Why don't trailers have tongue casters?

[RayCo]

I've wondered this before, so now I'll ask. Is there some usability reason that no trailers have casters up front (perhaps a single one on the tow bar/tongue/term of choice) to help keep tongue weight off the tow vehicle? What reminded me of this was this trailer that I came across. (Attached image)

I have the desire for a dump trailer (small one) and a trailer big enough to haul my tractor. This could serve both purposes, but the tongue weight would be very high with my tractor on it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Have you ever ran with a shopping cart? That caster would go crazy. Bottom line is you need a truck or SUV properly sized to handle the trailer its to tow. The only "crutch" is a Weight Distribution Hitch. Air Bags and Overload Springs are a Band-Aid for too small of a tow vehicle or a improperly loaded trailer.

Chris

 

[beppington]

Have you ever ran with a shopping cart?

What did you steal???!! :laughing:

 

[rus_geek]

Trailer Toad, Tow Buddy, Easy Tow, Tuff Tow

All quick items I came across on Google that should give you some ideas. I've never tried any of these, and some/most look to be geared towards the RV market.

-rus-

 

[Diamondpilot]

What did you steal???!! :laughing:

The cart itself!:laughing:

Chris

 

[Renze]

The tongue casters would not make any difference in sway vs. a normal overloaded trailer. Turntable steered trailers work very well, especially with high center of gravity loads. At my former employer we used to make them, they ride like a charm and need half the tow vehicle weight, for an equally stable ride.

I've never seen them on your side of the Big Pond..

 

[Egon]

Usually steered trailers resemble wagons.

 

[woodsmith]

The nearest I've seen to what you are describing is with a specticle lift on a small recovery truck back in the late 80's. To save overloading the truck's rear axle towing a large car the lift arm had a big caster wheel under it.

The other thing has been heavy haulage semitrailer used with a dolly.

I did once almost have a castor wheel on the drawbar of my trailer. I forgot to wind up the landing wheel when I set off. It is amazing how difficult it is trying to remove a bent landing leg and wheel at the road side.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have no affiliation and no idea if this is what you have in mind but check it out.

 

[RayCo]

Interesting stuff here.

 

[Egon]

Yup, that surely do look like a wagon!

 

[silver791]

They don't have a castor there because the proper way to tow for your aplication is to put the weight over the axels.

 

[Bedlam]

Interesting caster site there. I wonder, I See the safety chains go to the dolly, Id think the Dolley would also have chains to the truck frame.I assume its all 'approved' etc but I would sure feel safer with more chains to the frame.The concept looks interesting .

 

[some zilch]

any of those products are just a band-aid for an undersized/underequipped tow vehicle. you can buy older 3/4 and 1 ton trucks cheap, and pull your tractor around saftely without issue.

the large trucks using the converter (like the model pictured) are used for several purposes. the dolly-called a "jeep"- is to spread the weight of the load over more axles and tires as to not over load them. it also takes some load off the truck, so the truck is not carrying so much of the load, just pulling it. some of these loads would be wayyyyyy too much for the trucks drive axles to take that weight alone. the jeeps also give it an extra pivot when steering, making going around corners easier. what these guys do should usually not be carried over into the "consumer" trailer area.

 

[Reg]

Would it become a tricycle wagon ?
I think the tongue would need to be jointed, or the tongue caster would leave the ground and come back down from time to time.

At first glance I would guess UNSTABLE, but done right I suppose it could work.
"Done right" requires some engineering (or at least some "design") and that doesn't seem to happen in the small/light utility trailer building world.

 

[The Haymaker]

So last week on my customs brokers' dock, he has this thing that looked a little like a converter dolly for a big truck. It had small tires, like a lawn trailer type tire that took 90 psi. They were about 2' apart. It had a bearing on top made from an axle hub. Safety chains, but no visible hook, on the front and a channel on the back that looked like it was meant to adjust the height of a hitch. Came from an RV place but the packing slip gave no information because it was scrawled in an illegible hand.

What was it?

 

[aczlan]

What was it?

A boondoggle meant to separate a customer from their money? Sounds interesting whatever it was.

Aaron Z

 

[The Haymaker]

A boondoggle meant to separate a customer from their money? Sounds interesting whatever it was.

Aaron Z

I sent a cell pic, that I regretfully deleted, to a pal in MI who has his "Testosterone License" as he calls it, to haul a set of doubles with a pickup truck and did not get a reply. Leave it to a GM engineer to not have an answer.

 

[RayCo]

any of those products are just a band-aid for an undersized/underequipped tow vehicle. you can buy older 3/4 and 1 ton trucks cheap, and pull your tractor around saftely without issue.

Not necessarily. If you look at the trailer that I posted a picture of, you can see that'd put much tongue weight on any truck. If you have a truck truck that can haul even just 8,000 pounds with a 1,000 pound tongue weight limit, even a little Kubota BX on that trailer would exceed the tongue weight, but still be well within the towing capacity of the truck.

 

[Bedlam]

Very cool front attachment in your picture/I wouldn't mind painting th house sitting in that lol