tractor hauling question

Total weight of tractor + trailer just under 7k#. Your total weight with a B will be less.

Works just fine... but gas mileage stinks... not much better than 4 up hills

Remember that pulling a trailer is the easy part.
Stopping and or controlling it in every situation is the hard part.

Find out the weight of your tractor and every thing else you want to haul.
Add this to the trailer weight and make sure you get a trailer with a GVWR to cover this amount.

Now add this loaded trailer weight to your truck weight and make sure your truck has a GCWR to cover this.

I see many many weekend haulers/RVer's going down the road that are pulling a load that is over weight for their vehicle. They say.... I do not drive fast; I only go short distances; ect.... It may go down the road fine for years but God help them if they ever get into that one situation where they need to stop and stop NOW.

It may not happen today or even this year or at all; but if they ever get to a place where say its raining; dark; curve in road; some fool blows a tire in front of them and they need to stop they are going to be in trouble.

Remember the next person you see wearing the state police white sheet on the side of the road may be your family member. Have this in the back of your head when choosing a truck and trailer or allowing someone else to tell you what size truck/trailer you need.

They are common in N. Texas and maybe your area too. I paid $600 for mine lotta years ago but still they would be your most economical choice (I think) and are very reliable.

I made ramps for mine so that I can easily drive my stuff on. I also sometimes haul 3ea 5x6 round bales of hay and that is around a 5000 lb load.

Pulled with 1/2 ton p/u's with no problem. My current 360 Dodge automatic is the best puller I ever had. It can really pull that load and not worry about it.

But..... you need to check on brakes. Some states have funny laws. Mine has no brakes (not required) so the truck has to do the stopping and when you are hauling you need to keep that in mind....drive defensively knowing that in a tight you are going to need extra room to stop....course I don't drive 70 mph either....more like 45 to 50.

HTH.

Mark

The caviot, as mentioned, is the speed. When pulling a loaded trailer I keep her down.

One of my peeves is to see a loaded trailer on the interstate passing me (doing the speed limit), or just running the speed limit, whether the trailer is made for it or not.

And, other than the one trip mentioned, most of my trips are within a 25 mile radius and on farm to market roads.

I forgot to mention that when I pull heavy loads I use my equalizer hitch to keep everything nice and stable and it really keeps her smooth, none of that seesawing. It's rated for 10,000#.

Best,

Mark

Your H is about 4300# wet and the B about 4600# wet so with trailer about 6600lbs GVW. A 7000lb GVWR trailer rating would just barely cover you.

Also that's a big load for your 1/2 ton to handle. If you don't pull the load easy, your maintance cost (repairs) would be very high.

Now that's if your driving easy and no panic stops, load weight is placed correctly. Get into a problem and your maximum load will now try and eat your lunch very quickly.

Suggestion, How about a older 1-ton just to pull the trailer around. Then you could go with a GN flatbed which will pull alot easier vs a bumper pull and if set up correct could haul both tractors at the same time.

T_Bone