Dovetails let you haul a car.

Even with ramps, a car might high center during loading.

 

Dovetails let you haul a car.

For the WIN!

 

Or your Bobcat flips over when it is on the ramps.

 

I loaded a Bobcat onto my trailer, which does not have a dovetail, with no problems. I did back it on though.

I agree with previous statements about dragging a dovetail over everything, that's why I chose not to get one.

 

And you wont need to use your ramps if you have big enough tires on your 4x4:smokin:.

 

This. ^^^^^
My Toy will crawl onto my trailer now with the 35s on it.. Which is good, cuz im too lazy to pull the ramps out if I dont have to.

 

dovetails are made for dragging on every uneven gas station entrance. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

Or grading the road to the trails:grinpimp:

 

Right on with the dragging & grading! My 53' gooseneck dovetail does it all!

 

Not to mention they are way cooler looking.....

 

couldnt you just have longer ramps on a flat trailer when loading a car? that way it wont bottom out? i do think dovetail/beavertails look cooler but i just dont see the REAL point of them? am i retarded

 

The longer the ramp is, the stronger the material needs to be (thicker walled). So, not only are you adding weight by length, you are also adding weight by thickness.

Yes, your idea would work fine so long as you dont mind unloading and setting up ramps that are 140lbs each.

 

strong ramps are ****ing heavy and akward to begin with, could you imagine having to hustle a 8-10' steel ramp, **** that.

hydro doves or tilt beds kick ass.

i will have a fubard rv access to park my future trialer on there is no debate about it. i am going to do everything i can to keep the angle at a minimum but i wont be able to have a dove tail and a standard between the wheels flat deck is going to pushing it as well.

i am going to put some wicked solid rollers on the very end so that i can just run it up and hopefully not fubar too much.

 

It's so the Duke boys have a way to escape Roscoe when there is a roadblock ahead and you're in front of them with an empty trailer.

If I didn't have a dove tail, I'd have to have some seriously long ramps to get a decent angle. I can't imagine having to manhandle (verb, not noun) a set of 10' ramps that are strong enough to support my tractor and/or blazer. It keeps the tractor from dragging the mower or box blade during loading.

 

It's so the Duke boys have a way to escape Roscoe when there is a roadblock ahead and you're in front of them with an empty trailer.

:laughing:

If I didn't have a dove tail, I'd have to have some seriously long ramps to get a decent angle. I can't imagine having to manhandle (verb, not noun) a set of 10' ramps that are strong enough to support my tractor and/or blazer. It keeps the tractor from dragging the mower or box blade during loading.

my big GN has about a 3 foot deck height and no dovetail. my ramps are 8 feet long,and while not 140 lbs,they are heavy and suck to move around. even at that length,i think there is too much angle for a car. theyd prolly have to be twice that to pull my grand am up on it

thinking i might add a 3-4 foot dove to increase the length and fit 3 rigs alittle easier,and decrease ramp length

wagman that trailer is bad ass :smokin: i wish id thot to make the neck like that when building mine.1

 

My 53' gooseneck dove tail is tits for hauling cars & minivans that have the longer overhang in the front. You would never get them loaded on a straight deck (without scratching, tearing up the front facias & airdams) without some seriously long, heavy ramps. It has an angled neck that has flip down ramps that allow you to drive one all the way up on the neck.
My first trailer was a straight deck and I was always looking for a high spot to unload onto to get the ramp angle decent for cars & minivans.
Like others have said they are also really nice for hauling the wheelers I just drive them off & on without the ramps.
I had 2 samis and a tracker on the bottom deck once with the neck ramps down it would haul 4 easy possibly 5. It also has some extensions for the front that I took off cause they get too close to the cab on the tow rig it would haul 5 easy with them on.
One time my kid & I went & picked up 3 FSJ along with some spare engines, trannies, body prts, etc. & came home 500 miles with it all on this trailer I wish I would have got a picture of it. It would have looked good in the big stupid loads thread!

 

Dovetail = wasted space if you use your trailer for anything other than vehicles. I got rid of my dovetail because i got tired of draggin it on everything. Only flat beds for me from now on. Rampd dont bother me, I juse the tongue jack if I need to level it out more to load a low hanging car.

 

Dovetail = wasted space if you use your trailer for anything other than vehicles.

not really... if the dovetail isnt extreme you can still park on it

I got rid of my dovetail because i got tired of draggin it on everything. Only flat beds for me from now on. Rampd dont bother me, I juse the tongue jack if I need to level it out more to load a low hanging car.

thats a good point,i wouldnt want one so low it drags everywhere. my deck height is around 36 inches,so if i added a slight angle dove,it could easily still have 24 inches of clearance. i think about adding a dove,but i dont know if i will... it may be more practical to add an upper deck to squeeze on the third rig and not make it any longer.

 

Thanks nightcrawlers the only thing I don't like about it is you need a 5th wheel hitch if you are going to load the neck with anything very heavy or it twists. I have broke the bolt that the 5th wheel pivots side to side on before so now I'm just pulling it with a 2 5/16" gooseneck ball which is fine if you keep the load on the bottom deck.
It's a nice trailer that keeps the load low & pulls good. I generally pull it 75+MPH always even with a couple 3/4 or 1 tons on the deck.
If I ever got another one it would be simular but I think maybe tandem duals would be nicer than the triple singles but axle placement would take some serious consideration. Too far foreward & you get too much overhang, too far back you get too much weight transfer to the tow rig.

 

I dont care much for a lowboy dove car hauler trailer as they drag ass everywhere. But on a deckover not bad at all as you have more height where your dovetail starts off ground.

You dont lose any length with dove you can load on it just like deck if you are hauling multiple vehicles. You can chose from stand up ramps,flip over ramps that make deck flat or pop as posted above.
If you have flip over you will have to support ramps in upright posistion if you load on dove, Not hard just creative.

Flat deck with long ramps suck it becomes a dedicated trailer for things with higher ground clearance loading (Cars outta question without extreme ramps). I havent seen anyone that can swing a 10' ramp and say they love their flatbed trailer.

Everyone is different, Different needs/likes thats why there is so many options, But doves generally outsell flats More versatile.

 

I built my bigger trailer with 20 feet of flat and a 4 foot dovetail. If I had a do over I might make the flat part longer, but I still would have the dovetail. 20 feet of flat was plenty enough for moving 24 foot long 6 x 12 redwood beams, and 18 foot long steel I beams anyway.

 

I think having a dovetail does not necessarily means it will drag everywhere......there are a lot of other variables involved pending how the trailer is setup. My 18' deck (total length) car hauler has a dovetail and I have never noticably dragged it on any paved roads or parking lot entrances. Now granted I do pay attention if it looks like it could drag and try to manuever at some sort of an angle, but not like I go out of my way. The only times I have noticed it dragging was in grass or dirt lots but it was more intentional while pulling into a dip so I could unload without pulling the ramps.