Trailer Length & Axle Capacity
Lengths of Tiny House Trailers go in full foot increments from 10ft to 48ft. Bumper Pulls are available in lengths from 10ft to 40ft. Goosenecks are available in lengths from 18ft (10ft + 8ft Gooseneck) to 48ft (40ft + 8ft Gooseneck)
Axle Capacities consist of: 3,500lbs, 5,000lbs, 6,000lbs and 7,000lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings (or GVWR) consist of:
- 7,000lbs (Two 3500lb Axles)
- 10,000lbs (Two 5,000lb Axles)
- 12,000lbs (Two 6,000lb Axles)
- 14,000lbs (Two 7,000lb Axles)
- 18,000lbs (Three 6,000lb Axles)
- 21,000lbs (Three 7,000lb Axles)
- 28,000lbs (Four 7,000lb Axles).
Trailer Length and Trailer Axle Capacity go hand in hand so we decided to keep them as one category. Although one of the biggest factors on price is the length of the trailer, The longer the trailer the need for a higher weight capacity is required which will affect the price as well. the smallest tiny house trailer is 10ft and the longest goes all the way up to 56ft long. With that in mind, The average weight of a tiny house when finished is about 500lbs to 550lbs per linear foot of trailer length so this should be factored when choosing a axle capacity or Gross Vehicle Weight Capacity (G.V.W.R. for short)
When deciding on a trailer length you will need to decide on a axle capacity as well. Say you are interested in a 20ft trailer, If we used the formula above that would be 20 (for 20ft) multiplied by 500 (for 500lbs) equals 10,000 (for 10,000lbs) on the low end and 20 x 550 for 11,000 (11,000lbs) on the high end. With this in mind it is recommended to choose a trailer with a axle capacity of 12,000lbs or more. Usually when choosing a 20ft trailer, many people opted to buy more trailer than they need and exceed the maximum average weight and go with a 14,000lbs capacity trailer. If you choose a shorter trailer like a 18ft, you will be in most cases fine going with a 10,000lb capacity trailer.
If you are considering a 10ft wide trailer or even a oversized 11ft – 12ft wide trailer there is a different formula to calculate average weight. This formula is 59lbs per square foot of trailer deck. For another example, lets take a 40ft x 10ft Gooseneck, This will have a lower deck (under the gooseneck hitch) of 32ft in length plus the 8ft long upper deck that is on the gooseneck hitch for a total of 40ft in linear length and 10ft in width with a total square footage of 400 square feet. If we multiply this by 59lbs per square foot we get 23,900lbs. This would exceed the 21,000lbs GVWR so at this length we would recommend going with the quad axle 28,000lbs GVWR with has Four 7,000lbs axles. It is definitely possible to get this weight down especially considering that this is just a guideline and the final weight will vary based on Design, Materials and Features. For example by using lightweight siding, We saved over 1,000lbs on our own tiny house. In most cases it is best to “buy more trailer than you need”. This mindset will tend to save you more in the long run than buying super lightweight materials and stressing over the weight of your house (Trust us, We counted every pound we put into our house).