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Please stop doing this.....

16K views 81 replies 22 participants last post by  Mark Oomkes 
#1 ·
Please purchase the right truck to handle your needs before you kill someone. There is zero excuse for this. ZERO.

If you are towing trailers like this you need 3/4 ton minimum.

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#4 ·
May be the angle of the pic but it looks like the bumper is dropping a bit too.

That's just bad form...yikes!
 
#7 ·
The Engine isn't an issue
It's got plenty to move
It's stopping and control

Technically, if he had a load lever and the right stinger (with a rise on it) he'd be fine really, because the trailer has the brakes that do the stopping.

I'm not so sure there's anything IN that trailer tho.
I think he's pulling the trailer empty with a broken front leaf spring.
Trailer doesn't look right fir actually having a load
 
#12 ·
They should really have:
class 4
some air bags
Load leveling hitch
some weight in the back of the trailer Strapped down

It's really dangerous to drive an articulated pendulum like that....I hope he made it home safely.

This should be a note to us all to check our tongue weight!


BR,

~TW
 
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#15 ·
Define professional.

When I was a kid in this business
Several of the local nurseries in Connecticut could be seen cruising around town with 2 yards or topsoil in the back of an f150.
Or a 2.5" caliper tree in an f150.

Anyone who's a pro knows that's a bad idea.
But these big , high dollar nurseries seemed to only own and use half ton trucks.

I've seen more "pros" do stuff like this.

I'm not saying I've never had an overloaded truck before.
But it was usually at the gravel pit when the dang loader operator drops an extra ton in your truck because he's a d bag
Sorry man, I'm used to loading tri axles!
Try switching machines next time, moron.

I haven't really had that problem since moving to Alaska.
For all our short comings, we seem to have invented gravel pits, mining and DOT cops.
This must be where they all came from or where they all go to retire one or the other, cuz they've got it all figured out.
 
#20 ·
I have a v10 dually so it has served me well pulling trailers and hauling materials. I just need that dump truck at some point. But I'm in the used, very used, market for that so the 1 tons are in the 11k gvwr range and will run out of payload fast.

It's tough though as used trucks like I'm looking for have been worked and/or the owners are out of their mind what they want for them.
 
#21 ·
that setup would be just fine if that hitch wasn't bumper mounted and if he would flip his drop hitch so it's not dropped, needs to come up about 4-6". A frame mounted hitch and that truck could pull that trailer without issue.

I haul some heavy loads and have in the past with steel frame mounted bumper hitches (replacement HD steel rear bumpers). I've done this for park district and farmers, it's not a big deal if you've got your hitch mounted properly. For some reason this hitch here looks like it's on the bumper not actually on the frame. It appears the hitch is pulling the bumper down?
 
#23 ·
that setup would be just fine if that hitch wasn't bumper mounted and if he would flip his drop hitch so it's not dropped, needs to come up about 4-6". A frame mounted hitch and that truck could pull that trailer without issue
I completely disagree. That trailer is empty in the picture. When dump trailers are loaded they become very tongue heavy. That truck has a payload rating of about 1300lbs from my reasearch and it would look the same in the picture even with the right setup but towing a fully loaded trailer. There's not enough a$$ in that rear springs to support that type of load. Please no one quote the 10% tongue load, dump trailers are not evenly balanced camper or mowing trailers.

More research shows an initial~3000lb tow rating with the base engine.That trailer alone could weigh 2000-2500lbs.

I honestly can't believe some are defending the use of this truck in this scenario. Is a 3/4 truck so expensively out of ones reach that this it is so much cheaper to get a lighter duty truck?
 
#22 ·
Most the nurseries here have the GMC Kodiak and Topkick medium duty trucks. That trailer is an accident waiting to happen. That truck is squatting a good 10 inches.
 
#24 · (Edited)
that dump trailer is dinky. I'm betting that's a 5x10 dump trailer, probably weighing around 1800lbs empty. I see half tons pulling way more on a daily basis, and have done so myself without issue. Mulch wouldn't be a problem ever, gravel, yes at some point you'd overload. The problem is, that hitch setup doesn't look like it's frame mounted, something about it does not appear solid. It looks like the hitch is mounted to the bumper, which is probably mounted real poorly to the frame. You could put that trailer behind my f150 inline 6 cylinder and it'd pull that sucker full, all day, without a single problem, course I have a sturdy hitch not some janky thing like what i'm seeing here.

If you think this is bad, you should see a grain cart full of corn running behind a half ton.
 
#29 ·
You could put that trailer behind my f150 inline 6 cylinder and it'd pull that sucker full, all day, without a single problem, course I have a sturdy hitch not some janky thing like what i'm seeing here.
I'm going to need to politely disagree again. I had an inline 6 F150 about 18 years ago that would struggle to pull a ~2000lb popup camper up a hill without significant downshifting. It barely handled a yard of mulch without significant squatting. As a side note I never used that truck for landscaping.

My point is, and always has been, why would you not get a HD pickup for this kind of work? What makes it so difficult to be able to purchase one of these trucks over a half ton?
 
#26 ·
Towing is 25% of the equation, stopping is 75%. Keeping it under control is actually part of the 75% as well.

I've seen far too many wrecks because Joe Bob Homeowner was told his minivan\SUV\compact car can pull a camper trailer. Idiots at the trailer store told him he could...and he could as long as there aren't crosswinds, panic stops, hydroplaning, steep hills, other idiots on the road, etc, etc, etc. I'm a firm believer in having the appropriate tow vehicle, not one that just "can".
 
#32 ·
If the DOT really started cracking down and started checking tongue weights and hitch capacities a LOT of truck/trailers would be fined big time .

I run a weight distribution hitch on my 10K trailer , because its safer , handles better , and when I load my tractor with an extra implement up front my tongue weight is over 800 lbs
 
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