Anyone ever pull an extendable trailer? I'm talking a 48' double drop trailer that may extend out to 60-63 ft or so. We have a 48's and 53's with ~43' wheel base and it takes a lot of room to turn them. I can't imagine an extendable.

 

I have pulled a 65' trailer that was 12' wide. It was a portable asphalt plant. Most of those extendables have the wheels all the way to the rear and you need to allow extra room to turn, especially when you are close to the ground. When you are long and the wheels are all the way to the rear the trailer doesn't track very well. Unless you are on a curvy road or coming on or off an exit ramp it isn't too bad. It just takes a little more care when you are making turns.

 

I have a 53' DD that extends out to 75', 50 foot in the well. Pull it with a 285" Pete. It pays to know your route. You make a lot of people mad making turns, pays to have a good escort.

 

I pulled an ext. double drop years ago. Mine was 48'/ 29' well closed, 50' well opened up. Freight paid fairly well but I was going into Miami,Fl. a lot and we all know how freight is from Miami. The co. I was leased to eventually sold the trailer, we had gotten into o/d, o/h air handlers and I honestly was getting burned out. I had little idea how many thousands of wires and tree limbs are above you until I pulled a 15'3" high piece. As was mentioned before, a good escort car/person is essential, a bad one makes for a dangerous, miserable day.

Two negatives were, the trailer was extremely heavy (you've got a trailer inside trailer kinda), I weighed 40k with a 204" wb cabover, and opened all the way up you're very close to the ground making high centering very easy. Needless to say the bottom of the trailer had no paint.

If you're going to do it I'd seriuosly consider one with a removable neck (rgn) so it can be utilized as a lowboy for rolling stock. Mine was a fixed neck that knocked me out of several rolling stock loads.

BTW, the trailer was a Trail King and worked very well. BOL.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I passed on one a couple of years ago for $13,000 because it looked sooo darned heavy an I thought I might only get a couple of loads a year and it would take too long to pay for itself....and insurance is $1200/year. Then I changed my mind but it was sold.

>I had little idea how many thousands of wires and tree limbs are above you until I pulled a 15'3" high piece.
LOL, I know. At first I was surprised at how high they actually were. I always think they're coming down on on of me but they never do.....not yet anyway.

>As was mentioned before, a good escort car/person is essential......
Did you use escorts on every load? I know permits would be req'd but to the permits require escorts?

>.....opened all the way up you're very close to the ground making high centering very easy. Needless to say the bottom of the trailer had no paint.
Did it sag when extended? Does the load carrying capacity decrease as it gets longer?

 

My empty weight is 45,500. About average.

 

We have expandable flats, step decks, double drops and perimeter trailers in our fleet. The longest I have pulled so far was 139' from headlights to taillights. 85' in the well. Our new Trailking expandables are about $60,000 per trailer. Wait till you pull a 16' or 17' high load, The routes get pretty funky.

 

With a fixed axle out back? No way! How the heck do you turn?

 

I can only address my experiences.

No the trailer didn't sag even when opened up, it's just that you're so long when opened up your tractor is already down the "far" side of a rise before the trailer tandems get there. I always seemed to manage getting across with a little speed and some sparks. Plus the trailer had an air valve that you could put air in the bags and gain about 4".

Escorts: The outfit I was leased to required (thankfully) pole cars on anything over 14' in the east. It was just cheap insurance considering the damage you could inflict on a $100k piece. I need to brag on two escorts I used frequently, they were two 60+ year old women that took their job SERIOUSLY, never a problem. These girls were a joy to work with.

Turning: Even with a 204" wheelbase I was in the opposite lane more than I was in my own.