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secrets on how to make a 4wheel running gear tow well

T

tomNE

Member
about 25mph is all the faster i can tow my gravity box down the road, loaded or emty! thru the years, i've had trailers you could tow 55 and some not even 20. anyone got any secrets?
 
Get rid of all the slack in the steering, from the hitch to the pivot to the tie rod ends. Any slack will let the running gear start to wander which will only get worse as you pick up speed.
 
On the type with pins I've drilled them out ober size and added brass bushings to keep them tight. Also
make sure there is enough toe in.
 
Some just inherently sway. I think it comes from poor steering geometry design. John Deere and certain westerndorf gears never sway even if they are worn. Electric, Minnesota, J&M ect always sway even when new.
 
Have you checked pre-load on wheel bearings,for wear on all suspension and steering parts? If there is no slack and everything is tight,check tow-in,caster and camber. Too much caster will make a trailer sway and swerve like a drunk on a tightrope. Be very through in checking for wear at center pedistal if that's how your steering is built. Some pedistals can be assembled so that front and rear are reversed. That will cause too much built-in caster when foward pressure is applied as while towing. A warped wheel will sometimes start a borderline worn suspemsion osolating.
 
Maybe he is in a state that allows faster travel. In Minnesota you must have the slow moving vehicle emblem displayed if the normal speed is under 25 but you don't have to remove it if going faster. For instance, the 4 wheel running gear is designed to be pulled by a tractor and as such would be expected to be under 25mph but can be pulled by a pickup at a faster speed. Your state may have different rules.
 
yep, X 2 that.its all in how the steering is built in them. i have j. d. wagon and can pull it at the speed limit. any other ones just run allover the road at less than 15 mph behind a tractor.
 
(quoted from post at 12:14:49 10/25/15) Maybe he is in a state that allows faster travel. In Minnesota you must have the slow moving vehicle emblem displayed if the normal speed is under 25 but you don't have to remove it if going faster. For instance, the 4 wheel running gear is designed to be pulled by a tractor and as such would be expected to be under 25mph but can be pulled by a pickup at a faster speed. Your state may have different rules.
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If above the 25mph limit. The wagon becomes a trailer that must be highway legal with lights , brakes and license plates .
 
Not all Electric gears sway. Dad bought a new 8-ton Electric gear and 150 bushel flare box back in 1966 at the Oliver dealer 40 miles from home and towed it home 50-55 mph, no sway. Could have towed it faster but the old 261 Chevy 6 in the pickup was doing all it could.
 
Dad had an MN gear that would tow fine at 45 MPH. All it took was making sure the toe in was correct.

Rick
 
Helps having a gear with tie rod ends, not sure of all brands but EZ Trail and JD always trailed well if maintained!
 
"Have you checked pre-load on wheel bearings"

Since when do we "pre-load" wheel bearings of that type???

.001" to .003" of FREEPLAY would be the industry norm!
 
There are good suggestons here about toe in and tightening up looseness , also tire pressure can make a wagon sway and different size tires..all should be the same size tire and all the same pressure per SI.
 
What book are you looking in? All tapered roller wheel bearings that I am aware of are supposed to have a small amount of pre-load when cold.
 
Saw a average sized gravity box wagon loaded with corn pushing a jeep cj5 all over the lane at 15 mph one morning. I could hardly wait to get around it as I did not want to be around if it dumped. I supposed that jeep had power and traction to get it up out of the field....but....
Leo
 
X3 on steering geometry. My Westendorf 12 ton gears don't trail as well as the Killbros gears. However, the Westendorf gears are more nimble in tight places because the Westendorf steering geometry is faster. When I am backing a Killbros gear it seemingly takes forever for the wagon to react when I turn the tongue, but the Killbros will trail right down the road nice and straight. Killbros does have ball joint tie rods which helps a lot.

The steering parts in wagon gears are usually abused at sometime or other. Backing a wagon and cranking the tongue around when the wagon is sunk down in soft ground is bound to bend and stretch things a bit and that is all it takes to make it trail funny. How many of us have been in a soft field where we were unable to start a wagon rolling with the tractor so we back up a bit to try to get a run for it. When we back up the tractor spins it's wheels and goes a little sideways. There goes the alignment in the Wagon! I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
 
We had to pull 2 self unloading wagons about 125 miles. Just pulling them up to the main road to hook them together I could see they wanted to sway back and forth. I told the driver he would have to stay off the Interstate and use the state rt. I went back to the farm and loaded the 1 ton roll back and took off after a while I came onto the driver with the big roll back going about 60 MPH I about had a heart attack. The wagons were not wobbling all over the road. They were pulling just straight. Down the road we stopped in a pull off and I seen what the driver had done. He took a chain and hooked it to the right side of the front axel and up to the hitch and made a loop through the hitch and back to the left side of the axel and put a chain tightener in the chain so now the hitch couldn't steer but would slide the tires a little going around a corner. Did the same thing with the back wagon and went down the road at road speeds. Wouldn't try it loaded but empty after that we pulled a lot of wagons that way.
 
once in a while I will pull two 250 bu wagons to town behind my pick-up at 15-20 mph then bring them home about 40 mph because they tow good
 
(quoted from post at 08:47:04 10/25/15)
Why are you towing farm wagons with slow moving vehicle signs above legal limit of 25mph ?
Click to expand...

I expect for the same reason that you drive 35 in a thirty zone.
 
(quoted from post at 12:14:49 10/25/15) Maybe he is in a state that allows faster travel. In Minnesota you must have the slow moving vehicle emblem displayed if the normal speed is under 25 but you don't have to remove it if going faster. For instance, the 4 wheel running gear is designed to be pulled by a tractor and as such would be expected to be under 25mph but can be pulled by a pickup at a faster speed. Your state may have different rules.
Click to expand...

Around here anything on a road traveling 25MPH plus with a SMV sign will make a whole bunch of lights flash behind your rig.
 
this has worked for me sincei was in hi school 40 yrs ago ...shim up the tongue slack play with a wood shingle and duct tape it to the tongue to hold in place ,,
 
I was just showed that idea for towing empty gravity wagons. We used a rachet strap instead of a chain and it worked great. I went from 15 mph all over the road to 50 mph and strait behind the truck. Tom
 
(quoted from post at 13:33:38 10/26/15) I was just showed that idea for towing empty gravity wagons. We used a rachet strap instead of a chain and it worked great. I went from 15 mph all over the road to 50 mph and strait behind the truck. Tom
Click to expand...

thanks for the ideas! hope i don't cause anyone to lose any sleep or the speed i tow a wagon! i had forgotten about the tow-in.
 
(quoted from post at 21:18:13 10/25/15)
(quoted from post at 12:14:49 10/25/15) Maybe he is in a state that allows faster travel. In Minnesota you must have the slow moving vehicle emblem displayed if the normal speed is under 25 but you don't have to remove it if going faster. For instance, the 4 wheel running gear is designed to be pulled by a tractor and as such would be expected to be under 25mph but can be pulled by a pickup at a faster speed. Your state may have different rules.
Click to expand...

Around here anything on a road traveling 25MPH plus with a SMV sign will make a whole bunch of lights flash behind your rig.
Click to expand...

Not everybody lives "around here"....
 
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