Who makes the lowest stepdeck?
 

Talked to Wilson today about adjusting the height of the deck. They said, "we don't recommend changing it." They only have 2 options for the deck: either 36" or 39.5". The first one is with 17.5" tires or with 22.5" tires and lowered deck; the latter is with 22.5" tires. I think I saw trailers being advertised as having 32" deck height... I know all trailer manufacturers are different. Can someone tell me who makes a stepdeck with the lowest deck height?

That's a really loaded question. Any trailer that is aluminum composition will have a slightly higher deck height, although it will squish down when you fully load it. So that eliminates aluminum framed trailers. There are various ways to mount the suspension, and you can even have a slightly sloped trailer(down towards the front) to help you out. Both will help. You can even go lower than 34-36" if you put steel wheel wells around the wheels. It's pretty rare to see a trailer like that though. The wheel wells stick up quite a bit above the deck. The deck might be 26" off the ground or so. Kind of like this trailer:

2009 TRAIL KING TK90ES Drop Deck For Sale At TruckPaper.com

But lower and with wheel wells. I'm pretty sure someone on here had a trailer like that.

Don't buy the advertised height, that could be with the suspension dumped or something. The guy could even lower the landing gear and measure it that way. The only proper way is with the suspension loaded and hooked to a truck.

Although I didn't answer your question, these are the variables you have to look for. If a company doesn't offer 17.5 tires, etc... then don't bother with them.

For aluminum look into MAC or Chaparral. Steel frame I'd look into Doonan or maybe Landoll.

We have one of those wheel well step decks Allan. I`d like more. Almost bought 2 used ones as a matter of fact but I couldn`t get the Wilson dealer in Souix Falls to budge from his $20,000 price. The deck height is lower than 39.5 inches....it`s more like 36 - 37 loaded.

One thing I learned when shopping for them and spec'ing them out was that the lower they are the heavier they are. This is because they cannot get strength into the main beam from the height of the web. On a low step, due to reduced beam height, the shorter beam needs to have thicker flanges and web to get the same strength as a taller beam. I used to have a drawing of a Transcraft and IIRC I think it was lower than the Wilson with the 17.5's.

That trailer with open wheels cutting through the deck is no good when you haul general freight. You lose too much deck space.... We have a dealer here where I live and they are offering Dorsey tridem 53 ft steps with 32" deck height. I'm skeptical but if you say steel trailers are lower than aluminum ones, it might be close to the truth.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]686[/ATTACH]

Mine has really massive frame underneath, probably because the deck is 36" high.

I had a all steel Kalyn(now heil)with a 33" deck, weighed 9900 lbs with steel wheels and 2 tool boxes. Do you know what grader pockets are?

9900 lbs? How long was it? 45 ft ;) Mine is a COMBO with ALUMINUM wheels and it still weighs 10,300 lbs. I have no idea what grader pockets are.

Try one of these http://www.jetcompany.com/images/spe...ble_compLG.jpg

JET makes good trailers Jet Company Manufactures Grain, Side Dump, Flatbed, Dropdeck, Detachable Gooseneck and Tag Trailers they will build what you want.

Grader pockets are recessed areas where the wheels on the load set.

I think a better way to handle 11 ft tall DD loads on a custom step would be to have space above wheels OPEN (2 ft long holes) and have 2 pre-programmed suspension heights: Option 1 would make the deck 36" tall and the 17.5" wheels are UNDER the deck; Option 2 makes the deck 32" high or less and the wheels rise through the holes in the floor. This way I could haul 11 ft tall construction equipment and also haul 40 ft long sea containers ;)

I'm still undecided about RGNs. I keep checking the LS board and the amount of DD freight between US and Canada is extremely limited. Most of posted RGN loads require 3 or more axles, or an extendable trailer. If I could get a 53 ft ultra-low step, I might make more money than with a basic tandem 48 ft RGN. I think.

-Well, yes the 53 was a no brainer but you made your bed.
-I think the adjustable deck height is alot od expense and weight for nothing. What exactly is the problem with the trailer you have now as far as height goes?
-Can't you pull a Landstar RGN and pay the fee to them like the van guys do?
-It's not really that limited. Does LS not go into Dundalk? BTW, if you don't have a TWIC you may as well forget about an RGN.

