Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me

   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me
  • Thread Starter
#22  
Consider a Tacoma. I get 20 MPG while not towing. If you will spend more time driving vs towing, it may be a good choice.

Here's my rig with an 18' car hauler trailer:

Your towing rigs and trailers - Page 145


I have a friend with a tacoma, and to be honest, I think its a little small inside. He doesn't have kids, and it's been a great reliable truck for several years, but if I go pick-up, I would go full size. However...i like the look up the upcoming canyon with the little d-max....haha, just wish it was a bit bigger...
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me
  • Thread Starter
#23  
Also look towards the future uses.

I am always torn. I get the idea of planning for the future...but its a slippery slope...pretty soon I would find myself towning my little tractor around with a 1 ton diesel and a 24' gooseneck!
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me #24  
I am always torn. I get the idea of planning for the future...but its a slippery slope...pretty soon I would find myself towning my little tractor around with a 1 ton diesel and a 24' gooseneck!

That's what I'm talking about!!!:thumbsup: :laughing: Hard to beat a least a 3/4 ton with a diesel. Getting 17 in the new Duramax and that should improve (3/4 ton)

iirc, my Dk35 weighs around 4800#, when I have to haul it , I use a 16" steel trailer, but I wouldn't want to take it more than 100 miles. That's mainly because of the trailers condition ( I borrow it from my brother) since I sold my other one.

One other thought, if you only haul yours maybe 2-3 times a year, you may be cheaper renting a trailer, or even a truck trailer for a day. IDK
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me
  • Thread Starter
#25  
One other thought, if you only haul yours maybe 2-3 times a year, you may be cheaper renting a trailer, or even a truck trailer for a day. IDK

I looked at that. The couple equipment rental places around here require you to own the tow vehicle to rent a trailer. Places like Uhaul you can get both, but the bigggest trailer they offer is the 6x12 and I would be right at or slightly over its capacity...
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me #26  
I was in a similar situation back in 2011 when I needed to start towing my (then) Kubota B2920, which was a little heavier than your MF GC2400.

First off, consider a 7x16 landscape trailer. They ballpark at about 1500-1600# weight empty, which is about as low as you can expect to get a tandem axle steel trailer with 7000# gross (dual 3500# axles). The landscaper will be more than capable enough of handling your small tractor, and it is versatile for lots of other uses. I've towed tractors with mine dozens of times, but have used it for other hauling projects *hundreds* of times -- everything from lumber to logs, to loads of bulk materials, to stone and gravel. It beats any pickup truck I ever used in terms of capability and convenience.

Take the 1600# trailer weight, add in the tractor and implements (don't forget loaded tires either), some margin, and work out the towing requirements for the vehicle. At the time, 5000# was going to handle my needs and then some, so I set about looking at vehicles that could tow at least that much.

There are many options. To me the best towing vehicle is a pickup truck, but it was wrong for the other 95% of my lifestyle and family needs. For winter driving, decent AWD was a must. I wanted it to be comfortable and reliable. All the factors came together to steer me into a 2012 Acura MDX. It has turned out to serve our needs very well, and tows that 7x16 trailer and various loads like a champ. It came prewired for brake controller and hitch, has transmission cooler, and the RWD bias when accelerating off the line is exactly what you want when towing. (note: the Honda Pilot is based on the same chassis, but has lower towing rating and much less sophisticated AWD -- it's basically a FWD vehicle with pseudo-AWD).
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me
  • Thread Starter
#27  
All the factors came together to steer me into a 2012 Acura MDX.

Although the MDX is a nice vehicle, with the SH-AWD they start at 44K msrp and goes up, and takes premium fuel....I'd like to stay 40 or under and run regular!
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me #28  
Geeze....thanks for the errr.....encouraging words.... I am not sure I believe you that a minivan or unibody SUV will "cost a lot less", maybe its just your definition of "a lot" is different from mine. Apparently you missed my response to the suggestion of renting above. And I don't have an ATV, I have a tractor....

Pickup crewcab with a few options gets you into the $45,000-55000 range pretty quickly. You can get just about the fanciest minivan or CUV on earth and have lots of change left if you have a budget like that. Honda Pilot would have MSRP less than $35,000 well equipped. Same for Mazda CX9. Both with 7 passenger, AWD and low 20's, high teens MPG. Honda Pilot rated to tow 4500lbs and the Mazda about 3500lbs and both are far better highway cruisers than any pickup truck. Minivans tow about 3500 but only Toyota makes an AWD.

Just saw your post about towing. Suggest you look into it more carefully. You can get car haulers from Uhaul. U-Haul: Auto Transport Rental Hard to image a small tractor could not be loaded onto one of those for a 50 mile trip as they have a maximum load towing capacity of 5,290 lbs and your tractor weighs about 2500.
 
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   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me
  • Thread Starter
#29  
I see your point on price I guess. Silverado crew cab, 4x4, LT =41K msrp. Not as bad as you stated, but not great either...

I did look at the uahul car hauler, and if I recall, the problem was that its an open center. Don't know if that the correct term, but it doesn't have a solid botton. I believe my tractor was to narrow for it.


Pickup crewcab with a few options gets you into the $45,000-55000 range pretty quickly. You can get just about the fanciest minivan or CUV on earth and have lots of change left if you have a budget like that. Honda Pilot would have MSRP less than $35,000 well equipped. Same for Mazda CX9. Both with 7 passenger, AWD and low 20's, high teens MPG. Honda Pilot rated to tow 4500lbs and the Mazda about 3500lbs and both are far better highway cruisers than any pickup truck. Minivans tow about 3500 but only Toyota makes an AWD.

Just saw your post about towing. Suggest you look into it more carefully. You can get car haulers from Uhaul. U-Haul: Auto Transport Rental Hard to image a tractor could not be loaded onto one of those for a 50 mile trip.
 
   / Tow vehicle and trailer combo recommendation for me #30  
I see your point on price I guess. Silverado crew cab, 4x4, LT =41K msrp. Not as bad as you stated, but not great either...

I did look at the uahul car hauler, and if I recall, the problem was that its an open center. Don't know if that the correct term, but it doesn't have a solid botton. I believe my tractor was to narrow for it.

Still, a Honda Pilot EX has MSRP of less than 35K and tows 4500lbs. Pretty good bang for the buck.
 

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