Flatbed vs Conestoga

Heck, we should meet for lunch someday.

 

Sounds good. Headed to Butler In. In the am or tonight.

 

I gotta pick mine up from the garage tomorrow. I imagine I'll be city bound for the rest of the week... but might get back to normal next week. Things'll work out eventually!

 

As a 3 week old owner operator with a conestoga I feel I can chime in. I ran almost 2 years as a company driver with an open deck. There were a few times the tarps were a pain, and a few times they weren't used. I wanted to get an open deck as o/o to stay in shape. But, I have found out very quick with an elog that the conestoga has been a God send. My thought is if it doesn't fit in the trailer, I don't need to haul it.

But I'm new and still hold out hope I can make ends meet as a truck driver.

 

I'd like to add...

It CAN be a pain in the ### in the winter. Fine snow will still find its way in and jam up the tracks/guide rails and you will curse, and throw things, and wish you had an open deck. Or you'll get a foot of snow overnight when you've parked for a week or two, and now you've got to figure out how to get it off so your expensive investment doesnt turn into a collapsed tent when it starts raining on top of the snow

But then you see the guy who loaded or delivered ahead of you, struggling and cursing 3x as much, monkey'ing around with tarps as stiff as plywood, all while trying not to fall to his or her death, and (after giving him them a hand) you will go back to loving it and being adamant that there is no better way to do deck work.

This winter is almost done, so I dont care anymore right now, but for next winter! ......12v heated tape (for roofs, pipes etc) in, on, or under the rails to keep things from binding up!! Better than dumping a gallon or 2 of washer fluid or spray-bottling methyldydrate all over the place every day to thaw everything out to keep things 'rolling.' A buddy I work with got that idea from some guys he was chatting with in North Dakota.....

..... and here I thought, y'all south of the border couldn't teach us Snow Mexicans anything about winter trucking!

 

that’s a good idea with the heat tape. Not sure that I’ve ever seen it in 12v but that’s worth chasing down. Thanks

also: look at chameleon on your next system. Several things you’ve said tell me that isn’t the brand you have-

 

No problem! I'm eager to try it out myself. I started poking around online and I think it will work great.

I do have a Chameleon kit on mine believe it or not. I think part of the issue is the load stand stakes pop out a good 2 or 3 inches below the bottom of the stake pocket, leaving a nice gap in the rubber seal when I've got a stand near the back. I'm going to try chopping them down to see if theres any improvement. I dont have much trouble with the front 2/3 of the trailer. All of my snow gripes are around the wheel wells.

I will snap a pic of how it binds up the next time we get a good dump. I certainly appreciate any ideas and input you have, as I know (from reading here) that it has worked great for you!

I had a pretty good deal with the dealer I ordered my trailer from here. I didnt want to take 2 weeks to run east to get it done or risk and pay to have someone else drag it out there and back - so Chameleon flew one of their guys out here to do the install himself, and to show the guys here how its done. I've seen a couple hack jobs, so I dont question the install, I just assumed "that's just the way it is"

 

Aha, now it makes perfect sense! I hadn’t thought about the load leveler legs. So long as you have them chained down on each end, I wouldn’t see a problem in shortening the legs an inch or so to prevent the bottom seal from poking out.
I ordered another one and mailed the deposit check about three weeks ago on my second one. They really are so much better in terms of user friendliness. I suggested that I would organize a way to get the trailer I’m going to have it put on up to their manufacturing Facility to have them install it themselves. They did not seem too keen on that.


The last one I had installed, the installer had not done a chameleon brand kit before… Or so they told me. From the questions that I got during their install it was pretty clear that they had never installed a Conestoga system of any sort. Not a great feeling- However, it has worked flawlessly.

So I’m definitely going to have a different installer this time around.