Trailer Questions

[farmboy12]

We prefer units with stand up ramps. They allow you to utilize the dovetail while hauling tractors and other equipment that needs to be loaded by ramps. If you have to haul two tractors that need the extra length of the dovetail a long distance, and don't want two trips, you need to utilize the dovetail. You would need to pull forward, put the ramps down, then move back to use the dovetail.

The fold-flat ramps do have pros, as do almost all things. Such as a longer flat deck. And things that are as wide as the trailer, that stick off the back, you can't have ramps in the way.

They both have pros and cons, but that seems like a good trailer for you. You only have one, small tractor that will fit with no problems. On another note, you may not want to pay for that extra ramp if you don't need it.

Hope I helped, and that it is understandable.
Kyle

 

[RollTideRam]

Stand up ramps also help you see the trailer behind you when it is empty and you are backing up. JC

 

[DanD78]

Have you consdered a goose neck hitch? You have a heavy enough truck and they pull like a dream. I have the same size trailer you are considering with a goose neck and have no control issues when full or over loaded. I think they are easier to turn and back in tight spots. You can put more weigh on the hitch and use the capacity of your truck.

The oil bath hubs are great. They are usually a higher end axle option.

Your 350 truck should have no problems taking an empty trailer home with out brakes.

Dan

 

[Mike Costello]

I Have 04 F350 also, using the prodigy brake controller. Took less than 10 minutes to install the unit. Don't use the brake controller wire kit that Ford gave you when you got your truck. Use the Prodigy wire harness for Ford trucks. Its literally plug & play and isn't expensive.

I mounted my unit just under the cubby on the right side of the steering wheel. Its easily adustable which you will be doing before you hit the road (simple procedure). Play it safe and install the Prodigy BEFORE you pull that trailer home. Thats a nice trailer...dont risk it!

 

[Builder]

You'll have no problems pulling an empty trailer behind you with no trailer brakes.

I find most people on this website to obsess over the smallest things.

I bought a 20K tandem axle trailer and pulled it home with an F-350 with no trailer brakes hooked-up. Trailer weighed like 5,500 lbs empty. You could feel it back there, but it was OK. I just took it slow.

It is illegal, though and you could get fined if you get pulled over.

 

[Skyco]

It is illegal, though and you could get fined if you get pulled over.

Or the living daylights sued out of you if you'd had an accident

 

[Mike Costello]

I don't get it......the Prodigy installs so easily and in so little time, there shouldn't be any question about brakes vs no brakes. Save yourself a lot of worry, do it right.

My 04 F350 is capable of doing many things; it doesn't mean those are the right thing to do. Common sense and the law should prevail here.

 

[Builder]

I don't get it......the Prodigy installs so easily and in so little time, there shouldn't be any question about brakes vs no brakes. Save yourself a lot of worry, do it right.

My 04 F350 is capable of doing many things; it doesn't mean those are the right thing to do. Common sense and the law should prevail here.

Totally correct, but in a pinch, it can be done with little risk.

The trailer the O/P might pull weighs less empty than a single axle trailer with 3 snowmobiles on it, which doesn't even have brakes!! I see all these ying yangs pulling single axle trailers around behind their pickups at 70MPH down I-80 all day long.

I've had many situations in my 25 years on the jobsite where I've had to take risks with equipment that the 20 pages in the front of the owners manual say don't do. Sometimes you just have to take a calculated risk.

In this instance, that's a minimally risky situation. If he can get the trailer brakes hooked up, do it, but if he can't, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Runner]

To address a couple of points:

I did get the Ford adapter along with my Prodigy (from eTrailer.com) back when I bought the controller a couple of years ago. Yesterday, I installed it in the truck and as mentioned by another poster, it was a 5 minute job. For now, I'm just going to set the controller in the cubby hole in the dash which seems to be almost made for the purpose and is a tight enough fit that it should stay in place.

I agree with the points about the stand up ramps being useful. It looks like it would be easy enough to fab up a bracket to hold the ramps vertical for those instances when it might be necessary. Otherwise, I like the idea of being able to just throw a sheet of plywood or something over the flat ramps and use the full 25 feet of flat trailer deck for moving furniture or whatever.

As for the gooseneck option, no question that would handle better and handle the load better, but I'm not planning on hauling anything that heavy or that often, so it's not worth cutting up my bed for, at least at this time. In the future maybe....

I'm a little surprised at how hard it is to find a decent deckover flatbed for sale. Of the few new trailer dealers around here, all they seem to have are the lightweight lawn mower trailers or car haulers. Not finding much in the used market either.

Now, I just need to convince myself to cough up the cash for the one I really want....

Thanks again for the responses.

 

[forester2]

Good decision; that looks like a substantial trailer.Just a word of warning to anyone installing a controller on a truck w/o factory trailer towing package, especially GM: make sure you install a fuse for the brakes in the under the hood box and remove the dummy thats there from the factory