Anyone own Witzco?

[ippielb]

I have been looking for a triple axle low boy trailer for a year now, nothing worth it has come up. I have come across a new Witzco RG-50 triple axle, self contained hydraulics, removable neck. The price is not far from old 1970's lowboys, sure the ones from 70's are built better of course, but this Witzco is new, no problems from safeties, repairs, or anything else like that.

My question to you all, is has anyone used a Witzco? Owned one? Have personal experience about the trailers?

 

[Shimmy1]

Is it ground breaking or non-ground bearing? Every Witzco I've ever seen was ground bearing, meaning it has a cylinder with a pad that pushes against the ground to raise/lower the bed when removing or attaching the neck. It probably wouldn't be so bad if the pad was a few feet square, but it's more like a foot. Doesn't work at all if ground is soft, and I'm sure thinner asphalt or concrete might not like it very much either. If your looking for cheap, a Kaufman might be a better choice.

 

[ippielb]

It is the ground bearing model with the pad. I will look into that brand. If the Canadian dollar wasn't so pathetic I would have a larger market, but I'm not interesting in paying 27% on top of the USD price to convert it into Canadian dollar.

The Witzco is 2/3 of the price of the Kaufman trailer of equal rating.

 

[bam1968]

I have a 2000 Witzco RG50 ground bearing trailer. I bought it @ 4 years ago. Shimmy's comment is 100% correct. The previous owner of my trailer fabricated a larger foot on the bottom of the cylinder that, IMO, was a big improvement. I mostly load and unload on gravel roads and get along just fine. Occasionally in the early spring when the frost is coming out I will put a little dent in the road. I carry an old @ 30" triple grouser track pad that I will throw down under the lift cylinder on questionable ground. That being said, most everthing it hauls weighs @ 55,000 lbs or less. I hope to someday upgrade to a non ground bearing trailer but all-in-all I am getting along just fine with this trailer. There are times when I have to get a little creative as far as where I position the trailer in order to try to detach where I think the ground is the most firm and still have enough room to get the machine off the trailer. An example would be a field entrance off of a hard surface road with basically no shoulder. Where as a non ground bearing trailer could just drive in and stop basically anywhere and detach. My $.02

 

[backhoe1]

I have 1 as well, bam covered it all

 

[ippielb]

Think it would be worth it to invest in one? I am having a hard time justifying spending 20-30 grand on something used, then having to get it saftied, tires brakes and drums get expensive. Then you still have a 30-50 year old trailer that could have hidden cracks. The RG 50 is $39,999 at a dealer I'm sure I could wiggle it down from the mark up. Then I won't have to worry about safties for a while, plus being self contained I won't have to modify the truck. And no beaver tails, so we can easily haul tractors as well. Not to mention a good write off.

 

[Oxbow]

Aside from the ground bearing type of neck detachment, I have never seen a Witzco that had any camber in the deck, and when loaded heavy they seem to sag in the middle. I have no personal experience with them, but have always suspected that one would not want to push the load rating of them at all.

Personally, I would prefer a good condition used Aspen, Trailking, Talbert, etc. over a new Witzco. There must be a reason that they are so much less expensive than the competition. Perhaps for occasional use with loads that do not approach the rating of the trailer they would be acceptable.

 

[bam1968]

If the tractor you are planning on pulling the with does not have an air ride suspension I would very strongly suggest having the hydraulic neck support on the trailer. Our tractor is air ride and we have a 6x6 that we lay across the truck frame to support the gooseneck. This generally works fine with the ability to raise and lower the truck suspension. A few years ago I sold a machine and the truck that showed up to pick it up had a ground bearing trailer with a spring ride tractor. He was an owner/operator type of guy. I don't think I'm exxagerating to say it took him close to an hour to get detached. I remember thinking, as I watched his process of raising and lowering his trailer to move his neck support blocks multple times, that there is no way I could deal with that on a daily basis. But come to find out had just broken his hydrailic neck support and that was the reason he had to get the trailer to set down just perfect in order to detach and reattach. Generally speaking, I believe the process of detaching and re-attaching is faster and done with less effort with the non-ground bearing trailers. Just My $.02

 

[JBlackwell]

All I can say is if anyone buys a Witzco trailer they will regret it. I have sold many new trailers to people that originally bought a Witzco that said they made a big mistake. Goes to my favorite saying, "You get what you pay for."

