When does the tail wag the dog?

[gladehound]

So today I towed what was probably the heaviest trailer load I've tried with my lb1914. For those not familiar, the Kioti LB1914 is a 4WD 19 hp tractor (sometimes listed as 20 or 21) that weighs 2300 pounds minimum (no loader, fill, balast etc). Mine operates at a minimum of 4,000 (loader, fill, FOPS, me).

I was actually surprised at how well the tractor handled the trailer which was probably about 10k to 12K pounds with ~1000 pounds of tongue weight. I went from my neighbors flat drive, then 100 yard down a flat road and up my 5% grade loose gravel drive and through some mud in the woods to my wood pile. Since I went to the house first I needed to needed to back down the gravel 5% drive to a fork that goes to the woods and had no problem stopping or starting forward again up the hill. I pulled it through mud and never spun a wheel. Obviously, it was slow going, but other than that seemed very controlled.

So at what point does the tail usually start wagging the dog? I would prefer to hear experiences rather than "rules". But as far as the rules go, I was at a ~1:2 tractor to trailer ratio when you consider the tongue weight actually goes on the tractor wheels.

Here are pictures of the set up.

 

[whistlepig]

Very nice setup. Just be careful on the hills. When things start sliding the thing that is heaviest gets to the bottom of the hill first.

 

[zzvyb6]

The tail wags the dog when the dog gets going above a certain forward speed. You'll never go fast enough with that combo to have it happen unless you get going down a hill and the ground is soft AND you overuse the brakes. Since the brakes are on the rear, always make sure you are in 4WD AND you are in diff-lock to keep the inside wheel from spinning up and the rears from sliding.

The principle problem you face is the heavy tongue load, which lightens up the front wheels. When they get too light, the tail becomes the dog and behaves just like you are backing up. That's when the jack knife occurs. Keep the loader full of stuff, get some front weights or keep the trailer tongue load down. A dual or triaxle trailer is more stable than a single axle trailer in yaw, so I would never expect you to have a problem unless the rear wheels start to slide sideways. If your drawbar has multiple positions, keep the trailer ball as close to the axle as possible without cramping your need for a reasonable tow angle.

I imagine that surge brakes would be ideal for a heavy trailer pulled by a CUT.

 

[tcreeley]

I always figure a cord of wood is 3000+ lb. My pick up does ok with 1/2 a cord in the bed and then the front is lighter than I like. You have a heavy load there!

 

[pat32rf]

What kind of wood is in the trailer? I'd estimate closer to 7,000lbs but still a nice load...

 

[Leejohn]

Where did you get the top at on your tractor?

 

[Markcuda]

 

[whistlepig]

I like this. I suspect this to be an imported dog. My American made dog can obtain a 95 degree wag even on a bad day. 97 degrees with a spoon of peanut butter in his face.

 

[Markcuda]

97 degrees with a spoon of peanut butter in his face.

I would suspect with a 97er, the whole body would be shaking:laughing:

 

[tcreeley]

I thought about it some more so I looked up the weight of a cord of wood and found this site:
Log Cord Weight Calculator

A cord is 8'long by 4'high and 4'wide. Think of the pieces as being unsplit 4' long stacked. Everytimed you take a chainsaw to wood or split it - it seems the cord gets smaller!
I like it to set at least 1.5-2 years before I burn it. I cover the wood with a poly tarp for the rain and snow. I keep a side open 3 of the 4 seasons. All we heat with is wood, here in Maine.Some people cut it during the winter and burn it the next winter. That isn't dry enough for me. If you hear the wood sizzle as moisture is burned out of it - that's wasted energy and less heat for your house (more creosote too). If the wood is too old it loses heat value also. I've been burning 8-10 inch curly maple- heavy, long heat, all coals. We get alot of cherry and oak up here and some ash. Every so often I sneak a piece out of the wood pile for a project- carved a maple gravy ladle one time with a hatchet and a jackknife.