Question about trailering a LS R4041

[bgordon77]

Is a 1/2 ton chevy enough truck to pull an LS R4041 with FEL, rotary cutter and box blade?

 

[GManBart]

Is a 1/2 ton chevy enough truck to pull an LS R4041 with FEL, rotary cutter and box blade?

No way of knowing without the exact year, engine, tranny, rear, etc details, along with the specs of your hitch, and trailer.

 

[Short Game]

...or the hills you intend to go up. My 305 automatic Chevy van worked okay until I came to the dirt road up the hill that it couldn't pull. That wasn't fun, what with a cliff on one side and a ditch on the other. Fortunately, all that happened was I was scared poopless and had a hard and tricky job of unloading the tractor from the trailer in the ditch, once I had slid backwards into it. I then ran the hill with the empty trailer and drove the tractor up the hill and reloaded it. I then bought an F350 before attempting such exploits again.

I was very lucky that nobody else came around the blind curve the other way in all that time. I never even saw anyone else while I was sorting it out. The ditch was across the road and the van was in the oncoming lane. Better than the cliff that went down a 700% grade and into the Columbia River about 150 feet below.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't know about your truck or trailer for that matter. I have pulled my 20 foot 12K rated car hauler trailer with my P 7010C with FEL (about 9,500 pound of tractor and 2800 pounds of trailer with my 1500 Chevy Z71 with 5.3L engine and 4 speed automatic without a problem even at 70 MPH interstate speeds while getting 10 MPG fuel economy (or lack of economy ) I am able to balance the weight with the 20 foot trailer so I don't overload the tongue weight which to me is the biggest obstacle. You should have no problem with the R4041 other than experimenting on how to load it so you don't get more tongue weight than your hitch allows. I don't think you can do what you want to load on less than a 20 foot trailer.

 

[bgordon77]

Thanks,

That is what I was talking about although I didn't do a very good job explaining it. I am more concerned with the tongue weight and the affect on the suspension. I have a 2011 2 wheel drive Silverado Crew cab with the 5.7l engine

 

[Gary Fowler]

Thanks,

That is what I was talking about although I didn't do a very good job explaining it. I am more concerned with the tongue weight and the affect on the suspension. I have a 2011 2 wheel drive Silverado Crew cab with the 5.7l engine

You may need to put on a load equalizer hitch to handle a little more tongue weight. I think you are going to have to put the boxblade on the very front of the trailer, then put the bush hog on the tractor and back it on to the 20 foot trailer. You may have to let the FEL stick over the back a bit but you should be able to balance it that way. The other way might be to put the boxblade in your FEL bucket and chain it up, then back the tractor up with the bushhog on it till you start to squat the truck springs. That is how I watch my tongue load. I don't want it to be coon hunting with the lights pointed at the sky but you need enough load to prevent swaying.
With my tractor, I can load it without overloading the tongue, but when I hauled 10 bales of hay on it and had hay from front to back (8bales on bottom and 2 on top on the back half of the trailer, it for sure overloaded my hitch because the truck was really squatting in the back. I have to look into a load equalizing hitch for just those occasions.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Oh and don't get a trailer with fold over ramps, you loose about 3-4 feet of space to fold them over. I don't like the fold up (stick up in the air at 90 degrees) either as they create wind drag even when empty. I prefer the slide in from the rear type with good heavy angle iron construction. When you aren't using them, they stay neatly stored out of the way. You will need some blocking or jack stands under the rear of the trailer to keep from kicking your truck up in the air when loading. I can load my tractor without blocks if it is flat ground or if the truck it facing uphill but with a bit of slope, it will take off down the hill when you get the front wheels up on the trailer so then you either have to back off or quickly get the rears up on the ramp to stop it from sliding down the hill. Best (safest) is with jacks under the back end. I have some automotive jack stands now but have been contemplating putting 2 of those fold up jacks (one on each corner) like is on the front of a lot of utility trailers which I think would work very well but would need heavy duty ones.
Here is a picture of my truck/trailer/ tractor on my 20 foot trailer. As you can see when balanced, it has a bit of room in front probably enough for a boxblade but on the rear if I had on a bushhog it would have to hang over the tail end. I think I would have to back on with the bushhog high in the air to clear the box blade and let it set on top of the box on the boxblade and then I could balance the load ok and still haul all the equipment that you mentioned.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Another thing with the trailer, don't get one with used passenger tires like the utility trailers. You need at least 5K(mine is 6K) rated axles with brakes on both axles and load range E trailer tires to be safe. The utility trailers with their 3500# rating is pushing the envelope and most of them only have either no brakes or one axle brakes. It was only $150 more to add brakes on the second axle when they were fabricating it. I got my trailer from Trout Trailers in Conroe for $3150 which was the cheapest place I found for a quality trailer. It even came with a spare tire, all 16" load range E tires. Note the heavy duty jack stand in the front, it is spring loaded and the foot adjusts up or down so you don't have to crank for 10 minutes to raise and lower it, just take the weight off and pull the pin and it pops up.

 

[bgordon77]

Thanks Gary that is great information.

