# Need Help Guys Single or Tandem



## HonkerExpress

Ok guys, I am finally going to bite the bullet and buy an enclosed trailer. I got my eye on a 6x14 v-nose so actually a 6x15.5. My biggest question right now, is what do I get, a tandem axle or a single axle? I know the pro's and cons to both of them. But would like to hear your guys opinions. I will be pulling it a lot in the fall from grand forks to where ever I will be hunting from. And then again this fall to Sask on a hunting trip up there. My biggest question is this. Do I need a tandem? Should I stick to a single axle? What can I expect out of both of them. I just wanted to get some feedback from you guys about the trailer. I really want something I will be happy with for years to come. I know the tandems pull better, I know the singles are easier to maneuver and easier to get in and out of fields, but which direction should I go. I am hoping to make the sask trip every year and the spring snow goose trips in the spring to neb. Any help would be great.

It would cost me an extra 600.00 bucks to go to a tandem. Thanks guys.


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## dblkluk

If you've got the truck to pull it.. and its only a $600 upgrade..I'd go tandem.
We have a 6x12 single and it works great, but theres a couple times of the year I would like a tandem. Going to Canada, its stuffed to the gills and in the spring when I load my fourwheeler and everything into it.
But it still works great, just a little full and pushing the weight capacity.

But theres also two less tires and wheel bearings to worry about too. If I have to, I can pull the single with my atv. Doubt I could do it with a tandem..
My two cents.


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## goosehunternd

I went with a single axle just because the trailers themselves are lighter, I bought a featherlite brand so it is really light and makes it nice when the fields are a little sticky. My buddy has a 7x14 roadmaster dual axel and it is a heavy pig, really takes some power to pull it and will sink out of site in a sticky field.


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## nodakoutdoors.com

I have the exact same trailer size you're looking at, in a single axle.

I've never had a reason where I felt I needed a tandem, but I'm not putting ATV's in it either. If it's just decoys I think you'll be fine.


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## HonkerExpress

Yeah, that would be the only issure. I would like to put my sportsman 700 in the trailer a couple times a year, mainly for spring snow goose hunting when they come in handy, but other then that, I won't be running it with the atv in it. I also just checked into it and the 7x14 v-nose would actually be cheaper then the 6x14 if I were to get tandems on it. so now its just a game of deceiding if I need the tandem or if I could get by with the single.

Ah, man this is almost worse then looking for a house, lol.

6x14 tandem-4,000.00
6x14 single - 3,445.00
7x14 tandem - 3895.00

damn its a tough call to make, haha.


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## goosehunternd

what brand are you thinking of, Im not sure if it really matters but when I was looking I could deffinatley tell the cheaper ones were obviously cheaper made.


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## shooteminthelips

I have a 6 x 12 Pace Outback single axle. I have 1400 Deadly and Sillosocks in Deadly bags, Two eacallers, a tote with 6 speakers, 4 power hunters, 2 xlanders, giant otter fishing sled, rakes/shovels, and a 700 polaris with two ramps. There was still room for more stuff and we didn't have a problem pulling it. We use a 2007 Dodge diesal with a cummins. Ran about 16 to 16.5 miles per gallons all spring.

My trailer brand new off the lot was a little over $3000 with tax/liscense.


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## franchi

One thing to keep in mind with the single axle is that the weight needs to be distributed correctly or the trailer will take you for a ride. My 6x12 did this to me going down the interstate. Tandems won't take of like a single will. I did buy a weight distribution hitch and an anti-sway bar and have not had a problem since.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

Ok so the 7x14 is cheaper? Get that!


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## dblkluk

If it were me I would lean away from the 7x14..usually when they start building the 7x's they start building them a little "sturdier" and the weight seems to really go up. You might end up with some of the problems goosehunter was talking about..Heavier to pull, sinking in wet fields etc..

I have the exact same trailer size you're looking at, in a single axle.



> I've never had a reason where I felt I needed a tandem, but I'm not putting ATV's in it either. If it's just decoys I think you'll be fine.


Haha I was thinking you were the guy who could use a tandem the way you drive down prairie trails and across fields...I've seen air under your tires more than a few times...  :lol:


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## HonkerExpress

The Trailer is a Royal Cargo Trailer. Seem like a very very well put together trailer. They come with the bottom of the trailer undercoated. 24" rock gaurd, water resistant floors, white board walls, sounds like all the bells on the thing.

The weight difference is 300 pounds.

7x14 tandem - 2100 lbs 
6x14 was - 1800 lbs

and the 7x14 is cheaper then the 6x14 tandem. So I am really leaning towards the 7x14 if I decide to go tandem, but if I go single, it will be a 6x14. Just wondering how the 2007 ford f150 lariat crew cab will pull them?


