Grain trailer

MF294-4

Member
My son wants to get a gooseneck grain trailer. Anyone have any experience with them? Any suggested configurations. He thinks he wants dual wheels and at least a 14 ft bed to haul 350 bu. He has found a 13 ft bed with super singles. He thinks that will be to top heavy. They are hard to find in this area.
 
They are real hard on a pickup. Even just 350 bu. of corn is 20K in weight plus the weight of the trailer. Most would hold 400-450 bu. (22K-25K) if heaped up. That really worked the truck over.

If your just hauling a very short distance then maybe. I would prefer a grain truck that is built to handle the load.

There where a bunch of them around here in the late 1970s. They where a lot of Donahue trailers. They had eight wheels but not dual tandems like you normally would. They had a short axle that had a hub/bearing on each end. They straddled the frame rail and could rock sideways. They really where hard to change the inter tires on. Flat tires where common as they used house trailer style rims and tires. Electric lifts worked slow. Crappy electric brakes. All in all not very safe.

So if your just hauling a few loads a short distance I would recommend not getting one.

If he insists then look at the ones that are just a frame with a center dump gravity wagon bed on them. They work well for just hauling to town. They are not good for hauling to an auger.
 
That is a lot of weight for a truck. I had friends who had them and none liked them. You don't have enough gears so, are slow on the road. I see a few where I deliver grain and most of them will barely raise enough to dump. One guy has to shovel some off before he can dump it. The guys that work the dump pit hate to see them come in. Usually you can buy an older model grain truck cheaper than those trailers. I wouldn't have one unless it was almost free.
 
I have a 16' Hillsboro that I bought new in 1993 and I really like it. It has dual tandems on heavy Kelsay-Hays axles. The brakes work good and the electric powered hydraulic hoist has been trouble free although it does take a new battery every 4 years. I pull it with a 1974 Chevy 1-ton with a 350 , 4 speed trans. dual wheels and a low speed rear end. I haul 10-15 mile distances to elevator or to bins. Normal load is about 325 bu. of corn. The truck has 170,000 on the original engine and the 2nd clutch. My advice would be to definitely get dual wheels on the truck and dual tandems on the trailer.
 
I had one with tandem axles and 12x16.5 singles. A full load was 320 bu of corn. Sidewall strain was always too much for those tires. I replaced a lot of tires that had deep tread but the sidewalls gave out from all the twisting when you turn.

The one I have now has tandem duals. Holds 450 bu corn full. The duals seem to be holding up well.

I wouldn't recommend going bigger than 350 bu of corn behind a 3/4 ton pickup.
 
We had one back in the '80s; Howle brand; dual tandems, electric hoist. Pulled it with an '82 one-ton 4-wheel drive, 4-speed Dodge w/360 and SLOW rear end. Used same size tires that were on truck (and other 3/4 ton trucks on farm). It would hold about 400 bu, but we usually only loaded it 300-325 bu, which was the same as our only bob truck. Worked great/no upkeep when it wasn't being used.
 
I don't know ware you are but it sounds like to me he will need a CDL to pull it on the road. A 10000 GVW truck 25000 GVW trailer puts you at 35 thousand pounds, That's a lot of weight behind a 1 ton truck to control. Also ware are you going to find a 25.000 to 30.000 lbs goose neck ball? Hear in Ohio I have been pulled over and have to unhook the goose neck so they can check to see what the ball rating is to make sure it's legal. It may sound dumb but I would rather buy a truck to haul grain than I would putting 350 bu behind a 1 ton going 55 mph down the road.

I would do some checking with the State patrol or Sheriffs dept to see what is legal ware you live using a pick up and that trailer. Bandit
 
Have had a few minutes the last few days; life is BUSY. Never thought it'd be like this after I retired.........Usta hear the old fellows say that they don't know how they ever found time to 'put in a crop'; I now know what they were talking about.
 
He is just starting out farming. Farms small patches that no one else wants. He does have a CDL. He does use my brother's combine and two semis but sometimes the crop from the field is to small to justify putting it in a semi or hopefully more than a load. He crop shares the fields so they have to be kept separate.
 
I know how he feels, That's all I have ever farmed is the small fields nobody wants. I think the biggest field I ever rented was 25 acre field that was triangle and nobody wanted it.

Around SW Ohio years ago there were a lot of these goose neck grain haulers but they fell out of favor fast, On flat ground there fine but get ware its hilly they were big problems with them. To be honest I used one one year and could not get rid of it fast enough to buy a grain truck. I would advise you and your son to sit down and have a long talk about the pro's and con's about this and be honest about it. The biggest thing about this safety. Bandit
 
I have had one(16.5') since 1974(well over 50,000Mi.and 8-10 states) and you wouldn't believe how many other uses you will find for it over a truck.I can haul up to 600 Bu.with it if needed and can be pulled with my F350s or F750 bobtail.Plus have 4 other different trailers I use for other uses and none of them cost over $50.00 a yr.to own,unlike what my tandem truck cost to own,maintain and insure,but to each his own as it is none of my business what any one else does.And for Banditfarmer,how many 50,000#hitchballs would you like to have??
 
I had a Donahue 14 ft with triple axles. single 12x16.5 tires. Worked great behind my F250 2 wheel drive but when updated to F350 four wheel Dually we just could not get that trailer to pull as easily. Even lifted the frame 6 inches to level the trailer. Definetily would have preferred a tandem with duals. Our Omaha box and hoist would raise anytime and steep enough to empty any load.
 

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