Trailer opinions

I see a bunch of Brazos end dumps, belly dumps and tall ### scrap trailers. I know there up East of Dallas. I'd definitely be looking at them if I could run a stepdeck.

 

Nice!
That one of them Melton Mac's.?

 

Good deal.
Glad to see one of those worked out for you..

Where are you for deck height now, ~41".? I wouldn't be too worried about it. I don't know your operation, but very little of my freight is 126", 127" tall, maybe 5%.. If it that was your wheelhouse, could be bad. If not, more payload & 13' of deck will provide more opportunity..

If you remember, post the empty weight of your FLD & Mac once you got all gear on & ramp kit fitted. Like to know how it stacks up to my 48' Doonan with full apitong deck. I'm 26,640lb with 150 gal fuel onboard. + I've got ~8' double frame from stretching the tractor. Thinking you won't be far off, maybe lighter.?

 

Thanks for remembering..

I gained 240lb from gooseneck to stepdeck.. lol
Yep, them steel goosenecks are really heavy. Especially when considering their strength to weight ratio. ~10,000lb steel gooseneck could barely carry 20k lb. & had to be distributed over 30+ feet of deck, or it looked bad.. 10,000lb aluminum step is rated at 60k lb in 10 foot, or 80k lb distributed, for 90k lbs gross trailer weight..

That's not too shabby at all.!
Take into account
--28,360--my 26,640= 1720lb difference
--240 gals--my 150, 90 gal more fuel ~-630lb= 1090lb difference
--Snow chains -400lb= 690lb difference
--Looks like your bunk is bigger?, mines called a 42"
--All steel 22.5" wheels on the wagon vs my 17.5" all aluminum
--53' vs my 48'..

I'd say 690lbs look'n pretty good when you consider all this..

 

What is "fet"? Federal Excise Tax? Won't he have to pay sales tax anyway when he registers it? Sorry, but I'm still learning...

 

Nothing to be sorry about.. Majority of us are learning new things daily..

Yes, Federal Excise Tax.
It effects many different purchases, but the one I was referring to, is the 12% tax uncle Sammy feels entitled to on trailers with a GVWR over 26,000lb. I believe truck/tractor start over 33,000lb.? Applies to new sale, or used sale if being imported from outside the US & not originally sold in the US.. Basically unavoidable for the new buyer as far as I know..

Sales tax depends on what state. Some have a rolling stock exemption..
FL has a direct pay tax permit common carriers can get. This is where you only pay an apportioned amount of the sales tax by FL miles vs out of state miles. So you could end up paying about 6 tenths of a %, if only 10% of your annual mileage is in FL for example..

I registered my trailer in Maine instead. (Believe Oklahoma is another option) No sales tax, 10 year semi permanent tag cost less than $200. Like water, flow the path of least resistance.. lol