buying a surplus trailer, step by step

[jcbrandon]

I just made the winning bid on a surplus military trailer from:
http://www.govliquidation.com/

Since buying a surplus government vehicle direct from the source is new to me, it will be an interesting adventure. I figured others might also benefit from the experience. The whole thing may turn out to be a fiasco; if so the journey will not have been in vain

Anyway, I started this thread to more or less log this whole experience. I just won the auction today. I'm not even sure if they have charged my credit card yet. I know I have some documentation to deliver to show that I am not an evil representative of a foreign government plotting world domination via 40-year old military trailers. I also have to go fetch the thing, knowing that I can't tow it on its own wheels. And I have to register it.

So, if you're interested, feel free to follow along at home.

 

[Kobis]

What did you end up paying? I just picked one up from the Gov Liq as well. Didn't read the fine print about the Buyers Premium and Tax. 10% of the price you pay for the trailer for the Buyers Premium and then the tax on top of that. An extra $100 bucks for me. Just didn't plan on it.

 

[stick]

What kind / type of trailer did you get? M416 or something bigger?

 

[jcbrandon]

M101a1, $90

It's an M101A1. My bid won at $90. There are additional costs: a buyer's premium, that's 10 percent, I think. A documentation fee of $60. And sales tax. The auction opened at $50. There were approximately 90 of these trailers in this auction at this location, Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, California.

I didn't go to look at the trailer before buying it. I looked closely at the photos of most of the trailers and watched the bidding on about 20 of them. It was a two-day auction. One of the trailers with a low lot number went up to about $150 almost immediately. So I looked more closely at those with higher lot numbers. I figured it took more work to find these on the auction site so they might draw less attention.

I also realized I wouldn't be anywhere near a computer when the auction closed so I couldn't just hang out and bid on the trailer with the best price at the last minute. So I chose one that I thought would stay low priced and put in a maximum bid that I could afford to lose on worthless junk.

I plan to refurbish this for use as a heavy-duty utility trailer, not an expedition trailer. But I figured the path to buy it and get it functional would be similar.

 

[Martyn]

JC

At least it isn't far for you to go and pick it up. Borrow a car hauler and use some come-alongs or a small winch to pull it onto the trailer.

Fun project, make sure you cancel all after work and weekend socials for the next six months :luxhello:

 

[Erich_870]

Subscribing :coffeedrink:

I've always wondered exactly how it works! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.

Erich

 

[lx450landcruiser]

im interested as well, thanks for sharing

 

[gary in ohio]

Buying from http://www.govliquidation.com/ can be fun, but make sure you know the rules and KNOW what you can and cant do with what you buy. Some items can be resold, some can be resold outside the US and if you read the fine print the feds can come back and demand you return the item if some status changes on the item. Know the terms of sales and what condition the item needs to be in before it can leave. Some go as is, some are turned into scrap metal before being turned over.

 

[jcbrandon]

... Borrow a car hauler and use some come-alongs or a small winch to pull it onto the trailer...

Martyn, thanks for the advice. There's a U-Haul rental outfit near me with an open storage yard. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed both a full-on car hauler and a two-wheel car dolly parked there. I drove up, being careful not to park my truck anywhere near the hitches on the trailers. I got out with a notepad and a tape measure and starting taking dimensions. Within a couple of minutes the operator of the place came moseying along and said "Howdy" without smiling. (For you city-folk, here in Nevada that's a strong indicator that the person saying Howdy might be armed Anyway, we had a nice chat and he had some great tips on getting my prospective surplus purchase home. And Martyn has just confirmed those recommendations. So I'm in good hands so far.

 

[jcbrandon]

Fun project, make sure you cancel all after work and weekend socials for the next six months...

I may just change all my party invitations to include "Bring Your Own Tools".

