WHAT IS A LOWBOY GOOSENECK TRAILER? A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE

06 Jan, 2025

Lowboy gooseneck trailers are critical components in the heavy equipment sector, particularly built to move enormous, overweight goods. These trailers have low ground clearance, which allows them to move tall equipment like bulldozers, excavators, and cranes. This article from Thaco Trailers will delve into lowboy gooseneck trailers, examining their varieties, advantages, considerations when purchasing used ones, maintenance recommendations, common issues, and methods for locating reputable sellers.

Understand the basics of a lowboy gooseneck trailer

The lowboy gooseneck trailer is a specialized trailer for transporting large equipment and vehicles, such as construction machinery, industrial equipment, and heavy vehicles. Its outstanding difference from other trailers is the extremely low floor height and the bendable neck, which allows for the safe transport of goods exceeding a flatbed trailer’s height limit. The Gooseneck section is fixed to the trailer, increasing stability and improving maneuverability, effectively assisting in transporting bulky and heavy loads.

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Types of lowboy gooseneck trailers

Several types of lowboys are known as Fixed Gooseneck Lowboy Trailers (FGL), Fixed Neck Lowboy Trailers (FGN), Removable Gooseneck Lowboy Trailers (RGN), Hydraulic Detachable Gooseneck Trailer (Hydraulic RGN), and Mechanical Detachable Gooseneck Trailer (Mechanical RGN); each type varies in weight, size, maximum payload capacity, etc. Before selecting a lowboy trailer, it is crucial to determine the weight of the cargo intended for transport.

Fixed Gooseneck (FGN)

A Fixed Gooseneck (FGN) trailer has a permanently affixed gooseneck that is neither removable nor adjustable, leading to a more straightforward and lightweight construction relative to conventional gooseneck trailers. This uncomplicated design has significant benefits, including reduced total weight, which marginally enhances cargo capacity, and is therefore a more economical choice. FGN trailers come in many different configurations, including as skeleton chassis, or as flatbeds. Thus, FGN trailers are most commonly used due to its versatility, being able to carry various loads, from intermodal containers to unconfined loads such as construction materials.

FGN skeletons are designed with twist locks to lock intermodal containers in place, while FGN flatbeds provide anchors for tie-downs, chains, and tensioners to secure loose cargo to the bed. The gooseneck design provides the semi-trailers with a lower deck height compared to conventional semi-trailers, offering a lower center of gravity when loaded, and thus a safer and more secure method of transporting cargo.

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Fixed Neck Lowboy

Lowboy trailers have a low floor, often used to transport tall industrial machinery and equipment. The neck of the Lowboy is usually fixed and cannot be removed. Its main advantage is transporting tall goods, as the low floor makes it easy to load and unload goods.
Fixed neck lowboys maintain the lightest weight for their payload capabilities. Despite this, the neck is completely secured, so you cannot adjust it for loading equipment from the front. Fixed neck lowboys often have loading ramps attached to the back of the bed, which can be dropped to load cargo onto the bed, and secured in the upright position while transporting.

Removable Gooseneck Trailer

Also known as detachable gooseneck trailers, RGN trailers allow the gooseneck to be removed, making it easy to load and unload heavy machinery directly onto or off the trailer. This design enhances the ease of loading and unloading, making RGNs ideal for transporting tall and heavy machinery such as excavators, bulldozers, and cranes.

When you need to lower, pull, push, or drive equipment onto a lowboy, an RGN is the best choice. Available in two types—hydraulic and mechanical—hydraulic RGNs offer adjustable heights and can be detached using hydraulic cylinders, providing additional flexibility for loading from above. RGNs can handle some of the heaviest loads, with extendable models supporting up to 20 axles, making them perfect for transporting massive, uniquely shaped loads.

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Hydraulic Detachable Gooseneck Trailer (Hydraulic RGN)

Hydraulic Removable Gooseneck (RGN) lowboy trailers are those assets that feature a hydraulic mechanism to lift and lower the bed and these trailers are perfect for hauling heavy machinery. The hydraulic lifts retain height control by effectively minimizing manual powering and related dangers. These trailers do not have to be demountable but can be adjusted and thus are controlled by hydraulic cylinders. Hydraulic RGNs are famous in heavyweight hauling because they can take up to twenty axles and have a basic weight capacity of 150,000 pounds.

Mechanical Detachable Gooseneck Trailer (Mechanical RGN)

Detachable Gooseneck Trailers, also referred to as lowboy trailers, use mechanical mechanisms like levers, pins, and winches for gooseneck detachment rather than hydraulic systems, making them more simple, lightweight, and easier to maintain. This design lowers total weight, enhances fuel economy, and accommodates larger loads while reducing maintenance requirements. These trailers, renowned for hauling heavy equipment, include a detachable gooseneck that allows operators to drive straight onto the main deck via integrated front flip ramps or a tapered design, providing a secure loading structure without requiring supplementary ramps.

Benefits of Lowboy Gooseneck Trailer

Stability: Lowboy trailers have a low center of gravity because of their low-lying deck. This lower stance gives them better stability when moving large or heavy cargo than other types of trailers. They also have a strong frame and axles supporting a heavy load.
Safety: Lowboy trailers can haul large, heavy loads that would be unsafe for other trailer varieties. Loading and unloading a lowboy trailer is relatively easy and safe. Lowboy trailers are capable of towing heavy, tall equipment and machinery. A two-axle lowboy can haul up to 40,000 pounds, but this number can increase with the addition of more axles, reaching weights as high as 80,000 pounds.
Versatility: Besides carrying tall loads, they can also haul over-width loads. Construction equipment and other industrial machinery are often extremely wide — too wide for other types of trailers. Lowboy trailers are designed to handle these wider loads and loads of unique shapes and sizes as long as the load falls within its carrying capacity.
Compliance: Many areas have particular laws transporters must follow regarding what loads are legal for the road. Lowboy trailers help transportation companies, businesses, and private parties ship large loads while staying compliant with regulations. This is especially true when transporting tall equipment or specialized vehicles, such as construction vehicles and machines. Compared to other types of semi-trailers such as flatbeds and drop decks, lowboy trailers offer a significantly low deck height, allowing it to carry tall cargo while remaining compliant with height limits, both on highways and in urban areas.

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Thaco Trailers offers a wide range of semi-trailers tailored to meet the specific needs of the North America

Thaco Trailers is the premier semi-trailer manufacturer in Vietnam, with its exceptional manufacturing capacity and adherence to international quality standards, has been exporting its products to significant markets like the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. Thaco Trailers now manufactures and provides an array of product configurations, including intermodal chassis and specialized semi-trailers, tailored to satisfy the distinct needs of clients. These products adhere to strict North American market requirements, including DOT, AAR, ANSI, TOFC, F(C)MVSS, SAE, and TTMA.

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In the North American market, Thaco Trailers offers a wide range of semi-trailers through a distributor network that includes Dorsey, Ocean Trailer, and Greenfield Products. We particularly aim to become a reliable partner by collaborating with North American enterprises to supply OEM semi-trailers and semi-trailer components, providing efficient and flexible transportation solutions.

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If you want to look for more information about our lowboy gooseneck trailers, please visit our product pages or contact us today if you have any questions about our service, and we will recommend the right container chassis for you.

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