Your towing rigs and trailers

[RedNeckRacin]

thanks mace! Brandi, I'll soon be following you but my 20+5 is undersized for my needs now lol I'm looking to go to a 30ft flat deck with hopefully a tail that has an option to fold flat. Atleast a 10k tandem dual if not a 12k axle set-up!

 

[MBTRAC]

Tow rigs is something we're not short of - We generally use for hauling our larger gear. either tri axle 45ft step decks or a quad axle low loader coupled to :

- on long haul, either of our Freightliner Argosy's, Cat C16's 600hp (the one pictured is set up for our seasonal contract work as my home away from home with full size fridge, microwave, coffee maker, LCD TV/DVD/RC/Inernet & mains power inverters..etc)

- on short hauls one of the older semi's, my favourite is the pictured 1979 White RC fitted with a 400hp Cummins

If we've just moving more compact gear, we'll use our rigid trucks like the Scania pictured, or a 8x4 Mercedes, a 6x4 Kenworth or Volvo sometimes towing a dog trailer.

 

[Dmace]

Piston,
That is exactly why I bought a 24+5 dual tandem. It got too crowded on my 20 foot gooseneck! I have also since upgraded from my 2002 Ram 2500 to a 2003 Ram 3500 dually. Both trucks were real sweet pullers.
hugs, Brandi
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=306247"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=306246"/>

I love both trucks! The fire engine red sure looks purty!

 

[bindian]

thanks mace! Brandi, I'll soon be following you but my 20+5 is undersized for my needs now lol I'm looking to go to a 30ft flat deck with hopefully a tail that has an option to fold flat. Atleast a 10k tandem dual if not a 12k axle set-up!

RedNeckRacin,
My smaller trailer is 20 foot. My new dual tandem, rated to 22,000 pounds, is a 24 foot with a 5 foot flow-thru dovetail. Now the funny part about going bigger trailers, is that my new dual tandem only hauls 2,000 pounds more than my smaller (14,000 pound) trailer. My smaller trailer weighs only 2600 pounds on the axles. My dual tandem is suppose to weigh 6700 pounds. Big difference.

My axles came with a manual stating they only hold 9980 pounds each. So a 22,000 pound rating minus 19,960 equals 2,040 pounds my truck has to carry on the hitch. If you plan to expand in the future.........12k axles are where to go.

My dual tandem is a Top Hat and it has all kinds of little neat features you won't think about until your chaining down a load! Top Hat makes 12k axled trailers. Dual tandem trailers, over 20 feet, go for about $100 per addition feet over 20 feet.

In Texas, even with farm tags, over 20,000 pounds you have to have a Class A operator's license. But I like overkill, so I am studying for my Class A CDL.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I love both trucks! The fire engine red sure looks purty!

Dmace,
It is my signature color. My business is named Big RED Beast Excavators.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Diamondpilot]

RedNeckRacin,
My smaller trailer is 20 foot. My new dual tandem, rated to 22,000 pounds, is a 24 foot with a 5 foot flow-thru dovetail. Now the funny part about going bigger trailers, is that my new dual tandem only hauls 2,000 pounds more than my smaller (14,000 pound) trailer. My smaller trailer weighs only 2600 pounds on the axles. My dual tandem is suppose to weigh 6700 pounds.

This is the issue I had also. I had a 25+5 with tandem 12K axles. Its GVWR was 25K but with winch, batteries, chains, spare, and a few tools it was pushing 6,500# empty. I never loaded it past 25K.

The other thing I did not like was the tandem wheels. I am not a dually guy and maintenance on the inner bearings, brakes, ect was a pain. If I ever have the need again I will go with triple 8K axles and singles.

Chris

 

[bindian]

This is the issue I had also. I had a 25+5 with tandem 12K axles. Its GVWR was 25K but with winch, batteries, chains, spare, and a few tools it was pushing 6,500# empty. I never loaded it past 25K.

The other thing I did not like was the tandem wheels. I am not a dually guy and maintenance on the inner bearings, brakes, ect was a pain. If I ever have the need again I will go with triple 8K axles and singles.

Chris

I never liked 3 axle trailers as they are too hard on tires in a tight turn.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

This is the issue I had also. I had a 25+5 with tandem 12K axles. Its GVWR was 25K but with winch, batteries, chains, spare, and a few tools it was pushing 6,500# empty. I never loaded it past 25K.

The other thing I did not like was the tandem wheels. I am not a dually guy and maintenance on the inner bearings, brakes, ect was a pain. If I ever have the need again I will go with triple 8K axles and singles.

Chris

I never liked 3 axle trailers as they are too hard on tires in a tight turn.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Diamondpilot]

I never liked 3 axle trailers as they are too hard on tires in a tight turn.
hugs, Brandi

I don't agree. I have had a 18,000# tri axle boat trailer since 2004. Just put on my 3rd set. I pull it about 5,000 miles a year or more and put the boat in and out weekly. Only reason tires were changed were age, nothing more.

I also pull about 10 others for customers with 3.5K, 5K, 6K, and 8K axles. No issues, just a myth. A local manufactur has been making tri axle GN with 7K and 8K akles and they hold up fine and have a good reputation.

Chris

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Brandi, I hear you about the towing capacity. I was looking at a kauffman 30+4 and it only had 10k axles but was rated for 24900? I believe. SO they were betting on about 6k of tongue weight to get that. I think thats false advertising personally lol. My moritz weighs about 5400 I think so its certainly not a light trailer but its undersized for what my needs are now.Does the heavier trailer handle your load alot more comfortably though? I'm already flirting with disaster with my weights and cdl territory. I have had my cdl permit for about 4 months now and have been "practicing" *ah-hem!* till I can go and take the driving test. There is a local bus company that has a single axle dump with an auto and a short little pintle hitch trailer that they test you in. Shouldn't be to bad except the truck prolly turns like a yacht compared to mine lol. ITs really not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be.


Chris, I hear you about the added maintenance costs but I agree with brandi about the tires scrubbing to much in a tri-axle trailer. The places that I used my trailers at are mostly to tight for my rig anyways so I'm always taking advantage of the ability to turn back around on myself with a gooseneck. I can watch my tires rolling pretty hard then I jack my short trailer around. I dont think I will ever go back to a torsion axle trailer either! Arent tri-axle trailers very sensitive to the trailer being level as to which axle carries the load? Or do they have the common spring hangers that balance everything out? I have never owned one, but I have only recently needed to start thinking about the bigger trailer options.