Towing Capacity of an I-4

Drew W. · Dec 1, 2009

I"ve gotten all of the mechanical and electrical bugs worked out of my I-4 over the summer. I"ve been considering putting it back to work pulling logs out of the woods (I have tons of experience pulling logs, I started when I was 12) and moving my "56 White 9000TD dump truck around the yard since it isn"t running. Before I chain up to something too big, how much can an I-4 pull? I have the rear wheel weights on it and I"m building a triangular tow-bar for the White that will bolt to the truck"s front axle near the spring mounts. The truck weighs around 13,000 lbs.

Thanks for your help,
Drew
Untitled URL Link

ScottyHOMeY · Dec 1, 2009

If the White is rolling, I shouldn't anticipate any problem.

As for twitchin' and skiddin' logs, it will depend as always on tires and the surface you're on. I assume the front end of your logs will be on an arch or something else to keep the nose ends from snubbin' up and flippin' ya?

rustyfarmall · Dec 1, 2009

Most likely you will run out of traction long before you run out of power. The I-4 has the same engine and power train as an H, and I've seen an H move some objects that seemed impossible.

JLE · Dec 1, 2009

Don't know about pullig it, but if you get up any speed, how about stoping???!!!!

rustred · Dec 1, 2009

better use the truck to pull the tractor, as i am reading this to be pulling the 13000 lb. truck with a 5ooo lb. tractor which sounds crasy to me.that tractor wont pull anything on frozen ground without chains. unless your pullin one log at a time. and how big are these logs?

mkirsch · Dec 1, 2009

Over the road haulers frequently pull 60,000lb loads with 20,000lb trucks, and go 75MPH while doing it. I hardly think moving a 13,000lb truck around around a yard in 1st and reverse with a 5000lb tractor is a disaster waiting to happen unless this yard has some pretty rugged hills.

Hopefully the truck has some way of holding itself in place, be that a parking brake or even just throwing it in gear and letting out the clutch. You may want to have someone in the cab ready to throw the parking brake if you're towing this up and down hills. Even better if it has working hydraulic brakes, or air if it has air brakes.

It'll tow a pretty big log. You've got the experience skidding logs with a small tractor, so we really shouldn't have to warn you about the obvious stuff like hitching only to the drawbar and staying on your toes.

Not sure about the convenience of using an industrial/wheatland type tractor for logging. The clutch pedal isn't exactly in a convenient location, and you need to be quick on the clutch.

AndrewFromNS · Dec 1, 2009

(quoted from post at 21:43:01 12/01/09) Over the road haulers frequently pull 60,000lb loads with 20,000lb trucks, and go 75MPH while doing it. I hardly think moving a 13,000lb truck around around a yard in 1st and reverse with a 5000lb tractor is a disaster waiting to happen unless this yard has some pretty rugged hills.

Exactly. Look at railroading...700 tons worth of diesel locomotive can move 7500 tons of freight down the rails at 65mph. I'd be slightly more concerned about hooking onto 13,000 lbs of dead, stationary, non-rolling weight with an I4, but a rolling chassis shouldn't be that bad. Just be ready to stomp the clutch if the truck stops and the tractor tries to keep going.

Drew W. · Dec 1, 2009

That"s what I"ve been thinking about, not the getting going and keeping it going part, but the stopping part and not having the truck run all over me. The truck rolls fine and has a manual lever-actuated parking brake but the pedal for the air service brakes is rusted tight to the floor. Would the I-4"s brakes be able to stop that in combination with idling the engine down?

As for logs, we"ve (Dad, my Grandpaw, and my younger brother) have been pulling logs with a "87 JD 750 and "93 JD 670 utility tractors, sometimes with both tractors on the same log. I"ve had no problem pulling 6 full pine trees that were 8" in diameter at the stump bundled together with a 3/8" chain. I"m curious because Dad and I have been clearing out some land and I believe that the biggest thing back there is a few oaks and beeches that are a little over 18" across. We try not to pull out anything over 16" long just to make turning easier.

rustred · Dec 1, 2009

i took this as moving the truck from one block to the next down bush roads. but ya if its just to idle around and move the truck then thats a diff. story.but i still will stick to the chains on tractor.

