RGN vs folding gooseneck buying used trailer for track hoe

[terex herder]

I need a trailer to haul my Deere 200D hoe. I have been looking at rgn trailers and have ran across a good looking Load King folding gooseneck. It is a hydraulic fold. I have no experience with folding gooseneck trailers (and not much with removable gooseneck).

What are the advantages and differences of a folding gooseneck vs. a removable gooseneck?

 

[Junkyard]

RGN would be my first choice. The drawbacks to a folding neck are having to release from the 5th wheel each and every time you load/unload, unhook air and electric, lay that greasy plate down in dust and dirt. Then you pick it up and all that crap goes into the 5th wheel. Lots of climbing on/off the truck. They have their place loading certain kinds of equipment. Back in the day my first haul truck was a winch truck and a laydown trailer. Lots of work. When I finally got a hydraulic detach I wondered what in the world I had been doing farting around with that laydown. Hydraulic folding helps as mine was drug up with a winch. One thing that was handy with mine was I could laydown, back up to the rear of the trailer and run my winch line out to drag a dead machine on. If trailer slid it would only slide until it was dead tight to the tailboard of my truck.

A lot of repeated detaching with a folding neck will be hard on a 5th wheel. Trash throws off adjustment, occasionally gives a false latch which will get your attention!

RGN is all ground level, no grease and dirt. Less deck and steel to track over and keep up with. There are pivot points of both but the ones on an RGN see less wear and stress when everything is in transport (supported) position. Usually folding necks have power unit in rear which means longer hydraulic lines to have issues with or if run by wetkit very long lines off truck and two more things to unhook.

I'm sure I'm overlooking other things but that's a start. Unless the laydown was dirt cheap and in good shape I'd go RGN. I've got a dandy Kalyn RGN I need to get finished up and sold....one of many projects lol

 

[terex herder]

Junkyard, thanks for your information.

Whats the story on your Kalyn? I need a trailer and I'm only 320 miles away.

 

[Junkyard]

1994 50 ton. Was originally a beam, came from a quarry and was used on site only. I did some trading for it. I built a full width deck on it, strapped the transition with T-1. It's ready to blast and paint, rewire/plumb, tires and a power unit or plumbing for wetline.

It's got spoke wheels. Everything brake related is new. I've had it laying upside down for a good 5 years now lol.

 

[bam1968]

My neighbor has a 3 axle folding neck trailer that I have used a few times when my trailer was out of town and I needed to move a piece of equipment. The pony motor on his trailer is in a compartment that is basically just above the front axle. So there is no well to put the excavator stick in. With the way his trailer is set up it just isn't real handy for an excavator. And like junkyard said, if do alot of loading and unloading on gravel roads you end p with alot of rocks stuck to the grease around the kingpin. Just my $.02

 

[AzIron]

the only one i was ever around you couldnt drop on pavement king pin would punch a hole in the ground to me and this is just my opinion those trailers are not worth the PITA there are better setups for reasonable prices that have less moving parts

 

[Junkyard]

Most I've seen had a removable kingpin to avoid that..... but it's also a potential drawback.

 

[Wytruckwrench]

I started out with a mechanical folding neck. Moved up to a hydraulic folding neck. Moved up to a ground bearing, then a non ground bearing. I carried some outdoor carpet to put under the king pin and neck to keep it clean. Worked well. I’m kind of thinking about getting another hydraulic neck for some jobs again. They are handy trailers, if used right.

 

[Old Doug]

We built a folding neck 3 axle beam. The truck had a pto that ran at a angle out the leftside behind the fuel tank. You put blocks under the trailer then pull out from under it then parked the truck close to it and sliped the pump on the pto and chained the pump to the frame. I thought it was very handy then we found a neck with a pony motor and made it detachable. That was better because we mostly used it to move things that didnt run so we pulled it under alot of stuff.

 

[colson04]

RGN would be my first choice. The drawbacks to a folding neck are having to release from the 5th wheel each and every time you load/unload, unhook air and electric, lay that greasy plate down in dust and dirt. Then you pick it up and all that crap goes into the 5th wheel. Lots of climbing on/off the truck. They have their place loading certain kinds of equipment. Back in the day my first haul truck was a winch truck and a laydown trailer. Lots of work. When I finally got a hydraulic detach I wondered what in the world I had been doing farting around with that laydown. Hydraulic folding helps as mine was drug up with a winch. One thing that was handy with mine was I could laydown, back up to the rear of the trailer and run my winch line out to drag a dead machine on. If trailer slid it would only slide until it was dead tight to the tailboard of my truck.

A lot of repeated detaching with a folding neck will be hard on a 5th wheel. Trash throws off adjustment, occasionally gives a false latch which will get your attention!

RGN is all ground level, no grease and dirt. Less deck and steel to track over and keep up with. There are pivot points of both but the ones on an RGN see less wear and stress when everything is in transport (supported) position. Usually folding necks have power unit in rear which means longer hydraulic lines to have issues with or if run by wetkit very long lines off truck and two more things to unhook.

I'm sure I'm overlooking other things but that's a start. Unless the laydown was dirt cheap and in good shape I'd go RGN. I've got a dandy Kalyn RGN I need to get finished up and sold....one of many projects lol

I had to YouTube how these operate. What equipment would these be better for? Looks like a giant PITA and my untrained eye doesn't see any advantage. Are they cheaper than an RGN?

 

[Junkyard]

I had to YouTube how these operate. What equipment would these be better for? Looks like a giant PITA and my untrained eye doesn't see any advantage. Are they cheaper than an RGN?

The railroad uses them a lot as they can laydown on tracks and roll a machine right up on them. They have their place in the oil patch as well...or did anyway. Day in and out they're a bit of a pain but there are occasions they're handy. I doubt they are much cheaper unless it's an old school winch operated style which strangely enough I'd rather have as opposed to hydraulic.

 

[terex herder]

I decided to buy a folding neck in spite of the opinions against it, as it was in very good condition with 8 new American tires (and 4 new china will-pops), new brakes, new wood, and recent paint. Its a little older, but a lot cheaper than anything else I could find locally. This unit is supposed to be rated to lift 15,000# on the nose. Here I am loaded up ready to come home from a job. Its nice not to need a taxi driver.

 

[Tones]

A tip I learn't as a 19 year old( back in the late 60's) using folding goose necks was to carry an old car tyre to throw under the hitch plate, it stops dirt going up onto the 5th wheel. No hydraulics in those days, a Garwood winch was the go.

 

[RZucker]

I despise folders, but that may be from pulling a worn 3 axle Hyster years back. It would sit nice when empty, but due to the pin wear it would barely clear the ground loaded at max. The front of the beams would throw sparks when you bounced.

 

[fast1buzz]

Most I've seen had a removable kingpin to avoid that..... but it's also a potential drawback.

Drawback is definitely the word for it. Once the pin/bore gets worn you will have massive movement between 5th wheel and plate more than the 1/4 inch allowed during inspection. I used this trailer daily to move pavers and curb and gutter machines. I had to devise a locking system for the pin so as not to get red tagged every time we went by a scale. You could see the movement from inside the scale house. Would never have another one too many issues.