Bought Tractor!! / Trailer Question

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...I have never rented a trailer to be returned at the same place I picked it up....</font color=blue>

Hey... you brought up a good point... rent from one and return to the other locally a few miles away... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

This was a flatbed trailer I wanted to rent {not enclosed}, not that it should make any difference... It's kinda nutty... cause they ended up getting nothing in revenue from me... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Egon]

Tractor loaded on p/u
The midmount mower will not fit between the wheel wells. That is why you take it off. The tires will also not fit between the wheel wells but you can drive over them with or without using blocks.
To load the tractor either find a permanet ramp [ like a ditch ] so you just drive on or you will have to find portable ramps you drive up.
If using a trailer its not the number of axles that count but the rating on the axle. Ever see all those travel trailers or slide in campers being hauled around by a 1/2 ton PU ?

Egon

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>Ever see all those travel trailers or slide in campers being hauled around by a 1/2 ton PU ?</font color=blue>

That doesn't make it right. I recall a story of a guy pulling a TT with a half ton. Had the equalizing hitch and cranked the bars up to get that nice, level ride. Out on the highway, he got passed by a semi and began fishtailing. Ended up rolling, totalling both truck and trailer. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. The explanation given was that while he had the rig levelled out, there was so little weight on the rear wheels of the truck they were sliding sideways, not providing any lateral grip.

Be careful out there /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Jeff396]

<font color=blue>Hey... you brought up a good point... rent from one and return to the other locally a few miles away...</font color=blue>

Somehow I imagine that is a loop hole they would have slammed shut./w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Jeff

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>had the rig levelled out, there was so little weight on the rear wheels of the truck they were sliding sideways</font color=blue>

Rob, I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with that explanation. If he did, in fact, have the rig levelled out, that part was set up correctly. Having been an RVer for a lot of years, though, I lost track of the number of people I met with brand new rigs and found that they had a new one because they wrecked their first one because they didn't know, and their dealer didn't tell them, what a sway control was. I always found it a little hard to believe a dealer would sell someone a conventional travel trailer without explaining sway control units (kind of like ROPS on tractors; I think it ought to be illegal to sell a travel trailer without a sway control). Another possible explanation is "pilot error." When a semi passes a conventional travel trailer at highway speeds, you almost without exception "feel" the front of the trailer/rear of the truck being pulled toward the semi just for an instant. An inexperienced driver will almost instinctively try to compensate with the steering wheel, when in fact, if you just do nothing, it straightens itself almost immediately. And if the trailer does start fishtailing, inexperienced drivers tend to hit the brakes; again the worst thing you can do. If instead, you apply just the trailer brakes, either without letting off the accelerator or even accelerating a bit, you'll pull everything back straight.

I guarantee it!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Now, of course, it is possible to pull up too much on the lift bars, but the entire rig will likely not be level if that's done.

 

[Egon]

RobS
Re: trailer pulling
I pull a 20 Ft. lowboy with cargo box rated at 10,000#. It has an equalizer hitch which is required after 5000#. I also have a slide in camper on the 3/4 ton that weighs 2300# dry.
Three years ago I moved from Edmonton, Alberta to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia; a distance of 3500 miles one way. To move all our belongings it required three trips loaded and two trips back empty.
The first trip had a gross of 18000#, the second a gross of 21000#, the third a gross of 24000#.
The trips were all made with no problems except for two trailer tires that picked up nails.
Dual tired trailers have a tendency to have the leading tire throw up an object for the trailing tire to impale itself on. In both cases I spotted the nails while fueling up and was able to change tires at a service station. At no time did I encounter this dreaded sway nor did I have any troubles stopping although on some of the 10% downhills I was in second gear at 40 mph. Now as an aside I averaged 14 mpg with the 24000# load. And yes, I know I was overloaded.
Egon

 

[RobS]

Egon, I'm glad it was you pulling all that weight and not me /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif My first experience with trailer sway was pulling a rental 25 foot travel trailer. No sway control nor any load equalizing. Pulled with my F250HD (trailer tow package). It caught me a bit off guard, but was never dangerous. Since then, we bought a fifth wheel and it pulls just fine. I can feel the cross-winds pushing on it, but it doesn't cause any sway like the TT did. I suspect the sway is more of an issue with a camper or enclosed trailer due to the high profile. I've never had a problem with my flatbed.

Bird, not sure about the story myself, other than the guy who told it went to great lengths on an RV forum to advise and warn others of the potential danger. It makes some sense to me as the equalizing hitch will shift the load to the trailer axles and the tow vehicle front axle. Remember the old Chevy Citation ads where they tow a trailer with no rear wheels on the car? In any event, I'll stick within the ratings /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MikePA]

This is the same advice I got when researching a trailer to transport our horses. If at all possible get a goose neck/5th wheel trailer and not a bumper pull.

 

[Bird]

There's absolutely no doubt that the fifth wheel or gooseneck is more stable than conventional pull trailers. And yes, I remember the ads with the car with no rear wheels pulling a trailer, but if the lift bars are hooked up properly, and everything is level, then no weight is removed from the rear tires, but the added weight from the trailer is distributed to both front and rear axle of the towing vehicle.

 

[Egon]

Bird:
I would have very much preffered the 5ver but got the bumper pull because the camper figured highly in our plans. We own land about 50 kil. from where we live. I go out with the camper and use the trailer to haul the tractor and tools. Spend about half my summer time out there trying to convert an old farmstead back into a farmstead. 600 hrs on the little 7100 in the last 2 years doing anything from tilling, digging out trees and alder patches to moving dirt and rocks to build a road and camping area by the lake.
Egon