Karl Hamson · Dec 1, 2009

Sort of reminds me of a local yarn or perhaps legend. Farmers' tractor had died and he needed it towed to the home yard to fix it. He got his wife to tow him the mile or so down the road. Trouble is the tractor had little or no brakes and the wife thought 30 mph was a reasonable speed. All was fine, if a bit terrifying, until the driveway came up and Mrs. farmer braked hard and made the turn into the driveway. The tractor went straight ahead, ran over the chain, and tore the rear bumper off the pickup.

Janicholson · Dec 1, 2009

If someone will be in the White to steer, and apply the hand brake, I see no issue at all with that idea. It will be fine even in a field. Do not get into hills or soft earth, or it will stay there.
As for logs, a 16" log 15 to 18' long should be no issue. Hitch only to the drawbar, and keep the log hitch close to the small end of the log, with a short chainup (maybe 3 feet) JimN

scot in pa · Dec 3, 2009

You've got logging experience, so I would say, hook to the tree and see what she will do. If she won't do it, shorten the tree.

Having the drawbar set higher with a short chain helps weight transfer. But a lower drawbar with a longer chain helps keep the front end forward.

You want the drawbar and chain length where, if the front end comes up, the chain will be pulling upward on the drawbar before the center of gravity comes up over the rear axle.

Even with the quick hitch drawbar clear up, I would run out of grip before I ran out of power with the 300. I also have that trouble with the SM.

Drew W. · Dec 3, 2009

Thanks for your replies guys. I attached a picture of the hitch that is on my I-4. I prefer to keep about the length of the tractor between the hitch and the log when I'm pulling from the drawbar. When we pull with the JD's, we chain it as close to the 3-pt. hitch as possible so that the end of the log can be picked up and pulled easier.

When I first got it running, Dad and I experimented with it where we're cleaning out by pulling a few pine stumps out (5"-8" across in red clay) and it was running out of traction before the power ran out.

The more I think about it, the less appealing pulling my White with the I-4 sounds. I feel like it will pull it, but I don't want to be pushed well past where I wanted to stop at because the brakes won't stop it. I may end up using the same drawbar bolted to the axle but borrow my brother's 4x4 Dodge 1500 to move it and still have someone pull the parking brake in the White.
What is the proper name for this hitch?

Wardner · Dec 3, 2009

That's a hard to find IH pintle hitch. IH also had another pintle hitch that bolted to a standard drawbar.

That hitch was fitted to some 4, 6, and 9 series Industrials. The four bars are different for each model tractor. I think that pintle assembly was used through the 660 model.

If you intend to replace it with something else, Harold H (who posts here) could use your hitch.

Drew W. · Dec 3, 2009

Thanks Wardner! I've been wondering what it was called. I'm going to keep it on there, my goal is to keep the tractor as close to the original condition that my great-grandfather bought it in back in 1945/46. The upright bar on the left I had to replace do to a crack that had been welded over several times. I still have the original one and I ought to fix it this summer.

My great-grandfather pulled Minneapolis-Moline gas-powered combine, a New Idea single row corn picker and a 2 row bottom plow with it. I also know that he used it in combination with a WW1 era gun caisson to pull logs to his neighbor's sawmill, and ran the sawmill with the I-4. There's a older gentleman at my church that runs his sawmill with a 1950 Farmall M and he said that he could see my tractor running a sawmill, the operator would just have to go easy with larger logs. If you click on the link, there are some pictures of the combine and corn picker in that album too.

I was surprised at how stiff that spring is the first time that it gave a little when Dad and I were pulling those stumps out.
Grandpa and Greatgrandpa on I 4

scot in pa · Dec 4, 2009

I don't worry about the length of the chain with the SM, but with the 15.5 tires the drawbar is pretty low anyhow. I used to hook to the lift arms when dragging anything with the bigger tractors, but I also lowered them to just above drawbar height. It's amazing what you can pull with a 1566 when you raise the lift arms up where the front wheels come off the ground. Maximum traction is actually acheived when the front wheels just come off the ground, all the weight is on the rear tires at that point.

Towing Capacity of an I-4

Drew W.

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ScottyHOMeY

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rustyfarmall

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JLE

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rustred

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mkirsch

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AndrewFromNS

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Drew W.

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rustred

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Karl Hamson

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Janicholson

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scot in pa

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Drew W.

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Wardner

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Drew W.

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scot in pa

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