eblanks
Member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- Clayton, NC
- Tractor
- 1967 Ford 3000, Bolens 1050 (year unknown)
Last winter I finally found the perfect tractor. Well perfect for me anyways, it's a 67 Ford 3000. Despite it's appearance it runs great and I love it. I borrowed a two axle trailer from a buddy of mine and in my rush of excitement never even considered the need to operate the trailer brakes. My 02 Tundra has the towing package but no brake controller. I loaded the tractor and headed off down the road. I had never pulled anything heavier than a pop-up camper. With a trailer weight of over 1000 lbs and tractor weight at 3700 lbs this was a lot more than I was used to. The truck brakes would stop me, but were very sluggish. I took my time, kept my speed low and following distance high and made it to the farm with no problems.
Recently, I decided I needed to bring the tractor back to my house for yearly maintenance and my bush hog needed a weld job. So with the hog attached to the tractor I loaded it up and headed home. Oh boy, I did not count on how much extra weight the bush hog would add. I had a terrible time getting the truck stopped. I made it home safely but decided I needed a brake controller badly. I purchased the highly recommended Tekonsha Prodigy and a wiring harness that was said to fit the 02 - current year Tundras. I literally pulled the entire dash apart trying to find the plug that every piece of literature said would be right there near the emergency brake. It did not exist. Finally I found a Tundra web forum where I was alerted to the fact that the 02 Tundra's do not have this plug, it wasn't until 03 that they started and Tekonsha's web site is wrong. So I spent the next day in near 100 degree heat out in the driveway wiring up the generic harness Tekonsha provides. With all the wires connected and the brake controller showing signs of life, I plugged in the trailer plug and ... you guessed it, nothing. No connection. For the next three days I would get out of work as soon as I could and rush home to troubleshoot the problem. Finally on day 3 I was prepared to rip apart and trace every wire that had anything to do with the brakes on the trailer and found out that the ground wires coming out of the trailer brakes had corroded from their connections and come loose. After getting permission from the trailer owner, I added new wire connectors, completed the ground to the trailer and success.
The maintenance is finished on the tractor and she fires right up, in the heat of the North Carolina summer I don't even have to use the choke and she fires right up. Just waiting on getting the bush hog welded and all should be right with the world. I just wonder what will go wrong next ???
Recently, I decided I needed to bring the tractor back to my house for yearly maintenance and my bush hog needed a weld job. So with the hog attached to the tractor I loaded it up and headed home. Oh boy, I did not count on how much extra weight the bush hog would add. I had a terrible time getting the truck stopped. I made it home safely but decided I needed a brake controller badly. I purchased the highly recommended Tekonsha Prodigy and a wiring harness that was said to fit the 02 - current year Tundras. I literally pulled the entire dash apart trying to find the plug that every piece of literature said would be right there near the emergency brake. It did not exist. Finally I found a Tundra web forum where I was alerted to the fact that the 02 Tundra's do not have this plug, it wasn't until 03 that they started and Tekonsha's web site is wrong. So I spent the next day in near 100 degree heat out in the driveway wiring up the generic harness Tekonsha provides. With all the wires connected and the brake controller showing signs of life, I plugged in the trailer plug and ... you guessed it, nothing. No connection. For the next three days I would get out of work as soon as I could and rush home to troubleshoot the problem. Finally on day 3 I was prepared to rip apart and trace every wire that had anything to do with the brakes on the trailer and found out that the ground wires coming out of the trailer brakes had corroded from their connections and come loose. After getting permission from the trailer owner, I added new wire connectors, completed the ground to the trailer and success.
The maintenance is finished on the tractor and she fires right up, in the heat of the North Carolina summer I don't even have to use the choke and she fires right up. Just waiting on getting the bush hog welded and all should be right with the world. I just wonder what will go wrong next ???
