Water Wagon Tow Capacity

[kf4uda]

Looking at the specs of your BX25, it weighs 1542lbs. The Kiser 200 gal trailer full of water weighs 2389lbs. On level ground I am sure it would work ok. On hills and slopes I think you could get into trouble very quickly.

Kiser specs shows the empty weight of the 200 gal trailer to be 690lbs. Using that number and adding 100 gal of water puts you at 1524lbs. Which matches the weight of your tractor fairly close. So my vote would be a max of 100 gallon or so tank on a trailer similar to the Kiser.

 

[wrooster]

You can tow 6000 pounds with a BX... in high range. I read it right here on TBN:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/217396-towing-bx24-25-a.html

Wrooster

 

[amaxwell]

You can tow 6000 pounds with a BX... in high range. I read it right here on TBN:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/217396-towing-bx24-25-a.html

Wrooster

Towing is easy! STOPPING on a hill is a diffrent animal !!!!!!!

 

[Kevinc2004]

Sloshing water will move much more than its own weight. On a hill it COULD turn you over! A farm sprayer made a BELIEVER out of me on a much larger tractor!

 

[wrooster]

Towing is easy! STOPPING on a hill is a diffrent animal !!!!!!!

I attempted to get your point across in that thread, to no avail.

Wrooster

 

[LD1]

You have a little tractor and I think 300 gal would be overkill on hills. I agree with others that it is not good practice to tow more than the weight of the machine on hills. Even though it CAN be done, the risk goes up exponentially with increased weight.

Simple physics if what you are pulling weighs more than you it will push you down a hill.

That makes no sense to me:confused2:

Too many variables. If the hill is steep enough, a 2lb trailer will push you down the hill. Heck, the tractor may push its own self down the hill with the tires locked up if the hill is steep enough.

And if the hill is only like a 1% grade, double the weight might not even push you down the hill.

There are just too many variables for a blanket statement like that to be valid.

But like I said though, I wouldnt tow more than the tractor weighs on any kind of hill at all.

And actually, your BX manual should list a MAX trailer weight. And that (as others have mentioned) is based on braking ability, NOT pulling ability. You tractor can pull WAY more than it can safely stop.

 

[Singlemalt]

Check your owners manual/tractor specs.

My L 3710 (37 horsepower) was only rated for a 5000 pound trailer load.

 

[Verticaltrx]

If the owners manual says it can safely handle an 1800lb trailer, or whatever the number was, then that's what I'd shoot for. The implement limitations in the Kubota manual are pretty conservative, so I'd feel safe with what they recommend. My gut feeling is that a 100-150gal water tank would be plenty, but depending on the trailer you might get away with 200gal. One other thing is that you want a standard trailer type rig that will give some tongue weight. With a 4 wheeled wagon setup there is no tongue weight and it won't give any increased traction on hills.

Oh, and as to the poster who said it isn't safe to pull anything heavier than the tractor, that just isn't true. My B3200 is rated to pull 3300lbs (per Kubota) and it only weighs 1800lbs. It handles that much weight well, even on moderate slopes. The key is to have plenty of tongue weight to maintain traction.

 

[mdelmarcelle]

Do you have access to any trailer that you can load up with some sort of weight and experiment with? Might give you a sense for what you can comfortably handle on your property.

And I concur with the folks that disagreed with the claim you are not able to pull anything heavier than your tractor. Think of semi's on the road. Their trailers typically weigh much more than the tractor. While the weight of the trailer is typically partially transfered to the rear axles of the truck, there are those trailer setups with several axles with only a relatively small portion of the weight on the rear axle of the truck. An even better example would be a train. Trains pull several times their weight. The cars the train pulls have their own brakes, but the train must have substaintial traction to even get the train moving.

 

[Smallplot]

You have a little tractor and I think 300 gal would be overkill on hills. I agree with others that it is not good practice to tow more than the weight of the machine on hills. Even though it CAN be done, the risk goes up exponentially with increased weight.



That makes no sense to me:confused2:

Sorry about that I have grown up around tractors and farm equipment and don't explain myself well at times. Guess I should have said it differently, my bad!. Considering his property is terraced am guessing there is a pretty good slope or else there would have been no need for the terraces. When going down hill, he will not be pulling the load but holding it back. Of the 1542 pounds listed as the weight of the BX25 only a portion of this weight is located at the rear tires. Too much trailer weight can push the rear of the tractor sideways even while traveling in a straight line and only makes it worse with water sloshing around in a tank. The heavier the tractor the less chance of this happening.
Might also add that a tractor is designed to perform at certain levels which have maximum limits. But why work your tractor at the maximum limit, it will only cause increased wear and tear on the machine leading to shorter equipment life and larger repair bills.
Many people on here have purchased a tractor only to find their original purchase was not big enough to handle what they need it to do. NevadaMoGuy may be in this category if he is wanting to pull a couple hundred gallons of water across his property. This all depends on his property, condition of the land, and how often he will have to do this.