Looking to upgrade our trailer soon and am debating between 2 trailers from the same manufacturer. One is their 2H BP with small tack room that is 16ft long and 4200lbs. The other is the GN 2H with tack room with 16ft on the floor and a weight of 4500lbs. The BP is cheaper, the GN offers more storage space which we are sorely lacking on the current trailer and looking forward to in the new one. I’m leaning towards the GN as the 16ft length in a BP worries me, and the GN is the same length (not including the nose of course) with little extra weight (so not a huge jump up size wise). We’ve only ever had BPs so not 100% sold on making the jump to a GN either. Thoughts?
I went from a bumper pull to a gooseneck 30 + years ago, and even using stabilizer bars on the bumper pull, felt a huge difference. I towed a friends bumper pull a couple of years ago- I have a F250 and felt it. I never notice my 2 horse, dressing room gooseneck. I also feel I have 3 points of safety if something breaks…the hitch itself, the safety chains, and the truck bed.
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I went from a 2H BP to a 5H H2H gooseneck and I will never go back to a BP. The gooseneck has more storage, even at its massive size is surprisingly maneuverable, and hauls very well.
What are the upsides to the BP (other than 300lbs lighter)?
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You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to a BP. Well, you could then I’d take that money and buy a GN.
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Same here, if a choice GN is way safer to pull.
Will take a bit to get used to how it handles turns and backing, but all around GN is the better, safer trailer.
BP’s are fine if that is what you need to use, but when given a choice, always is best GN.
In our area you hardly ever see BPs any more, not at the vets or show grounds.
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Theoretical benefits to the BP: cheaper (about $5K cheaper, not huge but not nothing), familiarity with tow style, ease of hitching up (hooking a GN seems harder/ more time consuming?), and ease of maneuverability but not sure that is a valid point if they are the same size past the truck (well the BP will be longer with the added tongue vs just the box of the GN).
Price and familiarity are definitely valid concerns.
The gooseneck is actually very easy to hook up and very similar to the BP - still a ball and hitch, it’s just that the hitch is mounted underneath the trailer rather than in front of it. Depending on your truck, you likely have a camera near your cargo light and mine even has a dotted line for where the trailer should be to line it up to the ball.
The gooseneck is way more maneuverable than the BP. You end up “cutting corners” with the GN - it takes a sharper turn around a corner whereas the BP pretty much follows in the truck’s tracks. This makes the GN able to get into tighter places than the BP, it just takes a few drives of getting used to. 
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Caveat: I have a BP because I have a short bed truck that doubles as a daily with a camper shell for the dogs…
I’d take the GN any day, if the tow vehicle didn’t force me into a BP. Way more stable, horses seem to travel a bit better (see stability), and yes, maneuverable! Just make sure your bed is long enough that you don’t knock out a back window and you have enough of a lift on the trailer that you don’t yank off the sides of your bed when turning… I’ve seen it happen.
Driving and backing them takes practice, but I’d pick a GN every time.
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GN is my choice. I learned to drive a BP when I was 16, as soon as I got my driver’s license. It was OK. But we soon found a GN trailer, and I’ve been strictly a GN driver since then… nearly 50 years now LOL. Better ride for the horses, easier to drive and back up. Plus, more room for stuff. And a bedroll on the overhead bunk… bonus.
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Once you go gooseneck you never go back!
Satisfied gooseneck owner since 1999.
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It comes down to what each person can afford. If you can only afford a single vehicle, will a pickup truck fill all your other vehicular needs like commuting to work and parking at a downtown job?
A GN tows better in my experience, but I also can afford to own a big pickup, plus an SUV, an EV, and a sedan for those non-trucky situations. Being able to leave the pickup with a GN always hooked up and ready to go is a nice luxury, too.
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I have a BP and know a GN is safer. I do have the anti sway system on it now and that made a huge difference. If I come into some money someday I will upgrade to a GN.
One piece of advice: I was with someone who had just gotten her first GN and got confused about hooking up and RIPPED off their tailgate. Brand new truck. So there. Now you know that won’t happen to you because you’ll remember this story! 
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Yep, I have seen GN novices break out the trucks rear window and pop tires off their trailer wheels, too.
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Happens ALL THE TIME. A lot of people around here just take the tailgate off. Or buy a flatbed 
Word to the wise: keep a window rolled down. If you hear scraping or crunching, STOP MOVING.
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I have a BP but that’s because one carriage goes in the +1 area and one goes in the bed of the truck. The length (and cost!) of the gn trailer I would have to own to carry all my equipment and storage out of my trailer was a greater price than I was willing to pay. So unless you do just fine with a standard 2h bp and aren’t looking to spend more or have some strange requirements like I do, I would say a gn will make your hauling life easier.
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That and crunching your back windows are gn rights of passage. EVERYONE has heard the stories, and yet so many trucks still fall victim 
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I felt so bad because I was standing back there and it was like slow motion and I couldn’t yell in time!
And I hadn’t hooked up a GN so wasn’t sure of the physics or what exactly was going on.
Interesting to hear there are many stories of destruction!
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I’m sticking with my bumper pull just because I know how to drive it. My truck isn’t set up for a gooseneck. Maybe one day I will upgrade but unless something happens to my truck, that probably won’t be anytime soon.
I’m sorry, what? How do you pop trailer tires off?! 
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Had a client with an early 90s F350 dually, no tailgate. Used the truck umpteen million times to show. Client FINALLY found the matching (in style/shape) tailgate after years of searching, had it painted to match, put it on the truck. You already know what I did the first show I went to after that.
Pulled it so hard, the tailgate came off the truck at the hinges, but not the cables and I pulled the trailer jack off the block and buried it 6 inches in the dirt. I went to the show office crying hysterically to ask if they could lift the trailer back into the block with a tractor. I was so upset they thought something happened to a horse.
You only make that mistake once.
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