New Trailer Owner Questions

Hi, first time on this page. After years of trying to find someone to haul tractors or equipment I finally broke down and bot a truck and gooseneck trailer. I have a 2002 Chevy 2500HD 4x4 and a P&J tri axle 27' deck w/ 5' dove tail and 3 flip up ramps. I have done one local show so far(60 miles one way). The trailer handled my Oliver 1850 Diesel OK, pickup did alright, but you knew you had a load behind you. I didn't set any speed records. I think I need a winch on the trailer. Looking at a 12,000# rated winch. Pickup has side post battery cables. Wondering about powering the winch. Do I need to mount a battery on the trailer to power it and charge battery or will a long set of cables running to the battery on the pickup work??? What is the best way to mount the winch on the trailer? There is a heavy piece of channel iron on the hitch, but it's a couple feet above the trailer deck or do I need to add and piece of steel between the uprights close to bed level Open to any ideas and suggestions, pictures helpful. Thanks, Chris

That's quite a bit of trailer for a 3/4-ton truck, and that Ollie 1850 is a LOT of tractor!! Have you checked the towing capacity of that truck? What's the total weight of the trailer and tractor?

I would definitely mount a heavy duty battery at the front of the trailer and boost it from the truck while winching. A good mounting height for the winch is high enough for the cable to clear the deck as the tractor is about to go on the ramp. You may also want to think of other low clearance vehicles you might be winching up in the future... how clearances may be affected.

The tractor is about 10,000#s, Not sure how much trailer weighs, haven't been near an elevator when they are open to weigh it. With harvest going on, I don't want to bother them right now. I drive the tractor on and center rear wheels over the center axle on the trailer. One more trip tomorrow to pick up 2 550 Olivers and then I am probably done hauling for this year. Chris

My gooseneck trailer is a 2 axle, 20'+5' with a 14,000# capacity. Shipping weight of the trailer is 5,250#.

I would guess the 3 axle, 27'+5' will weigh close to 6,000# or over.

Post a couple pics of the front of the trailer and it will be easier to help with mounting a winch. A 12k winch will take a fairly stout mount and it will need to be attached to the trailer in such a way that it doesn't compromise the trailer structure. This is especially important on pj trailers which are usually built with little leeway on strength. You will definitely need a battery or 2 on the trailer as cables that long won't work well.

Do you have a title for that trailer? Ohio would require one. And it should have the empty weight listed on it as that is what Ohio would use to put a tag on that trailer. If a homemade then a weigh certifickat will work But not if it came with a title. Now smaller trailers I think under 10,000# do not come with a title but certificate of origin and they do have the weight listed on them. If you sell one of them without that piece of paper then it has to be handled like a homemade trailer.

Yes, Illinois requires a title for all trailers.

PJ trailers arnt built very well, broke the welds out of the neck , bent the ramps, mangled the steel in the beaver tail loading dozers. it was a 2010 in two years it was junk. 2013 Big Tex still have it and still doing good. have a 2015 Appalatchine goose neck to haul the show tractors.

Another option for you.
I saw a truck a guy had set up with the winch mounted on a plate behind the cab of his truck.
Made for a short run of cables to the battery and he could use the winch with any trailer he was loading or towing.
He used it to load a dead 970 onto his gooseneck trailer for me and it worked like a charm

On Gm pickups, the best thing to do for batteries is to buy dual post batteries, and if the side post bolts are getting rounded over, pull them, and the rubber boots, and put some stainless 3/8 bolts in their place. get long enough bolts you can thread a nut on all the way and then hand tighten the bolt till it bottoms out in the battery, and then tighten the connection with the nut.

Aka "head studs" for your battery.


As far as the GVWR, the truck is 9000 IIRC, and the trailer will be 21000 with the tri axle, so you are over 26K, and all the legal eagles will suggest you get a DOT number and medical card to haul a tractor to a show. My suggestion is blow the port and play dumb, and if worst comes to worst and you get pulled over, be apologetic, let the DOT officer have his power trip, and try to get out of there without being ticketed. Then sell the trailer and buy one with 2 7 or 8K axles.

Tow ratings are based on axle and tire ratings, but also braking and accelerating.

Key word there, accelerating, so while you may be well within axle and total chassis ratings, you may be over the tow rating, since it takes an extra mile to get up to 80 mph.

My pickup of choice is the 90s GMs with the 6.5L diesels and 5 speed manuals, and of course with 195 hp they dont accelerate terribly strong, so their tow ratings are a couple tons lower than a 454, even though the chassis, axles, brakes, and tires are the same, so for that reason I dont take tow ratings very seriously.

From a safety perspective, I heed the tire ratings, axle ratings, and stay within the designed GVWR of the truck and trailer so that it can handle the weight and stop it properly.

I usually run around 16-22,000 combination with my 6.5Ls, (tow rating is 14,500) and they handle it great.


On your 02, what is the powertrain, if its an auto are you using the tow/haul mode? (if its non-working, its likely a broken wire in the shifter, either splice wire or buy new shift lever) and does the engine have the check engine light on? GM puts alot of powertrain protections in place, and the computer is not afraid to cut fuel if it sees something wrong from the sensors.

I have a buddy that bought a 8.1L powered 01 and it had no power, and wouldnt even bust the tires loose in first. all he did was change the fuel filter, and change all the bad sensors it had, and now it will roast tires through 3rd on the 5 speed Allison automatic.

Also, if it has the allison, go to an Allison dealer and buy a few little red spin-on filters for the transmission. that filter is a full flow element, so its crucial for the transmissions filtration. the same filter is under 10 bucks at Allison, and 30+ for the same filter from GM.