How to properly load a bumper pull deck over trailer?

[ptsg]

As Rock Crawler said, it's indeed a weight and balance thing.

Play with the setup till you have it just right. Even if that means stopping in the middle of a trip, to readjust, BTDT. Don't get the laziness get over you and disconnect the implements if necessary. I see most people will have mowers just hanging out the back, without any real reason as of why.

 

[zzvyb6]

The automotive industry designs for and expects "Level Frame" conditions for tow vehicle and trailer. Specification, design, and testing for this was part of my job. So, ball height, auto-level control, weight distribution, axle location(s), tire size and load capacity and bumper/hitch height specs are set by SAE. The wrong trailer configuration doesn't produce the safest journey. And, the legality of wrong hitch setups was established long ago. Much of this has to do with extreme stopping condition considerations. Even our State Police know about this and will stop you if your rig looks dangerous, especially tie-down mechanisms.
Get the trailer that does the job as well as the tow vehicle.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I disagree!
The red GMC has the rear wheels at the very forward edge of the trailer.
The white Ford has the rear wheels at least 4' aft of the forward trailer edge.
Big difference.
The GMC ... LOOKS..... OK,...... but who really knows?
Only way to get the correct approximate 10% tongue weight, is to weigh the tongue.
Either truck on forward, would likely be excessive tongue weight.

The GMC truck was a 2500hd 6.6 Duramax, extended cab with 8ft bed. It was as far back as I could get it, tank full of diesel.

Might not have been perfectly balanced but we made it to the garage it needed to go.



This was a F350 460 7.5L gas truck, lighter in the front. Dual rear gas tanks

this truck was wrong, F350 dually with 6.8 v10. 50mph max or trailer started to dance but wouldn’t fit on the trailer forward. Another successful tow just had to go slower.

 

[zzvyb6]

Looks like the flipped trailer was equipped with 3 axles but was operated with only 2. Plus the tires on the trailer look to be squashed. My expert witness testimoney would say that the truck trailer combination went unstable at expressway speed and jack-knifed. Tongue load is only 1 of the requirements. Sufficient tire lateral stiffness is another. Aftermarket cheap tires plus low air pressure plus speed above the 'critical speed' = jack knife. Not rocket science.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I'd call this a nicely loaded trailer. John Deere 350C high lift on an Iron Bull 14K gross equipment trailer. Loaded forward of center, 60 PSI in the Airlift system. It's a heavy beast, you know it's there, no doubt. Getting paid $500 to deliver it 1.5 hours away tomorrow morning. I had to make plywood runners to put on my steel ramps, the steel tracks just slide off of steel ramps and can ruin your day really fast.View attachment 672648

 

[fried1765]

As Rock Crawler said, it's indeed a weight and balance thing.

Play with the setup till you have it just right. Even if that means stopping in the middle of a trip, to readjust, BTDT. Don't get the laziness get over you and disconnect the implements if necessary. I see most people will have mowers just hanging out the back, without any real reason as of why.

View attachment 672595 View attachment 672594

That is a rather high center of gravity, and a short wheelbase tow vehicle.
Could get really interesting at more than 70 kph on a rain slicked road!

 

[ptsg]

That is a rather high center of gravity, and a short wheelbase tow vehicle.
Could get really interesting at more than 70 kph on a rain slicked road!

It's actually more stable than it looks up to 90 kph. Never went much above that.

The only time it got a bit sketchy on me was because I didn't load it quite right. Moved the tractor about 4 to 5" forward and everything was nice and stable again.

I've since replaced the 4x4 with a 2010 Mitsubishi L200 pickup truck as I got a good deal on it. Lost about 100 kg of towing capacity, but allows me to put an implement on the bed and relieve the trailer a bit more.

 

[4570Man]

What’s the weight distribution on your tractor? My M59 sits very back heavy. I have to pull the rear tire forward of the center of the axle to get satisfactory tongue weight.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

What’s the weight distribution on your tractor? My M59 sits very back heavy. I have to pull the rear tire forward of the center of the axle to get satisfactory tongue weight. View attachment 672666

Not sure. It’s 7999lbs now and I’m about to add 300lb bolt on weights to each rear wheel and add a cutter bar on the bucket. That will put me around 8600lbs plus the weight of the cutter bar. The bush hog is 10ft long and weighs 1025 so total load will be under 9700lbs of payload. Might just have to make multiple trips lol. My buddies truck can only haul around 10k on the bumper, same as mine. Class 4 hitches. His has rails for 5th wheel, mine is just bumper.

Massey Ferguson 98 I have is 9500lbs just the tractor. So either way I’m towing 9500lbs of tractor whether I add weights to my tractor or not.

 

[ptsg]

What’s the weight distribution on your tractor? My M59 sits very back heavy. I have to pull the rear tire forward of the center of the axle to get satisfactory tongue weight. View attachment 672666

With the loader on, it's gets a bit front heavy with all the front weight and winch sitting there.

Also, note that European trailers have the axles centered with the bed of the trailer. I do have to pull the tractor a little backwards so I don't end up with too much tongue weight but at the same time, I have to take the implement off so it doesn't hang out the back.

Most times, I just measure the distance between the rear wheel well to the ground unloaded, then load it till it drops about 2 to 2.5". Seems to work well and I get a stable rig.