New trailer questions

[jeffah]

Good Morning,

I recently purchased a new trailer, and had several questions.

It is a 6x12 tandem axle. I wanted something as small as possible with 2 axles. It will be used primarily for hauling trash and construction material, but I wanted to possibly move my BX24 (probably minus the backhoe). Moving the tractor would be a rare occasion. Is it safe to place the bucket on the tongue essentially hooking the front rail, this would allow the entire tractor with backhoe to fit on the 12' space?

In the pictures I attached it looks like the load is not balanced, but I think there might just not be enough drop on the hitch. The load on the trailer is probably around a ton, and I did do my best to balance the weight. Would it be beneficial to get a different hitch?

It looks like the safety chains are too long, it seems like they would not catch the tongue before it dug into the road which is what I thought the chains were meant to do. Should they be shortened?

I want to add brakes to the front axle. Are the brakes in this 10" ELECTRIC TRAILER BRAKES 10 INCH BY 21/4 | eBay ebay auction appropriate?

Finally I am trying to understand all the capacity ratings to determine what I can safely move.

-The trailer is rated for 7000 lbs, the axles are the determining factor.
-The 2 5/16" ball hitch says 6000lbs
-The reciever tag says weight carrying 7500, weight distributing 12000.

What do I have to upgrade to safely, and legally tow a fully loaded trailer?


Thanks for any input, I do not have a lot of experience with trailers and I just want to make sure I am being as safe as possible.

 

[56FordGuy]

Do you mean the ball hitch on your tow vehicle, or the tongue of the trailer?

With 7,000 pounds worth of axles, your next limiting factor is the 6,000 lb rated hitch. Take your trailer to a truck scale and weigh it, or just ballpark guess it weighs around 1,500 pounds, maybe a bit less. Someone with a similar sized trailer may be able to answer that. Subtract the actual weight of your trailer from the lowest rated 'link' in the chain, which right now is your 6,000 lb rated hitch part. The resulting number is your capacity.

 

[sandman2234]

Brakes? I don't see no stinking brakes, lol....
(have to put the correct accent on that comment to make it sound right, and my accent keys are acting up apparently...)
Too much tail weight will get you in trouble in a HURRY, so be careful. Rather than changing trailers IF this one is rated ok, you might consider moving the axles back a little way, or (harder to do) splitting them, making it a "spread axle" trailer. If it were my trailer, I would simply reinforce the tongue, cut the axles loose, and move them rearward to a point that better handles the weight. I have done this on 33foot trailers, where the owner was loading it heavy on the rear of the trailer consistantly. It won't take much as far as distance to move them to better handle the weight on the rear, but you will have to be the judge as to how far. On the 33' trailer, it was exactly one axle spacing. I just cut the front one out and moved it behind the rear axle, but it will not take that much on your little short trailer, which is why you will have to move both axles. Another not so popular would be to add an axle but it requires way too much "extra" stuff, such as fenders, and axle pivots that just make it a poor choice, though the results tend to be better as long as you have enough horsepower in the tow vehicle to turn a 3 axle trailer.
Short trailers have their advantages, but due to reasons such as this, is another reason people buy longer trailers, so they can move the weight around to make it handle better.
David from jax

 

[Verticaltrx]

Looks like that is either a 3/4 or 1-ton truck. My suggestion is load the BX on their as you describe (loader bucket on tongue) and go with it. The trailer probably weighs less than 2,000lbs, and the BX probably weighs what, 3000lbs or so? As long as the tractor fits on the trailer I see no problem with your setup. :thumbsup:

 

[ksejeeper]

Trailer manufacturers are miss leading when it comes to trailers. If you have 3500lbs axles under your trailer that would equal 7k, but your need to subtract the weight of the trailer itself. Lets say your trailer is weighs 2000lbs axle capacity 7000lbs. So 2000-7000= 5000 of weight that you can haul with out hurting your trailer.

 

[radioman]

here are my thoughts:

Is it safe to place the bucket on the tongue essentially hooking the front rail, this would allow the entire tractor with backhoe to fit on the 12' space?

I dont see how this can be safe- there are many who have done it, but I dont condone it. Are you willing to risk putting a dent in your tailgate from bucket at sharp turns?

In the pictures I attached it looks like the load is not balanced, but I think there might just not be enough drop on the hitch. The load on the trailer is probably around a ton, and I did do my best to balance the weight. Would it be beneficial to get a different hitch?

Ideally, you want the trailer to be as level as possible for better handling and stopping. From the pics, yours looks better then most trailers on the road with a steep pitch.

It looks like the safety chains are too long, it seems like they would not catch the tongue before it dug into the road which is what I thought the chains were meant to do. Should they be shortened?

yes it should be, but dont cut them or anything. Just twist the chains the right number of turns until it has right amount of slack when making a sharp turn you won't be pulling on chains but not going to drag on road. I have 16 ft trailer I have to do that with my van, but needs an extension on my blazer.

