# Bumper pull vs gooseneck?



## Farmineer95

I have been wanting to trade a 14000# equipment trailer in on a deckover same size. But then the question is do I go to a gooseneck? Have a 3500 P/U so thinking I can handle either. Thing is the truck is the mega cab. Will gooseneck be just as clumsy as a bumper pull? 
Anyone run a big cab and shorter box with a gooseneck? Thanks.


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## glasswrongsize

The gooseneck is way more nimble when in a tight situation. With a gooseneck, you back around and turn past 90 degrees...the limiting factor is the cab corners getting into the trailer when turning. With a bumper pull, it takes more room to turn around.

I also prefer the ride of a gooseneck over a bumper hitch; there is far less "bucking" on rough roads. Typically, the gooseneck ball is mounted @4" in front of the rear axle; this puts more weight on the front axle which is helpful in two ways. It will give you a little more capacity as your trailer axles are rated at 14k, but with the gooseneck can haul more because more of the weight is on the hitch than on a bumper pull. The second advantage, it puts a little more weight on your steer axle giving your truck a flatter ride and better braking.

I probably did not explain the advantages well, but take a matchbox car and press down on the rear bumper, then push down on top of it- in front of the axle.

The mega cab should be no problem unless you have a deck on top of the neck. If not, you only need 4" in front of the axle for your hitch (plus the radius of the actual hitch---maybe an extra inch or three?)

That is MY opinion based upon MY experiences.

73, Mark


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## Smooth

We have both. Like previously said gooseneck is way handy to get around compared to bumper. Wife even will pull 32' gooseneck over 16' bumper for the ride you don't get that whiplash effect just my thoughts.


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## JD3430

Farmineer95 said:


> I have been wanting to trade a 14000# equipment trailer in on a deckover same size. But then the question is do I go to a gooseneck? Have a 3500 P/U so thinking I can handle either. Thing is the truck is the mega cab. Will gooseneck be just as clumsy as a bumper pull?
> Anyone run a big cab and shorter box with a gooseneck? Thanks.


Oh heck no. Gooseneck is much less clumsy. 
Once you go to a GN, you'll probably never go back to a BP


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## carcajou

If you have a mega cab short box, you may need to look into a hitch extender if you go with a goose neck trailer.


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## slowzuki

I just sold my 27 ft bumper pull deckover after I got a 22 ft gooseneck deckover about 2 months ago. I've put about 1500 miles on the gooseneck so far with 3 big loads of hay and a 14000 lb tractor. Tow with a F350 long box and a D3500 megacab. Switched back and forth between the two a bit during that time.

Pros -

-it rides better empty by about 25%, but it also weighs more so not sure if its the goose.

-puts more weight on truck so can handle bigger loads on the trailer

-handles better / more stable when fully loaded

Cons -

-poor visibility backing up, the gooseneck blocks so much view.

-While you can jackknife the truck, it will not go into places the longer bumper pull went. The bumper pull steers the nose out and lets the tires track closer. I can't go through my mothers yard now and a few customers I have to back into now.

-Hitching is quite slow with the mega cab. I'm sure with practice it will be faster but the ground isn't level in my yard and its hard to line up just looking at the neck.

-It makes use of the box of the truck a pain and cuts into the space.

Overall I like the gooseneck but I'm not blown away by the upgrade. I know my tailgate is gonna get messed up eventually by someone forgetting. Already banged up the corner of my box getting into a low spot while backing and turning where the goose clipped it. I'd say if you are always hauling on the heavy end go gooseneck. If sharing between several trucks and not using all the trailer capacity go for the bumper pull.


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## slowzuki

No its not needed for a goose unless you have a platform, the boxes are the same from the axle back.

RV with a gooseneck convertor is another story and you may need the space.

The first hitch I borrowed was dead centre on the axle. The second is about 3" ahead of the rear axle. Both still let the tailgate work.



carcajou said:


> If you have a mega cab short box, you may need to look into a hitch extender if you go with a goose neck trailer.


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## azmike

I have a 32' tandem dual gooseneck that I pull with a crew cab F-350, it is fairly tricky to get hooked up. I press the little button on my ball cap into the top of the cab (and head) to see the hitch. Next truck will be an F-450 standard cab.

Custom made 20' bumper pull is far nicer to pull but I always use Reese load bars to even the load but it hauls less load.

also w/bumper pull no need to clear junk out of your truck bed!


