My Towing Rig

MasseyWV · Feb 1, 2012

The following are my truck and carhauler trailer. The truck is an 06 Ford F250 Superduty with a 5.4 liter v8 gas engine and the trailer is a 2010 G&G Manufacturing with dual 3500# axles and a breakaway safetysystem. The trailer has since been slightly modified with additional lights, welds, and changes which make the deck boards easily removable/replaceable, in addition to painting the under-frame which was left bare by the manufacturer. I also plan to add a winch and toolbox to the trailer in the future.

My plan is to purchase a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor which I believe my towing rig should have no problems hauling. What do you think?

gengine · Feb 1, 2012

I think that setup will be just fine for a massey 135. I use a similar setup and one of my tractors is a massey 165. One suggestion, I recommend a ballast box instead of loaded tires, just for weight, and some sort of feet for the rear of the trailer. I made some out of scrap 1"x1" square tubing. (2 of them side by side to fill the stake pocket). Then I drilled a few holes, I think every 3" so I would have a little play. The pin goes through the holes and both sides of the stake pocket and a spring clip to hold the pin while going down the highway. I bent my trailer trying to load my massey without using the feet. I would hate to see you do the same thing.

MasseyWV · Feb 1, 2012

gengine said:
I think that setup will be just fine for a massey 135. I use a similar setup and one of my tractors is a massey 165. One suggestion, I recommend a ballast box instead of loaded tires, just for weight, and some sort of feet for the rear of the trailer. I made some out of scrap 1"x1" square tubing. (2 of them side by side to fill the stake pocket). Then I drilled a few holes, I think every 3" so I would have a little play. The pin goes through the holes and both sides of the stake pocket and a spring clip to hold the pin while going down the highway. I bent my trailer trying to load my massey without using the feet. I would hate to see you do the same thing.

Thanks for the advice.

I completely agree that the trailer needs rear support for loading/unloading. For now, I've been using jackstands but eventually plan to do something similar to what you are suggesting. Originally, I thought of converting the ramps to the flip-up type and adding feet to them but I prefer to store the ramps under the trailer so I'll be working on some sort of design for adding removable/retractable support soon.

Diamondpilot · Feb 1, 2012

Very nice. It will move around a 135 with no issues. I personally would add weight to the rear wheels. Yes, a ballast box is nice but many times you need something on the 3 point and the weight. I have both loaded rears and a ballast box for my tractors.

I am fond of the Ford Superdutys. I have a 2006 F-350 4x4 Single Rear Wheel (SRW) with the Powerstroke Diesel. Its been a great truck and will tow anything I hook to it.

Chris

MasseyWV · Feb 1, 2012

Diamondpilot said:
Very nice. It will move around a 135 with no issues. I personally would add weight to the rear wheels. Yes, a ballast box is nice but many times you need something on the 3 point and the weight. I have both loaded rears and a ballast box for my tractors.

I am fond of the Ford Superdutys. I have a 2006 F-350 4x4 Single Rear Wheel (SRW) with the Powerstroke Diesel. Its been a great truck and will tow anything I hook to it.

Chris

I tend to agree about having weight on the rear wheels in addition to a ballast box (if needed) because in my case, the 3pt hitch will be heavily used, mainly for scraping and moving dirt or gravel.

When I purchased the truck, I wanted a diesel but opted for the gasser because the price was right and at least for now anyway, the price of gas is a bit cheaper. Overall, the truck doesn't get driven much, except for hauling or pulling the trailer so it really wouldn't have been a problem either way. The little green S10 is my daily driver/beater which gets the majority of the miles, what few of them there are.

gengine · Feb 1, 2012

I love my '00 f-350 srw with the power stroke. I think a ford made some pulling machines. I was suggesting the ballast box because I was thinking the tractor weighed close to 5000 pounds. With water in the tires, you would be pushing the limit on your trailer. I was off on my estimate. Tractordata.com says it's between 3500 and 3800. So, in other words, add all the water to your tires you want, you'll be fine. That's what I get for opening my mouth without knowing what I was talking about. Anyway, nice setup and welcome to TBN!

MasseyWV · Feb 1, 2012

gengine said:
I love my '00 f-350 srw with the power stroke. I think a ford made some pulling machines. I was suggesting the ballast box because I was thinking the tractor weighed close to 5000 pounds. With water in the tires, you would be pushing the limit on your trailer. I was off on my estimate. Tractordata.com says it's between 3500 and 3800. So, in other words, add all the water to your tires you want, you'll be fine. That's what I get for opening my mouth without knowing what I was talking about. Anyway, nice setup and welcome to TBN!

No problem and don't feel bad. I was only going on estimates myself.

I would have to check the label/stats of the trailer to be certain but believe I can safely haul around 5000# and had found information from various sources that led me to believe a Massey 135 (unloaded) would weigh around #4000 max, with some room for error thrown in for good measure. All in all, I thought I'd be ok but will verify everything beforehand to be absolutely certain.

The types of implements I will be using/hauling aren't extremely heavy so I didn't believe they would cause any problems either.

Since I am new here, I just mainly wanted to show everyone what I have, since I don't yet have a tractor. When I do eventually buy a tractor, I will be sure to take lots of pictures, especially when it comes time to restore it as I am very much looking foreward to that part, especially the outcome.

Diamondpilot · Feb 1, 2012

Curious of what tranny and gears do you have behind that 5.4? Is it a manual or the 5 speed Torque Shift Auto?

Chris

MasseyWV · Feb 1, 2012

Diamondpilot said:
Curious of what tranny and gears do you have behind that 5.4? Is it a manual or the 5 speed Torque Shift Auto?

Chris

That's a very good question.

I can't recall off hand what gears it has but I'll see if I can find out. I do know that it's bone stock and it has the towing package and believe it does have the 5 speed torque shift tranny because it has a button you can push which causes the tranny to stay in gear longer or help to hold you back when hauling loads down a grade. Needless to say, it has been very helpful at times because I have hauled some very heavy loads in it without a problem.

Oh, and it has the snowplow prep package with the heavy duty front coil springs, though it's never had a plow on it that I know of.

Overall, it's been a very good truck and I have had mo problems except for some minor rust trying to form on the bottom lip of the tailgate and a faint ticking sound I tracked down to what I believe to be a leaking exhaust manifold gasket on the passengers side which will be fun to change when the time comes.