Donate a tilt-deck trailer that solved a loading problem you no longer have

Where donated tilt decks come from

Rental yards and equipment dealers, first. A tilt deck is how a yard delivers a scissor lift, and when the fleet changes the trailer becomes surplus.

Contractors who sold the low machine. A tilt bought specifically for a forklift or a lift table has no obvious second job.

Car people send low-profile tilts used for hauling lowered vehicles. Those overlap with the car hauler market and often sell into it.

Towed like any trailer

Sound tires, working lights and an intact coupler and we tow it behind a pickup. Cheap and quick.

Tell us whether the tilt function works, and if it is hydraulic, whether the pump and battery are alive. A gravity tilt with a stuck pivot and a hydraulic tilt with a dead pump are two different repairs and both still sell.

Latch the deck down for transport. If the latch is broken or the deck will not stay level, say so, because the driver has to secure it another way.

What decides what a tilt deck brings

• Tilt type. Hydraulic beats gravity, and a full-deck tilt beats a partial or stationary-front tilt for most buyers.
• Deck length and GVWR. The 18 to 22-foot, 14,000-pound class moves fastest.
• Load angle. A low load angle is the entire selling point. Buyers ask about it directly.
• Pump, battery and cylinder. On a hydraulic unit these three decide whether it is a working trailer or a project.
• Deck surface and frame. Wood rot, bent crossmembers and a worn pivot are the usual faults.

Makes we accept

Buyers filter by brand and tilt type.

• Most common: Felling, Big Tex, PJ Trailers, Diamond C, Load Trail, Sure-Trac, Cam Superline, Midsota, Air-Tow.
• Heavy and industrial: Landoll 400 and 900 series traveling axle, Trail King, Eager Beaver, Towmaster, Kalyn Siebert.
• Aluminum: Aluma, EBY, Trailtech, Featherlite tilts.

Manufacturer names appear here so you can find your own trailer. No manufacturer sponsors, endorses or is affiliated with this program.

The paperwork, and what you can deduct

Trailer titling varies more by state than anything else we accept. Some states title every trailer, some only above a weight threshold, and some issue nothing at all for smaller ones. We will tell you which applies where you are, and the state title rules page covers the process. Where there is no title, a bill of sale plus the VIN or serial plate off the tongue is what we need.

Giving Center sells the trailer and your deduction is the gross sale proceeds on Form 1098-C. A working hydraulic tilt usually lands between $500 and $5,000, where Form 8283 Section A applies and no appraisal is needed. A large or heavy industrial tilt, and Landoll traveling-axle trailers in particular, clear $5,000 regularly, and above that line the IRS requires a qualified appraisal at your expense.

An older gravity tilt with a rotted deck can come in under $500, where the deduction is the lesser of fair market value or $500 with a written acknowledgment rather than a 1098-C.