Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing.

   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #1  

ultrarunner

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Cat D3, Deere 110 TLB, Kubota BX23 and L3800 and RTV900 with restored 1948 Deere M, 1949 Farmall Cub, 1953 Ford Jubliee and 1957 Ford 740 Row Crop, Craftsman Mower, Deere 350C Dozer 50 assorted vehicles from 1905 to 2006
I've rented on and off for 30 years... originally towed with a full size station wagon and a 455 olds motor.

Later, I bought a high output 5.7 Silverado Pickup 1500 with trailer brakes, equalizing 10,000 pound hitch and it does a great job towing my 7000 lb enclosed 20' trailer.

Today, I called to reserve ditch witch walk behind trencher and was told new policy is 3/4 ton of better.... called two more yards and they have the same policy.

Ironically, I have 3/4 ton Chevrolet Van with a 12,000 pound hitch and a 305 V-8 that is low gear coming home not towing anything.

Just wondering if 3/4 ton minimum is nationwide?
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #2  
not sure, I know places like u-haul will look up your vehicles tow rating and ask what you are towing before renting you a car trailer. I needed make and model of my truck and make/model of what I was putting on the trailer before they would rent it to me.

About 7 years ago a buddly of mine once asked me to tow a blazer for him (s-10). He called and asked, and said to rent the trailer and he would pay me back. I went to the rental place (rental max) to rent a car trailer. The guy asked what I was towing with- a '96 ram 2500- and he advised that he didn't think it was enough truck. He stated that he wouldn't tow any car with anything less than a one-ton. He agreed to let me rent it, but was a little leary. :rolleyes: Funny thing was just as he was doing the paper work, the guy called me and cancelled for whatever reason. If he had been 3 minutes later or the guy had been 3 minutes faster, 80 bucks would have been wasted.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #3  
When I was younger, I worked at a rental yard and we had no policy saying what the minimum truck size was. Took about 20 minutes to dissuade a guy with a Dakota who wanted to rent an mini excavator that weighed 8,000 pounds not including the trailer.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #4  
They required that more than 25 years ago around here.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #5  
That's ridiculous, my local Taylor Rental will caution you if they feel you don't have enough truck but you sign a rental agreement that clearly states your liable for confirming you meet all requirements for towing that trailer, mini-ex, etc...
The mini-ex I used to rent is a 7,200lb Yanmar Vio27 on an 1,800 lb dual axle 16ft trailer with surge brakes. With my 03 RAM 1500 I was actually about 500lbs over the tow limit.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #6  
It's just like everything else in this country. REGULATIONS!!!!! BECAUSE - There are too many dumb azzes that dont have a ounce of common sense that go out and hurt or kill some innocent people by grossly exceeding gvw and or gvcw and think nothing of it until their load just demolished a family in a minivan.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #7  
This is only required for skid steers and mini excavators at the rental I go to. Anything else is fair game. Understandably so, even though I run a dodge diesel, it's still a decent load and would be stretching a light duty truck
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #8  
That's ridiculous, my local Taylor Rental will caution you if they feel you don't have enough truck but you sign a rental agreement that clearly states your liable for confirming you meet all requirements for towing that trailer, mini-ex, etc...
The mini-ex I used to rent is a 7,200lb Yanmar Vio27 on an 1,800 lb dual axle 16ft trailer with surge brakes. With my 03 RAM 1500 I was actually about 500lbs over the tow limit.
I would think if you show up to rent a piece of equipment on a trailer that is over rated for your truck, you should be turned away, if not the rental company should be partially liable should an accident happen. On the other hand if you rent just a flat bed, that's up to you to stay within the limitation of your truck, if you exceed them, around here anyway, you can be personally held accountable should an accident occur because on being over loaded.
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #9  
I've noticed this too. They used to just look up the tow rating or at the rating on the hitch and be fine. I went to rent a heavy chipper and they refused to rent unless I had a pickup truck regardless that the rating on my SUV was more than what I wanted to tow. I found that independent rental places actually use their heads and have no problem renting as long as its within the specs of the tow vehicle. I'd say increased liability is why they are now checking tow ratings and they didn't in the past.... I don't get where the big chains come up with the idea that only a pickup can tow something though...
 
   / Rental Yards here now require 3/4 ton truck or better when towing. #10  
I have run into this policy several years ago, regarding ride on type equipment (skid-loaders, excavators, tractors, etc.) but not with smaller stuff such as a walk behind trencher. A lot of them now are starting to require using their trailer too unless you are a "known" contractor with proper equipment. I can understand the policy because even signing a waiver can still lead to litigation if accident happens, and not only the exposure to law suit but rental income lost while getting repaired if their equipment is damaged.
 
 
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