For a boat like that $$$$ I'd go new No doubt about it

Hot Duck, if you could get the trailer here to Oklahoma, My best friend has a trailer shop and said he could do everythnig you need very resonable. This is from sandblasting to repairing, packing all wheels and replacing if needed along with the conversion to a goosneck set up. The shops name is precision trailers in Purcell OK Can get you the number to talk tothem if you would like. He has been there for13 yrs and running strong. He does a lot of repairs for barret trailers and 4 star from the horse guys. It would be cheaper than a new one by far

I forgot to mention that you also fall into a diferrent category with dual wheels on the trailer. a triple axle is considered a single wheel. The diferrent style of brakes also make a diferrence as far as the DOT is concerned. I would request 17.5 inch wheels on the trailer and not 16 so you can get a higher load capacity for the trailer also.

Thank you for the info and opinions. By all means, please keep them coming. As of right now I am leaning towards building a gooseneck simply due to the weight of the boat.

Sydwayz has a good point about the convenience of a 5th wheel over a gooseneck, but I have heard horror stories about 5th wheels coming loose. I wonder though, why do all of these stories involve pickup 5th wheels? I have not heard much about semi trailers coming loose and separating from the truck. I have also heard that the 5th wheel setup will not allow enough travel in the hitch for some steep ramps. Any truth to these rumors or horror stories? I am not bashing 5th wheel setups, I am just asking because I have never used one.

One last thing is that with a gooseneck you only have a ball sticking up through the bed, where with a 5th wheel you have that big greasy hitch. No big deal until you go to remove it. The gooseneck ball either comes out or retracts while the 5th wheel hitch has to be removed. Just a thought.

OK. Let's change the course of this thread a little bit. Between a gooseneck and a 5th wheel, which would you guys choose and why?

I would have to go with the goose neck. I have a hideaway ball and as much as the bed of my truck gets used I couldn't stand having to remove something or work around it.

The fifth-wheel hitches I've worked with have plenty of pivot forward and back, but limited side to side. If you had a travel trailer or box trailer, then the bed rails might hit the underside of the "cab over" part of the trailer, but that should not be a problem with common boat trailers. You should be fine on steep ramps as long as you are backing straight, and not with the truck at an angle to the trailer. I think the main reasons the ag industry favors goose necks are better use of the truck bed, and less chance of getting hung up crossing ditches or rough fields. One rancher told me he never attaches the goose-neck lock, but just lets weight hold the trailer on the ball. Claimed that in an roll-over, both the trailer and truck are better off coming apart. (NOTE: I am NOT endorsing not locking any trailer to the hitch). That is not something you could do with a fifth wheel.

Goose neck all the way, your not restricked on what you can put in the bed after the goose is installed. With the 5th wheel hats they take up a lot of room,granted they can be taken out but then you have to store it somewhere, and still have the tracks in the beds floor. with a hideaway system, the ball drops out of sight with a pull of a lever, mounts under the bed so you only have about a 3-5" hole in the floor of the bed.

HEre is my Hideaway it is great

Here it is out. If you have never had one before keep it greased or else it will be a pain in the arse eventually.

Is that the hide away from Draw-Tite? I understand how the ball retracts, but how do you get to the loops for the safety chains?