L3800 bota and trailer size...

[bulldog69]

Mine is a 20' with DT, both axle brakes with break-away, 5' channel ramps, 11k rated.
It pulls so much better than my old 16' trailer did and unless it's real tight the extra length is no big deal.

It sure comes in handy to be able to throw 4 rolls of hay on the front and still get the tractor on there. My truck is alot warmer than having to road a open station tractor to the pasture.

 

[deezler]

I'm leaning toward risky biz.

Add a loader and your around 3600 - 3800 lbs. 400 - 500 for tiller and your at 4000 - 4300 lbs. Canopy, + 100 lbs just to be safe so now at 4100 - 4400 lbs. Maybe you need to get to a job and take the above plus your box scrape and forks. now your at 4900 - 5300 lbs. Your 7k trailer weighs 2k empty which leaves 5k payload. Now you're either right to the max or just a little beyond. It's not a good feeling to be loaded to the max and watch the tires bow in and out every time you make a slow turn because your axles are bending.
Yes, I had a job for a older lady where I needed my tiller, box scrape, landscape rake, seed spreader, bucket and forks at the same location and to top it off I was almost a hr away from home. Seeder in the back of the truck, box scrape loaded on the front of the trailer, forks from the side, landscape rake strapped to the bucket, tiller hooked to the tractor, then parked the tractor with a front tire on one fork to hold them in place and away we went. I figure it was a easy 6k load. Rare, yes but it does happen from time to time.

My opinion, don't settle for a 7k, 16' trailer and be borderline of overload every time you hit the road. With a L 3800 it would be very easy to max out a 7k trailer. I have a L 3000 DT and with loader and BH it weighs 5200 lbs. Spend a few extra bucks one time and get a heavier trailer. You will thank yourself in the long run.

Ack, good advice but not really what I wanted to hear. The problem is that with a heavier trailer, I get close to total hitch and truck towing rating when trying to tow a tractor + implements behind my (dad's) F150. I rented a trailer yesterday to move this though:

And it pulled just fine (at 45mph) on back roads to get home. I have no idea what the rating on the axles was, but I am guessing they were the heavier 5k axles vs the 3500 lb ones. The rental place estimated the trailer weight at ~2000 lbs. I also stopped and threw on a brush hog on the way home (**** those are heavy!). So I was probably looking at around 6000 lbs total pulling weight. Truck drove fine, and the surge brakes on the trailer were helpful.

sidebar: the dramatic saga of picking up that tractor yesterday:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/cub-cadet-yanmar-cuts/234590-bought-new-me-7305-my.html

 

[bulldog69]

My 95 F 150 is the reason I had to settle for a L 3000. I wanted bigger but at that time all I had to use was the F 150 and a 16' trailer. I felt like this was about all I could pull and it turned out to be the case. I even took my floor out and added steel to my frame and cross members. My trailer was already a tubing trailer but it still would flex. The extra steel helped but the 3500 lb axles still haunted me. Still, there was no need to get a heavier trailer because of the truck. After stepping up to a diesel I went with a bigger trailer. Everything goes hand in hand and it all has to work together to get the job done safely. I see people pushing their luck all the time with trailers. It only takes one little mistake to make things go bad real fast. It's just not worth it to me.

 

[deezler]

I understand completely. And you are exactly right, trailering so much mass can be a dangerous situation. Thats what I am using here too, a 95 F-150, w/ 302 V8 and 5-spd manual. No idea on the final drive ratio, but judging by perception when driving & towing, its on the low side (numerically). And still only gets 10-12 mpg, ****.

I learned a nice reminder of all this when my dad's front right tire blew suddenly on me yesterday. I had the trailer mounted but thank goodness no tractor yet. Took all of 2 or 3 seconds on the highway at 65mph for the tire to deflate completely and start pitching the truck sideways.

But chances are I wont be affording a bigger truck, or trailer, anytime soon... lucky for me I don't have to trailer my tractor over to my new land (just 1.5 miles on 25mph streets) and can just drive it directly.

As I have kind of taken over this thread just recently (sorry OP), what is the best way to tie the tractor down? We used chain binders, as you can see in the above pic. But I didn't really know where to fixture them on the tractor. We went with an X in the rear of the tractor from each corner to the opposite sides rear axle, trying to keep the chain tension load on the tractor frame, not the axle itself. Then in the front we only had one binder and a longer chain, so we looped over the front axle of the tractor and pulled it tight. All chains were very well tensioned. Is there a better way? Are straps or sheaths for the chains recommended to protect the tractor?

 

[bulldog69]

About every state has different requirements for securing a load. From what I've gathered in general one chain and binder on each corner and another chain/binder for your implement. If you plan to haul much I would suggest looking at your local laws.

Personaly I use heavy ratchet straps. I've never been stopped but I would say the DOT would give me some hastle if they did. The biggest thing I see is don't give them a reason to stop you. Sometimes your best friend is going to be a clean rig. If you are driving with common sense, clean truck and trailer, good marker lights and a basic legal look you should be fine. If you look like your hauling scrap metal on a junky trailer being pulled by junk then you are asking to get pulled over and inspected. While they have you every little thing will catch their eye and more than likely get you a fat ticket. If everything looks good as you pass by it's hard for them to see one or two little things that might be wrong.

 

[General Lee]

Hey, no good answer, sorry, but I have the same question. I was hoping to get a 16' trailer, with 2 3500 lb axles, and tow behind an F-150. Risky biz? Or doable for shorter, slower trips.....?

The 3800 is only, what, 2600 lbs? Still under 4000 with loader and an implement.

The size trailer you just described is what I have. I have a L4400 but had the trailer before the tractor. I haven't towed with it yet but its gonna be close in capacity. If I need the finish mower somewhere, I think I'll have to drop the FEL. Or if I tow it for a FEL job, I'll have to tow with no rear ballast except for the loaded rears. I don't really foresee towing it anywhere unless I take it to the dealer.

 

[jeffsw6]

The X tie-down you are doing in the back will not stop the tractor from tipping over if something really bad happens.

 

[deezler]

The X tie-down you are doing in the back will not stop the tractor from tipping over if something really bad happens.

Oh snap, you think...? The chains were down so tight that it seems there's no way the tractor could rotate the tire underneath itself, given the tension. Or could it? So no-go on the x chain method?

It seemed that otherwise I was going to be stuck putting the chain tension for each axle side up against in the inside edge of the rear tires. Obviously I do not want to torque my axles from the outer edge of the tires with any large force.... so where would I tie it down from? The drawbar?

 

[ForPetesSakeFarm]

Well went the other day with my 16ft 7k landscaper and just the L3800 (no loaded tires/ no implements) with fel maxed her out. Luckily I have a buyer for the trailer and I'm going to call Kauffman and get a 10k 20ft'er on the line. Thank you guys for your input, hints, tips and advise. Pics are obligatory when I pick er up.

 

[jeffsw6]

Oh snap, you think...? The chains were down so tight that it seems there's no way the tractor could rotate the tire underneath itself, given the tension. Or could it? So no-go on the x chain method?

Imagine if you have a "tripping" accident where you go off the shoulder of a road, the tractor could tip over because the X chains are not stopping the rear of the tractor from raising up.

I think the best thing to do would be add some D-rings, but if you are comfortable with what you are doing it now, maybe wait until the trailer needs new wood anyway.

The bar at the front of the trailer is probably not a good place to tie things onto. It's just there to hopefully stop you from driving over the front edge when loading. If you put a lot of force on it the bar will bend and eventually fail.

Just to be clear, I think what you are doing is more safe than a lot of trailers I see on the road; but I do not think it is correct and definitely could be better.