Towing Questions

[Diamondpilot]

I personally like the flat deck. The DT just does not give you enough flat space in my eyes for hauling things like lumber and such. It also can make it tough to balance the tractor because you may not be able to use the last 4-5 feet of the trailer to back up or inch forward to get the balance right.

Yes, DT can be a little easier to load but have a down side that to me just does not outweigh it. They also seem to drag more if you are going over curbs, into rough ground, ect. This can be a real issue since your truck is only 2 wheel drive.

I personally have a 18' low boy style car hauler trailer, wood deck, 81" wide. Its only 14" off the ground and has slide out rear ramps that are 5' long. Ramp style is also another thing to consider. I like slide in style. Stand up ones can prevent proper loading do to constraints on where you must position things. Its legal to let things like long lumber and a bush hog to hang over 4' by law as long as its flagged.

Chris

 

[strum456]

Should I go for a regular deck or dove tailed deck? Not sure if there is price difference at my dealer.

It depends what you are planning to haul. The advantage of a dove tail or beaver tail trailer is loading low-sitting equipment like skid steers. The advantage of a flat bed is more useful space. Your Ford 4000 will have no trouble climbing on the trailer, in my opinion. HOWEVER, I will tell you to ask about ramp capacity. The ramps on my 10,000# Gatormade trailer are already bent, becasue they are only rater for 2000# a piece. An easy fix, but something to consider.

BTW,. I agree about hitches. Get the strongest hitch available for your truck. Using an inadequate hitch is NEVER worth the risk.

 

[Hollow]

Unless your going to be loading something with low ground clearance (cars, lawn mowers) I wouldn't. A dove tail is just going to decrease the ground clearance of the trailer and make it drag more.

 

[deerefan]

Unless your going to be loading something with low ground clearance (cars, lawn mowers) I wouldn't. A dove tail is just going to decrease the ground clearance of the trailer and make it drag more.

This is the same issue I had and why I went with a regular trailer with ramps. Dovetails are nice, especially for cars, but only on flat ground. Going up curbs or driveways, they always seem to drag.

 

[George2615]

Check the hitch on your truck. It should have a tag that tells you maximum trailer and tongue weight with and without a W/D hitch.

 

[jejeosborne]

I think it is important to mention this one more time. I have seen a few post in this thread mentioning to make sure you position the tractor correctly on the trailer in some instances referring to preventing the need for a WD setup. To me this sounds like a recommendation to balance the load over the trailer axles to prevent too much squat on the rear of the truck. What should really be conveyed is that proper positioning means more than 10% of the total trailer plus load weight is on the tongue. You will have dangerous sway potential at highway speeds if you don't follow this rule. You might get away with this at 30 mph city driving but please don't get on the highway. 800-900 lbs on the tongue will squat a half ton truck pretty good. I also believe that a WD hitch is safer than correcting with air bags. The hitch will spread the weight to your front TV axle and help with stopping. Yes you cannot adjust the weight distribution on travel trailers by moving its load but the manufacturers have placed the axles to give proper tongue weight from the factory.
Jeff

 

[Diamondpilot]

I think it is important to mention this one more time. I have seen a few post in this thread mentioning to make sure you position the tractor correctly on the trailer in some instances referring to preventing the need for a WD setup. To me this sounds like a recommendation to balance the load over the trailer axles to prevent too much squat on the rear of the truck. What should really be conveyed is that proper positioning means more than 10% of the total trailer plus load weight is on the tongue. You will have dangerous sway potential at highway speeds if you don't follow this rule. You might get away with this at 30 mph city driving but please don't get on the highway. 800-900 lbs on the tongue will squat a half ton truck pretty good. I also believe that a WD hitch is safer than correcting with air bags. The hitch will spread the weight to your front TV axle and help with stopping. Yes you cannot adjust the weight distribution on travel trailers by moving its load but the manufacturers have placed the axles to give proper tongue weight from the factory.
Jeff

Good point Jeff. Also I would like to add that one needs to also check the hitch itself placed on the truck. Many times the factory hitch is not rated for what the truck is rated for. A good example is the factory hitch that came on my 2004 F-250 was rated for 3,000# less than the truck was rated for. I ended up breaking the hitch in the first year.

People who say a BP trailer pulls like crap usually have one of two situations. Most common is the one you listed above. The other is too small of a tow vehicle. I have been towing for well over 20 years and have owned about 15 trailers. Only one was a GN. All my BP trailers have pulled great. I load them properly, use the proper hitch, and the proper tow vehicles.

Chris

 

[downslope]

How close is a typical dovetail to the ground at the lowest point?

Chris says his car hauler is 14" off the ground. Would a dovetail be even lower than that? It seems like being that low either one might drag in rough terrain.

 

[Diamondpilot]

DT height varies but I have seen them as low as maybe 8". My old GN, the DT was a good 24" from the ground.

Chris

 

[downslope]

DT height varies but I have seen them as low as maybe 8". My old GN, the DT was a good 24" from the ground.

Chris

Yeah, I notice also that on some deckovers the DT is 4ft and on others 5ft. I guess if you want a dovetail the 5ft would be better as long as it's built right.