Help me decide on a tilt deck trailer.

[Fallon]

Ya, there are issues with a completely tilting deck balanced in the middle. My 16' was this way. It's only saving grace was a really long tongue I could set the bucket/loader on. The tongue functioned more or less like a fixed deck up front.

I couldn't put much on the back of the deck & still get the deck to tip forward (made sure I never had negative tongue weight).

A decent fixed deck in front will mitigate most of the drawbacks from a tilting deck.

16' was too small for my 3,000lbs of L3200. I assume the trailer was made for a very heavy compact skid steer or mini-ex as it had a pair of 7k axles under it. Somehow I did manage to fit & balance a 10k+ lbs 40 year old backhoe on it. That was sketchy though. Had to remove part of the pipe rack on the F250 & no tight turns. Was only 10 miles going really slow on back roads though.

No tractor hauling photos of the new trailer, but I did haul it up the side of a 5,000' mountain on dirt roads with the Tacoma around switchbacks so tight I only had 1-2' of clearance on each side to pick up that radio tower. Pulled beautifully. Use the Taco for light jobs as its nicer to drive. The bearer F250 is used for heavier hauling. Got it after pulling the L3200 with the Tacoma a couple times.

 

[nikerret]

I am not patiently awaiting my Diamond C dump trailer. While not the same type of trailer, Diamond C is making huge leaps, right now. They have just finished a major multi-million dollar expansion and have a lot of features no one else offers. One of the coolest is the HD tongue box, which you can see on the bumper pulls. All that space, every other company just wastes (with few exceptions and none do a full toolbox). Plus, it adds rigidity to the whole trailer.

I ordered mine with automotive paint. They are switching to powder coat, which I do not prefer. Hopefully, mine gets painted, before they shut down the auto paint line. The order got pushed back ten days, while they moved stuff around, into the new building. If you have a preference, most of the trailers on the lot are still automotive, but some may be powder coat. After a month, or so, they will all be powder.

 

[RichM752]

Wow, I really like the automotive paint on mine. Been through that powder coat failing drill. And you are most correct about the HD tongue box, its great.
Hers a shot of the extra D-rings I welded on my 48HDT. Looks like Diamond C is doing the same with the forward rings.

 

[mopardude318]

Well, I think I'm going to order the 24 foot gooseneck tilt, it has the 8 foot stationary deck, and the 16 foot tilt..I hope it's not too long for other uses when I want to haul the occasional vehicle...I'm used to my 16 footer, and when I barrow my friends 20 foot trailer it feels long. Now this one would be 4 feet longer..:shocked:

 

[two_bit_score]

Well, I think I'm going to order the 24 foot gooseneck tilt, it has the 8 foot stationary deck, and the 16 foot tilt..I hope it's not too long for other uses when I want to haul the occasional vehicle...I'm used to my 16 footer, and when I barrow my friends 20 foot trailer it feels long. Now this one would be 4 feet longer..:shocked:

Looking forward to pics.

 

[mopardude318]

I don't know...if I select the 8K axle option (18k gvw) instead of the 7K (14k gvw) I lose 2 inches of width between the fenders making it 80 inches instead of 82". I just measured my tractors rear tire width...79 &1/4". That's close...real close!

Going with the 7k axles brings me back to a more acceptable 82" between the fenders...

 

[mikeg135]

I have a Kraftsman gravity tilt gooseneck. 24' with a 16' tilt deck, 7K dexter axles. I love the fact that I don't have to screw around with ramps at the end of day, but I do find that the trailer is weight distribution sensitive. It is my first gooseneck so it could be a learning curve for me on how its feels compared to a bumper pull. The axles are centers 2/3 back from the front of the deck. I will send some pics this evening.

 

[mopardude318]

okay. looking forward to those pics. what tractor are you hauling on it?

 

[mikeg135]

I had to screen shot a post I did from another forum since I no longer had the pic.


The tractor in the pic above was a MX5000 and the implement weighs 1500lbs and the load still did some chucking when going over bumps even though the rear tires were set over the center of the axles.

I now tow a L5240 Cab with loaded tires and wheel weights. I tend to bring the tractor even more forward now with the rear tires of the tractor directly on top of the front axle. I also added air bags which seemed to help. But with my limited towing with a gooseneck, my old bumper pull was a smoother tow compared to the gooseneck chucking. I still need to play around with the load distribution I guess.

 

[nikerret]

I don't know...if I select the 8K axle option (18k gvw) instead of the 7K (14k gvw) I lose 2 inches of width between the fenders making it 80 inches instead of 82". I just measured my tractors rear tire width...79 &1/4". That's close...real close!

Going with the 7k axles brings me back to a more acceptable 82" between the fenders...

It might just be the picture, but it looks like hte board is angled inward, where the tape is. To me, it looks closer to the 80", if you had the board and the tape at a true 90*. For example, the bottom of the tape shows the board just under the 1/4" mark, the top is just over the 1/'4 inch mark. If it can be seen, at that tape width, you're quite a bit further off, at the 7, or so inches from the tape to the fattest part of the tire.