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## dblkluk

Thats not too bad. 
The only other thing I learned moving from one trailer to the next was our old trailer used that 1/8 luan paneling on the walls..Sucked..warped, couldn't fasten anything to it without going into a metal stud too.
Our new trailer has 1/4" plywood on the walls...much better setup. We have mounted wader hooks, shelving and other goodies to the wall and the screws have held well.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll enjoy what ever you get.


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## goosehunternd

you might want to look at going chevy (sorry) I went with the 6' wide and lightest posible because I have a 5.7 gas, my 1/2 ton chevy extended cab pulls mine fine but when I hook on my buddies 7x14 dualer it really sucks the gas and works the truck.


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## USAlx50

I think those newer 5.4s pull pretty well dont they? The 6x16 vnose I hunted out of all fall was getting close to being a handful for a 04 chev 5.3 once you got cruising on the interstate. Although it is a pretty dang tall trailer, I think it might have the extra 1' added to it. 05' duramax took care of that though. Mike had a hard time getting it up to 75 mph with betsy his 94 chev diesel.

That is a tough call Shawn. We never had any problems with the mentioned trailer getting too sticky in the fields this fall. We even pulled it into a couple fields this spring in NE with an ATV in it. Are the single axels really that much lighter and easier to pull?


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

It is a 7x16 with an extra foot Brody! yes Betsy had a hard time with her! 4-10 gears aren't a huge fan at top speeds with a trailer!

The Singles don't pull as true. bounce around more, etc. however smaller trailers are lighter. Something in this sizes needs a double. I think he said he got a 7x14. Double! Good choice IMO!


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## USAlx50

hunt4P&Y said:


> It is a 7x16 with an extra foot Brody! yes Betsy had a hard time with her! 4-10 gears aren't a huge fan at top speeds with a trailer!
> 
> The Singles don't pull as true. bounce around more, etc. however smaller trailers are lighter. Something in this sizes needs a double. I think he said he got a 7x14. Double! Good choice IMO!


Caseys is a 6x16' actually :wink: The one time I hunted out of a single this year (minus that empty wheelhouse/fishhouse :wink: ) I thought that thing was going to bounce off the dang hitch going through the plowed corn.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

Wow I didn't know his was only 6 wide. Thats odd. I didn't remember it being that narrow!

Hey the fish house is the shizz! Nice not having to step up! Not nice having to worry about ripping the *** end of the trailer off cuz it is so low! If things keep going the way they are we should have a 21 foot V nose for this season Brody!!


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## goosehunternd

21' v nose sounds like fun to pull around with $3.44 gas prices, and higher diesel. Do you guys hunt with 33 dz. FB's or what? I only have a 
6 1/2'x12' and it is half full with 20 dozen honks and 5 dozen duck dekes and 3 blinds. I couldnt imagine filling a 21 footer


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

18 foot box, with V. How in the heck do you get 20 doz in a 6x12? We filled that 6x16 with like 15 doz. I am getting it for a landscape trailer. however it will be full when we go hunting.

yes it will be fun to pull around at $4.20 a gal. Heck probably $5 a gal by hunting season.


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## goosehunternd

I run 8 dozen FB's rest are shells I should actually sell my starter spread of shells, but it is kinda fun to set them all out in the late season and run some traffic


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

Ahh I was like there is no way you can get all of those in there. I thought they were all Fb's. For the most part all of the deeks are Fb's like 6 doz canada shells otherwise FB's.


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## goosehunternd

Shes a mess but shes all mine


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

This was from a trip this fall! 16 foot trailer and truck! Both loaded to the nuts. Just got a bunch more decoys so that will make it even tougher.


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## dblkluk

> you might want to look at going chevy (sorry)


haha..Good one but I actually have a Chevy too..

The Ford pulls 100 times better than the Chevy.. :wink: 
5.4 vs 5.7.

I had a 04 Chev with the 5.3 in it..I thought it was garbage for pulling. 
Good mileage when empty, but while pulling anything, every hill I went up I thought the tranny was going to fall out of it.
And funny enough at 75k it did.. :eyeroll:

I gotta ask, why in the world do you need to pull around a 21 foot trailer to hunt honks?? 
The only time I could see it would be on trips to canada where you haul everything and the kitchen sink, or the spring season where theres atvs being hauled.
How many dekes do you run for Canadas P&Y??


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## Plainsman

> The only time I could see it would be on trips to canada where you haul everything and the kitchen sink,


Yup, don't leave the sink behind.

As far as Royal Cargo, I have one.

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... 728#211728

It all depends on how much weight you want to carry. Call in and get it custom built for you. My white walls are 3/8 inch thick. Also, my trailer is a 7x14, but get at least a three foot nose or the v nose does you little good. That makes my trailer 7X17, and I wish I had put another foot on the nose.

