Need to tow a CAT D3 dozer with my non-dually F350

[ncoracing]

So I started a business promoting motocross races and am currently still renting tractors but am hoping to buy a dozer and skip loader very soon. I have a 08' F350 diesel, crew cab, single rear wheels. Towing the skip loader is no problem but the dozer is about 18,000lb. I dont need to transport this thing often.. I host events about every other weekend. Most of the time they are 10 miles from my home... longest trip I will take is 60 miles or so. I know my truck as it sits has no business towing a gooseneck with a 18,000lb dozer. I should have got an F450 but I didn't so now what do I do? I know the F450 has a 24,500lb 5th wheel rating.. Is it possible to tow this setup with my truck..? I have 3.73 gears and I am planning on changing to 4.3 or slightly lower.. I have looked into dual rear wheel conversions.. Do I need a heavier leaf pack or can I add helper springs or airbags..? Any suggestions or help would be awsome. And no, I'm not buying another truck. This thing is gonna tow my 23,000lb tractor & trailer somehow...

Thanks for the help,
Shawn
Home Page

 

[RickB]

This thing is gonna tow my 23,000lb tractor & trailer somehow...

Thanks for the help,
Shawn
Home Page

Hire the dozer moved by someone with the equipment to do it safely. Or buy the proper equipment to do it yourself. Towing that dozer with a SRW F350 makes you a hazard to everyone else on the road.

 

[Ken45101]

Hire the dozer moved by someone with the equipment to do it safely. Or buy the proper equipment to do it yourself. Towing that dozer with a SRW F350 makes you a hazard to everyone else on the road.

Agreed. It's not a question of beefing up the springs, etc. Your rear tires won't support the weight. Your axles won't support the weight. You don't want a tire blowout or a broken axle driving down the road with that weight behind you.

We had a nice F250 diesel. We bought a new horse trailer/camper. It pulled it fine, but was 300# overweight on the rear truck axle (without water or horses). I could feel the truck sway a bit on gentle curves. We had to upgrade to a C3500, the proper vehicle for the load. It's 100% solid.

 

[Ken45101]

Another thing to consider is that if DOT ever stops you, #1) they will not allow you to continue, you'll have to get a commercial hauler to remove your equipment 2) there will be big fines 3) the weight you are talking probably requires a commercial license in most states (26,000# total, truck, trailer, dozer). More fines. You are probably going to need a 26,000# GVW trailer to haul that dozer.

 

[MarkV]

Shawn, welcome to the forum. I know you are not getting the answers you wanted but the guys are right. Another thing is if you get stopped with that load the DOT fines are real hefty. You will be using it for a business, which makes you commercial, and opens you to all kinds of liability.

MarkV

 

[ultrarunner]

I've got the same problem just up the road from you...

The only way I can move my D3 is to hire it out... Looked into getting the proper equipment and just couldn't justify the expense and added Vehicle License Fees...

I've seen them towed with older F600 Dump Trucks and a tag trailer and have a farmer friend that moves his less than 2 miles between his fields up in Chico with a F350 dually and goose-neck... he's never on the highway and has a slow moving equipment sign...

 

[ncoracing]

I'm not 100% sold on the dozer I am purchasing yet. I have a few more demos to check out from a couple dealers in the next few weeks. The Case 550 is also a consideration and is smaller @ 14,300lbs. If I converted to dual rear wheels is this possible.. I'll buy an F450 axel as well if I have to but I'd rather not. I would have to imagine I could tow this one if I had a dually. I've seen some 2 axel, dually trailers and some 3 axel trailers. Which one would have a lighter tounge wieght? I also dont mind paying more reg fees or getting a class A or B license... Just need to figure out how to make this work.

Thanks for being honest with me about the D3,
Shawn

 

[nmu98]

IMHO, you will spend more trying to make you truck capabble of hauling the load than it would cost to trade it in and buy the correct vehicle. Also, no matter what you do, your truck will always have the factory ratings. Even with your upgrades, all the DOT would care about is the factory tratings of the truck and the fact that you are way over. Even with the smaller dozer you would be way over....

 

[Renze]

How far do you have to go with it ?

In Holland, a lot of contractors move dirt, and their equipment with farm tractors. No tag, no license, no weight limit, cheap agricultural dyed diesel, no annual safety inspection. Just get an old tandem truck, remove the cab, bend the chassis beams into a V shape and add a tow eye. Then remove the air cylinders and put hydraulic cylinders on it: When you operate the brakes with the manual external spool valve, you dont even need to use the tractor brakes. When operating both, you'll get a closer view of the windshield

If you need to move that dozer for longer distances, and for your business, i wouldnt try a souped up pickup truck but buy a real truck, and leave a professional impression on your customers.

