Opinions on deck over wheels trailer

[TFucili]

My truck is a 3500,shorty, srw,qc,4x4,48re,3:73. I'm thinking about getting a flat deck trailer for general use, i. e. -equipment, cars, pallets of various products. Will getting a goose give me appreciably more payload than a ball or pintle hook tag-along? Most of the 5 or 6 ton pintle units I have looked at have the axles right at the beaver tail and look like they would give some serious tongue weight versus payload, hence the goose question. If anyone is doing some serious hauling with a tag-along I'd appreciate your feedback.



Thanks!!

 

[Slow Six]

I have had both setups. I now have a fifth wheel tri-axle with a 25 ft. deck plus beaver tail and really like it. The last trailer I had was a 20 ft. tandem with a ball hitch. This set up was okay for smaller loads up to 7 or 8 thousand lbs. Also in some jurisdictions there is a weight limit for ball hitches as well as the rating of the hitch. If you are going heavier, go for the fifth wheel or goose ball setup. I also really like the deck over wheels set up as it gives a lot more deck space and generally just nicer to use.

 

[TFucili]

I have had both setups. I now have a fifth wheel tri-axle with a 25 ft. deck plus beaver tail and really like it. The last trailer I had was a 20 ft. tandem with a ball hitch. This set up was okay for smaller loads up to 7 or 8 thousand lbs. Also in some jurisdictions there is a weight limit for ball hitches as well as the rating of the hitch. If you are going heavier, go for the fifth wheel or goose ball setup. I also really like the deck over wheels set up as it gives a lot more deck space and generally just nicer to use.

Thanks for the reply. The other reason I like the D. O. W. setup is ease of side loading with a forklift, 'cause I'm a lazy SOB

 

[TFucili]

All you heavy haulers out there and nobody has an opinion on fiver/goose versus pintle? Is the difference in payload worth it?

 

[Diesel Dually]

I have had both pintle and gooseneck. The gooseneck is by far the better towing, more stable choice as weight increases IMO. I currently have two gooseneck trailers, one is a 20ft deck plus 5ft pop up beaver tail and the other is a 3 horse with dressing room. The only issue I have had with the gooseneck is if you have a newer 4x4 and an older trailer there may be an issue with clearance between the bed and trailer neck.

I actually have two flatbed goose's right now, one is for sale, it has a 20ft deck, 4ft beaver and deckover the neck. But this is the one that has given me fits with clearance on my '96 4x4 dually. I haven't tried it with my '05 3500 SRW 4x4 yet. I don't think it would be as big an issue since the '05 squats more than the '96 when hooked to the other two trailers.

 

[SSage]

My reasons for going tag.

I have a flat deck PJ 7 ton tag. Its been a good trailer, I haul bee hives so, the truck's bed is packed full too. It fills my needs. I've been over 14K with the trailer and it pulls fine. Very stable.



A good weight distribution hitch would be a good idea. If your towing heavy all the time a GN will work the truck less. A pintel is rough in stop and go traffic and it will not work with a WD set up. I've stopped using my 3" pintel with the Dodge, I was concerned abouth the reciever hitch holding up to the tounge weight. I have both types for the trailer so I can pull it with a big truck, a one ton or even my half ton when empty. A tag trailer can be pulled by all my trucks. If it was a GN, I would only use it with the dually. The dump trucks use a pintel. So, the tag trailer works best for me since my trucks are not all GN equipped and never will be.



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[NIsaacs]

If you want to do some serious hauling with a single rear wheel truck, go with a goose neck style. If you have a dually or need your pickup bed for other things the bumper type is ok, however they are more limited in weight capacity. I have a 20' car style bumper pull with 12,000 lbs gvw that I haul my 10,000 lbs BobCat on. With my 3/4 ton Dodge's, this is about all you want. The "01" 4x4 handles it better than the "91" 4x2, with the Ford dually it's no problem. With the factory style reciver hitches on the Dodges, I am somewhat over weight on the ball, with the custom hitch on the Ford I am fine. Weight placement on a bumper hitch trailer is very important for smoth towing. Keep in mind about 30 percent of the weight you put on the ball will come off the front axle and go on the rear axle. If you use a weight distribution hitch you can put it back on the front. Again, for serious hauling use a goose neck, however sometimes a bumper pull is more conveniant. Stay away from a pintle hitch style unless you have a dump truck, they are too loose.

 

[TFucili]

Thanks, again, fellows. I am aware of the bang-bang problem of the pintle, but I was unsure of the weight limitation of a typical 2 5/16 ball arrangement. With a previous truck(F-350 DRW, 6. 9)I pulled around a tag-along with a 2120 New Holland TLB with ballasted rear tires. Obviously the 6. 9 was completely overwhelmed, but I remember that combination being a real handful going down the road, as the trailer axles were set back too far to get a comfortable weight distribution. I guess the only truly viable option for true capacity is a fiver or gooseneck. I am just reluctant to screw up the bed of my truck.

 

[SSage]

Thanks, again, fellows. I am aware of the bang-bang problem of the pintle, but I was unsure of the weight limitation of a typical 2 5/16 ball arrangement. With a previous truck(F-350 DRW, 6. 9)I pulled around a tag-along with a 2120 New Holland TLB with ballasted rear tires. Obviously the 6. 9 was completely overwhelmed, but I remember that combination being a real handful going down the road, as the trailer axles were set back too far to get a comfortable weight distribution. I guess the only truly viable option for true capacity is a fiver or gooseneck. I am just reluctant to screw up the bed of my truck.

I think my limit is about 15K. The factory hitch will probably not last long if you loaded it like that all the time.



2 5/16" balls go up to at least 18K if I remember correct. The shanks are 1 1/4" for a 14K heat treated 2 5/16" ball.



Equalizer makes a 1400B that puts weight back on the front wheels. I like it better than the reese titan set up. If I bend my factory hitch I'll go with the XDR class 5 from Putman. The 1400B will work with the 2" recievers, its the only 1400 pound WD I know of that will work with the factory reciever.



A GN is less trouble. Get a B&W turn over ball, or the many other choices out there that keep your bed clear when your not towing.

 

[GWBourne]

I am just reluctant to screw up the bed of my truck.

i have a turn pver ball in my bed. LOVE it. i can use the full space i still have in the bed with the tool box in it and not have to hassle about the ball being there. www.turboverball.com



its kinda pricy, but is also 5th wheel adaptable. worth it in my eyes and i have nothing but great stuff to say about it. i have pulled my 32 foot GN about 5k miles total and NO problems at all. trailer weighs in at about 17k and with the tripple axle deck over i also hav eno complaints.

Grant

 

[TX Gooseneck]

A pintle puts a lot of load on the back of the truck vs a gooseneck. That being said, you can move the axles further forward to give you a solid balance where the trailer does the work you paid it to do. We build a fair amount of PH trailers, but the goosenecks have them whipped in stability, IMHO unless you have a dump truck.