Been looking for a mechanical detach:

Think I have found one of these in my price range. It is a mid 1990's "XL', 48' long on 22.5 rubber and air ride. The rear deck is covered. It does need a deck and some main beam repair just forward of the axles. No holes yet, but the steel is thinning and the tension strips welded to the bottom flanges are swelling from rust. No hydraulics on the trailer at all. No evidence of side loading or any damage I've seen from high center impact. All the swing out outrigger supports are there too. It was being used to last month but the deck is too soft to continue and the owner is now retired from anything truck related. The price of fuel played into this. "Says" he'll sell it to me right if I want it.

If I wind up with it I'll have a buddy with a couple of forklifts come to my shop and roll it over onto it's back, and set it onto my other trailer upside down. I can then block it level, shore it for no movement and cut the deteriorated sections out of the main beams for replacement. Lots easier to work on things looking down rather than up.....

I'd assume the steel to be "T1" grade and that can be had out of Chicago with a couple days lead time. Likely need to fabricate the beam section(s) myself as I'll only need to replace about three feet of each beam to ensure tieback into good parent material. Going to attempt to grab underside photos today as was kind of hard to see with no truck attached and suspension dumped on top of getting dark.

More later.

Never did update this but I did not purchase this trailer. The rear suspension was hanging under by a thread from rust. I could not back under the trailer given the downward angle of the neck it was oriented with so they picked it up with a rough terrain forklift enough to back under. My truck is an R model Mack with Camelback suspension on 11R-24.5 rubber with a tall 5th wheel height that is fixed. The truck was originally set up for a mechanical folding neck trailer. I do have elevating ramps up to the 5th wheel, but the back of my frame would not get under the trailer rollers. Would probably be no problem if the trailer had been parked level, but the front was in a depression so set unusually low. Pity too as I really liked the 29' well.....

Once there was air in the trailer suspension it was high enough I could slide under seeing the rear areas were very bad. This couldn't be seen unless under the trailer. I knew there would be some repair welding needed, but this one was past "farm use" only so passed on it.

Going to look at a hydraulic ground bearing neck and rear suspension cutoff this weekend. I want to say this was a "Rogers" trailer but the trailer is compromised and not safe to pull from what I'm told. It is being sold as "salvage" but I would not be against building my own deck if the neck and attachment points of the original design are still usable, or able to be copied. It is a "beam" trailer, meaning no deck. The owner states he will not allow it to be pulled from his property so it must either be trailered, or cut into pieces there. It is in MI so could be very rusty also.

Part of the problem here is being cheap on my part. I'm not a trucker and don't need the latest and greatest out there. What I do need however is safe, reliable, and paid for.

More later.

This is not my truck, or trailer but my truck was setup for this type trailer and works very similar:

Well, the neck and suspension are out of consideration citing rust. I received several high resolution photos and though not perforated, the steel is weak and needing rework. I'm not going to be interested in rebuilding a neck also. The rear suspension is single point which is very hard riding and needs rebushed. I don't mind spring ride as it has a bit of "give" to terrain; center point, not so much.

What kind of price range are you looking to spend? And how big of a trailer do you want?

In reality I'd like to have less than $20K in a serviceable trailer. It needs to be about 48X102 in size but I would like the longest well I can get. Going to install aluminum pullouts for combine hauling and that's going to add a bit to total cost. 35ton is plenty as I'll never be heavier than a new combine but the ride height can be an issue for these. I'd like to have about a 12" ride height meaning bottom of beams to roadway so probably a 18" to 22" deck height. An arched deck is not important as the loads are very spread out and not concentrated.

If I can find a decent neck I'll build my own to suit and am getting ready to explore that option further. I don't, or won't use a trailer every day so don't need the best of the best or the latest and greatest.

Thanks for asking.

Hmmm I have something that might work for you. Kalyn 50 ton that was originally a beam, I put a deck on and never finished it. Non ground bearing neck, Dayton hubs, 3 axle air ride. With what I’d like to get for it you’d have enough room in your budget to finish it like you want. It’s short in the well, 21 or 23 I think. You could make it 2 axle and make the well longer….

That sure sounds interesting. I'd be interested in photos as I'd considered doing much the same with a beam trailer. The NGB neck is nice in less than perfect or hard ground to unload/load on for certain. Given I'd like to have a lot of functionality built into a single trailer, it's probably best I build, or modify an existing rather than continue to look.