I have a 2012 5 Ton 24' Flatbed Trailer by PJ. I really love the trailer, however the ramps on this unit seemed to be an afterthought. I know they make ones with nice ramps, but this one just doesn't have them. I bought it used from someone who drove it once and could not get it into his shop, so he sold it. The Ramps were so comically steep, the previous owner expanded each steel ramp by 4 feet making the ramps around 150-200 pounds each and they no longer fit into the onboard storage. I am tired of hurting myself dealing with these ramps! So my question is, does someone make a good aftermarket ramp conversion kit for this, or am I better of just building one from scratch, or just buying a new trailer? Thanks for the advice!
Post a few pics and I know we'll have ideas. I've added ramps to a few trailers.
Thanks, see below:
If it was mine, I'd add a beaver tail (sloped section) to the back of the trailer, and then hinge the ramps to the bottom of the beaver tail with some strong springs. You can get the springs from Redneck Trailer Supply for $14. It would probably take me about 2 days, and a few hundred in new material, though I am allergic to new material, and am friends with a scrap yard owner.
Haha! Ok, thank you for the advice! Maybe this will make it on my projects list.
Those do look like monster heavy units. Our old car trailer has similar ramps, but they are much shorter. The car trailer also has a beaver tail which helps with loading angles. Speaking of comical loading angles; I bought a brand new PJ gooseneck 24' tilt deck trailer in 2013. It has been really handy to have around for moving just about anything. However the incline is down right scary at times. I contemplated trading it in for a hydraulic beaver tail unit. Over the years I stopped and looked at a few trailers. I saw one trailer with hydraulic powered flip ramps. I think each style has a specific feature which makes it beneficial for different applications. I will probably keep mine around as I have grown accustom to how it operates. It was my first gooseneck and I have to say I'll never go back to bumper pull trailers. They pull so much better and it's easier on the truck.
I would also go with a dovetail but its going to be long so i would cut the last so many feet and make it into a dovetail. It may make scents to trade. I got a tilt bed this spring no ramps i will never go back if i could go back in time i would do what ever it took to get one even if i had to sell a kidney. When i use a trailer i have to load and unload several time in a day.
Ya, I am slowly coming around to that idea of needing a gooseneck / 5th wheel. They problem is that I use my truck 99% as a truck and I am constantly using the Bed. I don't want to have to take the adapter in and out every time I need to use the truck. I think that is why I have been dragging my feet for so long. I guess I have the long dream of getting myself a nice commercial rig someday so I can buy a 60-80 man lift which are around 40,000 pounds.
The nice part about a gooseneck trailer is you get the benefits of fifth wheel geometry without the the big bearing plate assembly. I purchased and installed a B&W turnover ball hitch in my truck. The simple pull of a lever in the fender well allows me to convert my gooseneck hauler into a regular truck bed. After installing it I honestly can say it will be one of the first add on items if I ever need to purchase a new truck. Hahaha new, but then again I don't want go in debt forever for an 80k truck. Lets see I can buy a second house or a new truck. If you get into those big weights I think a commercial outfit would be ideal too. Cheers,
The only reason I went to bumper pull is I need to pull behind my dump truck, otherwise gooseneck is better in every way. You get a much longer deck compared to a bumper pull that will get around in the same areas. You can still use most of the box/deck area you just need to keep a small area clear for the coupler to get in and out. I really never bothered turning over the ball on my B&W unless I was hauling a pallet or something where I needed the bottom level. It's so small it doesn't get in the way for most stuff in the box. It would take a ton of time to cut the rear off that trailer and make a proper beavertail. I would say make the ramps flip up with a spring assist so they aren't really heavy to lift, make proper ramps around 7' long so they are still a reasonable weight to handle, or sell the trailer. You may find if you load enough times you just get use to them and are fine. My dad bought same type of trailer about 10 years ago with only 6' ramps, it took awhile to get use to loading skidsteer on that steep of ramps but eventually it's no big deal, went to 7' after the first set bent and it's even better. Unless the person welding those ramps together really knew what they were doing and you inspect the joint often, I think it's an accident waiting to happen.
That little genie telehandler on your trailer is probably a load. If its a 5519, those little critters are close to 11,000lbs if I remember right. On a 5 ton trailer you're getting your $$$ worth. That said, if you want to continue to use this trailer and are loading and unloading a lot, the beavertail and ramps with springs like mitch504 suggested would be the way to go. You could shorten the ramps and it would make the "break over" point less. I have a trailer built like this on the rear, the middle raise section is kind of handy, and it can get you a little longer deck if you don't have to unload (like hauling lumber or barn tin etc.) I'd probably just build something like this and use your existing ramps. You're dovetail wouldn't even have to be that long.
