Flatbed 1st time purchasing

I have a lot of information on several, I'll say this. I've seen more busted reitnouer trailers than any other brand. You couldn't give me one of them hunks of junk.

Best wagon in my opinion is a Rhodes or a Benson 724.

 

Easts are heavy and don't hold a solid arch unless you get the heavy east beast II, Macs final inspection is questionable, had one it was junk. Extreme is growing still and their customer service is crap. Reitnouers break, Wilson's decent, manac darkwing is a nice trailer. Great Dane has a nice design with the freedom all aluminum. I live in iron hauler country, I see them all.

Benson 724, great Dane, Rhodes, and Mac would be last. I don't like the extreme tie down plates and I hate the carriage bolts or Huck rivets through the main beam. I'm still waiting for extreme to call me back from 3 months ago.

 

Rub rail design could be something to pay attention too. Hard to believe but some manufacturers still make ones that bent as soon as touched by a forklift. Nothing more frustrating on your own equipment. I would spec out any extra lights. They don’t make them water tight enough anyway, just more things to replace.

 

As others mentioned Mac and reitnouer has best resale but i am very happy with my 48 aluminum fontaine , spread axles i i purchased almost 2 years ago , especially their side rail design . It was $34k out the door when i got it in august 2018

 

Ive been wondering about Extreme with them being so new. If you don't mind me asking, what issues are you having with yours? Ive heard that the people that started Extreme were formerly from Mac. Curiously enough Ive heard that Mac is a pain to deal with on warranty work.

I agree with you on Reitnouers breaking, although the ones Ive known about were over ten years old and hauled steel all their life.

Ive owned both a MMX and a Bigger Bubba, granted both were 3 axles and both had Quickdraws on them, but the BB weighed 370# more than the MMX with a similar floor rating. I only ran the BB for a year, but after 6 months the floor screws were working loose.
My dad has owned a couple of East steps over the years and any warranty work was taken care of by them with no headaches.

Ive heard mixed reviews about Mac but a guy I work with has had good luck with his 2008 M80. What model of Mac did you have?

How well do you think an aluminum Manac and Great Dane would hold up to hauling steel every day?

 

My Mac was 30 days old when the company bought it back. I loaded 30k lbs on it and the frame went negative. No thanks. I've talked to other guys with similar low pro steps that did the same. I know another guy who's trailer was assembled with the shocks on the suspension upside down. I know that's a Hendrickson deal but they should have caught it in final inspection. Several other guys have had issues with final inspection too. One guy they drilled marker light holes on one side 24" spacing and 18" on the other. They got to big.

Idk about the extreme trailers. I understand the owner came from Benson and Mac both. I called them a few months back about some parts, the owner himself answered the phone. I'm still waiting for that call back. I've heard others had the same issues.

Easts are decent. I don't like all the flex in their beam. And their low pro steps have a huge camber in them, to big actually.

Fontaine makes a great aluminum trailer. A local weld shop fixed several of them for B&T express, 2 and 3 axles. All the same issue, but I'm pretty certain it was due to abuse and overload.

I don't think manac and great Dane would struggle to keep up. I haven't seen any running here, but I think that's due to Mac and extreme being built right here, and reitnouer in Pa, so they are close.

 

Thanks for the detailed response. Kinda sad to hear that some of the rumblings about Mac are true. No one would give me specifics before.

 

I won't take away the fact that they build a good trailer and a strong flatbed. But they started growing and now they just don't seem to give a ####.

I'm still a Benson 724 fan, also a fontaine fan.

 

If Reitnouer is junk why does it have one of the best resale values?

Not arguing or going against your opinion, I'm just wondering?