 

[jagular7]

If you have purchased the M101A1 and its all there, it will weigh 1275#s and will tow very easily with a lunette at 18". If you bring a large adjustable wrench (or very large sockets and breaker bar), you can adjust the loop tongue to work with the height of the lunette on your tow vehicle. Check the air pressure in the tires (they will be tubed MTL), add some 12v magnetic lights for towing secure with tie wraps if you can. An empty trailer will vibrate enough that the magnetic lights will pop off. Forget about doing anything with the lug nuts. You'll need IIRC 1.5" socket and remember that the nuts have right and left rotations depending on what side of the axle you are on.

I had purchased one couple months back. One tire had 5 psi and the other had the tube rotate in the tire (no valve shown). I still towed it home that way. It was empty and the military tires can carry lots of weight.

Once home, you may want to swap out the military axle and wheels/tires to more appropriate axle and tire combo. What is real nice about military trailers is the tongue stand and the parking brake. Make use of them together. You may have to adjust the tongue stand as well as the balance stand (on the back crossmember if it has one). You could also make it a tilt trailer by modifying the front crossmember bolt mounts. The front A-frame is secured to the suspension mount.
You can look at selling off the military lights and wiring to help balance the cost of adding 12v lamps and wiring.

Take pics of when you get it.

The EUC paperwork is usually not that bad to fill and complete. It will take some time for the paperwork to go through.

 

[Martyn]

JC

If you are doing an axle swap Kro-Built on 4th Street in Reno makes square beam axles, great guys to work with.

 

[jcbrandon]

Thanks to all for the great advice on towing this thing home and the axle swap. That will be one of my first jobs on it.

... I know I have some documentation to deliver to show that I am not an evil representative of a foreign government ...

So this purchase requires that I submit something called an End-User Certificate (EUC). I got an e-mail today from someone at Government Liquidations with adamant instructions on filling this thing out and warning me that if the photo on my drivers license isn't "crystal clear" I could expect to fail the entire process and be humiliated among the fine ExPo folk.

The EUC asks who I am and what I want to do with my purchase. They are primarily interested in if I plan to sell the trailer and if so, to whom, especially if they are outside the US. I am buying this for my own use, so no worries there.

The instructions for completing the form warn that my physical address had better be accurate, or else. They also explain that the government is planning to reverse lookup my telephone number and correlate it to my reported address. Again, accuracy is important or watch out for the surplus police at my door.

It appears that the request for a copy of a driver's license is primarily to see my picture. Perhaps they will have it on file at the base when I go to pick this thing up.

The EUC also asks about one's citizenship. But it only asks for proof of that if you declare that you were born outside the US. Since I was, I also sent a copy of my naturalization certificate and a photo of my US passport.

Now I can plan to wait as long as 90 days to know if I passed all the tests and am qualified to own 1,200 pounds of steel that the Pentagon wants to get rid of.

 

[Kobis]

Well, it just gets better from there. You don't get a title with your trailer when you pick it up. I was told I needed to request a SF-97 off the web site and send it in with my $60.00. This process usually takes at least 30 days, but they are receiving a high volume right now so it will take quite a bit longer. As I wanted to use my trailer to head to the Outer Banks for the week I chose to go the Home Made Trailer route.

 

[jcbrandon]

More paperwork

... They are primarily interested in if I plan to sell the trailer and if so, to whom, especially if they are outside the US. I am buying this for my own use, so no worries there...

Yesterday's e-mail brought another message from Government Liquidation. Seems I had typed "not applicable" in a single box on the form asking about exporting the trailer or selling it to foreign nationals. I thought I had followed the instructions exactly, but apparently not.

So I had to whiteout the "not applicable" phrase. I was warned that simply crossing it out would result in severe consequences. And just for fun I had to print, read, and sign a letter stating that exporting the trailer or selling it to anyone who is not a US citizen is a serious crime. Sincere apologies to all of my Canadian friends. I know you will lust after my utility trailer when you see it. But I cannot sell it to you without risk of imprisonment.

I think I hear the black helicopters approaching.