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As far as securing, I may or may not have covered some options.  Run a ton of searches and use google images for some of it because you want pics of how others do it.

I would personally have paperwork on the trailer and crawl under it or something and mark it somewhere uncommon so you know it is yours if someone ever recovers a stolen trailer but the vin plate is gone.  Also run a search, I think the frame is stamped with the vin but heck some people cut that out as well.

Lots of folks park in front of their trailer so the vehicle needs moved to get to the trailer.

If the suv is mostly for towing the trailer, leave it hooked up and locked up to make it that much more difficult.

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Never heard of the setback jack either.

Insurance.

With battery powered disc grinders these days, short of reassembling your trailer in the house, I don't think there is an effective way of securing it.  Maybe camouflage with fake flat tires and a fake load of rotting garbage?  

I'd do a ship anchor chain but know I'd hook up and head off one day.  Twenty feet later trailer stops dead taking the rear half of my rig with it.

Paint it a gawd awful color on top of that powdercoat I know you want.  (See what I did there? )  Maybe cops would spot it easier.

Fenced area maybe?

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Here is how thieves steal a trailer.


They back up to it, or if is small enough pick up the hitch and walk it to the back of their truck.  Run the jack all the way up so the trailer is as high as possible, then take the safety chains and twist them together until they are much shorter.  Hook the safety chains on their truck bumper around the ball.  Run the jack down back down and the trailer is left hanging.  Then they drive off...Total time is 2 or 3 minutes...


To prevent this:


1. Park the trailer in a hard area for them to reach


2.  Lock the coupler with a pad lock type coupler lock or just a padlock.  Make sure the padlock is long enough that the safety chains can be locked in the padlock too, right next to the hooks.


3. Secure the wheels.  A chain through them is good.  A boot on one is better.  Or even take all the wheels off on one side and put them back on when you use it.


If they have enough time, they can steal just about ANY trailer.  So cut down on their available time and they will skip it for an easier heist...


YMMV

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So what did you get?

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Yes.  Tongue weight will change depending on how far forward you load stuff.  I try to put the balance point of my load directly over or just forward of the trailer axle.  For a zero turn mower, the balance point is going to be maybe 6"-12" in front of the rear tires.  Somewhere around the discharge chute.  

One of the benefits of a longer trailer is that you don't have to be as exacting in your load placement.  The span from the axle to the ball is a lever.  The longer the lever, the less effect the load placement will have.  I hope I worded that so you can understand.  Hard for me to type out.  Much easier to explain in person with a trailer for example.

You want 10%-15% of the load on the ball, but not to exceed your hitch rating.

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My trick for loading the same item over and over is to make a chain just the right length.  Pull mower on trailer, hook chain to back of mower and drive forward till tight.  Then straps/chain the front and you're done.  This puts the load in the same spot every time.

I don't know if you mentioned it, but what make/model is your mower?

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Hey Kitties,

Any chance you have a barn or shed you could park the trailer in?  Obviously the more locks will slow someone down and make you less of a target than the next guy down the street, but I found the best deterrence is to not have it visible...and if that doesn't work, try to block it in with your tow vehicle.  Perhaps backed up to a tree and a fence, making it hard to move without moving your Trooper first.

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Want real numbers?  Go to an rv web site and run a search on tongue weight.  They use levers and a plain ol bathroom scale to figure it out properly.  In this case the levers are used to reduce the reading so the little ol bathroom scale will work for what it is doing.  I have never done it.  Watched youtube video of it and I would trust it, but I don't worry that much on these little trailers.

I watch the vehicle and pay attention to how the trailer pulls and watch the tires and overall just go with what feels good, looks good, and works good.

So for you with your unknown vehicle, here are some options.

If you have a helper with a known weight this is easier, but if it is just you and you know your weight you can do it.  With a helper I measure from the top of the rear tire to the fender lip.  With no helper, I measure from the bumper or hitch frame to the ground but pay attention to how smooth and flat the ground is.  Using a yard stick will help you do this yourself.

Anyway, measure with no one hanging on the back of the suv.  Now have someone climb on the back of the suv and measure again.  That much movement is from that much tongue weight.

If you have a helper you can both get on the back if needed to get enough weight, if I was there I can do too much weight all on my own.

When you drive your mower onto the trailer you will first see the back of the suv go up as the hitch ball is lifted by the tongue of the trailer going up while you go up the ramp.  Then as you move forwards on the trailer you will see things settle downwards.  

