towing

machno · Jan 4, 2014

hi all new to site and looking and presently looking for a tractor to tow my boat can any one tell me what weight I can tow with a iseki sx75 fwa it has a front bucket.thanks in advance seth

Ilikeurtractor · Jan 4, 2014

:welcome: How much you can safely tow depends on a lot of factors. The real concern is normally not if the tractor can move the load, but if it can stop it quickly enough in the conditions you'll be using it in. My personal rule of thumb is not to tow a load more than 2x the weight of the tractor including the trailer weight which is pretty limiting for my small tractors. I have done more before but only for very short distances on level ground where external influences (people, other vehicles, etc.) where known ahead of time. Towing on snow/ice/hilly terrain needs its own evaluation on a per job basis. Incidentally I'm not familiar with an "sx75" - can you post pictures/links/specs?

machno · Jan 4, 2014

Not sure how to post pics on site yet the tractor is a 4 cilinder 75 hp 4wd not sure of the weight of this tractor cant find anything online the wieght rule sounds good tho

284 International · Jan 4, 2014

I don't think you would have any trouble pulling anything with that machine. It weighs at least 8000 pounds unballasted and has locking front and rear differentials. The rear lift is able to pick up almost 7000 pounds. If it is towable on the highway by a medium duty truck or smaller, I imagine that Iseki will pull it out of virtually anything, to include mud, sand, or whatever else you like. It is absurdly overkill for a ski or fishing boat one might pull behind a passenger vehicle. The loader is probably capable of simply lifting a ski boat and trailer out of the water off the end of a dock and setting it wherever you like.

If you are going to be pulling out large sailboats or houseboats from an unimproved ramp, it is probably just the ticket.

machno · Jan 4, 2014

284 International said:
I don't think you would have any trouble pulling anything with that machine. It weighs at least 8000 pounds unballasted and has locking front and rear differentials. The rear lift is able to pick up almost 7000 pounds. If it is towable on the highway by a medium duty truck or smaller, I imagine that Iseki will pull it out of virtually anything, to include mud, sand, or whatever else you like. It is absurdly overkill for a ski or fishing boat one might pull behind a passenger vehicle. The loader is probably capable of simply lifting a ski boat and trailer out of the water off the end of a dock and setting it wherever you like.

If you are going to be pulling out large sailboats or houseboats from an unimproved ramp, it is probably just the ticket.

ok that sounds really good yea the tractor would be really handy around our small acerage as well the boat is pretty large for towing ect, commercial fishing is part off my yearly income the boat is set up to stay out at sea for 4 days or so,cheers

machno · Jan 4, 2014

This tractor has 6374 hours it is a 1992 model is this normal sounds like a lot to me, we usually only get 5000 hrs from an outboard motor.

tractchores · Jan 4, 2014

I tow a 7k lb boat and trailer with a kubota b2920 (29 hp <4,000 lbs) with no issues. You could safely move a VERY big boat with that tractor.

284 International · Jan 5, 2014

machno said:
This tractor has 6374 hours...sounds like a lot to me...

I would suggest this is like saying a commercial vehicle has 250,000 kilometers on it. If you were talking about an actual semi-truck, this isn't particularly significant if proper maintenance has been done. If it has been neglected or abused, then it is probably too high. If it has been taken care of, I wouldn't be surprised if it went another 2000 hours with no issue whatsoever.

If that's the size machine you need, go visit and make sure the engine is as cool as it will get before starting. It should crank to life quickly and smoothly, with little if any blue smoke. It shouldn't blow blue smoke or excessive black smoke. It should not have small droplets of black liquid blown out of the exhaust pipe or around the manifold. You probably know all the basic things already. Good luck, show us some photos!