 

[bam1968]

That maybe very true but so far I don't regret it as far it doing its job. Although, when it comes time to upgrade I might regret buying it. But , on the other hand, I took into consideration that they don't hold there value well when I bought mine. So, basically, I don't think I will regret buying a Witzco simply because I hopefully am already prepared for its resale value. When I bought mine (@4 yrs ago) I didn't think buying a $40-50,000 dollar lowboy was 'in the cards' so to speak. I wanted a detach because I was tired of loading excavators up the back of an old narrow fixed neck lowboy. Came across this witzco locally and it was in my price range ( i.e. traded without having to borrow any money) so we made the deal and SO FAR have not regretted it. But time will tell.

 

[ippielb]

My ideal trailer would be a non ground bearing. I have loaded a few d8's on and off, and when my track loader got delivered it was on one. At work we use a landall sliding axle system, super easy but would wear out.

The price for a non ground bearing is 50-70 grand. Way more then I can afford.

My track loader is 60,000 pounds.

 

[Shimmy1]

My ideal trailer would be a non ground bearing. I have loaded a few d8's on and off, and when my track loader got delivered it was on one. At work we use a landall sliding axle system, super easy but would wear out.

The price for a non ground bearing is 50-70 grand. Way more then I can afford.

My track loader is 60,000 pounds.

Lots of good used trailers for sale.

 

[movindirt]

My ideal trailer would be a non ground bearing. I have loaded a few d8's on and off, and when my track loader got delivered it was on one. At work we use a landall sliding axle system, super easy but would wear out.

The price for a non ground bearing is 50-70 grand. Way more then I can afford.

My track loader is 60,000 pounds.

I wager you could find a good used one for not much more than half of that.

 

[ippielb]

Enlighten me where that's not in the USA, myself and my dad have been looking for months every day and not found a single one that was worth the money.

 

[chevota84]

Witzco frames aren't heat treated like the big name trailers, if they bow they stay that way.

 

[mowingman]

www.truckpaper.com lists 41 lowboy trailers for sale in Canada. Prices start at around $14,000. There is only one listed in Saskatchewan though. Not sure on currency difference, but prices listed are U.S. dollars, and they mostly look high.
The oil business in Canada should rapidly be cratering. I would hold off, and wait for bankrupt/failing oil service companies to dump units at auctions. I think you will be seeing that this year. It has already started here in Texas, big time.
Jeff

 

[rjharms]

Check out Querel trailers in Winnipeg. We bought the Etnyre Blackhawk Limited two years ago. Love it. Lightweight, strong, and really good pricing. Ask for Bruce Querel.

 

[Shimmy1]

http://m.truckpaper.com/ListingDetail/Index?industryName=trailer&listingId=6998303&categoryId=18

 

[bushcat]

Lots of lowbeds in the upcoming Ritchie Bros Auction in Edmonton this month

 

[Fastdirt]

I bought a used Witzco for half the price of a new Kaufman. I was going to buy the Kaufman 35t detach but the price jumped up $10,000 after F.E.T., pony motor, air ride, wheel wells, inner trailer boards etc. Would I buy Witzco trailers and start a heavy haul business..NO. Nor would I buy one if I had a decent size grading company but for a small fry like me it's fantastic that I can afford one. Those big name trailers are way too expensive. I too mainly want it for stability and safe loading amongst many other reasons. My Witzco does have thin metal all around the rear sections but the beams are big like the other trailers. So yes Witzco is a fine trailer made to hit the bottom dollar mark in the detach market. They have no radius beams, just a straight edge simple design. On a Witzco they may not have the camber or heat treated beams but who cares. That just adds to the price. I'm sure all trailers flex and return. I wouldn't overload a Witzco anyway. The design has not changed in over 20 years so they got it right obviously. All the big companies have to out do the other company in order to get buyers. Kaufman trailers told me those big guys like, Fontaine, Talbert, Entyre, etc. make huge profits and said a few of them were connected. Who knows. They do sell themselves though. Witzco is good.

I take it that 60,000 lb loader is a 973..