New TopHat 20" trailer

[Complete Turf Care]

It's a great looking trailer, good luck with it.

I know in your video you say you ordered with 14 ply rated tires and 7K axles, but I caught a glimpse of the tag and I believe it reads axles are only 5080 lbs and GVWR is 9990. What is up with that? Is it a special order derating you needed for the state(s) you operate in?

I was wondering if anyone would catch that. Your hunch is correct. Anything over 26,000 lbs GVWR, even in a combination of truck and trailer, requires a CDL. My truck has a 14,000 lb GVWR, so if the trailer is rated at 14,000 lbs, I would be required to have a CDL license.

And I"m almost 58 years old now and I don't care to get a CDL,

I should have had it rated at 11,900 instead of 9990 though. That would have put me at just 100 lbs under CDL. When I was ordering it, the salesman asked if I wanted it rated at 9990 and I just said 'yes' without doing the math.

 

[bdog]

Nice trailer. I had a similar top hat for a few years and it served me well.

Aren’t our laws stupid? You have a 14k truck which means a dually so you can’t rate your trailer at 14k without needing a CDL. However if you had a 3/4 ton pickup with a 10k GVWR you could rate your trailer at 14k or even 16k and not need a CDL. The 3/4 ton would be much less safe with a load this size so the CDL law essentially is forcing people to pull heavy trailers with smaller trucks to avoid needing a CDL and all the BS that goes with it.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

It’s not a CDL, that’s commercial.

Class A is a non commercial license but with it you can haul more than 26,001lbs.

Class A non CDL is what’s needed for personal use. Unless it’s for farm use, then you can drive a semi truck without one lol.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Btw that’s a really nice trailer, I really like the ramps being dual purpose.

I’m on the fence about the rail, I’m more of a open sides person, I really would fancy a deck over with spring assist ramps.

 

[bdog]

It’s not a CDL, that’s commercial.

Class A is a non commercial license but with it you can haul more than 26,001lbs.

Class A non CDL is what’s needed for personal use. Unless it’s for farm use, then you can drive a semi truck without one lol.

Whatever. My point is still valid though. You can legally pull a 14k trailer with a 3/4 ton with a class C license in most states but hook the exact same trailer to a dually for added safety and stability and now a class A is needed. By the way some states don’t offer a non commercial class A and force you to get a CDL if you want class A.

 

[downslope]

I was wondering if anyone would catch that. Your hunch is correct. Anything over 26,000 lbs GVWR, even in a combination of truck and trailer, requires a CDL. My truck has a 14,000 lb GVWR, so if the trailer is rated at 14,000 lbs, I would be required to have a CDL license.

And I"m almost 58 years old now and I don't care to get a CDL,

I should have had it rated at 11,900 instead of 9990 though. That would have put me at just 100 lbs under CDL. When I was ordering it, the salesman asked if I wanted it rated at 9990 and I just said 'yes' without doing the math.

Yeah, it's too bad you didn't have it rated 11,900, if Tophat would have accommodated that.

The other thing is for some reason Tophat reduced your axle ratings by almost 2,000 lbs per axle. In some locales the DOT guys just look at the axle and tire ratings and if you exceed any of those there can be trouble with violations. I guess you'll be OK as long as you're not operating your business where there is strict enforcement with portable scales, etc, since it seems you do run heavy loads at times. The worst situation would be if you get pulled over and they won't let you move the load until you get a CDL driver down there.

 

[downslope]

...Aren稚 our laws stupid? You have a 14k truck which means a dually so you can稚 rate your trailer at 14k without needing a CDL. However if you had a 3/4 ton pickup with a 10k GVWR you could rate your trailer at 14k or even 16k and not need a CDL. The 3/4 ton would be much less safe with a load this size so the CDL law essentially is forcing people to pull heavy trailers with smaller trucks to avoid needing a CDL and all the BS that goes with it.

Sure, the laws can be stupid at times but I guess they have to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise you could be pulling that 14K trailer down the road with a pallet(s) of fertilizer in the truck bed, and that would be significant weight. F450s, 550s and 650s can all be under CDL, but hook a trailer on and you're over (unless the trailer is 10K or less).

 

[downslope]

Itç—´ not a CDL, thatç—´ commercial.

Class A is a non commercial license but with it you can haul more than 26,001lbs.

Class A non CDL is whatç—´ needed for personal use. Unless itç—´ for farm use, then you can drive a semi truck without one lol.

Well, since the OP is running a commercial lawn care service with his business lettering on the side of the truck, I would say he was correct in stating he would need to have the CDL for the truck+trailer combo. Lucky he's in Louisiana or he might need DOT number as well.

 

[downslope]

... I should have had it rated at 11,900 instead of 9990 though. That would have put me at just 100 lbs under CDL. When I was ordering it, the salesman asked if I wanted it rated at 9990 and I just said 'yes' without doing the math.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if you could have the truck derated instead of the trailer? Actually you can order new C3500s and F350 SRW's down rated to below 10K, but not the duallys; I've seen them on dealer lots.

Back in the 1970s>>80s they were selling 1-ton duallys rated at 10,000 GVW. Something like that, if it were still available today would make a nice tow vehicle with a 14-16K trailer. Just a crazy thought, I guess.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if you could have the truck derated instead of the trailer? Actually you can order new C3500s and F350 SRW's down rated to below 10K, but not the duallys; I've seen them on dealer lots.

Back in the 1970s>>80s they were selling 1-ton duallys rated at 10,000 GVW. Something like that, if it were still available today would make a nice tow vehicle with a 14-16K trailer. Just a crazy thought, I guess.

My 1995 F350 dually powered by a 460 has a GVWR of 10k lbs lol