Ok how about this. What is the little flipped thing at the front of the trailer? It is some kind of counterweight system for the neck when the lowboy is disconnected?
It's ... for lack of proper terms... an extra trailer tongue. That trailer can be hooked up to a jeep, but when they do that, the neck of the trailer needs to be longer for whatever reason, so they will flip it down and bolt it together to make it longer to rest on the jeep's fifth wheel properly. Without a jeep they just flip them up and let them rest like in your photo.
Oh, I see. Thanks! What I find weird, is that Manitowoc is on a 3 axle trailer. And this excavator is on a 3 axle trailer with a 3 axle jeep. Both of them are in the State of Washington, so same axle reqs.
That question was good enough that I gave it its own thread. I could've guessed at the answer, but I'd be a liar if I claimed that I actually knew. So, I learned something today. Good post, Agent. :thumbsup
My uneducated guess is the demo machine with shears is heavier than the crane with no counter-weights on it.
I have always heard them called a flip neck or flip over neck. And Jim got the proper use of them covered.
Jimbruce got it right, it's an extension of the neck so it can be hooked to a jeep. The fith wheel on a jeep is far forward to distribute the weight between the tractor and jeep axles properly, wich is why it reqires a longer neck.
I have an extension like that on my trailer. I leave it flipped forward all the time and slide my 5th wheel all the way forward to put more weight on my steer axle when I'm loaded with the lift axle down. My truck has a very long sliding 5th wheel.
does oklahoma have any kingpin to last axle laws?
Most trailers around here have kingpins that can be moved to different positions to acomplish the same thing. Up here where I live most roads have a 38' KPRA limit so unless it's needed to get weight on the front axle we run them in the rear most position.
they might have that law, but I've never seen anything about it. If it is a law they don't enforce it. Also, my truck has a set of stainless fenders over the rear axles so the trooper man can't climb on them to measure. I really don't think that law is here though. I run a stinger on the back and don't have any trouble. We have to escort anything over 85 feet long loaded or empty, so I built my truck to run at 84 feet 10 inches.