I bought a 5x9 utlity trailer from a surplus sale to haul ATVs and such. Need to get plates for it, but no serial number or rating plates on the trailer itself. Got a bill of sale in the transaction to prove I did not steal it, but have read conflicting things about gettin it registered. The axel appears to be rated for less than 4000# when compared to similar trailers, so has anyone done this that is willing to give me the rundown? Also, it is a single axel with no fenders, do I need to add fenders? Already have a light kit for it, so I have that covered.

I have a trailer similar to yours that I built myself. I registered it as a "Homemade" trailer with a 1700 lbs axle. Got licensed without a problem. I have had it now for probably 20 years.

"homemade" trailers are most likely going to have to be brought down to the county tax office to be physically inspected before they will tag/lisc. them. We had to do this with a few jetski trailers.

No serial? You'll need to stamp one.


This was in ETX, so YMMV.

[This message has been edited by Terk (edited 10/7/2011 7:15a).]

I've registered a couple of "shopmade" trailers over the years. Some counties are more restrictive than others. You'll need to affix a serial number to the trailer somehow. The easiest option is to have a number stamped into a metal plate and then attach it to the trailer. The best option is to stamp or grind it into the tongue of the trailer.

You'll be asked to register it based on the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). In other words, how many pounds does it weigh plus how many pounds does it hold. Your best bet is to go by what the axles are rated for as that is standard practice for commercially manufactured trailers. The higher the GVWR, the higher the registration fee. I have never been ticketed for hauling a trailer above its GVWR, but have heard of it happening. A good rule of thumb is register it the higher of either the axle rating or the weight of the trailer PLUS the weight of what you intend to haul with it.

**Edit: Went back and re-read your post. I don't believe you're required to have fenders in Texas, but you may need them in other states if you intend to haul the trailer out of state.

[This message has been edited by Todd 02 (edited 10/7/2011 9:43a).]

I bought a "homemade" trailer 2 years ago. It has no serial number and was previously registered as farm use. It is a tandem axle trailer and was originally rated for somewhere around 6-7k GVWR. When I went in to register it in my name as non-farm use, it was going to cost a ton because it was over the threshold (somewhere between 4-5k GVWR).

I asked the clerk what my options were, and she said just reduce the weight to 4k and don't haul anything that would put it over weight.

She also didn't require me to have a serial number.

This was in Brazos County.

Why not just burn a serial number into the underside of the tongue with a welding rod?

In Bandera county a DPS officer from kerrville comes down once a week to inspect homeade trailers before you can license. He's looking for stolen trailers.