Flatbed trailer specs

If he runs them on the trailer and/or the drives he will need to figure out a way to rack a preferably mounted spare. That should be included in the specs.

Also, if you off-road with a spread axle with singles on the trailer, IMHO it could become dicey quickly. Now you have a lot less support on one axle on one side, trying not to have your load shift as you negotiate a sharp turn and then gun it to get up a hill. God help you if you block the only road to that oil rig, with truckers stacking up on either side. God help you if those top heavy BOP's start taking advantage of no support.

My point is that super singles are an on road option only.

 

Explain how you have less support on SS at one side off the axle?

They make SS for offroad.
Think Oshkosh and military.
You can use them in war where they shoot at you but not in the oilfields??????????

 

If you get a flat with super singles on one of your trailer axles, you have no support at that position, correct?

Now, let's assume you have an ackward top heavy load like BOP's (blow out preventers) AND you blew your tire on a scrap of metal coming down an 18% grade with a hard right turn that requires you to ditch your steers on the left while ditching your trailer axles on the right. Then you have to carry momentum while those tall BOP's want to lurch about 30° to the left and gain momentum to get up the 20% grade.

WITH all inflated tires you should be fine, right? Let's say you blew the front axle super single on the right side. Now what? No support there, those BOP's are thinking, "ALRIGHT! FREEDOM!!!" and your turning radius changed from dragging both of the spread axles to ONLY the rear axle. That causes your trailer to drag farther into places it doesn't belong, like swamp, trees, or culverts.

All in all it's a bad scenario. Sure, if you want military grade singles, then go for it. Have you seen any military off road applications using commercially available super singles as we are discussing? I'm curious to know. I haven't seen it. The single tire heavy vehicles off road have LARGE and HEAVY bad boys. Think cranes or monster forklifts.

 

Yes I don't think they're traditional "super singles" just because they're single tire doesn't make them super singles, think about floats.

 

I'm pretty sure the army heavy prime mover runs the same singles as my rig. For a comparison the wagon tires are 425 floaters if I remember right.
The army truck singles are one extremely heavy built tire. One man has a heck of a time to stand a mounted tire/rim up by himself. Just for comparison they weigh more than a 18.4-42 tractor tire and rim combined.
But for handling weight they flex way too much.
I'd rather have a set of normal duals on it. The center of gravity loaded is pretty high and it can get your attention in soft ground and sidehills in a hurry.

 

We have super singles on some our hoppers. Boss like them for the weight savings and we are seldom more then 75 miles from home so a flat is not a huge issue.

They suck in slippery muddy situations. I have a spot on my home farm that I cannot back a ss hopper into if there is any moisture in the ground. The trailer hits a slight incline and slides sideways no matter what you do. I can back in no problem with a dual equipped trailer.

The other issue is how easily they slide in a moderate to hard brake situation like we frequently run into in downtown St. Paul leaving the elevator. I've pulled the exact same trailer with duals and singles and the singles slide so much easier when empty.

 

Interesting, so the singles actually have less "traction" than the duels?

 

That's my experience.

 

I have no experience.