Harbor Freight 1720# Trailer for Moving a Clausing 12x36 1200# lathe...400 miles?

I would go with the Uhaul trailer. I have rented their trailers in the past. They are built like a tank and should be able to hold your lathe with no problems. One nice think is that the sides are really stout. Beside strapping it down you can strap the lathe to the sides to keep it from tipping. Before renting the trailer to you Uhaul will require you to tell them about the tow vehicle and won't rent the trailer to you if the tow vehicle is not adequate to pull the trailer.

I would also remove everything off of the lathe that you can to cut down on the weight and to make it less top heavy.

How do you plan to move the lathe and load it onto the trailer???
 
How far is the move 30 miles or 300? If 30 then it would work. 300 would be a bumpy ride. I had one of those trailers back in the day. Great for hauling landscaping stuff and a piece of furniture or two but not much else.
 
Stay away from the folding trailers. While they may be rated higher than expected, they are meant for even weight spread across the deck. Two narrow point loads, one front, one rear, will make for a pretzel. When I was moving I looked at them, and then bought a small fixed frame trailer. Leonard, but they are probably regional. And I still borrowed a bigger trailer to move the machinery.
 
I recently moved a 13x40 lathe with a drop deck trailer. $100 for the day and made loading & unloading much easier.

The HF trailer is for hauling light stuff to the dump. The best feature of them is a cheap title for making another trailer.

John
 
Remember HF's weight loading system. It's not a safe load rating, but rather the ultimate failure point. An 1100 lb. lathe will weigh more than its nominal weight for an instant every time you roll over a pebble. A dip in the road may blow the wheels off the poor trailer. Not to mention the mortal hazards to you and those unlucky enough to be behind or along side of you. It's not worth it.

I moved my 4500 lb. mill in a Uhaul trailer. They are tough trailers. Lots of affordable choices in the rental yards.
 
If the stand can be seperated from the lathe, then I might try a trailer like I have seen a HF, but it does not look like yours can be separated.Without a way to separate, I would go with a dual axle trailer. When i bought my 16" Southbend, I could feel it on the turns. I have hauled lots of cars, but the lathe just felt like it was pulling outward on the turns. I attribute that to the higher center of gravity.
 

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I would not use the hf trailer. Guy wanted a pig cooker built on one. Very thin metal. Had to reinforce areas to use it. Good trailer for push mower or trash. Couple months ago helped load a heavy 10 on drop deck trailer. Was easy. Strong trailer.
 
I had a similar trailer from TSC, I welded my together instead of bolting (don't know about that one but I'm willing to bet it's bolted) I used it for 20 or more years with out any failures, but as stated before they are made from thin gage. The heaviest I hauled was a 650# log splitter and I thought that was pushing it. I now have a 2900# Ringo trailer with 15" wheels, $1600, best money I ever spent. Also I would stay away from a folding trailer for that kind of weight.
 
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