Ball hitch

[ahlkey]

I recently purchased a triaxle trailer with brakes that was originally a mobile home frame that was modified. Attached are a few pictures. It has a ball hitch with a weight distribution hitch rated at 15,000 lbs. The tires are 14.5 LT with load capacity or 3100 lbs at 110 PSI.

I added a log loader to the trailer and my question is if I should stay with a ball hitch or convert to a pintle hitch. Do they make a larger weight districution hitch? I plan to pull the trailer with my F650 that has air suspension in the rear so not sure I need a WD hitch? I am also not sure the capacity of the axles but would like to use a much of the trailer as possible. Given the tires I figure the capacity at around 18,000 lbs. The owner I purchased the trailer from passed away so could not find out a lot about it. He did use it to carry logs to the mill though and his wife said it worked well. My F650 has a total capacity of 40,000 lbs. The Truck weighs 11,000 and the trailer and log loader runs over 5,000 so that leaves around 13,000 for the trailer and the rest on the flatbed truck. I do have a gooseneck hookup but would not want to convert this trailer and I would also like to use the flatbed to carry logs or equipment.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[schmism]

either its the angle of the pic or those axles sit really far forward.

seems like it would be hard to get 1800lbs of tongue weight with that setup if the logs were full lenght.

id haul a few loads and see what your avg weight is and make the call then.

 

[two_bit_score]

Ahlkey, I like that alum bed on the truck. I do think that the axels are more in the middle of the frame than they need to be for it to be used 'best' as a trailer. That seems to be common on mobile homes but I don't really know how many serious problems it actually causes.

Maybe some of the more experienced trailer guys will chime in. I'd like to hear some opinions and observations as I have an old mobile home frame I have been thinking about making into a trailer.

 

[ahlkey]

The log loader in the center sits about three feet back on the front. Overall the trailer is 24ft long and the first axle is at 10ft with the third set at almost 16th feet. So in reality the three axles are approximately 2ft more to the back then the front but it appears in the picture more to the center because of the loader.

With the log loader being heavy I though the WD unit might be useful if they make larger ones but the real question is if the ball hitch on this trailer is ok for 18,000 lbs. Do other out there use a ball hitch on larger trailers up to 20K?

It does seem to me that with my air suspension on the flatbed truck that the heavier tongue weight (loader up front) would be handled ok but then the sway bars might add value as well. So in the end it comes down to buying a larger WD unit but if it doesn't really add value just getting a drop down bar shank rated at 20K. This assumes that the ball hitch is fine. Thoughts?

 

[George2615]

I think your trailer would be good for 18K. The mobile homes that used to be hauled on those axles weigh at least that much. I've built 3 over the years and the MH axles I've used were rated for 6K each. I don't see a need for changing to a pintle hitch and think that would be up to you if you did.

In my state there are a lot of trailers built from mobile home axles. The only problem here is when we take them to the DMV for initial inspection after building one they won't pass the tires which say on the sidewall they are for mobile home transport use only and they have to be replaced with actual trailer tires.

I'm sure some people have gotten away with MH tires but I haven't been one of them. I had to buy tires to put them on before they would issue a registration and title as a homemade trailer. They also inspect them annually here and most inspection places are pretty tough. They want to be sure the trailers are safe, roadworthy, and have brakes that work. (They also don't want to risk losing their inspection license for passing a faulty or poorly constructed trailer). I don't know how your state is in this respect.

 

[Diamondpilot]

That trailer should hold 18,000# no problem. Most MH axles are rated at 6,000#.

The big issue I see is not overloading your trailer or truck....Logs are a lot heavier than you think. Every time I haul wood and have weighed my truck and trailer I am always way over weight by accident.

Chris

 

[Highbeam]

Very cool trailer, well the log loading ability of it at least. I could really make use of that log loader. DO you plan to simply bind the logs with chains?

I like and use WD hitch systems on all my trailers but that is a big trailer. I wouldn't expect to see a WDH on it. It would be like a dump truck towing a trailer with WDH, it just doesn't happen. If the trailer is easily converted I would go to a pintle and be sure that your truck's hitch can take the non-WDH weight. You will benefit from the increased articulation of a pintle, the higher strength, and the easier hookup.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Very cool trailer, well the log loading ability of it at least. I could really make use of that log loader. DO you plan to simply bind the logs with chains?

I like and use WD hitch systems on all my trailers but that is a big trailer. I wouldn't expect to see a WDH on it. It would be like a dump truck towing a trailer with WDH, it just doesn't happen. If the trailer is easily converted I would go to a pintle and be sure that your truck's hitch can take the non-WDH weight. You will benefit from the increased articulation of a pintle, the higher strength, and the easier hookup.

I agree. Pintle is the way to go with that type of operation.

Chris

 

[ahlkey]

Thanks for the responses which have been very helpful.

It seems it may be difficult to easily convert to a pintle hitch given the ball mount is just an extension of the 12" frame beam. If you look at the picture the current ball mount is not conventional but probably the best way to do heavy duty mobile home frame ball mounts. I am sure it would still be possible to convert but would require a significant conversion effort. Likewise, the fact I am limited by 18,000 lbs I was hoping to stay with the ball mount that ithe trailer was originally designed to carry. The trailer was rated on the title for 20,000 but I doubt the axles are more than 6,000 lbs each but the reinforcement underneath seems different. I believe the tire limit of 3100 lbs is the best reflection of the overall capacity but I could be wroing. It is probably that 18,000 falls between the registration levels and if you want to load it to 18,000 the only option is to register it at 20K, which is what I did as well.

I did find forged ball mounts rated at 20,000 GTW with 2,000 lbs tongue weight so that seems good. My Ford F650 2" hitch mount is welded completed into the back plate plus the truck has air suspension in the rear. The truck was used to haul over 7 tons of brick pavers on the flat bed alone and has a combined towing capacity of 40,000 lbs. That air suspension really keeps everything aligned well. I talked to a few trailer places today and the maximum WD shank appears to be 15,000 GTW but the bars are at only 14,000 lbs GTW. So if I want to get more capacity I need to move away from the WD hitch. At this point I am leaning toward going with the 20,000 forged ball mount and if that is an issue in anyway to convert to the pintle hitch. I will be using log bunks on the trailer and will chain everything down as well. I plan to use the trailer primarily for sawlogs but do some pulpwood deliveries to the mill. With pulp loading I will place two rows of 100 inch logs vertically which will place them over the aligned axles. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[ahlkey]

Another thing about this trailer is that those axles do have a large 18" sleeve in the middle of each axle. The wife mentioned she thought it was done to add more support but wasn't sure? Everything underneath was reinforced with additional steel. The trailer is 98 inches wide and stake pockets were welded around the entire trailer so it runs exactly 102 inches wide (legal width). The person who owned it had his own machine shop business but did some logging as well. It does have the legal breakaway brake kit and he did get state registration on the conversion. Does the sleeve in the middle add strength or was the axle cut to increase width? The tires all have few miles on it and the axles do not seem very old either. I am of course concerned that the leaf spring type axles or tire rims may not hold up for many years but the primary use is to transport logs one-way from the forest to the sawmill less than 9 miles away on county roads. If at some point I need to replace the axles that would ok but first want to make sure the trailer and loader works out well and I am doing everything correctly as far as safety. Thoughts?