What would you have done differently??

[Chamberpains]

I see nothing wrong with the way you loaded the boom piece. I prefer to load them that way. It will ride a little funny feeling because what you have essentially done is added another frame to the trailer. Making it stiffer. But it will ride the best loaded that way. I would've however moved your load levelers forward 4' or so to get the load more over the trailer axles instead of the nonsupported tail overhang. That or open the spread up. You run the risk of snapping that tail off or damaging it.

You made the right call using the top deck to load that. You will rarely ever get a piece that fits solely on the bottom deck and you definitely don't want the overhang. 4-5' of overhang needs to be permitted in some states. Especially with a 53' trailer. And having all that weight that far back just sucks. It rides like a boat on rough seas.

What keeps his load from coming forward is friction and down force. ALWAYS stick lumber between metal pieces as a friction surface. NEVER metal on metal. You should run a chain through the front pulling slightly back to stop any chance of forward movement. Use padding to not damage the boom with the chain.

As far as where you attached the chains and chain ends. I don't ever elect to go around a pocket. As you can see, you've already crushed some of them. Spools are by far the best attaching point. You can easily reach them with a slight angle. Or place your load better next time to use them. Use pockets for side kits and pipe stakes. Other than that leave them alone. They crush and tear far to easy.

The chain you used over the back of the weight for rear movement would've been better used over the front to stop forward movement. Your chains over the top supply more than enough securement to cover rear movement being you have them tucked in the attaching slots on the counterweight.

I also may have loaded that counterweight further back for even weight distribution. It looks like your gonna be heavier on the drives because of the counter weight being so far forward and the heavy end of the boom section being up front. Had it been a heavier load, you would've had to place the counter weight further back.

Lastly, those 4x4's on top of your load levelers may cause you a problem. They may vibrate out from under your load. A couple of 1" straps or even a couple bungee's attaching them to the boom or anything you set on lumber on top of your levelers will keep them where they are. I've learned this the hard way a couple times. Check them frequently.

All in all, if i needed to hook to that load the way you have it I'd have no problem with it. I'd do a quick scale to know my weight placement for bad weather. Open the spread, move the chain points and add a catch chain to the front boom and down the road I go.

Nice trailer. I like the sideboxes.