B7500 & Single axle trailer

[BILLMAN]

What do you guys think about using a 12' single axle landscape trailer to occasionally move my B7500 w/loader? I really don't want or need a large equipment trailer. I would like to get a 12' trailer to use for atv's , brush , lumber , etc. My local dealer has 12' landscape trailers with 3000 lb. axle. This leaves a net capacity of 2440 lbs for cargo. The only issue that I saw is that I would have to reinforce the ramp/gate to support the weight of the tractor. Opinions?

 

[woodstock]

What are you pulling it with?
Look at the tie down points are the secure enough?
Look at the tongue does it run back as far as the axle?
Is the axle mounted more than halfway back?
What size ball does it use?
Is 12 feet long enough to have front and rear attachments on?
What is the decking made of?
What is the load rating of the tires?
Does the single axle have brakes?

<font color=red>Winnipeg, Manitoba</font color=red>

2001 BX2200 (50 hrs)

 

[radman]

A B7500 w/ loader is probably pushing the weight capacity of that trailer. A single axle trailer is also more difficult to balance a load on and more difficult to hook on and unhook with a load. I see no sense in getting a marginal capacity trailer to haul your much more expensive tractor. If you blow a tire or break an axle, you will be very sorry. Personally, I would recommend a light weight dual axle trailer with ramps, a 5000-7000# capacity and 12-16" long. The ramp on landscape trailer is probably made of mesh wire and square tubing and probably not durable enough for the tractor. I've seen many nice used dual axle trailers for $750-$1000. Go with a smaller dual axle trailer - my 2 cents.

 

[jhburke]

I have both a single axle tilt trailer and a dual axle w/brakes. I use the tilt for my small tractors. But I went with the dual axle because there was no way to balance load. My dual axle is 16 foot long including dove tail. It is just long enough for my B7500 /fel and 3 point finish mower. JIM

 

[Turfman]

The call is yours, until you crash because the trailer and towing unit can't handle the load and you fishtail and loose control. Then it's up to the investigating officer and prosecutor (hopefully it'll be just property damage, no injuries). Then it's up to your insurance agent and the plaintiff's attorney, and finally the civil jury.

Avoid all the above and the heartache it will cause with a 7,000 lb tandem axle trailer or better a 10,000 lb unit for that bigger tractor later and all the attachments.

28 years a traffic cop and I've seen this too often.

 

[Devildog]

Billman, I have a 12' utility trailer and hall my B7500 kubota with no problems. It has the 3500lb axle under it. You do have to beef the ramp up also, but the weight of the tractor is well with in the 3500lbs capacity of the trailer. I cant even tell its back there when towing but I pull it with a 3/4 ton Diesel. Never have had a flat while towing either but when I am towing Im not doing 70mph. To me there is no need to get in a hurry cause that is when something will happen. Although I would like to have a dual axle 16' trailer to be able to haul more equipment but with limited funds it will just have to wait. If you can aford it I would go with the tandom axle setup but if you cant you will still be able to tow your tractor safely with a 12 footer.
____________________________________________________
Take care, Jim

2001 B7500 HST 302 Fel R4 Tires, Befco BRB60
Semper Fidelis<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Devildog on 11/06/01 06:15 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Jag]

BillMan, I have read all the post so far. No one says to use a single axle unless you have too.... I know that this is best. I CAN NOT believe that a single axle trailer is much cheaper than the standard 16 dual axle... These are the cheapest trailers foot for foot, lbs for lbs.... Also do not forget the cost of reinforcement of the ramp, ramp storage... The heavy single axle then has to cost just about the same or more....

And there you have it sports fans..

 

[boatman]

hey billman i have 2 flatbeds 1 single axel 12ft with no brakes and a 16ft tandem with brakes on all wheels. i would never put the tractor on the single axel trailer to haul it down the road. when buying a trailer make shure that the trailer tongue goes all the way to the axels. there are many trailer that do not and make shure that the trailer has many tie down pockets on it. good luck.

 

[scruffy]

Radman, while agreeing in theory, I must disagree with the length stated <font color=blue>5000-7000# capacity and 12-16" long</font color=blue> I think the the fore-mentioned 12 foot would be a better fit!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif 12-16' tandem axle would be much more suitable! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by scruffy on 11/06/01 04:21 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[radman]

OK, scruffy. Maybe a 12"-16"(inch!) trailer is a little short! But it would carry nearly anything you could put on it! Excuse my typo - should be 12-16'(feet!)

 

[hayden]

I think this is the weight analysis you need to work through:

First, figure out the max load you can carry on the trailer. To do this:

Find the Trailer GVW - This is the max combined weight rating of the trailer itself plus the load you put on it (e.g. your B7500 w/ loader). It will be on the nameplate for the trailer. Do NOT go by axle ratings. You probably can't tell what the axle rating is anyway by just looking at it, and the tires have to be able to carry the load as well so go by the nameplate GVW, not a number that you or someone else makes up.

Find the weight of your trailer itself when empty - This is critical and is often very difficult to find out. I've always called the manufacturer to ask them and too often even they don't know or they say something like "oh it's probably 1600 lbs". That's a red flag. Don't rely on the dealer either unless you see him/her look it up in a book.

