Possibly dumb temporary/removable gooseneck hitch idea

mkirsch

Well-known Member
1. Picture a flat plate sitting in the center of the truck bed with a gooseneck ball.

2. 2-1/2" square heavy wall tube running straight back to rear of truck, down, and into the truck's receiver. Bracing and gusseting as appropriate. This would take most of the forces from the trailer.

3. 1/4" grade 70 chains and binders to each of the four 1000lb-rated tiedown points in the corners of the box.

Think it would hold?

The point? To be able to move it from truck to truck for occasional towing of a gooseneck cattle trailer.

Before you rip on me too badly, it's just an IDEA.

By the time all is said and done I probably can put a manufactured hitch in one truck for less money and hassle.
 
To move an empty trailer around on the farm, yes; other than that, I personally don't like the idea. When I'se still farming, I had cattle in 8 different places, scattered over the Southern half of the county. Only one of the corrals had an all-weather drive. I built a hitch for a 4840, which consisted of the ball mounted on top of a 6 inch pipe, which sat on and was bolted to the belly drawbar. Arms extended to each side and connected to the lift arms. Moved a lot of cattle with a 32 ft gooseneck and that tractor.
 
As far as the foreward and and backward movement, you would probably be Ok, but what about the tongue weight. If you are talking about installing this in a pickup I think you would probably bend the bottom of the bed badly,unless you used an awfully large plate.say 4 ft x 8 ft. you can buy a hitch a lot cheaper.
 
It's like trying to reinvent the wheel. You'd need a crane to pick the thing up and then you'd need another person to help install it. Why not modify a removable fifth wheel to use a ball instead? Maybe? you could make an attachment with a ball that fit the rails for a fifth wheel hitch? It would be a lot simpler.
 
There were a lot of square plates the width of the frame rails bolted to the bottom of the bed before there were custom-fit mounts for goosneck hitches available at three or four shops in every little town.

AS for the idea, I'd say scrap it. You would need some pretty stout tubing to take the thrust from the trailer, the tie-downs and chains would actually do the locating of the ball. The set-up to the reese hitch wouldn't do much, because it can't hold off any side draft. And you have no direct connection of the hitch to the frame.

Why not set up a tow dolly with the hitch permanently fastened to it?
 
Would it Work? Probly. Would it be safe? Maybe, Maybe not. I woildn't trust it.

I've put Gosseneck hitches in a half dozen pickups by bolting 2 pieces of 1/2" 3x3 angle 8" long to the outside of both frame rails then Slid in and bolted a piece of 3/4"x8" plate on top of them, all the way under the bed. Located a hole slightly larger than the shaft of the ball in the center fo the plate. Weld the nut to the bottom of the plate. Cut a hole in the bed just larger than the ball. All it takes is a pipe wrench to put the ball in/out and material is cheap enough. Hauled some hellatious heavy loads thousands of miles with nary a problem.

Ben
 
I just put a B and W turn a ball hitch in my pickup. The hitch with tax was 400 and it took me less then two hours to put in. The only holes that you have to drill are a 4 inch hole in the bed and 4 half inch hole in the bed for the safty chains. When you order it you order for your truck and it will fit with out drilling any extra holes and no welding. It is rated at 30,000 lbs.

Bob
 
I do not feel it would (be safe) work.

The 2.5 in tubing will hold the force of moving forward and braking; the problem will be from side force in turns. A piece of tubing that long will not withstand that kind of forces because they are multiplied for every inch in length.

This leaves the chains to hold the load and there is no way a 1000 lb rated tie down point is going to hold a gooseneck full of cows.

If you need something that would work on say 10 differant pickups without installing a gooseneck hitch in each pickup I would be thinking converter dolly. A small trailer that would hook into your trucks reciever and has a gooseneck ball just above the axle.
 
I would say no. I doubt the receiver would hold up to the leverage you'd be putting on it. Like Stick Weld says, there are commercially available goose neck adapters to hook up to the removable style 5th wheel hitch. TSC has them.
 

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