Trailer Question

Anonymous-0 · Apr 12, 2010

I have a 6' x 16' tri-axle flatbed trailer, 12,000 pound capacity, with 8 x 14.5 tires. The front axle is apparently bent, and it eats tires. I am thinking about dropping an axle. Approximately 60% of the trailer bed length is ahead of the center axle, 40% is behind. If I drop the front axle, it will be 67%/33%; if I drop the rear axle and switch it with the front, it will be 50%/50%. The heaviest thing that I may haul with it is a John Deere 60 (approximately 7000#), and I have a weight distributing hitch. It will mostly be used for some garden tractors, and the occasional trip to the scrapyard. I know that the ideal situation would be to move the spring hangers, but I don't want to go to the time and expense. Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this? Thanks.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 12, 2010

Correction - it is currently about 58% of the trailer length in front of the center axle, 42% behind.

Welding man · Apr 12, 2010

Straighten your bent axle. I have straightened dozens of them. A hydraulic jack, some blocks of wood , a good come-along ,a straight edge , a ruler and a framing square you might be surprised what you can do. Rarely ever have to heat one.

D7fever · Apr 12, 2010

If you take an axle off, your capacity will be dropped to 8,000 lbs, will not be able to carry your 7,000 lb tractor. Good advice, straighten the bent axle, or buy one that is straight, used ones are fairly reasonable.

thurlow · Apr 12, 2010

Wouldn't want the axles 'centered' under the trailer; it's not that big a deal to straighten the bad axle. Bought a 32 ft tri-axle gooseneck cattle trailer once-upon-a-time....CHEAP.....because the front axle was twisted. Built a lot of trailers in the farm shop way back when; a piece of STRAIGHT 6 inch channel iron makes a great jig to tell when the axle is 'right'; mount the rims on the axle; set it on the channel iron; when both rims touch at all 4 points, it's straight. If you need a little caster, camber or toe, it's easy to WAG it.............and get it close enough.

djw · Apr 12, 2010

Had a tri axle 16 footer like yours, 3 6000 lb axles. dropped the rear axle out of it , still good for 12000 lbs. didn't eat tires nearly so bad. Dave

Howard H. · Apr 12, 2010

How bad is it bent??

My triple-axle is also eating tires on the front left axle, but I'm suspected it is "hopping" or jumping around due to a loose shackle or something like that...

The rear axle definitely has a bow in it, but it doesn't wear at all..

Howard

Adirondack case guy · Apr 12, 2010

2 axles will only be rated for 7500# gross. A trailer weighing 2000# drops your net load to 5500# Your tractor will overload it leagaly, and you may bend another axel. Take the Welders advice

JMOR · Apr 12, 2010

Straightening is good. Sure don't want 50/50...that is just a tail wagger. 67% on a bumper pull is way too much. I had a 16 ft once with 24 inch set back & hated it. 'Standard' if there is such a thing is 3/4 inch to 1 inch of set back per foot of bed length. I lean to the 3/4, which is a bit less than what you have now (closer to 1).

kyplowboy · Apr 12, 2010

14.5's sound like house trailer tires. If you think there is a problem with the front axle, is there a place some where close you can buy a used axil? There is a moble home dealer here who sells new homes, the company will only use tires and axils one time and will not take them back when they set up a new home so the dealer ends up with a pile out back they sell pretty cheap.

Good luck.

Dave

Anonymous-0 · Apr 12, 2010

Could the axle be turned a little? Most axles that use springs and especially mobile home axles, are purposely bent so they don't wear tires down when loaded. Also if the trailer is only 16 ft. the front tires maybe would wear more when turning. Whether the axles or wheels are legal is another concern. Dave

BCnT · Apr 12, 2010

if they are indeed mobile home axles theyre rated for 5800# each...all that BS about 1 trip axles is a load...i been running the same set on a homemade trailer for the last 40 years...all i've done is grease the bearings and change seals a couple times.

S2710 · Apr 13, 2010

Why don't you just take the front two tires off and leave the axel under and put your tractor on and see how it rides, then you can decide what you want to do. If you need to haul something heavy you can always put the front tires back on and haul that and then take off the front two when you don't need them.
Bob

sotxbill · Apr 13, 2010

swap front and rear axles.

or remove the middle axle...

Chances R · Apr 13, 2010

Hanger location is different on a tandum axle trailer. I dont think the springs would work right at all if you just dropped a axle. If you drop a axle I would get all new hangers and hardware. Tri axles do have tend to wear either the front axle tires or the rear axle tires.

old · Apr 13, 2010

I agree with you. Back in 1995 I pulled mobile homes cross country and one thing we did a lot of was haul the axles back to the factory where they where then put under another trailer to be pulled who knows where again. So yep they are in fact used over and over and over again with some large long longs

Anonymous-0 · Apr 13, 2010

If you people think trailer house tires are made for more than 1 trip, I suggest you get into the tire business. You Will find out those pieces of crap are 1 trip tires. Your wholesaler will not adjust them, to keep your customeer happy, you WILL eat them. A lot of them wont even make the first trip.

JMOR · Apr 13, 2010

(quoted from post at 12:22:20 04/13/10) If you people think trailer house tires are made for more than 1 trip, I suggest you get into the tire business. You Will find out those pieces of crap are 1 trip tires. Your wholesaler will not adjust them, to keep your customeer happy, you WILL eat them. A lot of them wont even make the first trip.

Were TIRES ever mentioned??

BCnT · Apr 13, 2010

i said AXLES
i use 8.00x 14.5 platform trailer tires that are 14 ply and have hauled my JD350B dozer more than 100 miles at a time with ZERO problems...been haulin similar loads since i built the trailer back in '70
i guess you could say it was a 1 way trip that lasted 40 years so far.

Ray · Apr 13, 2010

Trade it on a new one,trailers are cheap right now.

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