I regularly haul the 5x8 with my Outback and I have fit 3 pins with tons of extra room, but they were older and the heads were removed.
Modern machines with heads attached? Probably 4 maybe a 5th

I've had 6 cabs in the 5x8 with a little room to spare. That's with them folded and standing on end. I also use ratchet straps and a loading bar to help secure them, plus plenty of moving blankets and cardboard for padding. Just make sure your vehicle is rated to handle the weight of the trailer plus the weight of the contents.

If you're looking at a forester, unfortunately, the tow weight is only 1500lbs (it used to be 3000lbs on older models). You would not be able to do a 6x12--it's too heavy.

Oh nice, I hadn't heard about that.

I forget what the weight capacity categories are called but there are three:

Bars bolted to your suspension under the car (framework).

Tow bar - slides into the above assembly

Metal pin that holds two above parts together.

Your suv May be rated for up to 3,000 lbs., but doesn’t mean that the framework is rated for 3,000 lbs. Remember that it’s important not to go over the weight limit or you may not be able to stop in time.

I rented the 6x12 for Pintastic this summer and easily fit 6 pins plus a 7th cab (no head) in it. With a little rearranging I could have gotten 8 in there no problem. Keep in mind that I was strapping them in standing up, not laying flat.

uhaul6x12 (resized).jpg

Instead of an Escelera, ask friends to come over and help you load, and when you get to the show ask people if they can help you unload.

I don’t think the interior height of any of the trailers is tall enough for Arcades.

The 4x8 is going to be too short to add/remove games comfortably, anyway. Plus you'll have trouble with any games that have gun handles.

I would recommend add-on side mirrors: https://www.amazon.com/Fit-System-3891-Universal-Trailer/dp/B001AJH1HK

Real helpful for seeing your blind spots and behind the trailer.

Just keep in mind you would have to detach the trailer to load/unload a game. It would be better to put smaller stuff in the trunk so you wouldn't have to do that.

I can usually get games in and out of a trailer using the harbor freight blue hand truck (which seems to have disappeared in the past couple years). Basically tip the game in, and tip the game out. However, if you are on ground that is pitched too far, you will have trouble because of the height.
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[edit]: I've also seen people fashion their own ramps with ramp kits and lumber.

https://www.amazon.com/s

Oh yeah, I remember that.

I have 3 of them that I've used for years. I replaced the tires on one hand truck after they started cracking (with wheels from tractor supply, plus spacing washers), but the other two are fine. I think yours was the only case where I've heard of a catastrophic failure.

Also, see the edit I just made above about ramp kits.

ouch!!! that sucks.
I had a 2 in 1 dolly w/ hard wheels and it was nice for low ceilings (smaller wheels) but man it sucked to move.
I have upgraded to this dolly
https://www.costco.com/cosco-3-in-1-folding-series-hand-truck/-cart-/-platform-cart-with-flat-free-wheels.product.100477134.html
and man is it light as hell. Now a hand truck dolly vs electric is no comparison, the power dollys will be amazing. but that is my my hand dolly. and it is nice to be able to drop it on all 4 wheels and roll around.

I will be renting a 6x12 and hauling 7+ games....curious how many will fit hahha.

I have this ramp from HF that I use on both my trailer and for going up/down 2-3 steps (in my front door). works great.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1200-lb-capacity-convertible-aluminum-loading-ramp-94057.html

I have used the 4x8 on several occasions. It can fit 2 with heads laying flat, but you have to turn them slightly diagonally and you should use padding to keep from digging into each other. If you put a blanket under them they slide in and out super easy.

It's nice and small, better on gas, easier for city travel, and you can see around it better than the other trailers. If you need more than 2 pins, get one of the bigger ones for sure.

I will say that I used a uhaul a trailer one time and it leaked massively from underneath hitting puddles and what-not. I have no idea where the water came in from but I was lucky to have used a tarp that day or else the cabs would have gotten wet/soaked for 3 hours.

Looks like your coupon expired in 2019

It's hit or miss whether or not I end up with a leaky trailer.

I just mummify my games in plastic wrap, put the games on sheets of cardboard, and the tops and sides are covered in moving blankets.

Even if they get soaked on the outside game wrappings, the water doesn't touch the game inside.

That’s ok he’s got a rain check!

5x8 is the way to go, as I mentioned earlier. My Outback hauls it just fine. I bought it off one of the head mechanics from a Subaru dealership and he used to haul a huge boat with it. They’ll be fine with a handful of pins.

