BP equipment trailer coupler connection

[coolbrze]

Looking at a 20-22' 14K equipment trailer & noticed that most are 2 5/16" adjustable ball coupler. Is there an advantage of this over the pintle coupler?

 

[JJZ 109]

I don't know about any advantages, but I'd guess that far more people have ball set ups on their vehicles. I'd say that a ball doesn't have the capacity of a pintle if you consider that most heavy trailers that aren't pulled by a tractor/5th wheel are pintle.

 

[coldsteelva]

I have towed with both ball and ring/pintle and I find that it is easier to maneuver and back up with a solid ball mount over the sloppy ring/pintle since that mount is not 'rigid'. I recently rented a towable lift and it used a ring with surge brakes. That thing was terrible. When attempting to slow, the trailer would get a bit of momentum as the ring moved from the rear position and slammed into the front of the pintle (giving you a kick in the rear) and then the surge brakes would activate and the ring would then bounce fore and aft until you finally stopped.

Given the choice, if towing with a pickup, I would go ball; if I was hauling with a tri-axle dump, then a pintle hitch would be acceptable.

 

[Morning Wood]

You also can’t run a weight distributing hitch on a pintle.

 

[bdog]

I prefer a Pintle. Much stronger and more secure. If the hook and ring are sized to match each other properly there isn’t much banging around. A lot of the heavier equipment trailers I have seen have a bolt on hitch that is adjustable for height and it would be easy to bolt on a pintle or ball coupler.

 

[RandyT]

You also can’t run a weight distributing hitch on a pintle.

That is probably the main reason. A lot of people pull trailers that legally would require the use of a weight distributing hitch but just don't

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

For a light duty truck pulling a light duty trailer, about the only benefit I can see to a pintle hook is, most of your friends won't have one, so they won't ask to borrow your trailer.

 

[bdog]

For a light duty truck pulling a light duty trailer, about the only benefit I can see to a pintle hook is, most of your friends won't have one, so they won't ask to borrow your trailer.

Sure they will. That trick worked years ago, decades actually I have used it myself. With the receiver hitch domination everyone has one and now if they don’t have the appropriate stinger they will just ask to borrow yours along with the trailer.

 

[bdog]

For a light duty truck pulling a light duty trailer, about the only benefit I can see to a pintle hook is, most of your friends won't have one, so they won't ask to borrow your trailer.

I will also add while it is rare I have personally seen a ball and coupler wear out. They were used off road a lot and while crossing a steep creek the trailer popped off the coupler. I was riding on the trailer and it wasn't fun. As the tongue dug into the ground I flew off the trailer and ate dirt.

Pintles offer a lot more flexibility in the vertical direction that a standard ball. For most people this isn't an issue but if you are traversing a lot of rough terrain a pintle is a superior hitch and is a lot more secure.