Expandable trailer

[Sackett2]

Saw this on craigslist and thought I would pass it on. this goose-neck trailer expands to make it longer. Interesting concept. Unique expandable trailer 14K GVW Dual axle flat bed gooseneck
There was another picture that is no longer on c/l, it shows a Kobuta loaded in the front and a mini van on the back. the bow in the front half of the frame was enough that it was almost in the grass (3-4 inches?) and the front upright was leaning towards the rear. Interesting, but not safe.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Not sure what happened to it but a guy up here in Sweet Home had something like that from the early 60s or maybe late 50s...it was so old that the batteries for extending and retracting were made up of the 2 volt cells with straps between them.

David Kb7uns

 

[Stimw]

Company I used to work for had 5 expandable semi flatbeds. IIRC they were 45' -60'. They leased the trailers to a steel supplier who had excess length steel to deliver.
When expanding, first you had to unplug both air lines and 7-way electrical. We were forever repairing the plugs because they would forget to unplug them! We got smart, we used brass nipples on the air which would break easily and were easy to get broken pieces out.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I cannot see this trailer being useful for much except plastic pipe, trusses, etc. The 20+5 14k I had weighed in at 5400lbs which is why I sold it. I can't see that the extra steel is going to make this one a light weight?

Way back when I drove for a man who had his tractor leased to Maryland Transportation at the southern terminus of the Harbour Tunnel Freeway. They had their own trailer shop where they made a stretch that "broke" in the back leaving about two foot of deck at the end. If memory serves, one only had to pull a pin, open up the trailer and pin it back up. No fussing with wires or air lines.

Bias plies were the rule back then. A stretched out trailer can lead to a lot of jacking. Man those trailers were hard on tires.