Definitely need ratchets, but uhaul trailers SUCK for anchor points

Yeah, this. Don't get an older model where the rails are "glued" on. They need to have the through bolts, especially on the 6x12. I tore off several railing points on an old trailer hauling games to Denver.

I think I had 10 in a 6x12 last year, and could have fit a few more if I wanted to get more creative

6x12 fit 7 games strapped to the sides p3 and tna took up a lot of room.

Edit: oh and a sys1 wide body

Ok, so back in august I moved a bunch of games, and it seems my memory was a bit fuzzy on what I did previously.

I can do 3 folded games in a 5x8, with room for a 4th.

Or 3 folded and 3 with backboxes removed.

If you’re transporting pins with heads on, maybe 4-5. I suggest blanket wrapping them well and using a load bar about 3-4 feet off the ground to prevent cabinets tipping over.

I fit five in a 5x8 on my last project pin pickup. Two of the pins tilted on their sides towards the back door, so a load stabilizing bar would have helped.

Head left on:
Big Guns

Head removed and placed in my suv with the legs:
Bobby Orr
Stars
Eight Ball x2

This was 3 WPC games in a 5x8. Room for a 4th.

Note that I could not get a IJTPA in through the door standing up. The gun handle was just a bit too tall. T2 and TS cleared the opening, though.

20220828130342416 (resized).jpg

20220828130353489 (resized).jpg

Okay, so just circling back to THE VERY FIRST RESPONSE in this thread where I stated, I had used the 5x8 multiple times with 3 pins and space for a 4th, maybe even a dissembled/broke down game as 5th.

Totally ignored, yet everyone else just repeated me, lol

Ratchet straps through the bars on the walls.

I’m sorry, were you saying something?

You can definitely fit 8 if you strap 2 on the roof

That's where the hand truck goes when I run out of room

I just rented on the other day and it was a new trailer! (Wow!) and it had about 12 anchor points.

If you can, inspect them beforehand and look for the news ones, those multiple anchor points were awesome and really held the games in place

It's Pinside, did you expect any thing different?

Plus those new flip top tongues are easy peasy, no more screwing them on and busting your knuckles.

PSA: DO NOT secure anything to the wooden sides. They will pull off the wall and can damage your machines and the trailer.

Tip for you... you will generally struggle to get straps around/behind the small bumper rails most U-Hauls use. They don't have big enough gaps behind them to feed the hooks through, etc. So get some nylon line while at the U-haul store, cut about 1' pieces and tie the ends of a piece in a knot to make yourself a small 6-8" loop that you CAN feed behind the bumpers and create self-cinching tie points. Then use those loops to connect the ratchet straps to the walls.

As I said above, do not secure your machines to these rails. They will pull off the wall due for the weight of the machines.

That depends upon whether or not they are bolted through the trailer walls or just glued on.

Personal experience, yes glued on bad. Bolt thru have ok on all my trips.

I’ve never seen a 5x8 bolted. They glue them and use little nails. The rails are to protect the trailer walls not your cargo.

But if you guys want to risk your machines more power to you.

I just take the strap, fold it in half near the hook, feed it through the rail and then run the hook through the loop I just made. Seems to work ok.

Had a similar failure with that harbor freight dolly shame because the large pneumatic tires made moving games over rough surfaces easy. I loved using it till the weld broke on the hub of the wheel. Luckily I noticed the wobble in the tire early and didn’t drop anything. Had a friend reweld the rim and added some more welds to the other and it’s back on the road. However it does happen inspect your hub and look for cracks in the weld before you move anything expensive.

Considering there is no other attachment point available in the small trailers its still better than nothing. There aren’t slots for load bars etc. so take your pick of nothing?

I've never had a problem.

What I do is make sure the games have contact with or are blocked by something else other than the rail that they are ratcheted to. So ideally, the game wouldn't be able to shift a whole lot if there wasn't a ratchet strap holding the game to the rail.

But that also means lots of cardboard and blankets to prevent damage from games rubbing against each other during transport.

Just noticed this thread. I posted about it a few years ago here https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-many-pins-vids-fit-in-a-u-haul#post-5002795

But to provide the secret sauce, here's what I wrote

Using a 20’ u-haul, I was easily able to load 11 pins and 4 vids. This took up 90% of the floor space.
You should be able to put another 3 pins in there.
Generally, assuming vids and pins have similar moving dimensions, you should be able to fit 18 pins in a 20’ U-Haul’s available floor space.