Do Harbor Freight Trailers Come With A Title? What To Know About Registration

With brick and mortar shops located all over country, and an easy-to-use online storefront, Harbor Freight has become one of the bigger retailers in the greater tool and power tool arena, which is beyond impressive given the family owned company's humble beginnings. These days, Harbor Freight fronts a wide array of tools and devices bearing the insignia of some notable, and likely surprising brand names. You may not realize it, but the company also keeps a handful of high-quality Haul-Master utility trailers in stock for folks looking to transport an ATV, a riding lawn mower, and other similarly sized devices around town.

If you are eyeing a new trailer for your utility transportation setup, you might be interested to know those available through Harbor Freight can be had at a fairly reasonable price, with models topping out at $549.99. But if you're not familiar with the process of buying a trailer for use on the various roads and freeways of the world, there are a couple of things you'll want to consider before you pony up and purchase one from Harbor Freight.

First and foremost, you should know that you will, almost certainly, need to legally register your trailer with state and local agencies, and that generally means you need to secure a title at the point of purchase. Harbor Freight does not provide a title for their trailers, though a rep for the company confirmed that, in many areas, a bill of sale and certificate of origin should suffice.

We did indeed confirm that fact with a representative from Harbor Freight Tools, who noted the primary documents provided with each trailer purchase are a bill of sale, and a certificate of origin. It is up to the purchaser to register each trailer, which means there are a few extra steps you'll need to take to get legal. Per the Harbor Freight rep, those two documents should be all you need to get your trailer registered. Those documents should also suffice if you want to properly title your trailer as well.   

As noted by the Harbor Freight rep, you'll want to confirm with the Department of Motor Vehicles in your area that those documents are the only ones required, as titling and registration requirements may vary from state to state. Once you've confirmed the rules in your area, you'll likely need to make a trip to your local DMV office to begin the registration process. When you do, be sure you have both your bill of sale and certificate of origin in hand, as you'll need to provide both to a DMV representative when registering the vehicle.

Yes, you will likely also need to provide a valid driver's license, fill out a form or two, and pay a registration fee, which is set by your state. You may also need to provide proof of insurance. According to the Harbor Freight rep, some states may also require documents to be notarized prior to registration. From there, it may take some time to process the registration, after which a physical copy of the document will be sent to you.