Towing trailer (5000 lbs) w/ tractor

[John_Mc]

I'd put a good set of chains on your tractors rear wheel before pulling a heavily loaded trailer on a grade. (If you don't already have chains, I'd definitely consider "euro-style" chains, such as OFA Eko 8 or 9 - or similar design from other manufacturers. That style has worlds better traction than studded ladder style and even better than studded duo-grip.).

The guy I bought my log forwarding trailer from had electric brakes on it. He ran it behind his truck with the trucks brake controller. I also bought a cheap brak controller which he hung on his tractor fender and used to control the brake manually on the trailer. He had the controller wired up with plugs, rather than permanently hardwired, since no one seems to make a controller that is weather proof. He would just take it off the tractor when not in use, so he could store it out of the weather.

He also had knobby tires on the trailer. The typical smooth farm implement tires used on some trailers are not very useful for braking in the woods - they just slide.

While it's possible to wire the brakes with a simple on/off switch, I would not recommend it. You don't want to be locking up the brakes every time you hit the switch.

I've been considering ways to either make a brake controller weather-proof (while still allowing it enough ventilation to not overheat), or to make some sort of weatherproof system myself that will still allow me to adjust the amount of braking. I have not put enough time into it to come up with anything yet.

 

[CobyRupert]

(IMHO) A huge factor will be how trailer is loaded / tongue weight.
Positive tongue weight, as much as you can stand, will help tractor traction, help prevent tractor tires from breaking free. Now your 5000 lb tractor “ weighs” a lot more and the trailer “weighs” less, that being said weight is still weight.
Less, or god forbid negative, tongue weight is sure fire way for tractor tires to break free and you go for a ride, jack knife, etc...

 

[dieselscout80]

It wouldn稚 be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

 

[John_Mc]

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

 

[dieselscout80]

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

The weather proof box is good idea!

 

[sea2summit]

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

Cheap brake controller with a manual mode would probably work better than anything else.

 

[fried1765]

It wouldn稚 be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

Now, that makes total sense!

 

[4570Man]

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

That would probably work for the use it’s serving but it’s going to be 100 percent on or off, no light braking.

 

[John_Mc]

It wouldn’t be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

Cheap brake controller with a manual mode would probably work better than anything else.

Which is my plan, except that no one makes a weatherproof one. Storing it in a weatherproof box on the tractor might be a solution, but you'd need to take it out to operate it.

 

[Rebeldad1]

I'd put a good set of chains on your tractors rear wheel before pulling a heavily loaded trailer on a grade. (If you don't already have chains, I'd definitely consider "euro-style" chains, such as OFA Eko 8 or 9 - or similar design from other manufacturers. That style has worlds better traction than studded ladder style and even better than studded duo-grip.).

The guy I bought my log forwarding trailer from had electric brakes on it. He ran it behind his truck with the trucks brake controller. I also bought a cheap brak controller which he hung on his tractor fender and used to control the brake manually on the trailer. He had the controller wired up with plugs, rather than permanently hardwired, since no one seems to make a controller that is weather proof. He would just take it off the tractor when not in use, so he could store it out of the weather.

He also had knobby tires on the trailer. The typical smooth farm implement tires used on some trailers are not very useful for braking in the woods - they just slide.

While it's possible to wire the brakes with a simple on/off switch, I would not recommend it. You don't want to be locking up the brakes every time you hit the switch.

I've been considering ways to either make a brake controller weather-proof (while still allowing it enough ventilation to not overheat), or to make some sort of weatherproof system myself that will still allow me to adjust the amount of braking. I have not put enough time into it to come up with anything yet.

You can get a simple 3 wire ( power--ground--trailer brake) brake controler. Would be easy to wire up. Keep tractor in 4WD and be cautiously slow.