Mobile Home Tires, Wheels, and Axels for a Small Gooseneck Trailer?

[gfadvm]

There is a heavy built 20' gooseneck trailer for sale near me for cheap. My concern is the mobile home undercarriage. The frame looks very heavy. I want to haul 8' logs and a small tractor or skid steer. Anyone have opinions on the MH tires, wheels, and axels for my application?

[Gearbox]

I ran one for years 3 axel . Hauled an 850 case dozer or a 580 case backhoe . Put about 5000 miles a year on it . you have to keep up on the pins and bushings . The 8 x14.5 wear better than 7x 14.5 . tire wear may be an issue but used tires and wheels are cheap . Gearbox

[redprospector]

In addition to that.
Keep up with the tire pressure. I had a 3 axle gooseneck years ago, and I carried all the spare tires I could get. I blew out tires every time I pulled that stupid thing...until one fateful day, a guy stopped to help me change a tire. He saw all of my spares and laughed. He asked what pressure I ran in my tires? I told him about 60 psi., and he laughed again and told me to read the writing on the (side) wall. These tires usually call for 90 psi. or more, when I started running the pressure they called for, I quit blowing tires.  8)

[Gary_C]

I ran a 3 axle trailer for years hauling some big loads and never again will I use those 14.5 tires. I finally bought new hubs and rims and switched to 16 inch radials.

My problems were not pressure related as I always ran them at the rated 80 psi. The problem with those tires are they are bias tires and will not handle the heat and highway speeds and it was the Goodyear factory rep that told me that. They will carry big loads for short distances and less than 55 MPH speeds. I've had many new tires fail completely running at full rated load and at the 35-40 mile distance.

I finally switched to 235-85 R16 G-rated tires to maintain the load rating and never had a tire fail after that. They are not cheap but worth the extra money over 9-14.5 tires.

Also those centerless rims and wedges are a pain in the you know what. I've had tires and rims off my trailer pass me while going down the road, even with no load on the trailer. 

There are darn good reasons why there are plenty of those used tires available. I used to see those over the road trailer house movers carrying 15-20 spares.  :

[whiskers]

Some states don't allow mobile home tires used other than on mobile homes. Some tires are marked "not for highway use". You might want to check the legality in your state. That said, I use them for short trips and don't have a problem. I like plentiful and cheap.

[gfadvm]

I'm still lookin for a trailer. All the ones I can afford have the MH axels/wheels/tires. I'll keep searching as I don't think I need any more tire problems.

[coxy]

I tried to be a smart      with those mh tires and ground the lettering off but the dot can tell by the load range letters and numbers long story short they impounded my trailer and I payed a good fine  would have been cheaper to get the right tires  ;D

[ely]

We use them here...4x8 box trailer single axle .hauls a lot.

[thompsontimber]

No problem finding those sizes in a load range F lowboy highway tire.  Got a 20 ft trailer on mobile home axles, replaced those MH tires with lowboy tires and pull anything anywhere with it.

[sawguy21]

I tried to be a smart      with those mh tires and ground the lettering off but the dot can tell by the load range letters and numbers long story short they impounded my trailer and I payed a good fine  would have been cheaper to get the right tires  ;D

:D :D Those guys weren't born the previous night.  A neighbor tried using mh axles under an equipment trailer because they were cheap but spent a lot of money and down time because of tire and suspension issues. They were never designed for sustained highway speeds and roads where mountain goats feared to tread.

[gfadvm]

I bought a used 16 foot trailer with a winch today (no mobile home axels, wheels, or tires). Paid a bit more but will worry less going down the road with a load on it.  Thanks for all the advice!

[drobertson]

glad to hear, a calm breath is worth it's weight in gold.  the others would've worked but if issues with DOT came up then there is the hassle.