Joined the red club!

[Whitbread]

I had to deliver a customer vehicle to Houston, so I used it as an excuse to do some out of state tractor shopping. I ended up finding a 2019 1740m Hydro/cab outside Oklahoma city. It was a bank repo that was on consignment at a dealer. I made a cash offer for $6K below what they were asking and they accepted with some grumbling.

Already have a WR Long 3rd kit sitting back at the shop so that will go on shorty to pair with the grapple I'm building.

 

[tacticalturnip]

That's awesome.

 

[mike0000]

Very nice, congratulations!

 

[mapper]

Nice!

 

[JWR]

Great find and good way to pick up a tractor. Is that SUV a little light in the loafers for towing that trailer and tractor?

 

[Whitbread]

Great find and good way to pick up a tractor. Is that SUV a little light in the loafers for towing that trailer and tractor?

Not really, this is a 2008 Grand Cherokee crd. It's the same 3.0L diesel V6 engine and transmission that's in a Mercedes Sprinter of the same era. The Jeep weighs 5500 lb and the factory tow rating is 7700 lb. The engine has a stage 1 tune and downpipe which bumps it to 420 lb/ft of torque. There are airlift helper bags inside the rear coil springs and there's a weight distributing hitch on the trailer. Both axles are braked on the trailer also.

The tires are not loaded on the tractor, so it should be right about 3,700lbs. Add the 2000-2500 lb trailer and I'm still a minimum of 1500 lb under the factory tow rating. I've been averaging 14 MPG and it has been very smooth and comfortable towing at 70 mph.

 

[JWR]

Good to hear. Your helper bags and distributing hitch help a whole bunch I am sure. My 2015 F-150 pickup is about that same weight as your Jeep SUV. I am surprised your Jeep is that heavy AND surprised your tractor is that light. My MF 2660HD is twice the weight of your 1740 and my trailer is about 3300lbs. So I CAN tow my rig within the fringes of ratings for the pickup truck but I am not comfortable and rarely ever do it [short distances, cautiously.] I had an F-250 that weighed 1000lbs more than the F-150 and it was just fine towing the same load. Both 4WD and both with HD springs & tow packages. In my view the weight of the towing vehicle is the dominant factor in comfortable towing. Horsepower and torque really are not much of a factor to me. My 3.5L twin turbo V6 in the F-150 puts out more hp and almost identical torque to what the old V-10 was in the F-250. Pulling power has never been an issue. The issue is towing vehicle weight which results in stability and better braking.

I do not get 14mpg towing that load like your diesel does of course but then I rarely tow it.

 

[Hay Dude]

AGCO power!

 

[Rockbadchild]

I am surprise they accepted your offer ... good for you !!

 

[deezler]

Whitbread. I knew that name rung a bell. Did I have your 2.5" downpipe on my ALH TDI? I think I did. You even delivered it to Ann Arbor when you were in the process of moving from Ohio to MI, or something? It installed perfectly and was flawless for the ~80k miles I ran it until selling the car, btw.

I am both surprised and a little impressed with the curb weight and tow rating of that ecodiesel Grand Cherokee. Congrats on the new tractor! So $6k under ask on a lightly used 1740m cab is.... around 30k, or what?

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I had to deliver a customer vehicle to Houston, so I used it as an excuse to do some out of state tractor shopping. I ended up finding a 2019 1740m Hydro/cab outside Oklahoma city. It was a bank repo that was on consignment at a dealer. I made a cash offer for $6K below what they were asking and they accepted with some grumbling.

Already have a WR Long 3rd kit sitting back at the shop so that will go on shorty to pair with the grapple I'm building. View attachment 745246

You should post this to the “people towing improperly” thread.

 

[deezler]

Did you not read his explanation? 14mpg at 70 mph sounds pretty nice to me. My 2500HD gets 10.

 

[sea2summit]

Great find and good way to pick up a tractor. Is that SUV a little light in the loafers for towing that trailer and tractor?

Yes.

 

[sea2summit]

Did you not read his explanation? 14mpg at 70 mph sounds pretty nice to me. My 2500HD gets 10.

I'm looking at where the load is on the trailer, tongue weight, and tow vehicle. Not looking all that great. I'm also highly dubious of the mileage claim, maybe over all for that tank but probably not in that tow configuration.

But it is a nice tractor and it sounds like he got a good deal which is hard to come by.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

Did you not read his explanation? 14mpg at 70 mph sounds pretty nice to me. My 2500HD gets 10.

I wouldn’t tow that rig with that car at 70mph if you gave it to me. I’ve seen what happens when things go wrong and you’re pushing the limits.

 

[deezler]

That grand cherokee is only 500 lbs lighter (9%) than my 4x4 2500HD ext cab 6.0L. With much more low end torque!

He has air bags in the rear, to allow for proper tongue weight, WD hitch, and double braked axles w/ controller. About as well setup as you can be to tow serious loads, with anything short of an HD pickup truck. From his business venture I presume he is typically towing 3000 lb, aerodynamic customer cars on that trailer and I'm sure it does just fine for that. This load really isn't much different aside from being less aerodynamic. No need to be rude; it's a perfectly legal setup and if he says it tows smooth and stable at 70 mph, why would you need to doubt him?

 

[sea2summit]

That grand cherokee is only 500 lbs lighter (9%) than my 4x4 2500HD ext cab 6.0L. With much more low end torque!

He has air bags in the rear, to allow for proper tongue weight, WD hitch, and double braked axles w/ controller. About as well setup as you can be to tow serious loads, with anything short of an HD pickup truck. From his business venture I presume he is typically towing 3000 lb, aerodynamic customer cars on that trailer and I'm sure it does just fine for that. This load really isn't much different aside from being less aerodynamic. No need to be rude; it's a perfectly legal setup and if he says it tows smooth and stable at 70 mph, why would you need to doubt him?

He doesn't have enough tongue weight is my main problem...

These are the hazards of posting your tow vehicle/setup then making claims about it's capabilities on the internet. A million and on opinions out here don't'cha know? And we all know what opinions are like...

 

[Dmacleo]

bet the org poster didn't think thread would go this way...
hey guys, its HIS insurance that covers crap.
and thread was not about towing/safety/etc.

 

[JWR]

He doesn't have enough tongue weight is my main problem...

These are the hazards of posting your tow vehicle/setup then making claims about it's capabilities on the internet. A million and on opinions out here don't'cha know? And we all know what opinions are like...

You have no way of knowing what his tongue weight is ! I questioned his possibly light towing vehicle and he answered well. And he did not "post his towing setup" nor "make claims about it's capabilities" -- never mentioned them at all -- until I asked about the towing vehicle. He tried to simply post a picture of his new-good-deal-tractor. What are we doing here roasting people ?

 

[deezler]

All I know is that I'd much rather share the road with someone who thinks this much about their towing setup, and actively optimizes their tow vehicle, then some joe-bob who just clangs a coupler onto his HD pickup, tosses a few straps across their piece of equipment, and blasts away.

It only looks like he has no tongue weight because he has inflated air bags in the rear springs. I doubt someone like whitbread who tows customer vehicles across the whole country (apparently) wouldn't understand how to balance tongue weight. No one wants to drive 2000 miles with a swaying trailer.