Trailer Purchasing Advise

[ovrszd]

Ain't that the truth.....

Or almost as bad is jumping from the 22' BP to the much shorter 7x12 dump trailer man it reacts quick.....

When I wore younger man's clothes I had a job with a freight company in Kansas City. I had a city route making pickups/deliveries. My daily rig was a 24' trailer pulled by a single axle day cab tractor. A couple times my tractor was down for service. They would give me a long nose sleeper cab twin screw tractor...... Holy crap that was hard to back into tight dock spaces......

 

[jyoutz]

And a gooseneck would be much worse when it comes to going around tight corners or backing into tight spots.

Everyone raves on goosenecks because of how they tow and some people try and really push them. But they are a whole different animal.

I think my gooseneck turns and backs much easier than a bumper pull trailer. The only downside to a gooseneck is the additional cost.

 

[LD1]

I think my gooseneck turns and backs much easier than a bumper pull trailer. The only downside to a gooseneck is the additional cost.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

In general.....goosenecks react much slower....so they appear easier to back and control without constant over-correction giving the appearance of being all over the place.

But try backing a gooseneck into a narrow driveway off of a narrow country road vs a BP trailer.

Goosenecks require alot more room to swing wide and get a trailer to react. And sometimes the drive or the road just isnt wide enough to do that without going in the ditch on the opposite side of the road, or dropping the trailer tires in the ditch at the edge of the driveaway and crushing a culvert

 

[Rock Crawler]

I agree, after owning both a goose and multiple bumper pull trailers, if I had to get into tight places and be the most menuverable with a trailer, I believe that I could jack the bumper pulls into places that the goose would have me throwing fits. It is totally different in technique for backing, and not as quick/easy to get jacked around. But yes, it pulls much nicer. I like them both really, but there is give and take. Also the bumper pull can be passed around to my sons, my father and myself while the goose can only go to my "big" truck. The half tons we have in the family aren't outfitted for the gooseneck.

 

[deezler]

To your first paragraph. Not in the way at all. Not even sure why you would think that.

Because unless you have the new puck setups (I guess everyone does now?) you have a stupid metal bracket always sitting there on the floor of your truck bed. And regardless of which system you have, you have to wrangle a 100+ lb hitch in and out of your bed if you want to trailer something, and then go back to a clean bed afterwards. Edit: wait, am I confusing 5th-wheel with GN balls? I am. Obviously I am not experienced here LOL.

Regarding safety, you basically explained what I meant. You have to pull out wide on any tight turn with a GN, many people dont, and pull their trailer into a ditch. I've seen it several times. Operator error, but it's easy to do.

 

[LD1]

Because unless you have the new puck setups (I guess everyone does now?) you have a stupid metal bracket always sitting there on the floor of your truck bed. And regardless of which system you have, you have to wrangle a 100+ lb hitch in and out of your bed if you want to trailer something, and then go back to a clean bed afterwards. Edit: wait, am I confusing 5th-wheel with GN balls? I am. Obviously I am not experienced here LOL.

Regarding safety, you basically explained what I meant. You have to pull out wide on any tight turn with a GN, many people dont, and pull their trailer into a ditch. I've seen it several times. Operator error, but it's easy to do.

Yes, sounds like you are confusing GN with a 5th wheel.

A ball is the only thing in the bed of a GN. And most flat beds like mine it is in a recessed pocket with a cover so you still have a smooth and flat bed. And the common pickup setup is a turn-over ball. Where you pull the ball out and turn it upside down and it gives a flat bed.

And yes, need to swing wide or run tires in the ditch. Most customers dont like a crushed culvert....or worse its a metal culvert and you slice the sidewalls of your tires.

Gotta have a WIDE approach or WIDE road to swing a GN wide enough to get into and out of. Which is my point that I dont think some are understanding. There are just some driveways on narrow country roads that you simply cannot swing wide enough to keep the trailer wheels out of the ditch and off the culvert or avoid clipping mailboxes, pillars, light-posts, etc

 

[JWR]

Because unless you have the new puck setups (I guess everyone does now?) you have a stupid metal bracket always sitting there on the floor of your truck bed. And regardless of which system you have, you have to wrangle a 100+ lb hitch in and out of your bed if you want to trailer something, and then go back to a clean bed afterwards. Edit: wait, am I confusing 5th-wheel with GN balls? I am. Obviously I am not experienced here LOL.

Regarding safety, you basically explained what I meant. You have to pull out wide on any tight turn with a GN, many people dont, and pull their trailer into a ditch. I've seen it several times. Operator error, but it's easy to do.

So educate me: A gooseneck is an example of a 5th wheel isn't it? What is the difference?

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I am in the market for a trailer to haul my tractor, DK40 HST, the longest the tractor will be is almost exactly 22ft with the loader and bush hog, although 98% of the time I wouldn't be hauling it with the bush hog, and with any other attachment I'm only between 17-19ft. I was ORIGINALLY looking for a 20ft 14k but the more I thought about it I figured I'd enjoy the room of a 22ft. I called a local dealer and they actually didn't have a 22 but they do have a 24ft in stock. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the trailer yet (to check for Quality of build) but what is your opinion on a 24ft bumper pull? I will be pulling it with a RAM 2500. It seems like a lot of trailer to me but then again I'd have no worry of needing extra space.
Another question would be, is anyone familiar with Currahee trailers? That is the brand of the trailer (24ft 14k) and this dealer has quoted me almost $600 less for this 24ft than another dealer had quoted me for a 22ft GPS brand trailer.
I know that better quality comes at higher prices and I haven't gone to look at either trailer (neither dealer is super close to me and of course they are in opposite directions from me), just curious if anyone on here was familiar with either the Currahee or GPS Brand(s)

People (including me until a few years ago) pull 30 foot, bumper hitch travel trailers all the time with 3/4 ton pick-ups. I don’t see any reason why a 24 foot flat trailer would be any problem at all.

 

[Fallon]

So educate me: A gooseneck is an example of a 5th wheel isn't it? What is the difference?

Both mount in the same place, the middle of the bed & not on the bumper. A gooseneck is just like a ball for a bumper pull. A 5th wheel is what you see on the back of a semi. A big greasy plate with a notch in it. The trailer has a pin in it that slides into the notch.

A 5th wheel hits weighs 100 odd pounds on a pickup & takes up a lot of the bed. It may be easier to hitch up as you just back into the trailer. Things somewhat self align if you are close. You need to lower the jack, back up, align closely then raise the jack to hitch a gooseneck.

Technically you need safety chains for any ball hitch (goose or bumper), but don't for a 5th wheel. Not clear if that's politics or a technical reason.

RV trailers almost always come with a 5th wheel hitch. Horse trailers & work trailers almost always use a gooseneck. Converting a gooseneck trailer to 5th wheel is pretty rare. Converting a 5th wheel trailer to a gooseneck usually isn't to difficult & done a bit.

 

[LD1]

Technically you need safety chains for any ball hitch (goose or bumper), but don't for a 5th wheel. Not clear if that's politics or a technical reason.

Probably a little of both.

But a properly hitched GN or BP isnt going anywhere. But there are different size balls....and the ability to very easily forget to latch. If you forget to latch you may not know it until your trailer passes you going down the road.

With a 5th....unlatched the trailer simply stays where its parked. It dont have gravity dropping a hitch down over a ball