Calculate the trailer's Max Load Capacity: Subtract the Trailer weight from the GVW to get the max load capacity. This is the max weight you can put on your trailer without overloading the trailer. Why trailer manufacturers don't publish this number is beyond me. Your tractor, implements, and other stuff must have to weigh less than this max.

Figure out what your tractor weights: This too can take some digging. Be sure to include the tractor, loader, bucket, and other implements, and ballast if your tires are loaded. If this weight is more than the
Max Load Capacity of the trailer, then stop now and go find a larger trailer.

Now, figure out what your car/truck (I'll just refer to it as a car for simplicity) can tow. This will be specified in the car's owner's manual. It will be a max GVW for the trailer typically, but sometimes there will be both a trailer GVW number, and a combined car/trailer GVW number, and you are not allowed to exceed EITHER one. The point is that you can't load the back of your car with cement, then tow the max weight as the same time. You get to do one or the other, but not both. Anyway, if the Trailer's GVW is less than you car's towable GVW, then the trailer is the weak link and you can focus on not overloading that. If the car's towable GVW is lower then the car is the weak link and it will limit the load you can carry on your trailer. In this case the combined weigh of the trailer itself plus your trailer load cannot exceed the tow capacity of the car.

Here are some other subtleties to consider: The bigger the trailer the more it weighs. A single axle 12' trailer with a 3500 lb GVW will only have slightly less carrying capacity that a 16' tandom axle 5000lb GVW trailer since the larger trailer itself will be significanly heavier. You also need much more tow capacity in your car to pull the bigger trailer, even with the exact same load on board.

Many states have a cut off at 3000 GVW for brake requirements. 3000lbs or over and you need brakes, under and you don't. As a result, there are lots of trailers that have GVW rating of 2990 lbs to just squeek under the wire. Check you state for regulations. In some states, trailers seem to be a complete free for all.

I used to have a 12" trailer with a 2990 lb GVW and it weighed 600 lbs. This gave me a 2390 lb carrying capacity. I carried a tractor which weighed around 2200lbs. My tow car could pull 3300 lbs so all was fine, but just made it. The trailer was the weak link. I actually had to search long and hard to find the trailer that weighted only 600 lbs. Most weighed 1400 or so and consequently had a carrying capacity of only 1590 lbs which was not enough.

I now have a 16' 7000 lbs GVW trailer that weighs 1600 lbs giving 5400lbs of carrying capacity for the trailer. However, my new tow car can pull 5000 lbs trailer GVW and this limits my trailer carrying load to 3400 lbs. The car is now the weak link. I have a much bigger and heavier trailer, stronger tow car, and I only gained 1000lbs in carrying capacity.

It's well worth running the numbers to see what you really need.

 

[scruffy]

Radman, we all knew you meant feet, not inches! Still fun teasin' though! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Typo's? Nah...it was all that stupid keyboards fault! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif It just hasn't learned to type what you meant! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Peter,

Excellent information. Thank you!

 

[pcmem]

Peter,

Another point worth mentioning is the hitch weight and rating. You can have a class III hitch on the car where the car is actually capable of 5000lbs GVW tow load and 500lbs hitch load. The single axle 3500lbs 12' trail is within this hitch capacity however improperly loaded can far exceed the hitch ratings. The tandem has more leaway for adjusting the load to safe towing capacity. In any case don't overlook the hitch load when comparing GVW's.

Tow safely,
Michael

 

[boatman]

very well put. i have a chart that shows all 50 states laws and regulations on towing i am going to try and scan it for all of you.

 

[RichNJ]

I used to have a dual axle car trailer and guess what? I got a flat tire twice. Sure was glad to have that extra tire on each side.

 

[hayden]

Good point. Yet another dimension in case anyone thought it was going to be easy.

All this is why many people take the approach of "get a big truck and a big trailer and then you are all set". It does simplify things.

 

[Devildog]

Well Im going to put the single axle up for sale and see if I can get some of these inflated northern Va prices for it. I found a place in bristol Tn that will sell me a 6and half ' by 16' for a little less than $700 with ramps. Thats about $500 cheaper than around here/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. He said they would put old tires on it or I can pay extra for new ones. The way I found it was a friend went there and bought 2 then sold the other one and said he come out about a $100 ahead. CAnt afford 2 so I will just sell my old one and then go get the other. Also the wife is in full agreement, So the odds are in my favor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
____________________________________________________
Take care all, Jim

2001 B7500 HST 302 Fel R4 Tires, Befco BRB60
Semper Fidelis

 

[WVBill]

Devildog:

I did the same sort of thing when I went to California and picked up my tractor from my Father-in-law last year. Bought a new 16' trailer at the factory in Carson CA for just under $1K, hauled the Kubota back here to WV, turned around and sold the trailer to a guy in Leesburg for $1,500 which was a couple hundred under the local going rate.

Looks like I could have made out even better if I'd bought the trailer in Bristol TN on my way out to California but I don't think I would have wanted to haul an empty trailer all that way.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Jim,

Please post the address and phone # of that TN trailer dealer...

Do I understand correctly... new dual axle, 6.5' x 16' 7K trailer for $700.? Also single or dual brakes?

If so, I'm headed to Nashville for some country music and a new trailer... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif