# 40' trailer



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Considering trading 30' gooseneck for a 40' trailer to haul hay and equipment short distance. I may have located a road tractor to pull it with.

Is there such thing as a 40' step deck trailer? I know that's kind of short for a step deck, but I like a lower height trailer for loading and lower bridges.

Or, would I be better off with a "traditional" 40' gooseneck (probably 32-35K lbs-2 15K axles or more) with monster ramps and having a 3" gooseneck ball hitch installed on the road tractor?

Idea is to haul more than 30' trailer I have now, but still be able to make tight turns. Anything longer than 40' too long.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

The 40 ft gooseneck ends up being longer with 40 ft deck plus the neck but you will have your axles moved forward some. With the semi trailer you will have some of the load on the top deck right over the 5th wheel. You will also be getting heavy axles and better brakes. A 40 or 45 ft straight semi flatbed would be easier to find and you may get one with a sliding tandem, that would make a nice short trailer. I had a 40 ft with sliding tandem. I would think you could find a short step deck but you may have to shop around. If a person found the right 48 ft spread axle put dump valves on the rear axle so it just pivots on the front for those tight turns.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Friend has a 36' gooseneck and says at time that is too long to maneuver. I know at least once he has tried to turn too short with it and blew two tires off the bead. I know nothing else about the incident just that he turned too short fully loaded.
Since you'll be using a medium duty, maybe not be an issue?


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

Looked on Tractorhouse just to get an idea Maurer makes a 40 x 102 drop deck with the wheels to the back of the trailer just under $30,000 . Jet makes a 36 and a 45 ft trailer with beaver tail and ramps to make a flat bed axles set forward of beaver tail 5ft . Just over $30,000 for the 45ft and under 30 for the 36ft. You have a 15in kingpin setting so you have deck space right up to your hitch that you would have to order if you get a gooseneck. You also have 22.5 semi tires so thats not an issue. Even showed air ride on the 45s. Looks like the jet isn't a bad deal when you figure you would have a trailer you could drive a good size tractor on and haul without fear.Or you could stack it full with as much hay as you can load on although a load of heavy big squares could actually maybe get you close to a legal load.Just thinking in the long run with the price of a 40 ft gooseneck maintenance and the fact that you would still be a lessor gross weight. Guess you have to shop around it is your money to spend if you find what you like. Neville also make a 40 ft drop a little bit cheaper


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Those are good points danwi.

When I look at most trailers, the 25 & 30K models, although higher GVWR, you give almost all the payload back because the empty trailer weighs so much more.

My 24K 30' Big Tex gooseneck has a 17,000lb legal payload. If I move up to a 30K version, it's payload is like 20,000lb. So you move up to a 6,000lb higher GVWR and pay $5,000 more, get 15 K axles and you can only haul 3,000 more lbs.

What I really want to know is will a 40' trailer make all my turns? Its not like you can bring the trailer back after you buy it without a great deal of money lost. I dont know anyone with a 40 footer to try it out.

The road tractor has plenty of capacity to pull a loaded 40' trailer, but if I do the math, 30 4x5 round bales (16 bottom, 14 top) at 850/each is 25,500lbs. So I need a 40' trailer with a payload of 25,000+ lbs.

Could maybe do a 35' with a "deck on the neck" and do 28 bales (14 bottom, 12 top, 2 neck) that would be about 24,000lbs


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

There are definitely some older 40 or 42 footers out there though I would personally rather have one in that length with a shorter wheelbase and a beaver tail.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

8350HiTech said:


> There are definitely some older 40 or 42 footers out there though I would personally rather have one in that length with a shorter wheelbase and a beaver tail.


Automatic transmission too!


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

How do you know you anything over 40' is too long? Short day cab truck will pull a lot of trailer in some tight places. I pull a 40' , 42', and 48' flats out of fields all summer. Really don't have any farms too tight as long as it's dry enough. Traction may be your issue.

I bought a old cabover and a 42' drop deck to haul hay with years ago. A old hay hauler, who used a club of a tandem Mack straight truck told me he thought if you were paying the extra costs associated with going semi truck you had to go with a big trailer to make it pay. As it turned out he was correct in my situation.

With the short haul your composter you may make out very well with a small drop deck.


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## LaneFarms (Apr 10, 2010)

I have a 40' step deck that is for sale. Needs some work on brake lights. Top deck is 10' and it doesnt work for hauling bundles. I can put more on my gooseneck.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

SVFHAY said:


> How do you know you anything over 40' is too long? Short day cab truck will pull a lot of trailer in some tight places. I pull a 40' , 42', and 48' flats out of fields all summer. Really don't have any farms too tight as long as it's dry enough. Traction may be your issue.
> 
> I bought a old cabover and a 42' drop deck to haul hay with years ago. A old hay hauler, who used a club of a tandem Mack straight truck told me he thought if you were paying the extra costs associated with going semi truck you had to go with a big trailer to make it pay. As it turned out he was correct in my situation.
> 
> With the short haul your composter you may make out very well with a small drop deck.