I want to add brakes to the front axle. Are the brakes in this 10" ELECTRIC TRAILER BRAKES 10 INCH BY 21/4 | eBay ebay auction appropriate?

Dunno- without talking with the trailer manufacturer, or local trailer place for advice or asking diamondpilot member in a pm here.

Finally I am trying to understand all the capacity ratings to determine what I can safely move.

-The trailer is rated for 7000 lbs, the axles are the determining factor.
-The 2 5/16" ball hitch says 6000lbs
-The reciever tag says weight carrying 7500, weight distributing 12000.

What do I have to upgrade to safely, and legally tow a fully loaded trailer?

I see your truck is fully capable of towing trailer with no mods. If you plan to have alot of tongue weight, you can add weight distributing bars and it will help to level trailer from V at tongue/truck to a trailer that is parallel to ground. Your 7500lb rating means you can "pull" 7500lbs with a rated 7500lb ball and drawbar. If you use a correct wieght distrubuting bars and ball and drawbar then you can pull 120000 with THAT hitch. does it mean your truck can pull 12000? dunno, Your door sticker will tell you on your truck. If TBN member diamondpilot was here, he would be looking it up for precise info in that book of his.

As for your ball rating, I think you already know the answer to this one, I'd upgrade it if I were you to be on safe side so you have a cheap piece of mind. you probably were ok for now with 6500 ball since you werent towing that much or encountered a shock load exceeding that rating.

One more thing- your saftey breakaway doesnt look kosher to me. If others agree/disagree let me know. If I were you, I'd add a climbing snap to it and hook onto the bumper of truck. This way, if the hitch falls off, your bumper is still attached and can pull pin for brakes. My blazer as stamped out holes under the bumper for chain hookup when using the bumber as hitch so I use that for breakaway cable.

 

[dstig1]

I'm going to say it looks like you got the wrong trailer. Whichever part you are describing that is rated for 6000 lbs is the limiter. If you just got this new, perhaps you could work a deal with the dealer to swap it out for a trailer that is more appropriate? You want the hitch rated at least the same as the trailer for one, and if you want brakes (which you should) then get the trailer with brakes already on it from the dealer. You really don't want to modify something brand new, when you could just get it the way you want/need it from the dealer.

As for the chains, twist them a few turns to shorten as others noted, and then cross them under the tongue. That way they can cradle the tongue in the event of an emergency. This also allow you to turn without binding up a chain. If they happen to be a bit short for sharp turns and are not crossed, the outside chain can bind up.

 

[Case485Guy]

For the brakes it looks like the ones in the link will fit, just need to confirm matching center hole diameter and the 4 bolt pattern to match from your axle. Most are pretty much standard, but still better to check.
For the bucket on the tongue, got to carefull on the turn radius as mentioned. Another option would be to have rack built higher than the bed of the truck on the front of the trailer( can make it removeable) to rest the bucket on. take into consideration of dips in road, crossing ditches etc that would allow the bucket/rack to hit the top of the bed.Just build rack high enough.
Ditto on watching tail weight, that will get you into trouble fast with swaying etc. Better to have a little tongue weight to squat the truck, than not.
Personally I would not mess with moving the axles, if you cant do it yourself...would be cheaper to sell what you got and buy another one. Plus moving the axles would limit the resale customer down the road, not everyone will want a trailer with axles moved further back.

What brand is the 2-5/16" coupler/hitch? 6000lbs seems light duty for a 2-5/16". If you upgrade I would suggest a bulldog Collar lok Trailer Couplers - Bulldog Products
I have used these on trailers I have built and others that I have modified with no complaints.
Shorten the safety chains and cross them to make the basket if you are not already doing that. If chains drag the road when loaded heavy you can twist them to shorten them up, but you are compromising the chains strength when doing so.

 

[Diamondpilot]

There is more to brakes then what you showed. You need the drums, brake-away, battery, wiring, controller, ect.

Your 6K coupler is the limiting factor at this point.

You really need a longer trailer. This one is just too short to haul a tractor safely.

Chris

 

[Case485Guy]

Here are the specs I found on the bx24

Weight: 1,542 lbs [699 kg]

Length: 95.5 inches [242 cm]

Width: 44.5 inches [113 cm]

Height: 85.4 inches [216 cm]

Ground clearance: 8.7 inches [22 cm]

4WD turn radius: 7.5 feet [2.3 m]



Ths specs came from tractor data and has a pic of the FEL/BH BX24 tractor, if thats the case at 95.5" long and 1,542 lbs....you should have no problem loading this on a 12' trailer and pulling it with your truck in the pics. I would roll the bucket back when loaded it to get it as close to the front of trailer and see how it does.