trucking a tractor / what are the issues?

[Anonymous Poster]

One issue with one way rentals.

A lot of times there's a HUGE drop off charge to go one way. But it depends on where you are wanting to
drop it. They can tell you that up front.

I've always towed empty as the price to pull it both ways has always been cheaper than for me to drop it.

An empty trailer doesn't consume much gas on the outbound trip.

Enjoy!
Ron

 

[WVBill]

Re: One approach.......

A couple of years ago my Father-in-law gave me his Kubota B6100. Only catch was I had to go pick it up from his house in Thousand Oaks and bring it back here to West Virginia.

I drove my RAM 1500 from WV to CA. I bought a 16 foot 7K GVW trailer from Carson Trailer (picked it up at the factory in Carson, but they have a dealer in Lancaster), loaded up the trailer and headed back. From Thousand Oaks we took 14 up through Palmdale and Lancaster to Mojave and then 58 over to Barstow to pick up Interstate 40. Pretty easy drive. The RAM handled it fine - even up the hill on 40 from Barstow to Flagstaff.

I made it all the way across the country with no tags on the trailer. I couldn't register it or get temp tags in CA 'cause I'm not a CA resident so I just kept the bill-of-sale handy.

The trailering was no problem but I don't think I want to do a 3-day coast-to-coast "Cannonball Run" again. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Bottom line, is that picking it up yourself is do-able.

 

[SageBrush]

Re: One approach.......

The dealer you buy from should have a "Hot Shot" service to refer you to...

If it was me and I only had a Ranger, I would visit my local Hertz, Budget or Penske commercial equipment rental store. Out here Hertz will rent trucks from a one ton dump to a tractor trailer rig... I rent trucks from a heavy equipment store, they usually have the F-650 trucks with 16' flat bed dumps which hauls a bare CUT just fine. Make sure you can get it one way.. Thats what I have done when I needed to haul something to big for my half ton.

But keep in mind the total cost, if the price is close, let some one else do all the work /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It all depends how much time you have and what its worth, I ended paying a little more for my latest tractor, because the hauling part would have cost me more. Not to mention the trouble of putting it on a trailer and hauling it...for me about 140 miles. I did buy out of state /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I needed it for a job in Alabama, so it worked out rather well.

Light trucks in general:
Right now my personal truck is a Ram 1500 (sold the F-650), I would think twice before trying to haul my L4330/loader and the cutter very far. Any thing over 6k really makes my truck struggle. Remember you'll need a weight distribution set up on a half ton or smaller if you don't want to overload your rear axel to the point of breaking. All my truck will handle on the tonge is about 600 pounds and then its nose high. I can do 5K or so with out the spring bars according to my towing manual, same with my Dad's F-150. Some will say they haul 8K with their F-150 with nothing more than the ball hitch... not safe. Not worth the risk to me and not legal. My little 1500 4X4 is rated for 7400 lbs I think.....when properly equipped. That does not include any thing in the cab like power windows etc... just a stripped truck with a 175 pound driver. Probably dosen't even include a full tank of gas /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif With my truck, anything over 6K and I'm over loaded.... And if I wreck while overloaded because of some dummy in front of me, guess who's at fault?

One correction, my Dad's F-150 (03 model) can tow up to 3K without the weight distribution device. According to his manual.

 

[WVBill]

Re: One approach.......

Absolutely agree.

My little B6100 weighs in at somewhere around 1500 lbs. Add another 1000 for the trailer and 500 for the tiller & box blade and I was probably right around 3,000 lbs - less than half the max rating for my RAM 1500.

 

[SageBrush]

Re: One approach.......

Thats about what my haulmark trailer weighs with an ATV and a dirt bike. Its a good load on my 1500 when I run up to the riding area in WV. Those mountains make me want the cummins 2500 version.

 

[jimg]

I looked into buying out of state and the dealer (Corriher) I was considering had interstate shipping experience. His prices were very reasonable I thought - from NC to NH was about $700 for a tractor w/ loader, snow blower, tiller, box scraper and finish mower. I believe he would locate truckers w/o a load headed in the necessary direction and contract a price. On the other end it was your responsibility to unload. Some trucks had ramps and others didnt. However, I was told that the trucker would 'work w/ you' to get it unloaded. In my case there were a couple businesses very close w/ loading docks and they were willing (for a small fee) to let me use them. jimg

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Here in Colorado, I was in a similar situation to yours. Local dealers not competitive and limited availability of suitable used tractors/too expen$ive. I ended up buying a used JD790 (2000 model w/250 hrs) w/FEL & brush hog in Texas via ebay. Had it checked out by a local JD dealer ($80) before completing the deal. Picked it up with my Chevy Silverado and a 14' tandem trailer (put the brush hog in the pickup truck bed using the FEL). About 1060 miles each way. Total cost for fuel/hotel about $350 + food and alot of driving. I'm very pleased with the tractor and saved significant $ to buy additional attachments. Agree w/RonR good truck-trailer (appropriate to the total tractor/attachment weight)/tires/brakes/chains are essential.

 

[higgy]

Why not rent a u-haul car transport trailer one way. Cheap don't need to own and can get insurance from them. They have trailers in several load capacities, you can even rent the truck from them. Fly in drive out. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[WVBill]

When I made my cross-country run for my tractor I checked into U-haul. Three problems: 1) they only had car hauler trailers with the two "rails" on either side - not a full deck - and my tractor's wheelbase isn't wide enough. 2) U-haul required that I show them the car I was going to haul on their trailer before they would rent it to me. 3) the one-way rental came within a hundred dollars of what it cost me to buy a new trailer in California.

 

[higgy]

Wow, things have changed, or we are more relaxed in Idaho. I have never been asked to show the car that I was hauling.

The last hauler that I did rent from u-haul was a flat bead type. They may have changed to stop this type of stuff.... who knows. As liability laws change, so do our choices and ability todo things. Good idea to give major $$ for spilling coffee on yourself.