Pretty simple: because I'm in and out of them all the time with my 30 footer and it barely makes it. If I had 10 more feet, it might not work. 
Traction will be an issue without 4wd. That's why I'm looking at 4wds. I do agree a 40' trailer is about the shortest you'd want to go with the extra costs associated with a larger truck, but these smaller trucks (550's, 5500's) aren't cheap to own & operate, either. And when they age to about 10 years old, they're probably more expensive than a road tractor made to run 20 years & 1/2 million miles


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

I think your right on with the cost to operate.

If the field entrance is too tight because of trees or worse yet the dreaded driveway pillar your choices are limited. If it's a ditch a 22.5 will roll through something a 16" won't.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

LaneFarms said:


> I have a 40' step deck that is for sale. Needs some work on brake lights. Top deck is 10' and it doesnt work for hauling bundles. I can put more on my gooseneck.


why doesn't it work for bundles?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

SVFHAY said:


> I think your right on with the cost to operate.
> 
> If the field entrance is too tight because of trees or worse yet the dreaded driveway pillar your choices are limited. If it's a ditch a 22.5 will roll through something a 16" won't.


Since I'm one of the newest farmers in the area, I get the fields nobody wants: small, damp, played out crop and of course, bad entrances I'm not at liberty to modify. Typically a skinny dirt road with one tree at each corner of the entrance that is 90 degrees on to narrow back road. 
If I could have anything I wanted, I'd keep my 30' goose and small 4wd truck and have a road tractor with a 40+ trailer for the more accessible fields. 
You should see what I have to deal with. I'm not in any way complaining. I do this because I love it, but the challenges it presents kind of forces me to think a lot about the most effective bale transportation methods.

Heres a small example. In this field, it's nearly impossible to get in/out with long trailer. And yes, it has the dreaded pillars


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## LaneFarms (Apr 10, 2010)

SVFHAY said:


> why doesn't it work for bundles?


I have left over space on the top deck which leaves me a couple feet short of putting another row of bundles on the back.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

One thing I see in your posts is you are worrying about traction, with a semi tractor and trailer you are pretty close to 50/50 split on your drives and the rear of the trailer, of course that would depend if you are looking at a single axle or tandem axle tractor. But as soon as you load those first bales on the front of the trailer they are going directly over the drive. with a gooseneck you are loading the first bales 10 ft behind the center point of your hitch and I know that with our gooseneck we are shooting for 5000lbs of hitch weight on the pickup you could probably have more if you have a heavy duty tow vehicle but in the end the rest of the weight on a gooseneck has to balance out and you are just towing it. I know a tandem with full lockers and a little weight is a good combo I was thinking if a person had a single axle with an air locking diff that wouldn't be to bad either. Depending on miles and where you go you can get some aggressive drive tires.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

LaneFarms said:


> I have left over space on the top deck which leaves me a couple feet short of putting another row of bundles on the back.


You could make a spacer to extend your top deck for one more row and maybe that would fill out your bottom deck better.You may even be able to do it if you have a few unbundled bales to lay in there. Or I don't know how it would work loading for you but load from the back to the front and when you get to the step you just set that bundle up and lean it against the one behind it if the gap is less then half a bundle width so it is not trying to hard to tip then finish loading forward


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

danwi said:


> One thing I see in your posts is you are worrying about traction, with a semi tractor and trailer you are pretty close to 50/50 split on your drives and the rear of the trailer, of course that would depend if you are looking at a single axle or tandem axle tractor. But as soon as you load those first bales on the front of the trailer they are going directly over the drive. with a gooseneck you are loading the first bales 10 ft behind the center point of your hitch and I know that with our gooseneck we are shooting for 5000lbs of hitch weight on the pickup you could probably have more if you have a heavy duty tow vehicle but in the end the rest of the weight on a gooseneck has to balance out and you are just towing it. I know a tandem with full lockers and a little weight is a good combo I was thinking if a person had a single axle with an air locking diff that wouldn't be to bad either. Depending on miles and where you go you can get some aggressive drive tires.


I'm thinking about a 4x4 road tractor and 40' trailer, or maybe a 25' flatbed 6x6 and 15-20' pup trailer for my easily accessed fields. What if I installed 25' flatbed on the truck in the picture below and pulled a 20' flatbed trailer behind it? It's a DT466 @300HP and no emissions.
I could do 18 on the truck and another 14 on the trailer.

I am adding another point that I'm trying to leave the door open for 3x4 or 4x4 square bales in the future.


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