 

[TSO]

Yeah, that truck should be able to pull the tractor with no problems... Pulling is one thing, but handling is another. My old (04) Sequoia has a 4.7L v8 with only around 240hp/315tq ... and weighs around 5200lbs, which is close to what your truck weighs I would guess. Mine can move it along, but is definitely being worked hard when I'm accelerating up hill on "on ramps" trying to get up to speed. But when you add the weight of the tractor (with loader, mower, etc) you're well over 5000lbs, and my trailer weighs 1500lbs, so that's alot of weight for any 1/2 ton in truth, especially mine. Then again, my SUV isn't really designed for heavy towing, and I'm sure your truck will handle it better. Make sure you have trailer brakes though, as that much weight can really move your truck around at speed.

And speaking of the trailer... the trailer I use (pictured) is not made to handle a load like this. Yeah, it's dual axles are rated at 3500lbs each (and at least has brakes on both) but like Gary says, it's not a car-hauler and the Angle-Iron construction might bend with too much abuse. I never intended to have a tractor this big when I bought the trailer, so shame-on-me for not buying a heavier-duty one at the time. Probably next year... I will only use this trailer with the tractor for "must-use" applications in the meantime.

16' Utility trailer, rated for 7000lbs total (minus 1500 of trailer weight) so max weight on top is 5500lbs.

 

[Guesseral]

I haul my tractor on a 12K trailer and pull it with an 05 Dodge 2500 Hemi, my towing capasity is only 8500lbs and the newer 1/2 ton trucks have larger towing capasity than my older 3/4 ton. The real problem is with breaking on the truck even with trailer breaks. I know the Dodge trucks with a Hemi 1/2 or 3/4 ton and the Diesel 3/4 all have front and rear (really large) disk breaks, not sure about the other manufactures I really don't look. I think you have enough truck but I don't know what your truck is rated to tow or what size breakes you have.

 

[bgordon77]

Thanks guys. Y'all have been very helpful. I'm picking up my R4041 Friday. One thing I know for sure, I'm adding brakes to the trailer.

 

[TSO]

I haul my tractor on a 12K trailer and pull it with an 05 Dodge 2500 Hemi, my towing capasity is only 8500lbs and the newer 1/2 ton trucks have larger towing capasity than my older 3/4 ton. The real problem is with breaking on the truck even with trailer breaks. I know the Dodge trucks with a Hemi 1/2 or 3/4 ton and the Diesel 3/4 all have front and rear (really large) disk breaks, not sure about the other manufactures I really don't look. I think you have enough truck but I don't know what your truck is rated to tow or what size breakes you have.

Agreed. My 2010 Tundra (5.7L 381hp/401ya) had the best drivetrain I've ever had in a gas truck, and was rated to pull almost 11000lbs. It had the "largest brakes in the class" according to the marketing, but I don't know if that was true.

However, I don't think and half ton has any business moving that much weight, especially at highway speeds . You might be able to pull it, but handling & stopping is more of a concern.

But again, your truck should handle it fine, just drive cautiously. If you don't already have one, trail()888er brake controllers can be purchased for less than $100, and usually have an available plug & play harness that won't require splicing if your truck is pre-wired with the harness.

 

[kevin37b]

Fowler you are the best .

 

[Gary Fowler]

When I am trailering my tractor, I set the electric brake controller to apply the trailer brakes fairly strong but not enough to lock up the tires. I can stop tractor/trailer/truck just about as fast as I can stop the truck/trailer when empty. Those dual axle brakes are great and I don't need to use the truck brakes heavily to stop.

 

[BigMoB]

I towed my new R4041H home today on a 16ft dual axle trailer with electric brakes using my Honda Ridgeline pickup (v6 - 255 hp). I limited my speed to no more than 60 MPH for safety reasons, but it had no trouble pulling the trailer for over 100 miles through the central Texas hill country from Austin to Gatesville.

 

[TSO]

I towed my new R4041H home today on a 16ft dual axle trailer with electric brakes using my Honda Ridgeline pickup (v6 - 255 hp). I limited my speed to no more than 60 MPH for safety reasons, but it had no trouble pulling the trailer for over 100 miles through the central Texas hill country from Austin to Gatesville.

Nice. Isn't the tow Max on that around 5000lbs?

 

[GManBart]

Nice. Isn't the tow Max on that around 5000lbs?

It is...and a 4041 with loader, and bucket is over 5k without the trailer

 

[BigMoB]

The maximum towing limit for the Ridgeline is 5000 lbs, but since I had brakes on the trailer it had no trouble stopping the load. I figured that I was prettly close to 5000 lbs with the loader and tractor combined. It would have been easier with a 3/4 ton pickup, but I got the job done anyway.

 

[GManBart]

The maximum towing limit for the Ridgeline is 5000 lbs, but since I had brakes on the trailer it had no trouble stopping the load. I figured that I was prettly close to 5000 lbs with the loader and tractor combined. It would have been easier with a 3/4 ton pickup, but I got the job done anyway.

A 4041 with loader, and bucket is over 5,000, plus you have a canopy....probably 5,300 minimum, then another 1,500+ for the trailer. So, you were only about a ton over the listed max....brakes, or not.

You did it, but that doesn't really make it safe. Judging from the squat on the rear of the Ridgeline, it's pretty obviously overloaded.