The adjustable deck height is about $150 and weighs about 1 pound. It is just a bracket with holes that changes the position of the leveling valve. If you go with open wheel wells you give up having a slider so you can open and close the spread for western canada, get a 3 axle fixed and you can get covers(removable) for the wheel openings, carry a little extra dunnage and you could load steel and machinery over the wheels.

The tri axle would make it easy to axle 80,000 lbs.
Having TWIC card is good but going to Dundalk sucks, most of the freight is cut once or twice before it leaves the docks.

If you can load toward the area where the yellow iron is then load a machine to Ca, i can hook you up with the LTL king and put an extra 1 or 2 dollars a mile out of the rust belt back to Ca.
you need the trailer that gives you the most loading opportunity.

Has a scissor lift I could take for a good rate but it was 10'8" tall. If I had a trailer with a 32" deck, I'd be able to move it. Also, those construction machines I hauled in the past (10'7") where I had to deflate tires would be much easier to deal with on a trailer like that.

But then I"d paying for 2 trailers: my step + the RGN

I know I can get one. It's probably a good thing to have. I've already seen a few loads posted with the "TWIC required" comment.

Do you think I can install it on my trailer? I have 17.5" tires so I don't think I have much space above the wheels to play with.

To do 'yellow iron' consistently it'd be great if I could either get a lower trailer or lower mine by at least a couple of inches. Of course, the longer and lighter the trailer is, the better it'd be suited for those LTLs. So, what do you think: an ultra low 53 ft step or an 48 ft TANDEM RGN with a 29' well and a flip axle option (could get one later)? An RGN probably weighs at least 15,000 lbs ... If I put a 34,000 lb loader on it, that'd only leave 10,300 lbs for LTL, but I'd have both the front and rear decks available.... One good thing about my 48 ft step is that it's very light: my max payload right now is 49,000 lbs :)

Here's a Trail King double-drop

[ATTACH=CONFIG]693[/ATTACH]

47'10" long
10' upper deck
29'2" main deck
8'8" rear deck
24" loaded height at the main deck
40" loaded height rear deck

Can a trailer like this be used instead of the detach RGN? How often do you guys actually NEED to load the RGN from the front? The mid-size equipment I've picked up so far was always going from a plant where these machines were made to a dealer who then sold them to the buyer. Both the plant and dealer had 40" high docks for loading/unloading WITHOUT detaching from the trailer. One day I picked up farm tractors at a sea port in WA and they had docks, and again all tractors were delivered to dealers with docks. I mean, how often do you deliver machines like the one in the picture to a farmer in the middle of nowhere who just buys one of these $125,000 'toys' for his kids to play with? ;)

A basic double-drop (like the Trail King in the picture above) would be able load/unload stuff via the rear deck + get loaded with a crane. The 15,000 lb dozer I picked up recently in Quebec and delivered to Ohio was loaded with a crane and unloaded onto the 40" dock of the receiver.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]692[/ATTACH]

CAT ISO 9249
42,770 lbs
11 ft tall
11 ft wheelbase (probably 20 - 25 ft total length)

Found one company that can make a 53 step (steel/wood) as low as 30" on the main deck! Will call the local dealer Tuesday - after the holiday.

If you go DD you need the RGN, a lot of loads ask for a RGN but are not tall, just need to load from the ground.


I loaded this at a movie set, no one around to help, no dock.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...2/IMG_2193.jpg

This was easier, just landed it on the trailer.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...2/IMG_2124.jpg

Your trailer looks all new! How tall was that chopper? I see you had to extend the main deck, but it probably wasn't that tall? Do your remember the weight? I'm curious.

Trailer is 3 yrs old 2008, flip is a 2006. Blackhawk was about 13'9 tall trailet opened 44 ft make me 93' overall, about 8000 lbs. usally don't haul them with the tail section on.
The truck will be in a movie this summer, "The Green Lantern"

I'm still not seeing the need for the adjustment. Why would you ever want to increase deck height? I thought, with the 17.5" wheels, his deck height was already about as low as you can go. In addition, the trailer will only be lower at the back right....the deck height will increase closer to the drop. We must be talking about gaining what....an inch?

