Pulling A Hay Wagon

MikePA · Jun 28, 2002

Do you think that my TC25D could safely pull an unloaded full sized hay wagon? I've never done this before and was concerned about the ability of the brakes on the TC25D to stop the hay wagon.

RobS · Jun 28, 2002

I would think you'd be fine Mike, how much does it weigh? You're probably in hill country aren't you? Pulling on roads or in a field?

I wouldn't hesitate pulling one with my tractor, in fact I'm looking for one for use around the homestead and for giving hay rides in the fall /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MikePA · Jun 28, 2002

Rob, I'm not sure how much it weighs. It's a Pequa (I'm not sure about the spelling), about 20 feet long. I hitched it to my tractor just to move it, but you're correct, I'd be going up and down some hills to get it back to the farmer.

RobS · Jun 28, 2002

I still don't think you'd have a problem with it Mike, but you could always pull it with a car/truck that has a hitch. Just take the ball off and voila, a hole for the hitch pin to pass through. Go slow though, those four wheel wagons are notoriously unstable at speed /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mosey · Jun 28, 2002

I certainly wouldn't hesitate as long as it's not loaded with hay. We used to pull wagons around all the time on the farm where I grew up and used a Farmall A, which weighs about the same as your TC25D. As far as braking goes, leave the tractor in gear and back off on the hydro pedal and engine rpm to let the engine slow you down first, then apply the brakes to come to a complete stop. The hydro drive will stop the wheels with no problem, I've locked them up going down a steep hill with my finish mower on the back, and the mower weights about 650 lbs, and the wagon probably doesn’t weigh much more than that.

EdKing · Jun 28, 2002

You should have no problem pulling the unloaded wagon. You could probably pull it loaded if the area you are moving it isn't too hilly.

cowboydoc · Jun 28, 2002

Even loaded you'd be fine Mike. I mean no you can't go down the road in high gear but use a midrange gear and take your time and you will be fine.

Mosey · Jun 28, 2002

Have fun backing up with it though! That's a trick that takes some practice. We had a hitch on the front of our John Deere B to make it easier.

RichZ · Jun 28, 2002

I was gonna say the same thing, Danny! I've pulled haywagons with both my Ferguson (25 hp) and my Oliver (62 hp) with no problem. But don't ask me to back it up!!!/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif I just can't get the knack of it!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

dullpain · Jun 28, 2002

Sure! Pull it. Pulled a many hay wagon with my old Ford 1900 (30 hp) loaded and empty. Let that compression work for you. Got heap plenty hills around here.

EdKing · Jun 29, 2002

My neighbor uses a little IH 140 to pull the wagon out of the field, as I recall usually with around 80 to 100 bales.

MikePA · Jun 29, 2002

I took the empty hay wagon back to the farmer this morning. I was on the road by 6:15 in order to be traveling when traffic was light. You all were correct, my TC25D had no trouble pulling, or stopping, the hay wagon. I kept the tractor in III and feathered the pedal when going up a hill.

Driving on the berm you get a whole new appreciation for road maintenance, or lack thereof. If truckers think the roads in PA are bad, they ought to try driving on the berm! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Potholes, varying widths of the berm, interesting angles that want to dump you over, peoples garbage cans, guard rails. The hay wagon just fit on the berm at the widest places and was in the travel lane at the narrowest. The trip there and back took about 30 minutes. I have to figure out where to put a mirror! The noise of the engine and the rattling of the hay wagon combined to ensure I could not hear traffic approaching.

RobS · Jun 29, 2002

Glad everything worked out for you Mike. Before I got my trailer I used to drive my tractor on the roads to our property. Only three miles but I made the same observations you did about berm maintenance and noise. I would also be looking for a mirror if I were still doing the road thing.

So, did you feel like a real farmer during your trip? Sounds like you had a good time /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MikePA · Jun 29, 2002

I would also be looking for a mirror if I were still doing the road thing.
After I got back, I thought of this {see attached}. When we bought our GN horse trailer a few years ago, I bought round, stick on mirrors and these. I decided to use the round ones on the mirrors on the truck. We'll see how this one works on the tractor. The black plastic mounting surface is thicker at one end so when it's mounted on a mirror it's angled towards the driver. I mounted the mirror on the FEL support with the thicker end down so it raises the view to the rear. The picture was taken from the driver's seat.

So, did you feel like a real farmer during your trip? 
Kinda. The hay wagon so dwarfed the TC25D the few people who passed probably thought the wagon was self propelled! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Sounds like you had a good time
It was kind of neat, but with a tinge of worry about being on a road with a 55 and a 45 mph speed limit.

webbmeister · Jun 29, 2002

Mirror solution:

Yours is brilliant!

Jim

Bird · Jun 29, 2002

don't ask me to back it up

Backing them up is easy with either a pickup or tractor as long as you just have one of them, but it gets real interesting to try backing two of them hooked together./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

RichZ · Jul 1, 2002

Bird, if Texas wasn't so far away, I'd ask you to give me a course in backing up any kind of a trailer. I'll be baling hay in the next few days with a kicker wagon behind my baler. I'm going to make sure to stay out of any areas where I might have to back up. It would be REAL embarassing to have to get one of my farmer friends to come over to back my rig out of trouble!/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

Bird · Jul 1, 2002

Rich, all it takes is 40-45 years of practice./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

When I was a teenager and my dad owned a service station, I used to have to service some grain haulers (tractor/trailer trucks) and my dad could jackknife one of those rigs around the corner of the building, starting next to the building on one side and stopping right next to the building on the other, when I needed 10 acres to back one of those things; very frustrating, but I was determined to learn to do it, and did.

And when I worked for the post office, we had some mail handlers who operated those little electric tractors towing trains of 4-wheeled wagons (remember the old wagons they used to use to pull up alongside the train to load and unload the mail?). We had some guys who could back 3 of those trailers at once; always seemed to be a physical impossibility (and still would be for me) and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it so many times. Two is my limit, and even then I need plenty of room./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ozarker · Jul 1, 2002

Teaching people to back trailers is something I use to do and it really isn't very hard at all. The biggest mistake most people do is turn too far, too late, and they try to push the trailer where they want it to be.

Yea Yea, I know, the vehicle IS pushing the trailer. But quit thinking that way. Use small turns if the steering wheel, aim the trailer where you want it to be, then follow it there with the pushing vehicle.

When you are going forward the trailer is following you. When you are going backward, you are following the trailer. Remember that and you will quickly teach yourself how to back your trailer. It won't go where you want it to go. I will only go where you aim it to go.