Notching the frame from the bottom and bending a dovetail in is not a big job. Just cut the correct size inverted V and leave the top beam flange to bend down until your notch closes up. Some heat on the top flange and the weight will gently let it settle into place. We did one on our old pintle hitch trailer in less than a day. After tacking we did lay it on its side with the log loader to make the weld up easy. We fish plated it to but I don't think it was needed. I tend to overbuild everything.
That’s quite a load for that trailer u have there. Unless there’s more tires under there I can’t see.
The way that trailer is set up if you add a dove you really need to move the axles back. I bought a hinge kit from a local trailer manufacturer to make the ramps fold. I made the dovetail 5 foot and the ramps 5 foot. The incline is so much better than a 4 and 4 setup. Bought a 25000 lb pintle hitch 20 foot deck, made it into a 25 foot gooseneck with 5 foot dove tail. I think I spent 1300 on material.
I have a older heavy gooseneck with single wheels, with 11000 on it was a pig, should do that on duals/tandem. And I second trading up to a dovetail with foldovers for what you are doing as well going to tandem duals.
Buy the trailer you need, sell the one you have. I have seen people claim the new PJ trailers are not the quality they were when yours was made. It seems the original owners sold out.
Going to a hydraulic Folding Beavertail and Dual Wheels will make a HUGE improvement where will need more truck to drag but know three here in town that will NEVER look back to light trailers again.
Trade it,get what you need.life is short
In one of my most recent videos I load, transport and unload a 8'x16' skidded yard barn. Check out my YouTube channel if you are interested in how the PJ tilt deck performs. I can haul most anything, but the limiting factor is weight. It tops out at a maximum payload of 10k. As step as the angle is, at full tilt, it always surprises me when I tilt the deck and the load just looks at me. 'oh you wanted me easily slide off..... nope not today kemosabe'. Haha
I tend to believe that in the last 4 to five years PJ got better. Its seemed that most of the older ones dog tracked like crazy. It was easy to spot a PJ when overtaking one. When they built the new jigs and started putting the axles in straight they also started painting the underside of the frames results in less rust. I still would not buy anything for myself but a ABU or a Midsota in a gooseneck but PJ has gotten better in my mind.
Ive had a PJ gooseneck for about 15 years now. I had those P.O.S. ramps .I loaded a D 2 with them years ago,one bounced off the those hooks and led to a rough unloading. That was it no more of those things. The trailer itself has been excellent and given me great service. Once in a while ill haul my 303 excavator on it between the shop and home ( 10 mins). Mostly i use it for hauling light stuff like boom sections,sometimes ill load it with welding gear and it becomes a good work trailer. Id go with the foldover ramps and beavertail .
I know I am going to catch a ton of heat over my method of securing my load, but I wanted to share this video. It shows how step the angle is when loading equipment on tilt deck PJ gooseneck trailer, how to get equipment on the deck, how not to strap your load down, and what happens when you don't think about soft access drives. This load was too much for the trailer. I was overly impressed with how it towed/tracked behind the trailer. While I did it in this video it really wasn't meant for two pieces of equipment. Sometimes the 'let's just see how it looks' idea leads to 'well let's just tow it'. It was a bad idea fueled by a need to get these items into storage. Luckily it went great! Aside from the driveway incident.
Yup, Heat is on, no amount of self imposed importance or time constraints are allowed to create the hazard you presented. Bigger Trailer, LARGER Haul truck was and REMAINS in order, sadly you got away with it once, may try it again. The tractor by itself is a Full load for the axles/tires.
Agreed one or the other, but both are too much. I need a bigger rig for that kind of weight. Overall I am impressed with it's towing performance though. No fish tailing, she pulled along nice and straight. I won't be trying this one again. Just because it fits doesn't mean it's in capacity.
I'll give you this, at least your parking brake works. You should have just unloaded the skid loader in the same spot you unloaded the backhoe, get rid of the weight and the trailer would have come right out of the yard, instead of wasting all the time trying to pull it out loaded. Next time you feel like being dumb and overloading, remember everyone else's wife and kids and the schoolbus are all on the same road with you. One old lady or young driver who's on tiktok with their iphone, pulls out in front of you and its all over. Because you've killed them, and you and their family are going to have to live with that. It isn't funny and it isn't cool. Next time just make two trips. Make time.
The truck per Ford is rated for a maximum trailer weight of 15,500 lb. It looks worse than it actually is per truck capacity. I wasn't concerned about truck rated braking capacity more so about trailer tires / axles. To check it accurately I would need a scale to gage each axle. My local scale is almost the same distance I traveled to the storage facility, but in the opposite direction. The busted up hooptie rolling down the road scares me more. Not that it's a competition, you should see the loads tree care services put on our crane trucks. They are big trucks with zero payload loaded to the gills. Those scare me.