Not increase, DECREASE. I want to get a trailer with LOWER deck height so that I can haul 10'7" loaders without deflating their tires and be able to haul 10'8" tall scissor lifts. What's wrong with this idea? It all depends on the trailer manufacturer. Wilson doesn't want to go below 36" on the main deck, but I found at least one company that can make a dropdeck trailer as low as 30".

How do they go 30"? That seems really low to me.

Open wheel wells 2010 XL SPECIALIZED Step Deck Extendable Drop Deck For Sale At TruckPaper.com

Yeah, I know you want a lower deck but I can't figure any advantage to an adjustable deck height. Why would you ever adjust the deck height higher? Just get the lowest available and be done with it?

you might need to raise the height if you have open wheels and want to load skids over the wheels, those open wheels sure throw mud and water like crazy, i would want some kind of covers to put over them when possible.

#1 reason is ground clearance, but you need the option to run lower if you need to keep the height legal.

On my DD if i have a top heavy load I will raise the trailer to make it more stable, harder air bags, less rocking.
Sometimes 1 inch can mean a lot of extra miles or a pole car.

It's funny but the guy I exchanged emails with, the one who said, "we can make them as low as 30", was actually from XL Specialized. He passed me to a local dealer and that guy said only Transcraft can probably make such a low trailer. He called the plant they told him, "the lowest deck we can make is 36" off the ground." But judging from the picture link posted by Heavy Duty, it's possible and it was done by XL before.

If I had a trailer like that, I'd run the suspencion at 40" pretty much all the time. But when the load is over 10'4" all the way to 11", I'd change the ride. It'd be great to have some removable non-load bearing cover above the wheel wells. If they make it a 10'1" tandem or a tridem with 72" between axles, there should be plenty of space between the axles to place some pallettes there, when the load requires it.

Maybe you're right ... let them make it 10'1" spread and then build some covers over the wheels (like on your trailer). Of course I wouldnt' be able to load anything over the wheels, but life is not perfect. a 30" high deck could potentially mean 11' tall loads!

You can load some things over wheels that is what dunnage is for.

Call a trailer dealer that knows his trailers temp1

The problem with adjusting air suspension height is in reality they're only designed to be within maybe 1/4" of specs. Anything above or below that is hard on the suspension/bushings/shocks. Maybe I'm wrong, but I haven't heard of any air suspension on a trailer that's actually meant to be adjustable.

Rank, can you load heavy equipment from the dock? I'm talking 34K - 35K loaders where their tires would have to ROLL over your wheel well covers.. Are these covers strong enough to support the weight while the machine is driven to the front of the trailer?

Trailers are not the same as trucks, no drive line angle to worry about,the adjustable ride heigth on my trailer was made by the trailer mfg. XL

You can also adjust height on DD trailers with shims and double donuts. Hydraulic necks have several pin position for ride height

The dealer got back to me about the price of that XL stepdeck with open wheel wells and 30" deck height. Basically he said this trailer would be more expensive than an RGN! It's just not feasible. The choices I'm looking at: 1) a 53 step with a 10'1" fixed tandem and same 36" deck height; 2) a 53 ft flat with a 10'1" tandem; or 3) XL-70 RGN, tandem, 48 ft, 29' well. Choice #2 promises most amount of loads at LS; then it's Choice #1, and the jury is still out on Choice #3. I think getting a RGN as the only trailer is risky for a Canadian who works for a US company but has to cross the border each time.

Here's what I'm talking about. I'm in Hershey PA and I need a load to go back to Ontario or Quebec. So, I log on to the Landstar site and choose RGN, LOWBOY, FLAT, and STEP trailer groups for my search within 200 mi of Hershey. This means the computer will look for all loads posted within those trailer groups (even a RGN 10 axle will show). Today I have a choice of 24 loads meeting my criteria. I re-order them by the RATE per mile and the top five loads in terms of rate are:

PA to ON: FLAT (coils; 32,000 lbs); STEP would work
PA to ON: 48FL (machinery parts, 25,000 lbs): STEP OK
PA to ON: FLAT (steel coils; 42,000 lbs); STEP would work as long as the shipper loads them
PA to QC: 48FL or SD (metal; 8,000 lbs); STEP OK
DE to ON: SD (metal; 45,000 lbs).

