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  1. #1
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    Default Where is the expense in new trailers?

    I have been getting prices for a tandem flat top tipping trailer and the quotes are a bit more then I was expecting.

    This is a 3.2m X 2m 3.2 tonne GVM and the prices run around $14 000 or more.

    I am scratching my head on where the costs are that make them so pricey.

    If you say $2000 for the ram kit, 2500 for the wheels/suspension and $3000 for materials. It leaves a lot for labour.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    Esperance Western Australia
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    Default

    Pricing sounds about right to me.
    Shed rental, equipment payments, office staff, liability insurance and time getting all the components together, easily eat up money before the boiler maker even gets near it.

  3. #3
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    Most places charge out at a minimum of $100 per hour labour, @ 40 hrs $4,000.
    I think you might be a bit light on with the costings as well, I'd say at a guess that a heavy duty axle with electric brakes would run about $1000 each X 2 -$2000 the suspension about $800,
    plus wheels and tyres $300 each X 4 = $1200,
    decent lights LEDs and wiring $300
    a coupling $50,
    heavy duty rated chain a metre @ $20,
    proper rated connectors for the chain $15 X 2 $30
    You can add freight on top of all that as well,then there's a markup of all the items 20% minimum maybe even up to 50%, and then on top of all that, you have Grab Snatch and Take 10% of the total amount.
    These are rough prices that I've heard someone I know mention.
    Hope these will give you an idea of what goes into making one.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  4. #4
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    Default

    I was just going by ebay prices for components. I would expect a manufacturer would get better prices for better products.

    Then you see cheaper ones like this. I suspect made in China https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HYDRAULI...IAAOSwhDBZ~rXx
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  5. #5
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    Default

    Have a close look at the quality of the welds, on the one you listed, possibly made in China, the open ends of the RHS is not the strongest of joints, the drawbar to me is only JUST adequate.
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
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    Default

    Hi Richard. How long do you expect to take to build your own? If you worked on it for 40 hrs (my guess, given your skills, energy and stamina), paid yourself $100 an hour, you save a few thousand and can go on a holiday somewhere nice for a week..... How does that sound?
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Black hill South Australia
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    Default

    Hi RC,
    You have to take into account that all the components and materials were all sourced in China and produced to be in flat pack form and reassembled in Australia.
    You can fit a lot of flat pack trailers in a 40 foot high cube container.
    So the local trailer maker can not compete with this set up even if they could source the components for the same price.
    You get what you pay for with Chinese goods, some are crap and some are very good quality.
    Looking at those trailers and to have galv dipping done here you are looking at almost a $1 a KG.
    The international market has given us some bargains but has also killed production and manufacturing in this country and we need to reverse that trend if we are to survive.
    Trev

  8. #8
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    Default

    Just surprised at the labour time. With jigs and plans and so on I would have thought cutting and shutting be a bit more straight forward. It must still mostly be a cottage industry.

    If I built it myself with no plans, it would take a long time.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  9. #9
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    Default

    I help out at a place that build trailers, all custom built. They average out at 40 hrs, no jigs are involved, wiring a trailer averages out at about 3-4 hrs, these are with electric brakes and controllers.
    The price you were quoted for the tipper $14000 is about right, I asked him just to make sure you weren't being ripped off.
    Trev would you mind changing your location from Australia to the town or suburb and state where you live, please. It makes it easier should you need a hand or where to purchase something, just saves a lot of questions back and forth.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  10. #10
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    Location
    melbourne
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    Default

    our manufacturing cant compete with china, just to buy the steel here to build a trailer is so expensive and its most likely from china, as an example a 20ton floor standing hydraulic press can be brought for $199 complete on ebay, to buy the steel here to build one would cost more and it comes with the 20 ton jack
    so much for free trade agreements , our factories keep closing down so sad

  11. #11
    Yonnee's Avatar
    Yonnee is offline Trailer Bloke & Mild Mannered Moderator
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    Default

    Most trailer manufacturers are not set up to do custom stuff, so do charge quite a bit more for this as they're taking labourers off their bread & butter work.
    Also, the stresses involved in a tipper trailer are far greater than a standard box trailer, so it's generally not quite as simple as adding a "tipping kit" to a stock trailer.
    And as others have stated, all the overheads involved in running a business add up, and not only does a company have to run at a profit (otherwise why would you be in business in the first place), there's also having to factor in covering any warranty issues further down the track.
    Too many projects, so little time, even less money!
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  12. #12
    jatt's Avatar
    jatt is offline Always within 10 paces from nearest stubby holder
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    Default

    The tippers I have seen essentially have two "chassis", one that houses the base of the trailer (axles A frame, lower mount for ram etc..), then the top part that actually tips. So more to it then a basic trailer.

    As has already been mentioned there more to running a show then meets the eye. Give it a go for yourself and watch the $ fly out the door. Lots of hidden stuff that one doesn't consider unless they have been there.
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

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