Unrelated note, I looked up 2020 F150 trucks just out of curiosity.... They have traditional bumper towing capacites listed above 10k pounds. That's some serious weight for light duty trucks! Not that I can afford one or would I replace my F250 for a 1/2 ton. It must be some serious technological improvements over the years. My older F150's were rated much less.
I have seen the campers on interstate highways. I travel IH 91 in VT & 95 in Maine. I see the monster fifth wheels some weigh 20000 towed behind F150. I do not have fifth wheel, but that weight in my mind belongs behind a Top Kick, or an F650. I can't help worrying when will the tail wag the dog?
I get what you're trying to point out, but if another driver makes a really bad error and ends up getting killed, how is it the other drivers fault? As long as they are legal weight and the truck/trailer in good operating condition of course. Speaking to the laws in Canada, but as long as no axles or tires are overloaded, there is no weight restriction, you can pull 35,000lbs behind a 3500 if you want. Can anyone honestly say they believe if a truck/trailer is legal for 30,000lbs and it's at 31,000lbs it's somehow "unsafe" and that 3% overloaded is going to be the difference between a safe trip and some massive crash? I might take flake for this, but I don't load my truck/trailer and think "I better load it light in case someone cuts me off". I think I better load it legal and tie it down well. If someone cuts me off really bad and I can't stop, it's not my fault, and exactly why I have a dash camera to protect myself. IMO it's like them playing russian roulette, eventually they are going to lose. The biggest problem on the roads is people don't pay attention or care that the more a vehicle weights the longer it takes to stop.
I was curious and looked up the weight of your stuff, 4350lbs tractor, 6200lbs skidsteer, trailer I don't know 5000lbs? So 15500, let's be generous and round it up to 16000lbs. Pretty sure those are 7000lb axles? Assume even 15% pin weight, 2400lbs on the truck, no issues there and it leaves 13600 on the axles, nothing wrong there either. Now it might be over the sticker on the trailer and depending where you are that's an issue but not here. Unless my numbers are really low, I would not hesitate to pull that weight. Speaking for Dodge, the only difference between the 3500 SRW and DRW for most years was spacers for the wheels, and rear axle ratio, absolutely nothing difference as far as brakes. Obviously the duals will be more stable, and you could argue more rubber on the ground for braking, but on dry pavement that's a pretty thin argument, 16k on a gooseneck is SRW territory all day long. I was pulling 21-26k with my SRW 3500 for years without an issue, the trailer is what stops the majority of the weight. Sure a dually is more stable but other then that it's no better, and I did pull it for one summer with a 5500. Aside from a stiffer suspension and bigger brakes, a 5500 isn't a whole lot different truck. The brakes are so much bigger for the extra payload over the 3500, if the 3500 is loaded within it's capacity it's perfectly fine.
7000 lb axles yet will not generally find tires in excess of 6500 as a pair single where most underbuy and hang 5000 capacity on a 7k axle. Trailer tire is a trailer tire and so on. Had to special order the load range Es on my two trailers but dealers I called had Ds in stock. Sell them Routinely.
& in the case of the triaxle I sold, tire rating was greater than the load, but only brand I could find in the size & load rating were Blue Star, a Chinese tire. Near every trip a tire would blow off the rim. The tire dealer blamed me for putting tubes in, said it retained heat. I got weary of putting air in each trip, wondered if the tire blow out was caused by air leaking while driving.
I think you are close on the math, but I could be off a little on the math myself. I have similar thoughts about driving rules and regulations. The only way to get a real accurate estimate is by taking it to a scale. I do not drink anymore, but pretend I do for a minute. If I had one beer and decide to venture out in a vehicle. I would be automatically be at fault if I was involved in an accident. It doesn't matter if it was caused by another individual. Its weird the way law has shifted. I understand the reasoning why it ended up this way, but don't know that I 100% agree. Do they follow the same procedure for operating conditions of a vehicle? My sister is a lawyer. I hate 'lawyers' but love my sister. Hate is an exaggeration. I more dislike how their profession has affected the general population. They hire accidental reconstruction mechanical engineers to inspect crash vehicles. They make judgement on the physical condition of the mechanical components of the vehicle and determine if faulty components caused the failure. Ie did these brakes work to 100% functionality before the crash type of scenario. Note they also fully inspect phone records. So if you were texting, talking, or posting to FB at the time of the accident they will know. I am over the rated capacity of the sticker tag. However this is the first trailer I ever owned with an official tag. I loaded the tongue extra heavy to shift more weight onto the rear suspension of the haul vehicle. I do believe the tires are the limiting factor of the entire rig. The tires are also rated at a specific capacity for a given operating temperature and speed. Operating the vehicle in mild temperatures must improve it's general operating condition. A tire rolling on payment that is 40°F must operate cooler than one rolling in 80°F. I think temperature is a key to tire failure. The speed of the rotating tire also affects the temperature. One