Not a single DD load shows up. The FLAT load showing as #1? Pays 4 bucks per mile! By the way, I checked the requirements for the flatbed loads, and my step would do pretty much all of the top five AS LONG AS:

Condition 1: I carry at least 4 ft tarps
Condition 2: I change my axle setup to 10'1" so that I can take 40,000 lbs on the trailer's axles.

If it's made for the trailer I can see it being ok. But with most trailers lowering or raising the ride height beyond specs will definitely be hard on shocks at the very least.

No the fenders will not support a real heavy machine without damaging the fenders. We've loaded excavators and last week we loaded a D6 dozer on that trailer. You just need to run the machine across dunnage instead of the fenders. You can flatten the fenders....we've done it....with a Link Belt excavator. That's what happens when you don't use dunnage.

That's why I suggested renting a RGN from LS if they will let you. That way you can try it for a while and see how it goes. I suspect the agents will call you and pay you to DH their RGN many miles and if they don't just give the trailer back. With those rates you posted, I wouldn't bother with an RGN unless they want you to. I would do them a favour but I wouldn't ask any favours of them.

In the last 12 months, I booked 6 RGN loads...none of these were out of Dundalk. They paid a little better than SD loads but not much. SD's over the same period were paying me well over $3 on average, but if I threw out my regular customer that pays very well, SD loads from brokers were probably paying me $2.50 to $2.75....maybe a little more. Is an RGN worth it for you? Don't know.

Campbellford, ON - Ottawa, ON: legal - $1400/193 miles (Landstar BTW) ($7.25/loaded mile)
Baltimore, MD - Lucknow, ON: wide - $2,000/575 miles (3.47/loaded mile less permits)
Baltimore, MD - Valleyfield, QC: 10' wide - $1913/580 miles ($3.29/loaded mile less permits)
Baltimore, MD - Belleville, ON: 10' wide - $2950/598 miles ($4.93/loaded mile less permits)
Easton, PA - Belleville, ON: legal - $1500/373 miles (4.02/loaded mile)
Kissimme, FL - Bobcaygen, ON: wide - $4900/1488 miles ($3.29/loaded mile less pemits)

Saw a 30" deck height XL today sitting in Black River Falls, WI. It was a 53 with a spread and had fenders over the wheels. They were permanent, you could see they were welded in. Load bearing? No idea.

Looking at XL specs, you can probably put 80,000 within 10 feet on one. One of the XL steps on truckpaper has the spec sheet attached.

Wonder how much that setup weighs. Without the extendable of course.

I just unloaded the 34,000 lb scissor lift onto a dock. I don't think I'd be able to do it with flimsy fenders over the tires. Low deck is good, but I think those fenders should be removable: put them on when you drive, take them off and use dunnage when you unload some heavy machinery. I think the design with lowered floor in FRONT of the tires might be more trucker friendly. I sent an email to Wilson's chief engineer asking if they can make a trailer like the one in the picture from Jet in this thread. I'm thinking, if you use 17.5" tires, the height in the back would be 36" and then the floor drops 4 inches to 32". This way you can pick up stuff up to 10'10" high but still haul 2 containers if you put 4" dunnage on the lowered floor. Me thinks the 'well' should be around 25' long on a 53' trailer with a 10'1" spread tandem.

I asked Wilson by email if they can make a stepdeck with a well l- like the one JET makes - and their flatbed product manager just got back to me. He said they cannot do it. When I asked what the lowest they can make the main deck with 17.5" tires, he said, "34"! Turns out now they have new designs for suspension and main beam and with 17.5" tires the front part of the lower deck and the very rear can be 34" high. There's still a 2" rise in the middle but now they don't need to use fenders over the wheel wells. I asked if they can modify my existing stepdeck and he wrote back saying, "No. It's a different suspension and main beam."

34" deck would work great for me. That means one could pick up something as tall as 10'8"! (as long the wheels of the machine are not in the center).

One more innovation Wilson is now using is the winch track. They finally got rid of the winches that were scratching the side panel on the trailer! They also have tie-downs similar to what Fontaine is offering on their trailers. I wanted to upload the PDF the dealer sent me regarding these new trailers, but the server said the size was too big :(