homeowner or handyman isn’t going to. I filled it with 3 loads of heavy ass office cabinets, broken down, coriander countertops, etc, the heaviest load was 1/3 of its capacity.

The tow vehicle right now is a gas Chevy 2500 HD which has just shy of a 4K bed payload, so if we get there to haul it off and it’s ridiculous, some of it is going in the bed. Wouldn’t be fun, but I don’t expect to deal with that.
 
FWIW, we have invested a grand total of $125 in this business venture so far, for the LLC filing fee. My business partner bought the trailer to remodel his house and we decided to mess around with doing this after. I had been looking for a work truck anyways and we found a good deal on one. I picked up the trailer on Monday, and have 3 rentals lined up which will pay the GL insurance for the year.

Worst case, we don’t get much business or it’s a massive PITA, he takes his trailer back, I keep the work truck I’ve been wanting, and we let the LLC expire. From the research I’ve done though I expect it will grow as much as we are willing to feed it. We have figured at the 3 trailer mark we will need to hire a dedicated driver, as I don’t plan on this replacing my finish carpentry business. The issue with growing that is it’s not easily scalable in terms of finding skilled labor. This one is by simply purchasing another trailer.
 
I guess you never did say the size. It's probably a 12x6?

I guess the fact that you are going to be dropping it off, it's probably not going to be filled with wet clay or anything ridiculously heavy.

I like the concept, plus having good trailers available to use. Which was part of my plan, I had the 14x7 14k dump and a 32' 2-3 car wedge gooseneck. I had no real use for the wedge, but thought it would be cool to have around if I could make money with it.
 
Turn the coupler upside down in the bottom slot and bolt it on with a left threaded bolt.

Deflate a tire for good measure.
 
Company I used to work for had a 6x14 dump trailer and it got stolen with a rollback we think

it had a lock on the hitch
And there was a short drag mark from
The support leg

the best lock is a small cable or chain through the spokes in the wheels.

the locks with the U bar across
The top of the hitch are useless
And
You don’t need a grinder , a 3 lb or 10 lb hammer will knock it right off.

lost the key to mine had to remove it.
Was way too easy .
The only tongue lock That’s any good is the homemade ones from a steel tube that slides over the end and locks on with a length of chain or something

the only locks that are hard to defeat are the job box tool boxes with the padlock that all you can see is the bottom of the padlock

there is nowhere to cut it
You gotta pick it or drill it .

we lost the keys to a job box that had a solar panel on top and inverters and batteries inside , used for pumping water in remote job sites .
Took me half a day to get the locks drilled out
 
AK_F250 said:
Kind of a pain in the ass, but at work all our trucks and trailers are wired "wrong". If someone hooks up to a trailer with a regular rv style plug the 12v charge circuit applies the brakes. You could rewire the trailer(s) and make a short adapter harness to use when towing.

Like I said, its a pain in the ass but kills two birds with one stone.
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If you put a locking box of some sort on the tongue you could put a DPDT switch in it that would do the same thing.

Aaron Z
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Cable through the wheels? :laughing:

You think the winch on the roll back would care if 2 tires are skidding?
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Oh not at all
Cable thru the wheels only works for normal hitching it up.

company I work for now has gps trackers on the trailers that are charged by the trailer lights .
After it gets stolen sooner or later the running lights or brake lights will be activated , charge the battery or capacitor on the GPS tracker .
 
aczlan said:
If you put a locking box of some sort on the tongue you could put a DPDT switch in it that would do the same thing.

Aaron Z
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True, there is already a tongue box and I doubt you’d even have to lock it.
 
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