Need advice on towning my TC 40A

[Todd_C]

A friend has purchased a new cabin and he wants to cut the field and till an acre before winter. He has a 10,000lb tandem axle trailer. My problem is that I have a 2001 1500 Silverado that is rated to tow a max of 8,300lbs. The property is 22 miles away from my house off a rual two lane road. The speed limit is 45 m.p.h. My tractor is a TC 40A with filled R4 tires with a 16la FEL with a heavy duty bucket, and I would be taking a 800lb tiller. How close to the edge would I be if I did this? My truck is well maintained and it has 50K miles.

 

[prosperity]

How much does the tractor weigh?

 

[Todd_C]

Tractor is 3,000lbs +1,200lbs for filled tires, +1,000 for FEL=5,200lbs for tractor then I add 800lbs for the tiller, so I'm right at 6,000lbs plus 1,800-2,000for the trailer. My truck will be right at the max including my fat 220lb carcass.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The truck will have no problems pulling it, stopping it is the trick. The GM 1/2 ton trucks are weak on brakes so make sure the trailer has good operating brakes and a good controller in the cab. The factory hitches on the GM 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks are another weak point. Make sure you don't exceed the limit of it or the bar and ball you put in it.

Chris

 

[bx23barry]

I wouldn't worry about it. Neither the truck or trailer would be overloaded. The truck may be pulling/stopping a little more than "spec" but nothing dangerous in my mind. But, I don't have a "safety police" badge.

 

[john_bud]

I towed that much with a 2000 Z71 4x4. You will have no problems. Getting the tongue weight correct will be your issue. The rear springs on the truck are relatively weak. Too much and it will squat. Best to use WD hitch.

The brakes were NEVER an issue. Make sure the trailer brakes are set correctly is all. When operating correctly, the trailer should be stopping itself. The panic is when they don't work and the truck has to stop both. If you never towed a large load before, just plan on coasting down to all stops taking 5x the normal distance. Let drag slow you down mostly.



jb

 

[RobertN]

The truck will have no problems pulling it, stopping it is the trick. The GM 1/2 ton trucks are weak on brakes so make sure the trailer has good operating brakes and a good controller in the cab. The factory hitches on the GM 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks are another weak point. Make sure you don't exceed the limit of it or the bar and ball you put in it.

Chris

Bet you a nickel that reciever hitch is rated 5000lbs, or 8000-1000lbs with a weight distribution hitch.

Even my big bad RAM 2500 Turbo diesel factory hitch is 5000/10000lbs rated

A weight distributing hitch and a good brake controller should solve the situation.

 

[skipmarcy]

Be careful about estimating the weight of your trailer. It was a year of use before I ever scaled my trailer and I figured it was maybe 2,000 lbs. at the most. It actually weighs 3040 lbs.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Good point on the weight of the trailers and such. Manufactures like to make them light on paper but not in the real world. My boat, I know its not a tractor, was stated as weighing 12,500#. After putting my stuff in the boat and 3/4 tank of fuel, it tipped the scales at 15,600#. Big difference. My neighbor ran into this with his travel trailer. They claimed it weighed 5,500# empty but with some food, bedding and the other stuff you put in them it added up to about 8,000#. There is no way he put 2,500# of stuff in there unless he was hauling gravel in the holding tank. Long and short is the trailer manufactures state the wight as the basic trailer. Things like the spare tire, ramps, chains, binders, ect just keep adding up.

Chris