PM for a 500 Mile Round Trip

[RobertN]

New plan...

The sister-in-law called today to say that her widest gate into the back yard is 36". My tractor from rubber to rubber is 47" wide. So it looks like I won't be hauling the tractor 500 miles round trip after all.

Since I'm already this far, I'm going to finish the PM on the trailer. Now that I'm not under a deadline I may do more to it.

I've done work for people before with narrow gates. It's pretty easy to take a panel out of a wood fence and put it back neatly.

I did some work for a lady a couple years ago. Only access I could make was with small Bobcat, the one that is only 36" wide. Barely squeezed through, just took it slow through the gate.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've done work for people before with narrow gates. It's pretty easy to take a panel out of a wood fence and put it back neatly.

I did some work for a lady a couple years ago. Only access I could make was with small Bobcat, the one that is only 36" wide. Barely squeezed through, just took it slow through the gate.

We'll be down there this weekend without the tractor. I'll look around at the fences and see if there's a way to get in. If so, I'll probably head back down in the spring.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I went and looked at the yard. She was right...there's no practical way to get the tractor in there. The one side of the house has posts cemented in such that the widest point is 36 inches. The other side of the house has a nice 8 foot span with no gate, but there's a shed built just inside the fence that goes nearly the whole width.

The good news is that I'm back to making progress on the trailer. The wheels are all now split and I spent tonight buffing the dirt and rust off of them and cleaning them off with solvent in prep for primer and paint. I also bought the bolts and shiny lock nuts to put everything back together with.

I've got another deadline now. I've set up appointments with a guy I work with and with my sister to till gardens this Saturday. Total trip this time will probably only be about 100 miles.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here's another trailer question...

Do I need to get the trailer tires balanced after I re-mount them? I noticed that there were no weights on the tires before I took them apart. Is it typical to balance trailer tires?

 

[john_bud]

BOTH axles?!

In CA, over 3000# and brakes are reqd on one axle. This is from the co
that made mine to my specs. I weighed my dually trailer with steel deck
and it weighs about 1500#. I stopped renting trailers cuz too many of
them had crappy tires and non-functioning surge brakes. Uhauls are
built extra-heavy to mitigate the abuse they get. That's bad if you are
weight-limited.

Most state require brakes on all axles after the minimum weight is reached.

I thought CA was one of them, but never looked into it.

Iplayfarmer, Most trailer tires are not balanced. The rig will run smoother if you do balance it, but most are too cheap to do so.
jb

 

[RobJ]

Here's another trailer question...

Do I need to get the trailer tires balanced after I re-mount them? I noticed that there were no weights on the tires before I took them apart. Is it typical to balance trailer tires?

Since I don't mess with car/truck/trailer tires, I do have Discount Tire balance them when Iput tires on there. My little 20" tires on the sled trailer I bought new(tires on rims at Northern tool) I did not get balanced.

Tractor, ATV, Motorcycle I mount myself and they don't need to be balanced.

In your case I probably wouldn't mess with it unless someone else is mounting the tires.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Iplayfarmer, Most trailer tires are not balanced. The rig will run smoother if you do balance it, but most are too cheap to do so.
jb

I figured that was the case since there was nothing on the tire originally. I just didn't want to assume that the guy before me did it the right way.

I've got a buddy who's an EMT with me. He works at the farm Co-Op up the street, and he'll often do tire work for me for the cost of materials. Sounds like it would be worth the cost of materials to balance the tires, but it may not be worth it if I have to pay the labor.

 

[Bird]

A lot of people do not balance trailer tires; I do. Sunday I noticed a trailer behind a pickup going down the Interstate and the left tire on the trailer was really hopping up and down and I'm sure the guy had no idea how far out of balance it was, and he'll probably wonder what caused it to fail or wear out so soon.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I am with Bird and others, balance them. It will cost you about $10 at a discount store to have them balanced and it will tow much better. When I bought my 18' car haul trailer they were not balance and it was terrible to tow empty. With a load it was fine. I had them balance and all is well now.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Most state require brakes on all axles after the minimum weight is reached.

I thought CA was one of them, but never looked into it.

Iplayfarmer, Most trailer tires are not balanced. The rig will run smoother if you do balance it, but most are too cheap to do so.
jb

Here in Indiana all is required is brakes on a trailer in excess of 3,000#. No mention of if it needs them on all axles or not. My car haul trailer only came with brake on one axle. Many of the boats I sell only come with them on one axle if its a 7,000# trailer or less but once over 7,000# we spec them with it on all axles.

Chris