Gooseneck trailer-deckover or with short side rails?

[mcfarmall]

Planning on getting a gooseneck trailer for hauling tractor and general utility jobs. Should I get a flat deckover or one with short tube frame sides 12"-16" high? I will be hauling logs occasionally but for logs I could simply insert some tubing/pipe into the stake pockets to control the load.

Advantages of a deckover are easy access from the sides for forking loads. Disadvantages no permanent side frames to contain loads, would have to fabricate stakes or stake panels. A plus could be that if I made short side sections, I could have some flexibility to have a flat open area and an area with removeable sides. Deckover could haul a car or truck and still allow the doors to open.

Looking for input from both sides.

 

[Morning Wood]

Only downside to deckover imo is the actual deck height. If you can deal with it then I would go deckover without a doubt.

If you go with an equipment style, just get it with a flush deck so you could side load up front at least.

 

[skipmarcy]

I like the deck height of my equipment style gooseneck. It has removeable fenders and the tires are just barely an inch or so taller than the deck - no problems using forks or opening car doors or driving on a wide-tracked vehicle, just drive right over the tops of the tires. My fenders only have 2 bolts each to remove them, and unplugging the clearance light harness. I have 80" between the fenders.

I built some sideboards to fit the stake pockets so I could haul loose stuff, like firewood last year. I just hauled a large red oak log to the mill on it a couple weeks ago - the small end was 30" diameter and it was 18' long, then another 20" x 9' next to it. Since that was all I had I didn't do anything for sides or pipes, just deck-screwed some 8"x8" wood wedges down to the deck on both sides of the log(s) and chained them down with boomers. I loaded the big boy with my 40 hp Mahindra - had the small end of the log resting on a small log and as I pushed the big log the end rose up to where I just backed the trailer dovetail under it and then continued to push the log onto the trailer using the upright ramps to keep the log centered on the trailer. At the last I had to let the ramps down and keep pushing to get the log all the way on. I could have never done that with a deckover trailer, would have been too high.

 

[mcfarmall]

That's a sweet trailer, skip. I didn't know that some manufacturers offered removeable fenders! That's a great benefit with the lower profile deck. I thought about the "low boy" goosenecks but wasn't happy with the fenders projecting above the deck. Now I'm reconsidering them.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I already have an 18' car trailer with stake pockets and a front rail. My next trailer will be a deckover gooseneck. I'll keep the car trailer for cars, etc, but the deckover will be nice for side loading pallets, and long enough to put my tractor + hitched brush hog + a implement or 2 in front. Thinking maybe 26-28'. For cars and small tractors, the fenders on the car trailer are no problem, mine are 83" between fenders. But for pallets, stacked lumber, or anything that needs side load and unload, those fenders are a pain in the forks.

 

[Xfaxman]

I vote for the deckover gooseneck. :thumbsup:

I worked my way up from bumper pull low decks to this 14K Delta 18' metal deck, plus 4' lift up dovetail with easily removable ramps:

It can haul 8, 5x6 round bales and pull another trailer:

Here it is back in 2006 with 12,640 pounds on the deck and 3,440 pounds on the ball:

 

[mcfarmall]

I've never seen a lift up dovetail like that before...that's pretty slick!

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Moritz makes a true leveling tail, not a pop up. You can run the trailer with it up or down. FH Series Flatbed Trailers | Moritz Trailers & Truck Bodies I have one and it has come in handy more than once!

 

[joeu235]

A deckover is great for going to the lumber yard where they can just fork a bundle of lumber or pallet of concrete onto the trailer. The only drawback I see is trailer weight. My 20 + 5 deckover weighs 5,400#s empty. My 18' lowboy weighs probably 2,500#s.

I bought a GN dump trailer at the end of 2017. Together with the deckover they cover just about every load perfectly.

 

[Navvet]

I use a 16K 20' + 4' tilt bed to haul just about anything I need. The lower deck makes life a lot easier for loading / unloading.





And the straight back edge make it easy to load things with an odd number of wheels ....





I have not run into a problem with the fenders being in the way ... Yet ....