“Our customers have always played an integral role in the development of our product line and the 55SA-TELE is no exception,” says Troy Geisler, Talbert Manufacturing vice president of sales and marketing. “Our customers needed a way to minimize costs to remain competitive when transporting the ever longer loads, and the retractable deck helps them do that. The 55SA-TELE gives customers the long deck length they need to transport equipment, yet offers the retractable option to fall within legal length on return trips.”
Talbert says it designed the 55SA-TELE with a 90-in. swing radius that can be extended to 114 in. with the use of a gooseneck extension. This optimizes the deck length while keeping it within the legal 53-ft. limit when retracted.
Users can set up the trailer as a four-axle close coupled, 2 + 2 spread axle or 3 + 1 spread axle configuration. The third and fourth axles can be flipped or removed, plus a 24-in. pinned and hinged gooseneck extension can also can be flipped. This, along with its 24-in. flip-up extension, shortens the deck to 32 ft. 6 in. The unit features a 29-ft. wood deck in the front and a 3-ft. Apitong platform in the rear with beams stretching between. The trailer expands and locks in 4-ft. increments, the company says.
The 55SA-TELE also is equipped with Talbert’s ENitro nitrogen assisted dampening system. Talbert says ENitro provides a safe and stable platform that virtually eliminates bridging of the spreader, which can occur if an entire load rides on the rearmost axle. The system’s nitrogen accumulator oscillates around a central self-tracking pivot point to provide proportional weight distribution in each axle grouping. It sets the axle load capacity and keeps it there as the system equalizes up and down articulation.
Additionally, Talbert says the trailer features one of the lowest deck heights in the industry — 20 in., which optimizes headspace for taller equipment. The trailer has an air ride suspension and can be equipped with optional Dura-Bright aluminum wheels, strobe lights at each axle, and a battery backup that powers the lighting package when the trailer is disconnected from the truck power, the company says.
It also features a four-cylinder hydraulic removable gooseneck and is built with premium, high strength 100,000-psi minimum yield steel, giving it the durability to withstand harsh day-to-day environments, the company says.
