My Trailer

I picked up my trailer today!

My dad and I drove up to Iron Eagle Trailers in Troutdale this afternoon and made what is probably the most important step so far in my journey towards my tiny house: acquiring the trailer.

Iron Eagle is awesome because a big part of their business is making trailers like mine that are designed specifically for tiny houses and similar structures to be built on top. As one who is 100% sold on the Tiny House Movement, I admire the work they are doing to make tiny houses more accessible to the masses. With that being said, I’m pretty confident I spent more money on this trailer than I will for any other purchase related to my house. If there is anything requiring me to spare no expense in this project, I think it is this. After all, this is my literal ground level foundation. I can scavenge for and collect spare parts for just about everything else along the way, but I want my trailer to be completely trustworthy as the weight of my whole house will rest on it. I am very fortunate that a company as top-notch as Iron Eagle is so close to home, making the buying and picking up process much smoother.

Along those lines, the folks there were so helpful and knowledgable! They really put me at ease and explained the functions of the trailer in solid, easy to understand detail. Here are some of the details and features of my trailer:

It is 16′ long and 8’6″ wide, the legal width limit for the road
Galvanized bottom pan, the wood foundation and floor insulation will go right on top
4 leveling jacks, 1 on each corner
Fender flashing acting as a weather barrier
Electric braking system on all 4 wheels
It is between 1400-1600 lbs
weight limit of 10,000 lbs

My tundra, trailer and photographer father

This was such an exciting day, the whole project seems to be finally coming to life. It was not all good though. There was a nasty accident right around Salem 15 minutes after we left Iron Eagle with the trailer in tow. So it didn’t take long after we jumped on I-5 to bump into the worst traffic I’ve ever been in. Counting a 20 minute dinner break in Albany, it took us just about 4 hours to get from Troutdale back home to Springfield. This was our view for most of that time:

I got really sick of staring at this guy’s butt right around two hours in

We made it home in one piece though, and tomorrow we will put my new baby in the backyard and take some fence down to make the maneuver easier.

I think I’m most looking forward to waking up every morning, looking out the back window and seeing my very own house come to life. It is a very empowering thing to know that what will soon be my home was designed, payed for and built by me (along with the much needed help of some friends!) My dream would be for even one of my peers, or really anyone, to see my tiny house and understand that this is not just a show on HGTV, this is a project even they can do if they set their hearts and minds to it! I don’t want to be that guy with the tiny house; I want to be that guy who sets an example that anyone can live tiny.

Thanks for reading. As always, I’d love to be available to you to answer any questions you might have!

-Sam