1/2 ton truck owners

[vvanders]

vvanders, you may be on to the real problem. The trailer is kind of on the short side. I'll look into tongue weight...

:thumbsup: happy it may have sent you in the right direction. The bathroom scale trick works, I just used a pair of jack stands, 4x4 and scale.

One reason I like using a flail mower is it gives me a bit more options when positioning the tractor on the trailer. Pretty sure if I had a bushhog it would be hanging over:

One thing I've never understood is why they don't have an integrated scale on the hitch. Not sure if it's liability or durability issue but sure would be handy.

We've found that 18ft seems to be a nice balance between weight and size, just loaded up the Ferguson TO-30 on it this afternoon and had plenty of room to balance it right.

 

[bcp]

One thing I've never understood is why they don't have an integrated scale on the hitch. Not sure if it's liability or durability issue but sure would be handy.

Here's one for you:

Weigh Safe Trailer Drop Hitch | Award-Winning Tongue Weight Scale

Bruce

 

[4570Man]

Must suck having to measure the tongue weight and adjust the tractor position just right. I just drive my tractor all the way to the front and call it good. When I haul the CTL I put the puller and the forks on the front and pull the CTL up as close as I can.

 

[vvanders]

Hah, I stand corrected. I'd seen their stand alone scales that required lifting the trailer off the ball but somehow missed that.

 

[vvanders]

Must suck having to measure the tongue weight and adjust the tractor position just right. I just drive my tractor all the way to the front and call it good. When I haul the CTL I put the puller and the forks on the front and pull the CTL up as close as I can.

Eh, like everything else in life it's a trade-off. We also get ~30mpg with the EcoDiesel and it spends more time unhitched than with the trailer attached. Plus once you've done it once you know that configuration/placement is good so I only measure when I'm hauling something new.

 

[TractorGuy]

Must suck having to measure the tongue weight and adjust the tractor position just right. I just drive my tractor all the way to the front and call it good. When I haul the CTL I put the puller and the forks on the front and pull the CTL up as close as I can.

You only have to do it once for a known load. I screwed chocs down to mark where my cars went. A line with a sharpie made it so I could move the choc easily for the different car. It was quite the eye opener to have the tongue weight where it should be for the stock car and figure out the spoiler on the rear of the car would take it away at highway speeds. A simple choc adjustment and I was back towing straight as an arrow.

 

[YLee Kioti]

..............One thing I've never understood is why they don't have an integrated scale on the hitch. Not sure if it's liability or durability issue but sure would be handy.........

Well just so happens that you wish has been answered!:thumbsup:

Weigh Safe Trailer Drop Hitch | Award-Winning Tongue Weight Scale

You can see the real world demo with this guy: CRAZY HEAVY Travel Trailer! See how much with Weigh-Safe Hitch! - YouTube

I'm sure for the right person this is a great tool.

But being the cheapo that I am loading up once and going to a public scale will work fine.

One of these day ahm gonnah lurn to read ALL the threads before jumping in....:drink:

well maybe not...we still have 6 million post contest right...hope it's not another toaster...:laughing:

 

[Texasmark]

Years ago I went to U-Haul and bought a load equalizing hitch to use in pulling a camping trailer I purchased. The hitch has two torsion arms that lock the trailer to the towing vehicle, preventing what you are describing. A regular 2" receiver as installed from the factory on a lot of trucks sold today is all you need to install the hitch.

The ball on mine was 2 ｼ" or thereabouts to fit the camp trailer which is too large obviously for most applications. I just replaced it with a 2" for use when I put tractors or a cord of firewood on my 16' tandem trailer.

Today, probably ebay has one for sale, new or used.

 

[Schoony]

You never said what axles you have or trailer tires. If you don't know your payload you may be overloading both your tires and trailer. I have found that most car trailers are meant to haul just that, cars. I would guess with what you are hauling you are pretty much up to your max weight. If your tires are not up to the weight you run the risk of overheating and blowouts. You may have to insure your truck for the most GVW you can. In Canada a lot of people just go basic. You can be in for a nasty supprise if you get into a wreck and you are over on your insured rating and not on your truck rating. 7000lb axles and 16in tires are the safest way to go. When in doubt overbuild. Just a thought