 

[ultrarunner]

I originally was looking to buy a John Deere 350c dozer because it was within the transport capabilities for my equipment.

I found a very good deal on the CAT D3 and it is much more capable than the 350c...

My blessing and curse is that I have to pay someone to move it for me... this also prevents numerous requests to "Borrow" my Dozer once they find out they have to pay round-trip transport...

 

[Ken45101]

There are some lighter weight dozers (Komatsu D21, D22) that would be towable by a pickup. From what I read, they are decent pieces of machinery.

 

[powerstroke444e]

#1 issue is you live in CA
It would be safer and cheaper to buy an old tandem and a tag trailer than set your truck up. Your truck if you tried to handle this would burn up the axle bearings and put every other part on the truck @ risk of failure.
We have a trencher that wieghts about the same & we put it on a gooseneck on a truck with dual rear wheels and it is all the truck needs on it. I have scaled the truck and trailer and I am able to keep it legal, but I do have to have a CDL and I would never want to take it 60miles from home, as most of the time it is within 15 miles or less under a couple it just get drove. I prefer to put this load on the dump truck with the tag trailer and no load in the bed of the dump. This is also the reason I am looking for a bigger pickup?or medium duty. The more I learn and the older I get the less chances I am willing to take.
Most of the local tracks around here have tracked bobcats and excavator's

 

[Skyco]

Also, no matter what you do, your truck will always have the factory ratings. Even with your upgrades, all the DOT would care about is the factory tratings of the truck and the fact that you are way over.

Exactly! You could spend $500,000 and mod it to haul 50,000 lbs and they still go by whats in the door jamb.....

 

[dodge man]

I work with someone that bought a used D3 wide track, and they use a grain truck and a trailer designed for something that heavy. Looking at just the trailer alone, that would be a load for your pickup to tow, let alone with a dozer on the back. I think you can get buy towing a little bit over you weight limit and still be safe, but my guess is you are exceeding your limit by several thousand pounds. It looks like you vehicle would be rated to tow between 10,000 and 13,000 pounds, with a trailer, you would be exceeding that by at least 9000 pounds, maybe more. In other words, very unsafe, not even close to being safe.

 

[ultrarunner]

I see D3's on 20,000 lbs trailers here... My D3 is a little over 15,000 lbs... so that leaves 4,000 lbs for the trailer.

When I needed to use at my neighbors I drove it the 1/3 mile instead of going to the trouble of transporting it...

Any of the rigs set up to transport full size backhoes should do the job...

 

[some zilch]

a d3 should be fairly easily transported behind any "larger" truck, a full size single axle dump truck, flatbed, etc. i'm talking mack, peterbilt, freightliner; not ford f250/350/450, chevy anything, or dodge anything. i can carry d3, d4, d5 dozers on our single axle peterbilt or sterling rollback trucks. a buddy of mine bought a used kodiak rollback truck with air brakes, and is legally able to carry d3 sized dozers for $4000.

 

[DIRTROAD]

You might get by pulling it with a pickup.......................

.....................until that elderly lady pulls out in front of you..............


can you say vehicular manslaughter!!!!

 

[Ken45101]

I see D3's on 20,000 lbs trailers here... My D3 is a little over 15,000 lbs... so that leaves 4,000 lbs for the trailer.

I have a 14,000 GVW gooseneck. It weighs about 4500#.

 

[Duffster]

a d3 should be fairly easily transported behind any "larger" truck, a full size single axle dump truck, flatbed, etc. i'm talking mack, peterbilt, freightliner; not ford f250/350/450, chevy anything, or dodge anything. i can carry d3, d4, d5 dozers on our single axle peterbilt or sterling rollback trucks. a buddy of mine bought a used kodiak rollback truck with air brakes, and is legally able to carry d3 sized dozers for $4000.

So you don't think it a good idea to tow a D3 with F450 but would load a D5 on a single axle Sterling?

Towing 18k on a 6k trailer is within spec for a F450. I am a Ford fan but am sure that a Chevy 4500/5500 or a Dodge 4500/5500 would be just as capable.

FWIW There are several guys around here that haul 16k on a 20k trailer towing with SRW Dodges and Fords. They go about 50-60 miles to the auction this way.

 

[Willl]

Hire the dozer moved by someone with the equipment to do it safely. Or buy the proper equipment to do it yourself. Towing that dozer with a SRW F350 makes you a hazard to everyone else on the road.

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