Description
The Thermo King SB-210 is the unit most people picture when they picture a reefer trailer. Thermo King built it in enormous numbers, it has been running 48 and 53 foot vans across North America for two decades, and that ubiquity is the real argument for buying one: parts and service for the TK486V are available through the Thermo King dealer network and most independent reefer shops.
Listed at $5,000, it is a low-cost route to a working single-temperature trailer unit with genuine frozen capability. Used units are run-tested and their engine hours confirmed before dispatch.
Thermo King SB-210 Specifications
- Type: single-temperature nose-mount trailer refrigeration unit
- Engine: TK486V four cylinder direct injection diesel (Yanmar-built)
- Fuel: No. 2 diesel; No. 1 acceptable as a cold weather fuel
- Oil capacity: 13-15 quarts depending on build — confirm against the serial plate
- Oil specification: API CI-4 or better, SAE 15W-40 in normal service
- Refrigerant: R-404A
- Controller: SR-2 microprocessor
- Options seen in service: electronic throttling valve (ETV), 50 gallon aluminium fuel tank
- Electrical: 12 VDC
- Price: $5,000
SB-210 or SB-210+?
The plus models were the later revision of the same platform. The SB-210+ adds the refined SR-2 feature set, the electronic throttling valve as standard on most builds, and the option of SmartPower standby operation — a second electric motor that runs the unit from a 460 V shore supply while the trailer sits on a dock, cutting fuel burn and noise on long dwell times. If your trailers spend hours loading at a plant with power available, the plus is worth the difference. If they load and go, the plain SB-210 does the same job for less.
Applications
Produce and protein hauling, frozen distribution, dairy runs, floral and pharmaceutical freight, and dry-van-to-reefer conversions where a fleet is adding temperature-controlled capacity without buying new trailers. It is also the standard donor unit for owner-operators re-powering an older reefer trailer.
What to Check Before You Buy
Hour meter reading, evaporator and condenser coil condition, belt and bearing noise on the high-speed cycle, and whether the unit holds setpoint through a full defrost. Ask us for all four checks plus photographs and the serial plate before you commit. Replacement TK486V engines are stocked if you would rather re-power a frame you already own.
Freight
Ships on a flatbed, loaded and unloaded by forklift. Freight is quoted to your delivery ZIP code — contact us with the address and we will price it before you commit.
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