I reckon I need one in my life.
Got wife and 3 kids and a Mazda 5 we all fit in it OK, but it is a struggle to get a holidays worth of gear in there too, plus any more than 3 bikes on the roof.
We want to start camping in a year or so, too. Thought about trailer tents, but dry storage is a bit of an issue, plus there is the final point....
We have biggish gardens at home with LOADS of hedges. Over the past few weeks, I have been to the tip about a dozen times, carrying a couple of "ton" bags worth of hedge cuttings at a time in the mazda with all the seats down. This keeps trashing the inside of the car, despite my best efforts with dust sheets etc.
I reckon a small to medium sized "general purpose" trailer would kill all of these birds with one stone. Does anyone have something similar, and would you recommend it?
Although presently trailer free I really liked them as a way of carrying stuff. I towed dinghies for years and have had the user of little trailers for tip and did stuff.
Couple of observations if you're new to it. Really small short trailers are crap to reverse with. I actually found reversing a laser dinghy (about 16ft Inc trailer) easier than a small tip trailer.
It's worth spending an hour or two in an empty car park learning the reversing characteristics of the specific trailer you buy.
I would go for something slightly larger than what I thought I needed.
Tow bars are now a declarable mod for lots of insurers.
I have been looking recently for similar reasons to you and if you have a towsure nearby that's not a bad place to scope some options and their website is quite informative.
I'm toying with the idea of a trailer too. For camping gear. I would consider getting one with a well sealed lid. Not only will you be able to get more gear inside, but also you'll be able to leave your camping gear in the trailer year round, so just hook up and go camping 😉
Don't have a trailer, but spent my childhood helping the folks on tip runs and then getting to ride in the trailer when off the highway. I know what you mean about the effect of tip runs on a car's interior.
My observation is that Erde seem to be the trailer of choice on the motorways of Europe, and they seem to do plenty of options (hard covers, bike racks, etc).
(Ideally, you need to ask someone Dutch, as holidaymakers from the Netherlands seem to love towing stuff at high speed!)
Ifor williams.
Last forever and never break, we've tried them all in our fleet and nothing comes close.
Don't forget to watch out for mass vehicle weights if you passed your driving test after 1997.
Bought a small trailer off Gumtree the other week for camping gear. Its going to make life easier. No boot wrestling for me 😀
I've been looking too as our horse box is too big for the car. Key for me is it needs to be cheap/secondhand, and the rear lights need to be inset so it can be tipped on its tail gate for storage.