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## slowzuki

I used WD hitch on my bumper pull as well. Helps a lot with a full load, not much difference empty. Far worse ride empty than full on our rough road, jerks and slams the truck around. My wife won't travel in the truck with an empty trailer if she can help it.


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## r82230

slowzuki said:


> I used WD hitch on my bumper pull as well. Helps a lot with a full load, not much difference empty. Far worse ride empty than full on our rough road, jerks and slams the truck around. My wife won't travel in the truck with an empty trailer if she can help it.


Man, my said she wanted to travel, so I bought a new tractor and ask her to 'travel' around my hay fields (I'll never do that again). Oh well, I did get a new tractor out of the deal.

Slowzuki, you're a lucky guy, with a wife that travels for you, just tell her she only has to travel half way empty. :lol:


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## JD3430

The geometry of a gooseneck enables you to carry more weight. On every truck, the ideal spot to put your "pin" weight is over the back axle, not several feet behind it. It's a safer, more sensible trailer that turns tighter.
Now if you're buying a F-800 flatbed hay truck, a bumper pull trailer makes more sense.


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## slowzuki

Flatbed dumps etc with barely any overhang behind the axle and a frame plate tend to behave very nice with bumper pulls because the pin load is close to the axle and they tend to have a longer wheelbase.


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## JD3430

Like all excavators, that's why when I had my backhoe, I pulled it with a dump truck with axle at back of frame.

OP not in that situation.


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## gearhartfarms82

Gooseneck all the way! You can put them in places you wont fit ur bumper pull. We run 70000 miles a yr on our trailers and wouldnt have it any other way. Ride wise if loaded correctly are smooth as u can expect for rough roads. With ur mega cab just watch the neck to make sure u dont hit the cab when cranking it around.


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## slowzuki

Everyone says this but I haven't found it to be true, can anyone describe where this is the case? Narrow curves or turns like we have in old cities or private bridges or drivethroughs are now a huge challenge with my new gooseneck despite being 5 ft shorter. It needs about 1-2 ft wider lane for the same manouvers. Backing up you can jackknife the goose harder but first, I hate doing the with a full load as its a good way to unseat a bead on the trailer, second, the truck often ends up in landscaped areas when doing this.



gearhartfarms82 said:


> Gooseneck all the way! You can put them in places you wont fit ur bumper pull. way.


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## KSTim08

Gooseneck is way eaiser to back into barns and tight places, and just a lot nicer to pull with. I pulled with this shortbed dodge with a toolbox in the back. Had to be careful backing up to the trailer to hook up so I didn't back into the tool box. Other than that I had no issues. I've since sold that truck and got a one ton with a flatbed.


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## DohrmannEnt

If you are looking for a smoother pull with a bumper hitch, check out these, they are a torsion hitch assembly:

https://www.genyhitch.com/store

Video on it:






I have no first hand experience with this, but stumbled upon it and it looks like it would be a huge improvement in overall ride quality when towing.


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## 2ndWindfarm

slowzuki said:


> Everyone says this but I haven't found it to be true, can anyone describe where this is the case? Narrow curves or turns like we have in old cities or private bridges or drivethroughs are now a huge challenge with my new gooseneck despite being 5 ft shorter. It needs about 1-2 ft wider lane for the same manouvers. Backing up you can jackknife the goose harder but first, I hate doing the with a full load as its a good way to unseat a bead on the trailer, second, the truck often ends up in landscaped areas when doing this.


My experience is right in line with slowzuki's (no pun intended). IMO - gooseneck's are harder to back up and the truck will track off farther to the side when cornering.

That said... after owning 8 different trailers over the past 10 years, the 2 trailers I've got now are both gooseneck's.

I think they pull easier, more comfortably and they stop straighter than a bumper pull.


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## gearhartfarms82

Well if you pop beads off tires are not pumped up enough. Never have popped tires off with over 500k on the fleet. Part of the backing i would say is a gooseneck takes a totally different line than a bumper pull. Bumper pull is more of a in line direction with truck. Goosenecks are just like a semi little more swing on the truck. Place the trailer were u want it and keep a tight line with it the truck will follow pretty well. All of our deliveries are done with a 32' gooseneck and we put them in holes most wouldn't with a pickup and 16' trailer. The problem i have always found is on bumper pulls the trailer always hits the truck in a bad way and also have bad dragging issues with hitch or tails in our environment. The biggest issues with goosenecks is keeping the neck out of the cab and the bed sides. One reason we have been using flatbeds on the trucks. If your trailers are equal in placement of the boggie the gooseneck will out turn the bumper pull. Allot of times bumper pull trailers have the boggies moved closer to the truck for hitch weight percentage reasons. That will make the same length trailer turn a little sharper in a bumper pull than a gooseneck.


