Trailer advice needed

[MikeD74T]

You may find the brakes are just out of adjustment. Many trailer brakes do not auto adjust. Look for an oval plug on the bottom of the brake backing plate. Lift the tire off the ground, insert a flat screwdriver & turn the star wheel until the shoes rub, back off one turn. You can connect a battery charger to test the magnets.
Before long you'll wonder how you ever got along without the trailer. And you'll never want a trailer without brakes after you see how well they work. Most of the horror stories about trailer sway involve no brakes & the trailer pushing the tow vehicle. Good brakes will put a stop to sway right away.

 

[Builder]

I think his main concern is tongue weight. He has enough power to pull it and once the brakes are fixed, enough to stop it, but most 1/2 tons don't have squat for tongue weight.

I pulled 15 tons with a IH1700 dump with an old 345 V-8. Slow as molasses, but plenty heavy to stop it and hold the tongue weight.

 

[JeremyL]

Wow. I have been away from this forum for over a year. (Been busy on my tractor.) I came back tonight to look for information on hauling my MX5000 on a trailer. And the first message on the general owning/operating thread was this information-rich one. Is this a great forum, or what? Thanks to all. Keep up the good work.

I will need to haul my MX5000 with bush hog from Bowling Green to Louisville, Kentucky (about 100 miles) a couple of times a year. I think I will rent one for that. I'm thinking a 6' X 14' should do it.

 

[wushaw]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Congrats on picking up your L4200 and 16' trailer. I hope you weren't serious about seeing 7K trailers all over Texas running without brakes. Please do yourself a favor and get the brakes fixed on your trailer. Your truck may have good enough brakes to stop it, but it's extra hard to stop your truck when it has another 7K behind it trying to push it through an intersection. )</font>

I see it all the time here in Texas. I'm sure were not the only state that this happens in.

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue"> I see it all the time here in Texas. I'm sure were not the only state that this happens in. </font>
That's right. You see lots and lots of them in Arkansas also.

 

[RobertN]

Most current info is more than 2999lbs requires brakes(at least in Calif).

Remember, you can't go much past 5000lbs on that 7000lb trailer. 7000lbs gross minus the 1600lb(my particular 16' dual axle) weight of the trailer only leaves 5400lbs of payload...

I have seen old trailers without brakes. Most newer stuff HAS to have them per FED and State rules.

I towed my tractor once on a borrowed trailer that had bad brakes. I was doing 55mph when someone cut me off. Even though I was driving a full size 3/4 ton, on clean dry pavement on a straight portion of road, the 1600 or so pounds of trailer with 2300lbs of tractor pushed me around much more than I would have expected. A little Honda Civic cut me off bad; I had left plenty off room, but when they cut me off, there was only a few feet! My anti-lock kicked in big time on my truck as I broke hard. The back of the truck and the trailer started to sway.

I got home, unloaded the tractor, and put the trailer on jack stands. Fixed those brakes right away... Turned out to be a broken wire. My buddy used it that way for a few years /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Turned out to be a 50cent fix.