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[Rick M]

Smokey beat me to this post and did a much better job. Personally, I like the way a gooseneck tows.

Well, I think you definitely want a tandem 2 axle setup and I hope what you are actually trying to decide between tandem single tire axles vs tandem dual tire axles.

I have a 20' deck 5' dovetail tandem single tire gooseneck and haul a JD5300 4WD with a 540 loader and usually a Bush Hog 287 medium duty 7" cutter and all four tires are filled with water (16.9-30 rear and 11.2-24 front). Added all the weights up once and figured it was in the 9500 lb range +/- 500. The trailer is rated 14K,axles are rated 7K, and the tires I run are 265-75-16 rated at 3415 lbs at 80 psi. I figure most times I am running it close to the limit and if I hauled more than the 16 miles between home and camp I believe I would bite the bullet and go for a tandem/dual with 10K axles.

If I were buying new today I know I would go for the 20K trailer with tandem/duals to give a lot wider safety margin. With the way the trailer (Roadrunner brand from North Mississippi) is built (sturdy) my tires are the weak link and I would prefer to have more margin.