Rosebud Tiny Home: Shopping for trailers

It helps not to be the first person to try something new. There a few tiny house bloggers and companies out there that have trailer advice (like Tiny r(E)volution, and Portland Alternative Dwellings’ book, Go House Go!). On top of all this advice, every trailer dealer I went to this week has sold trailers for tiny-home builders. They each had their opinions and pieces of advice. It sounds like it won’t be a problem to get the “right” trailer. It just might take a few weeks, and I have to decide which advice to follow.

What kind of trailer to buy for a Tiny House” and “How to determine trailer weight for your tiny house,” from Tiny r(E)volution, recommend a flatbed with at least a 7,000 lb GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating, or the total weight capacity of the trailer, including the trailer, and its load). Their estimate is that the house weighs about 6,000 lbs. My completely uninformed guess is that mine might weigh more. All I know is that I recently shipped most of my books, gear, clothes, etc. on Amtrak, and they weighed 1,300 lbs. A small house has to weigh more than 6 times the weight of my belongings, right? Even if I do own more books than most people.

Other sites recommend looking for a trailer with a 14,000 lb GVWR, but according to the dealers I visited, tiny home builders purchasing their trailers have used 10,000 lb GVWR trailers. The extra beefy 14,000 lb GBWR trailers require a commercial drivers license, and add about $1,000 to the price tag.

Some people have even refurbished old travel trailers, which I’ve found online for as low as $375. They do end up putting a lot of work into them, and I think I would need to hire a welder to shore it up, which could add at least $1,000. Still cheaper, but this is the foundation for a house, right? You want to make sure that a trailer is sturdy enough, and I’m concerned that a used trailer is a bit of a gamble. There’s a balance between trying to build a house with as much salvage as possible, and skimping on safety.

All that said, I think I found a place that will build a trailer for me for about $3,500. I need to make a couple choices, about length, and whether or not to go with drop axles, but hope to get an order in tomorrow.

The new trailer will look a bit like this, but longer and wider, with no bumpers, and no wood on the deck. Basically bare bones.

Side note:

On the latest trailer shopping trip in Sonoma County I ended up running into a few nice surprises. Sonoma County (and Mendocino) seem to be a hotbed of small to tiny homes. Check out some of the houses we encountered.