Even with my little tj I tend to load things all the way forward, but my trailer is small and the rear axle of the arv or riding mower is sitting over the axle of the trailer.  So it is not like all the weight is on the tongue of the trailer.  

For fuel cans, just run an image search on jerry can carrier or holder or gas can holder or something similar.  Then get that welder you want and get to work.  

I dislike having a trailer tongue box since all my trailers tend to be kind of short and the box size I want won't fit well.  So I will strap a box down on the trailer deck alongside the mower or atv if I need a box.  I keep the box out of the way of loading and unloading the mower or atv and if needed have several long and skinny boxes to use for this.  

Something to consider with your trailer having a large ramp on back is it helps lower the tongue weight.  You might be surprised how easy it is to pick up the front of the trailer.  

I do tend to try to lift the trailer, when I first put it on and attach it to the ball I lift it a few times to make sure it hooked on the ball properly.  Then when loaded I should be able to lift the tongue upwards somewhat without killing myself, but by no means do I want to be able to easily lift the front of the trailer while it is hooked to my vehicle.

I moved away from relying on this as much when I would be tired and not able to lift as much as easily.  It is awfully easy to not be lifting right and hurt your back when trying to move a couple hundred lbs around.

As mentioned, once you have the tongue weight you want you can set stops for the tires of the mower so it drives on to that point and you know to stop there.  If your straps are always used for the mower there should not be much need to adjust em once things are set up properly.

Make sure your tires are at the right pressure on the vehicle and trailer.  Depending on things they may or may not have a certain look to them with the weight on them.  IF they look different when the trailer is empty vs loaded, learn to check.  When low on pressure, they will look different again and you should know to stop at that point and check them.

I always look at tires when I stop while towing and I check all connections and straps as well.  If I am at a gas station I fill with fuel, go inside to use restroom or buy anything if I am going inside, and then when I come out I check things.  I don't expect anyone would undo something as a joke, but someone trying to steal something might have loosened something and I want to check it right before I load up and pull out.  Check it every time.  Have found a few things needed snugged down but reading stories of others has made me check every time.  If I am with someone, I check everything if I am driving.  In my opinion the driver is responsible for the load.  If I am riding with someone I tend to check anyway but I still tell em it is their responsibility since they are driving.  

On the gas can carrier, make one that has a way to secure the can with a padlock.  Gas is common to steal and it could still be siphoned out or a hole put in your can, but at least your can won't walk off.

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here you go, I'm buying one of these tomorrow but 6 1/2 x 18 feet

BigTex

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For a quick and dirty tongue weight estimate, hitch your trailer on flat ground and have a big friend or two stand on the tongue near the hitch.

Measure from ground to some point on your bumper/receiver.  In the future you can just keep an eye on the measurement when you load the trailer.

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That trailer sounds like it should work out well for you. I would definitely go with a dealer that you trust. I have had both tube style (Big Tex) and angle style (PJ) and I have been happy with both. For. My spare, I just run a cable lock through it. Even though I am pretty handy, I would probably pay the $40 to have them install the Gorilla lift. For me it would bevworth it to save time and avoid the hassle.

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My trailer (PJ) came with the spare tire mounted on the side on a rack. All of the trailer tires have white spoked rims, so it is easy to run the cable lock through the spokes of the spare and around the railing of the trailer. As pictured, my Ranger is actually loaded too far forward on the trailer. This was when I brought the Ranger home. I had just bought it from a neighbor.

<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/user/mic214/media/Trailer/Trailer%201.jpeg.html" target="_blank">http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/mic214/Trailer/Trailer%201.jpeg</a>

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I would go angle iron. Not only can you bend it back, you can replace sections of angle very easily.

I would have them install the lift, and I am cheap.


Bias ply tires are fine. I run them on my horse trailer that sees interstate occasionally. Don't bother upgrading until you need to.


Don't sweat it over LEDs. Millions of trailers don't have LED lights. If I break a standard light housing, its a $5 fix. Not so with the LED.


If nobody mentioned it, consider picking up the flat 4 wire tester. You plug it into your tow vehicle wiring, and it has little LEDs to indicate what circuits are working or not. Worth the $10 for diagnostics when you lights don't work, confirms or eliminates the tow vehicle as a possibility.


If the lights ground to the trailer frame, I would either change that and run a wire up to the ground wire or at least make sure to paint over the connection (the two studs on the back of the light) if it isn't painted already. Grounding problems are the source of 95% of wiring headaches.