Can I haul a 50hp tractor with a Ram 1500?

[jwgregory4979]

Howdy Ya'll,
I am thinking of buying a 50hp tractor, mostly to do jobs around the house, but would also like to do some brush hogging. Tractor work for others to supplement my income, and generally help others out too. I have a Dodge Ram 1500, Hemi, 4x4 with tow package (paid for!!). I figure the tractor should come in around 5000#, plus the brush hog, FEL, and trailer....somewhere in the neighborhood of 8500#'s My distant traveled could be up to 50+ miles to and back?! Is this safe? How much strain will I be putting on the truck? I am thinking of trailer brakes to help?! I know in a perfect world I should get a bigger truck, that is the plan?! But could I get by for a year or two, before I could maybe purchase a 2500/3500?!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Soundguy]

i think you have woefully UNDER-estimated your weight. assuming the tractor is 5k.. and the trailer will liekly be a mINIMUM of 2k even for a 16'er.. which i would not reccomend. more like 18' minimum if not 20'.. and that will drive the weight up even more. need the length for ballancing the load... . then a mower? ( 6' ) will be added in.. plus a fel.

I think you may be 2500# light on your estimate..

will the truck pull it? probably? will it stop it? maybee? will the suspension like it? iffy.. what;s the trucks tow rating?

I used to pull with a dodge 1500.. I always knew it needed more truck to be safe. finally got a 1 ton and quit white knuckeling it....

 

[3930dave]

For a rough idea, you can try something like:

Tow Capacity Rating Look Up by Trailers.com - Look Up Tow Vehicle Ratings and Tow Capacity

For a better idea, get a Dodge dealer to run your VIN, that should tell you the exact factory rating.

Depending on tractor era, 5000# may be a little low - mine weighs about that, Dry (no fluids).

I don't know the Dodge ratings well enough to comment. At a minimum, if you go with this, make sure that you have trailer brakes on all axles.

Rgds, D.

 

[jwgregory4979]

You are probably right, it is a dual axle 20' trailer! I think trailer brakes would definitely help! I am more worried about the transmission! lol

 

[Reg]

Again, safety is a lot more about HOW you drive than WHAT you drive.
As long as it is set up properly it COULD BE driven safely.
PART of proper set up includes trailer brakes, most of the rest of it is proper load distribution - and the rest is HOW you drive it.

You didn't mention road type, I have GENERALLY found that any tendency to sway doesn't show itself until 50 or 55.
From this I believe that secondary roads pose less risk - different risks, but at least the risk of sway is reduced due to lower speeds.

Yes, a 1/2 ton truck SHOULD be able to handle it - as long as YOU don't push it too hard.
Just ACCEPT that it slows down on long steep grades, that it is slow off the line, etc.
Assuming it has automatic trans use tow/haul mode most of the time.
If you will be doing this a LOT you should probably change the trans oil twice as frequently, e.g. 25,000 instead of 50,000.
Where "a LOT" means you will be towing it around to make money between 3 and 7 days a week most of the year.

Point of reference; I have a Durango (SUV version of your 1/2 ton truck) that I have towed an 8K mini ex around with.
All up weight is probably 10K and of course I wouldn't admit that it MIGHT be a tad over.
That has gone over 100K miles, it has also towed horses around at an all up weight of probably 7K with tack, water, etc.

 

[RobertBrown]

Hauling it is not a problem.





stopping it in a hurry is a problem

 

[3930dave]

If you stay half ton, plan on upgrading the Transmission Cooler, esp. as you are in TX.

Rgds, D.

 

[DT86]

Hauling it is not a problem.





stopping it in a hurry is a problem

:thumbsup: So many people fail to think this way.

 

[Soundguy]

:thumbsup: So many people fail to think this way.

yep.. wait till that kid on a bike runs across the street in front of you while hauling that way overlaod, and just hoping you can ditch it or jacknife to prevent running them down..

 

[jwgregory4979]

Figured I'd miss something. Most of my driving would be on secondary roads, country and county roads. I work offshore 5 wk on 5 wk off. So only pick up jobs while I'm home. This would be an occasional haul, nothing repetitive, at best somewhat frequent! I do have the transmission cooler as well! I'm 50, so my hot riding is "mostly" past me!! lol I do like the sound of my magnaflow and hemi from time to time!! hehehee But kidding aside, with a haul of that size, caution would be greatly taken. Yeah, I know its hard to prepare for deer and skunks?! No kids to worry about around me! And again, this hopefully would only be for a year or two....its either buy a bigger tractor now, bigger truck later. Or smaller tractor now and hope for a trade in later?! I think I'd rather buy the tractor now, get used to it, build the side jobs up slowly, before buying the truck?!