rotating slower would have improved life over a higher rpm unit. This is why I took my time at a decent rate of speed 40-45mph max. I also eased over large pot holes / railroad tracks like a gasoline tanker. Is it over by the shear numbers? Probably. I looked at all of the suspension components before securing the load. None of the springs or tires looked grossly overloaded. If the trailer looked like it was really squealing or the truck looked really bad I would have never left the driveway. I probably wouldn't do it again because it was heavy and potentially on the limit. However the bigger reasoning is it was a major pia to load and secure both loaders on the trailer at the same time. I did check the height of anyone was curious. She was under height. Now the guy driving the pickup truck that has the frame half rusted in two, with a 500lb load in the bed, no brakes and bald dry rotted tires.... He scares me. Sometimes I think vehicle inspections in Ohio would be a good thing. However I too have been guilty of operating vehicles that might not pass all the rules. I think 7 out 10 people driving never use their parking brake. They always freeze up. Cheers,
DOT rules have teeth, every day same teeth and they WILL bite. That stated many states have a 'State' Safety inspection, Missouri is included in that where the Official Take on the State MVI is that it is ONLY good for the day performed, it passes and next week a Wheel falls off all is still good with the system. State Troopers can perform a Involuntary RE-inspect upon a vehicle they deem is operating unsafe but law has NO Teeth where they can issue a ticket but unless the machine is causing damage not much else can do but send on their way. Now DOT sees anything that IS required under their jurisdiction and BAM! can red flag the machine and make you tow or leave parked PLUS the fines involved.
I was really surprised when the parking brake on your backhoe held on the trailer at that angle, I don't know many guys with a backhoe that age that will hold that well. I've seen some skid loaders want to walk on a steep ramp also. Its great that yours holds that well. I have a big old forklift we haul on a rollback type trailer, and you need two guys, one to drive the forklift on, and one to put the trailer back flat, because I know it would never hold at the loading angle.
Thanks! I left a chain on the passenger side as and extra 'just in case' safety. I unhook it right when I climb up to unload. The parking brake was indeed holding pretty good. They are wet brakes inside the differential. I installed brand new mastercylinders on it in an earlier video. When I purchased the unit in August she had zero brakes and I found it near impossible to drive without some form of braking. The bobcat would walk / cost backwards without the parking brake set. We adjusted it such that when engaged it will nearly stall the unit if you try to advance without releasing the brake. I chained it to front of the deck before tilting to load. To be honest the step angle scares me a little. Two people would be ideal for helping load and definitely cut out sometime. My neighbor was friendly enough to offer assistance, but I didn't want to put him at risk of a tractor tipping over and or a broken strap hitting him in the process. I have a cool remote control key fob for the trailer tilt function. If I locate a new battery for the unit I could load much easier. Drive up the trailer and tilt the deck while still in the operators seat. I have successfully used this feature when hauling pickup trucks. I'd like to buy a wireless remote for the winch too. I would really like a rollback. This tilt deck trailer might be as close as I come. I hauled the whole rig out to Kansas when I first purchased it. So far I am very pleased with it's performance.
That's crazy, i've never seen a new trailer with 7000lb axles not have 3500lb load range e 10 ply on them. Mine are 3500, and as they wear out upgrading to 14 ply with 4000lb rating.
Over 50% of the time my trailer axles are loaded right up to 7000lb and i've only had one tire fail that wasn't caused by nail, something hitting it, etc and that's pretty good considering what we have for roads here. I'm guessing the failure in the sidewall was from hitting a pothole, hard to blame the tire for that.
Try that with ambient 115 and 160 on the pavement you wouldn't make it 10 miles most of the time here these set ups get guys in a lot of trouble during summer here not saying its stupid just doesnt work here we have a hard enough time with good 22.5s loaded to max To the op put a beaver tail on that trailer by notching the frame in the last 18 inches dip it around 6 inches and hinge your ramps you will never look back and wonder why you didn't sooner it will force you to buy a bigger trailer tho because you will be more apt to haul bigger things I tried the gooseneck thing for a while not interested to be at 30000 lbs on a 1 ton requires class a cdl but the cost of operation in the long run is more expensive because of maintenance and the pickups are typically well worn at 150000 miles witch is less than 3 years if it's your daily driver and the trailers dont hold up being loaded to near max weight in every cycle they are not designed to be lowboys and the new ones that are being built to compensate for that are getting to heavy to legally make eight with rated load weather it's safe is a variable question that has to many factors to list but in a 10 year old period it's a bad investment for hauling combo loads of skids and minis and things in excess of 10000lbs on the daily or weekly basis for what 1 tons and goesnecks cost and older straight neck lowboys and daycab truck are in the same price range and much more versatile