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## Gearclash

Slowzuki, how does the wheel base compare on your trailers? Maybe the goose has the axles relatively farther back which would help cause what you are experiencing. I don't pull trailer very often, when I do it is almost always a GN. The few times I've pulled a bumper hitch I disliked the experience. A 7K tandem BH loaded left me just as queasy as a 23.4K GN loaded, on a stout 3/4 ton.


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## slowzuki

The two trailers have about the same wheelbase. The longer trailer has more rear overhang. The geometry of the goose makes it cut corners requiring "big trucker" turns.

Yes I do run slightly lower pressure as my trailers have to run in fields too. I've always run load range G rated tires around 80-90 psi. Any time I've broken a rim or spindle off an axle has been when turning hard scrubbing tires hard.

Re dragging, I've never found any difference with the same style deckover. The only part of my bumper pull that dragged was the jack. That the same part that drags on my gooseneck.

Don't get me wrong for big loads the goose pulls much better but you give up some things.


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## slowzuki

This is not a real situation but the swinging jack shoe got wedged at 90 and drug once the truck went over a hump. I've since raised the neck of the trailer 4" and haven't had any problems.

Bumper pull has more problems dragging while going through low areas than high areas.


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## azmike

For moving cattle the goose neck is the best, good gates to keep the cows from walking around too much.


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## gearhartfarms82

80-90 psi shouldnt pop them. Never broke any rims have snapped a few axles but have learned that dexter sometimes has a poor weld job on 7k. 10k axles never any issues. We now run all 17.5 tires and rims now because of blow out issues.


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## urednecku

> it is fairly tricky to get hooked up. I press the little button on my ball cap into the top of the cab (and head) to see the hitch.


One of the tricks I've used is to put one of those magnets with the extendable handle (the ones that clip in your pocket like a pen) on top of the ball. It shows where the ball is, making it easier to line up to the hitch, & when the hitch gets over it ball it just pushes the magnet out of the way....telling you it's right on top.


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## JD3430

I'm looking for a gooseneck dump trailer.


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## slowzuki

Me too, I passed on a triple axle last year for a great price, didn't know what it was worth. Was cheaper than what I'm finding for dump box prices for my 1 ton truck.



JD3430 said:


> I'm looking for a gooseneck dump trailer.


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## RockmartGA

The reality is that you probably need two trailers. A heavier trailer which should be a gooseneck and a light duty trailer that can be easily pulled by a 1/2 ton pickup.

The best thing I have bought in recent years has been a 6x12 dump trailer. I'm surprised at how much I have used that.


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## JD3430

I sold my dump truck 3 years ago and intended to replace it with a dump trailer. Tough to find a good used one that's a gooseneck, has a deck over bed and 16k GVWR or more.


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## gearhartfarms82

Jd3430

South in hurican area. Littlered with them. 20k dumps. One i got was a 16' 20k dump just like dump truck bed on it. Not a flimmsy bed can haul concrete with ours. Sure makes life nice. Haul 10 ton of stone all the time and rent it out as a dumpster all the time too


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## Farmineer95

I saw they now have dumpers with removable sides on deckover beds. Would be nice if you could haul grain in them.


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## azmike

I would like to add that my handy go-to trailer is the 5'x10' gator trailer. I have several that move fire wood, bbq's, block etc....can be pulled with Kathleen's almost-a- truck Frontier.


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## Shetland Sheepdog

I've been down both roads, and can say both have advantages & disadvantages! The comments from both sides are pretty much spot on.

A bumper pull equipment trailer works pretty much like a horse trailer or camper behind an SUV, while a goose works pretty much like a semi tractor/trailer. Learned that the hard way, but that's another story!


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## JD3430

I get a LOT of use from my puny NNT 12' single axle bumper pull trailer. Holds 2-3 round bales perfectly. Also holds my little BX-2200 tractor and mower for my couple cutting contracts. It has never let me down, but the lights are beginning to get screwy.


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## Farmineer95

I bought a dump trailer a couple years ago with the intention of selling after the slate roof on our house was replaced. The quote for the dumpster was pricey.
It seems that it works well for fire wood and grain too. Its been to the landfill several times. It has a hard time dumping sand, but the ability to move stuff makes like simpler.
Having an attachment disorder makes it hard to get rid of things.


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