bx2380 moving a 24' Haulmark trailerl around with a front skid steer receiver hitch

[john reeder]

I'm taking delivery of a new bx2380 Monday and was thinking of making or buying a front skid steer receiver hitch for the fel mechanism and using it to move two car haulers around. One would be about 2500# and the other probably 4000# empty. Has anyone ever used their fel to do something like this? Moving these front to rear would pose no problem but when turning it would put a side load on the arms, and tubes?, side to side. There is a Facebook video of a guy moving a 5000# travel trailer with his bx so at least one person is doing such.

 

[dalola]

Why not a 3 Pt. receiver for the rear?

You'll probably be ok going off the FEL, as long as you take it slow & easy.

 

[newbury]

Doing such is possible, but better yet get a 3 pt hitch hitch, your lift capacity is far greater.

 

[john reeder]

The tractor is coming with a qh05 quick hitch and box box blade and I plan to buy or make a receiver hitch for the rear. It just seems to me it will be easier steering the trailers into whatever spot I want to put them in if I am facing them rather than trying to look around to the rear as I back them in. The tongue weight of the trailers is well below the fel lift capacity so I wouldn't think I would be hurting that, it is the side load thing I'd be concerned with.

 

[XSKIER]

My best guess on the 24 haulmark is that it is 102" wide enclosed with 6' side walls. The issue with using a little tractor is visibility. All that you'll be able to see is the front of that trailer. Best off with the pickup and mirrors for that one. The 2500 lb one I assume is open and you can see right over the top of it. I've used my 1026R to move some 3500 ish lb trailers around from the three point. It sure couldn't handle much in the way of elevation change or tight turns, I wouldn't dream of pushing on them with the FEL. I guess if you just plan on moving them 24' straight forward to mow under them twice a month it'd probably be ok with a bx on the 3pt.

 

[s219]

Backing up a trailer from the front of the tractor is great for short distances and where fine adjustments are needed. For other situations, especially pulling the trailer forward, I prefer hitching them to the rear of the tractor.

 

[diesel85]

County Line Trailer Mover at Tractor Supply Co.



I got one... best thing I ever bought.

Here it is on my BX2200:


Yeah, I know, before the safety police get me... I know... I didn't have my safety chains cris-crossed, as I was only moving it around the barn.

 

[bunyip]

for that I wouldn't even connect the chains.

 

[GRTkub]

I used a BX25D to move a number of trailers around at my camp and home for 9 years. One of the trailers was a 25 foot Haulmark enclosed deck over - close to 3000 lbs empty. I used a receiver hitch welded onto my bucket and it worked well. BUT - a couple of cautions from my experience. With the backhoe on, I could manage the load well enough by going very slow and avoiding sidehills etc. With the backhoe off, the trailer weight on the bucket would easily lift the rear wheels off the ground. I had a couple of bad scares on slight side hills. Make sure that you have plenty of counterweight on the rear of your tractor.

I recently upgraded to a B2650 and made a SSQA receiver plate for it. It moves the trailer quite a bit better with only a landscape rake on the rear.
This is the BX hitch.

 

[JWR]

County Line Trailer Mover at Tractor Supply Co.

View attachment 593113

I got one... best thing I ever bought.

I use one just like that for a 21ft Pequea deck over that weighs a bit over 3000lbs by itself. Using a B2150 Kubota which moves it jusrt fine. A less-than-obvious problem is using the pickup truck to park the trailer in an old shed (which has an uphill hump approach) the pickup hitch is at such an angle that it is caught in the trailer cup and you can't release the darn thing. This 3pt device works fine. HOWEVER you will find many Koboutas (certainly the BX2200) are too narrow to accept the std "T" device. Someone makes a narrow version for that reason. The one I bought was from a guy who did his own welding and cut down the width himself. You can see in this picture where it was made more narrow.



Your BX2380 is going to be a little light in the loafers for moving a 24 Haulmark EXCEPT on flat surfaces, pavement, etc. As someone else said, watch out for tongue weight. The "empty trailer" tongue weight will be no problem for you (using the loader or front of the tractor) but don't try to do it with the trailer loaded (which may be obvious.)

The skid-steer adapter may be very attractive to you for other reasons (for most of those 'other reasons' the 2380 is too small...) but here is another option:
For my BX2200 I had a large "angle iron"piece made out of 5/16" steel plate, bolted that to the front of the BX and bolted a "step bumper" receiver to it.



This installation is grossly simple, clears the FEL fine (with or without the ball hitch inserted), and moves trailers around with ease.



One advantage of this over using the loader is that the trailer has less leverage over your tractor and far less tendency to tip the tractor or affect it in any regard. (I did the same thing drilling holes in the bucket and using the "step bumper receiver" bolted temporarily to the bucket.)

This permanent receiver hitch arrangement works better for me.