Then make some brownie points with the wife or girlfriend and go pick up the trailer. The trip will run you $500 if you take your time (four days), but you will save $3000+ over North Dakota prices on a nice trailer.

Oh, you will notice in the thread I listed that I say I get 12 miles to the gallon pulling it with my Duramax. That was going elk hunting. Now I am retired and not in a hurry. I left a day early for turkey season in the badlands and puttered out there at 60 mph. I got 16.8 mpg. Don't ask me how fast I was driving out to Montana.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

Like plains man has said it is a 18 foot with v. which makes it 21. The reason I want this is for multi purpose such as snowmobiling, elk hunting, motorcycle races, landscaping etc.

Dbl. Honestly I am not sure on exact numbers. I believe with mine and Tanata's we will have about 20 Doz Fb's. About 6 doz shells, 6 or so doz Fb mallards, 4 blinds. Most of which is mine, he has about 4 doz avery's and a blind. I like to bring customers hunting so I like to have some extras. Canada trips, long trips, times when more then two people are going is when it will really come in handy. Most of the time there is four of us so filling it won't be a problem!


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## SDwaterfowler

I upgraded from a 6x12 single to a 7x16 tandem last summer. The tandem pulls SOOOOO much better than the single did. Your trailer doesn't bounce all over going through fields or down bumpy roads. The whole ride is smoother since the trailer isn't bouncing around. Yes, a tandem is typically going to be heavier, but that weight is distributed across twice as many tires. My mpg on a calm day really didn't change much between the two trailers and I drive a 5.3 chevy. Now, going into a strong headwind with the larger trailer, you better keep her under 45mph or call up your hunting buddy that has a diesel. Fortunately, I have a couple hunting buddies that drive diesels so they pull the trailer 90% of the time. Also, I have not had problems getting the trailer in soft fields. If the field is soft enough that any trailer could get stuck, then you should be showing the farmer some respect and not driving out there in the first place. That is what wheelers are for.

So to answer the original posted question, I would go with the 7x14 hands down.


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## HonkerExpress

Yeah, guys, I am going with the 7x14. Its just a better deal in my opnion, and I agree 100% with that last post, just figured if its that muddy, with the 7x14, I could just leave my sportsman in the back and drive the decoys in with the wheeler instead of trying to rip his field up with the pickup/trailer.

Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciate it. I will post pictures of the trailer when I get it, and when I get it finished with the upgrades I will be going to it. Going to copy the hanging system that i beleive aboeller had done with is. Looks sweet and sounds like the way to go to hang bags.

Thanks again.


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## SDwaterfowler

Is it a V-nose? If not, how much to upgrade to one and what size V would you get? I agree with what was posted earlier that unless you get a large V, then it probably isn't going to do much anyways. I wish my trailer had a 3 foot V on it.

I'm not sure what aboller's trailer looks like but I hang all my honker FB's in 12 slot bags. It is not the most efficient use of space but when hunting honkers, the trailer isn't packed full anyways. It is a super efficient way to load and unload the trailer and keeps your dekes looking new. When we get to the field, each guy grabs 2 12 slot bags and goes. After picking up, it takes about 5 minutes tops to hang the bags.


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## HonkerExpress

Yeah, its a v-nose, but only like 1 1/2 to 2 feet vnose on it. I guess its going to have to work for me, haha. I think that aboeller's (sp) trailer set up is on this forum somewhere. He ran what looks like conduit pipe length wise from the roof supports and then drilled out holes and put "j" hooks through the conduit to hang the bags from. Looks simple and didn't cost him a whole lot. I am going to have to get in touch with him to copy his design.


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## goosehunternd

aboller's rig,,looks pretty slick


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## hunt4P&amp;Y

I think he has one more row below that also. Says they fit tight and don't swing with all of them in there.


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## SDwaterfowler

Pretty close to the same thing I did with my trailer. Only difference is I used 2x4 with eye bolts. My bags are twice as wide as those since they are 12 slot honker bags. I run them in a line from the front of the trailer to the back using "rock climber clamps" (not sure what the real name for them is). This also leaves me with about 1 1/2 feet of space on the side to walk through the trailer. I would take a pic of mine set up for honks but it is full of snow goose hunting gear right now and I don't feel like switching it out any time soon.


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## SDwaterfowler

Not a trailer pic, but here is what the bags look like and the clips I use to attach them to the eye bolts in the trailer. I like these bags 10 times better than the avery 6 slots. Before I got a wheeler, on muddy days each of us could carry 2 of these bags at a time no problem. The only downside is they pretty much need to hang in the trailer or else they are "unstable" and will tip easy and the decoys will work themselves out of the slots. I do like the avery bags for sitting on the floor in the trailer.


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## USAlx50

:lol: man you guys are all neat and organized. P&Y's pic shows how I usually load a trailer... and my ffds are less pretty because of it.


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