Pushing Trailers?

[baanista]

How well does pushing trailers with a PT work? The reason I ask is that one of the attachments I am considering if I get a 425 is the power dumper trailer. I have access to sand bars and gravel bars down in the creek bottom so the power dumper would allow me to grab gravel and sand for projects.

I found out in my visit to Tazewell that the power dumper package consists of the dump trailer with a 1 7/8 " ball hitch plus a quick attach plate with a ball welded to it. They told me that pushing trailers around works real well with the PT.

Since my only experience pushing trailers comes from trying to back up with a trailer, I am having a hard time getting my head around this. It is about a half mile round trip down the old ranch road from the barn to the creek and back. I have visions of constantly jack knifing or having to go backwards the way.

Someone recently said you have to watch the trailer like a hawk if you are pushing it. This didn't help my confidence. So just how tricky is it to push a trailer around with a PT?

Thanks,

David

 

[BobRip]

David, I did this in a parade. The parade was about 1/2 mile. I had about 15 kids on the 14 foot trailer. It's easy to do, but you must watch the trailer constantly. If you look to the side it will go out of line in one or two seconds. Look at my post "It works in a parade too". It not like on a truck and looking backwards, because you can keep a constant watch on it.

I spent 4 hours moving pumpkins with a small trailer a few weeks ago and most of the time I was pushing the trailer (about 3 X 6 feet). I love the concept of the PT trailer and would get it in a hearbeat, but I already have mine.

 

[RegL]

Bob, I think your 14 footer tracks a lot straighter than PT's short power dumper. Short trailers will jack knife very quickly. I was a little surprised the power was just a ball hitch. Seems, for a lot less money, you could find a trailer somewhere and move the axle to the rear and it would dump just as well.

 

[SnowRidge]

I push and pull a 20 foot equipment trailer around with my PT-425. Its empty weight is over 2,000 lbs. Bob is right about having to watch the trailer closely, but the longer the distance from the ball to wheels, the easier it is. You can also pull the trailer backwards, which is pretty simple, but it gets you a stiff neck if you do it long enough.

 

[ponytug]

Hey, I'm a big fan of the PTs, but I am not sure this is an optimal use.

With that opinion out of the way, since the planned use is hauling gravel/sand, you should be aware of how easily pulling a heavy trailer will pull an articulated vehicle off center and over. Make sure that the pull point is low, i.e. below the tractor's center of gravity.

Not that pushing a trailer is that great either. Pushing a trailer is inherently an unstable equilibrium; slight changes in drag (think soft spots in the road) cause jacknifing in an instant. I used to have to park a horse trailer (wth a pickup) in a rather boggy area. Despite going slowly, there were more than a few times that things spiraled out of control in seconds, when one of the trailer wheels bogged down in an unseen soft spot. Pushing 1600lbs of sand or gravel up a half a mile sounds... challenging and out of my league. (But there are lots of better equipment operators out there than me!)

Parking trailers with the hitch plate is pretty easy (you just can't see around horse trailers).

Can you use your PT to get the sand and gravel out of the stream and then dump it into a pickup or fixed frame vehicle? It would probably be safer and it might even be faster. e.g. A Kawasaki mule? A trailer hauled by a regular tractor?

Wasn't someone going to make a powered cart with matching wheel motors and wheels for a 6x6 configuration?

All the best,

Peter

 

[BobRip]

Bob, I think your 14 footer tracks a lot straighter than PT's short power dumper. Short trailers will jack knife very quickly. I was a little surprised the power was just a ball hitch. Seems, for a lot less money, you could find a trailer somewhere and move the axle to the rear and it would dump just as well.

Reg, in 4 hours of use (and I was dead tired near the end with about 25 trips) I did jackknife the small trailer (3 X 6 feet)once. No harm was done and it was a very busy parking lot with a lot of distractions.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/45751-works-parade-too.html?highlight=works+parade

 

[ldabe]

I have a 4X8 and a 5X10 trailers.

It is a piece of cake to push and place them exactly where I want them with the PT (422).

 

[Rip]

Pushing a trailer around a yard to move or park it in a tight spot is great with a PT. To move one a distance is a real pain as others have point out.

How about a wagon-type or tandem axle trailer that you could unhook to load and easily hitch to the rear of the PT to tow. Check out the steel tandem axle dump by KingKutter.....looks like a real nice unit.

 

[MossRoad]

This is one area where armrests are the best thing since sliced bread... you just lean on your right forearm, steer with your left hand, look back over your right shoulder like a train engineer and floor that left pedal!

I'm pretty proficiant at going full speed forward or reverse.

 

[baanista]

Thanks for all the replies!

Ponytug suggested that maybe I could load something else with the PT. Unfortunately, all of the something elses in the pasture have rusted in place. My father-in-law only acquired equipment when it was cheap and most of it died before he did. I don't have the skill or inclination to restore old farm equipment. So I will be starting over from scratch.

Also a thank you to Ponytug for the reminder that a heavily loaded trailer could give a light weight 425 problems, especially when going over varied terrain.

I am getting the impression that pushing works well for moving around in tight quarters but that you need to stay alert.

Bob Rip's King Kutter dump trailer looks like it would be a good alternative. It comes with both a ball and a pin hitch. Plus the shape would be better for general junk hauling. The PT power dumper seemed to be more bulk material oriented. I guess I will have to mosey over to Tractor Supply and see how much they cost.