# 4x5 round bales on a 48ft gooseneck



## msr976

Does anyone know how many 4x5 round bales can fit on a 48ft gooseneck trailer for a dooley truck?


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## 8350HiTech

You CAN stack 38 on a 48' trailer. Legally, I have no idea how your rig is registered.


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## msr976

That would be only if it were a CDL driver but do you have to double stack top and bottom?


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## 8350HiTech

Yes, 38 is double stacked. Simple math.


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## msr976

sorry i have never loaded a gooseneck. i am new at this. thanks for the help.


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## slowzuki

38 tight 4x5's on a 48 ft you may want to avoid scales on your travels.


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## Tx Jim

msr976

I hope you're intending to pull that load with something larger than a 1 ton pickup.

Jim


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## msr976

Its not me, im loading my hay for someone else and wanted to know how much could be hauled with a dooley and 48ft gooseneck. not sure whether he has a cdl or not and he is taking it from whitney tx to laredo tx which is a very long distance. i cant seem to find the weight limit on those two vehicles


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## Gearclash

48 foot is a looooong gooseneck. Unless it has way more axle under it than a typical tandem dual or triple, you will run out of pickup and trailer axle rating before you will run out of space to stack bales.


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## msr976

So then would 20 to 30 bales be better? He said he will take what can fit on there but i do not want to overload him and cause him trouble since he has an 8 to 10 hour drive.


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## swmnhay

msr976 said:


> So then would 20 to 30 bales be better? He said he will take what can fit on there but i do not want to overload him and cause him trouble since he has an 8 to 10 hour drive.


It's next to impossible to answer the question with out knowing the axle ratings.Typicaly they are 7000,10,000 or 12,000 lbs per ax.Could be a tandem or a tri ax also.Get the total of the axle ratings and subtract the trailer wieght and thats what it will hold.Then again some weight is carried on the truck that is pulling it.My bet on a 48' it was made to handle something long and light not to load up full of hay.


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## msr976

Thank you. I will find out the trailer specs. I appreciate all the advice from everyone.


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## swmnhay

msr976 said:


> Thank you. I will find out the trailer specs. I appreciate all the advice from everyone.


Do you know the weight per bale? I've seen 4 x5's that didn't weigh 500 lbs and some weigh 1000


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## 8350HiTech

I would explain what my bales weighed and then load whatever the driver wants to load. It's up to him to know what he can haul and wants to haul. Some people are over weight regularly, some actually care in case of getting pulled over or worse.


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## msr976

My bales weigh 1200 lbs.


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## Tx Jim

msr976 said:


> My bales weigh 1200 lbs.


1200# 4X5 rd bales is exceptionally heavy. Is your hay grass or legume hay baled at proper moisture content. Have you weighed any of your bales? 38 bales weighing 1200#s each is a load more suited for an 18 wheeler not a 1 ton dually


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## msr976

It is coastal bermuda very tightly wrapped. they are 4x5 1/2 bales. i have not weighed them but that is what my baler told me.


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## 8350HiTech

msr976 said:


> It is coastal bermuda very tightly wrapped. they are 4x5 1/2 bales. i have not weighed them but that is what my baler told me.


You won't be getting 38 4x5.5 bales on a trailer. That .5 is going to make a big difference. Most you could do would be 34. Of course that's still over 20 tons...


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## msr976

thats why is was thinking 30 or less would be best. maybe 26


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## Tx Jim

msr976 said:


> It is coastal bermuda very tightly wrapped. they are 4x5 1/2 bales. i have not weighed them but that is what my baler told me.


Custom baler owners have been known to stretch the truth on what their rd bales weigh. I'll be surprised if your rd bales avg 1100#s. Ditto what 8350HighTech stated that 38 bales 5.5 in diameter will not fit on a 48' trailer. 10 bales X 5.5' = 55' not 48'


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## msr976

Maybe only 21 or 22 then, that was what i was originally thinking.


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## Gearclash

Better get an idea what the bales weigh before doing anything. A typical bigger trailer with tandem duals or triples is going to be near its limits with a net load of 20,000 lbs. That would be roughly 20 of the bales you have.


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## wvfarmboy54

how many you can put on is one thing , and pullling it is anouther , but be sure you can stop it any time any place around here 14 is enough for any one ton truck.


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## KYhaymaker

Legally what you are asking cannot be done with a one ton truck. Hauling twenty tons of hay, plus a very heavy trailer, behind a pickup isnt smart or safe. You will likely be well over all axle ratings and worse, the tire ratings.

You need to get a tare weight on the empty truck and trailer, full of fuel. Then you need to get a weight on your bales. Take ten of them on the trailer to a scales and see what they average. That will help you determine how many it will be safe for you to haul. I think you will be able to haul more bales in one trip on a much smaller trailer. That trailer is too much extra weight to carry around for anything less than a medium duty truck at the very least. Id bet that the empty trailer alone will take up most of the pin weight capacity on a one ton pickup.


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## JD3430

Im hauling 22) 900lb bales on a 7500lb 30' dual tandem trailer. Right there is 27,300 lbs

My Ford F-550 (sprung & framed much heavier than a "dooley" pickup) weighs 9,700lbs with me in it.....So theres 37,100lbs total. My legal GCWR is 36,000.

Most Duallie pickups have a max GCWR of ~25,000lbs,

a 45' dual tandem trailer empty weighs about 10,000lbs

A typical empty one-ton dually pickup weighs ~8,000lbs

So theres a legal payload of 7,000lbs remaining, or only (7) 1,000lb bales.

Anyone thinking of pulling 20) 1,000 lb bales on a 45' would be 13,000lbs overweight !

(38) 1,000lb bales would be 31,000lbs overweight, or ~2.5 times the trucks legal, designed load rating. LOL

I'd suggest keepin it under 10 bales to avoid killing himself and any other innocent women & children nearby.


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## slowzuki

It’s been a year since the question was asked, I’m thinking they got it sorted by now!


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## KYhaymaker

slowzuki said:


> It's been a year since the question was asked, I'm thinking they got it sorted by now!


Lol youre prolly right. Wonder if he made it!


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## JD3430

KYhaymaker said:


> Lol youre prolly right. Wonder if he made it!


I know I could do it, but it would take a long time, an escort vehicle, maybe a portable compressor, a few extra tires.....probably a brake job and new springs and axle bearings, after the hay finally arrives LOL
A slush fund of about 5 grand for LEO fines wouldn't hurt, either.


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## StxPecans

I can get 7 rows of 5x5.5 bales on a 40 footer I have the monster ramps that i cand latch up the strait up position and its tight but fits perfectly. Then i normally put 5 bales on top since the back 2 bales are lower than the front becuase they on are on the dovetail. 
But 5.5x7 is 38.5 foot. No way i would hual 38 4x5.5 bales that far on my 2015 ram 3500 dually. With 19-20 5x5.5 i am on the limit of what i feel is pushing it on truck frame flex.


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