A homemade trailer offers customization and cost savings
At age 6, Wesley Crumpler put down his first welding bead. At 17, he started a multiyear project to build a 20' gooseneck horse trailer.
“I was breaking wild mustangs at the time and needed a trailer,” Crumpler says. “I got the floor, fender, axles and hitch done, and my dad helped with the rest. It was the only trailer
I had when I started in the cattle business — a major asset.”
FOCUS ON TIME SAVINGS
Fabrication from raw or scrap material directly equates to efficiency, Crumpler contends. He operates a 4640 John Deere tractor (as well as a propane-driven 4020) that stays in grass on his Texas ranch and is often fueled via a 60-gal. drop-tank.
“I got tired of fooling with that tank,” he says. “Time is crucial for a one-man show, and I had to do something.”
That “something” was a new trailer built from scratch. In 2020, Crumpler bought a 500-gal. tank from an oil marketing company and let it sit for a year while he scavenged scrap steel. Once he set to work, the finished product was complete in two months.
Two 3,500-lb. spring axles made from 5" channel steel act as support: “Some guys would have used something else, but I had the axles along with the hardware. Use what you got.”
Crumpler can lock the trailer’s box and lock up the hose.
“If somebody really wants to steal my fuel, they’ll have to try pretty hard,” he says. “This way there are no nozzles to fall off or get dragged. I also wired a three-prong extension cord plug into the backside so I could unplug the wires and put them in the box.”
The cost? The entire shooting match cost Crumpler $2,300, a likely savings upward of $5,000.
“It’s so easy and convenient to go out and spend money for something, but there’s more than just savings if you build it yourself,” Crumpler explains. “You also get pride of upkeep and that makes the product even stronger and makes it last even longer.”
