I have a Kubota L3800 HST and a Ford F150 truck. I'm wanting to buy a trailer for my tractor and don't know what sort of trailer to buy. 16 or 18ft? 10k or 7k? Help me out. Also will my truck with the Triton V8 motor pull it ok?
Kubota L3800 trailer
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LD1
Epic Contributor
What attachments do you plan on hauling at the same time as the tractor? Does it have a FEL?
My L3400 which is the same frame, with a 5' bushhog and front loader on is every bit of 20' long. Wont fit well on either trailer you mention, and with a half ton, load placement is more critical, which you would be really limited on.
You didnt mention the year of the truck, makes a heck of a difference. Is it a 1990's, or a modern truck?
Only way I'd consider anything less than a 20' would be if you didnt have a front loader.
As to 7k vs 10k....7k "could" be close on weight. My tractor (again, same frame/base weight) can weigh ~5200-5300 pounds with the loader, bushhog, and loaded tires. A 7k trailer, depending on its empty weight, may get overloaded.
But I dont know your truck, or your tractor setup, and how you plan on towing it.
Also, what part of ohio? South east hills or north west flats?
My L3400 which is the same frame, with a 5' bushhog and front loader on is every bit of 20' long. Wont fit well on either trailer you mention, and with a half ton, load placement is more critical, which you would be really limited on.
You didnt mention the year of the truck, makes a heck of a difference. Is it a 1990's, or a modern truck?
Only way I'd consider anything less than a 20' would be if you didnt have a front loader.
As to 7k vs 10k....7k "could" be close on weight. My tractor (again, same frame/base weight) can weigh ~5200-5300 pounds with the loader, bushhog, and loaded tires. A 7k trailer, depending on its empty weight, may get overloaded.
But I dont know your truck, or your tractor setup, and how you plan on towing it.
Also, what part of ohio? South east hills or north west flats?
Dingo1
New member
All good info. You can do 7000 lb if you use 6.4 wide instead of 6.10. Electric brakes on one axle.
sea2summit
Super Member
My MX fits an 18' with a BH...when I take off the loader bucket and put it under the BH.
18' minimum but 20 would do a lot better for you. If it's a single cab half ton I think you'd be over weight for the truck. What's the manual say?
18' minimum but 20 would do a lot better for you. If it's a single cab half ton I think you'd be over weight for the truck. What's the manual say?
Fallon
Super Member
My Tacoma & heavy 16' 14k tilting deck trailer maxed out my Tacoma (6.5k lbs rated tow). I ended up getting a beater F250 farm truck for several reasons, including towing.
My 16' trailer is noticeably to short for my tractor (although weight wise I could fit 3 of em on). The only saving grace is the really long tongue on it. I can easily hang the loader way off the deck on the tongue. You want a longer trailer for balance too. You need 10-15% of the trailer weight on the hitch. No more, no less or you have issues with sway or your trucks suspension. So you need to be able to move the tractor & implements forward & back to balance things properly. I've lucked out with mine balancing properly as I have minimal if any room to adjust.
If/when I replace my tilting deck it will be with a minimum of a 20' tilting deck, probably 22'.
My 16' trailer is noticeably to short for my tractor (although weight wise I could fit 3 of em on). The only saving grace is the really long tongue on it. I can easily hang the loader way off the deck on the tongue. You want a longer trailer for balance too. You need 10-15% of the trailer weight on the hitch. No more, no less or you have issues with sway or your trucks suspension. So you need to be able to move the tractor & implements forward & back to balance things properly. I've lucked out with mine balancing properly as I have minimal if any room to adjust.
If/when I replace my tilting deck it will be with a minimum of a 20' tilting deck, probably 22'.
Fallon
Super Member
Here are some photos of the first test load I did with my tractor. As you can see, the relatively short back blade is almost hanging off the trailer, my rotary cutter definitely does.
I LOVE my tilting deck trailer, but they are noticeably more expensive (If you don't get a killer deal at an auction like I did). I have to drive up a 4-5 degree slope as opposed to 15-20 degree ramps. As the pivot for the deck is perfectly between the axles I just have to drive forward until the deck tilts forward, then go forward a couple more inches to get my 10-15% & I have a perfect balance without weighing tongue weight.
Trailers pretty much come with 3.5 or 7k lbs rated axles. My 14k trailer rides like a tank behind my Tacoma, better behind the F250. Figure 2k lbs for the trailer itself would leave you with about 5k for payload. My L3200 with loaded R4s & a loader clocks in at a little over 3.5k lbs, so you should be fine for tractor + a couple impliments on a lighter cheaper 7k lbs rated trailer.
Things to wory about on your tow vehicle in order of priority:
Braking
Suspension
Power
Make sure you can stop things (brake controller in the truck & working brakes on both trailer axles).
Make sure the truck is heavy enough & has enough suspension to keep things under control.
Then finally worry if you can pull the thing at appropriate speed only if the other factors are met.
My Tacoma & the setup in the photo meets all those requirements, but is at the limit where I'm comfortable & I don't like beating up my equipment pushing it to the limit (Hence the beater F250). Brakes & brake controller worked, but they were working hard to stop things, back end of the Tacoma was dragging a bit & I had to flog the engine to get up to speed. The 6.5k lbs rating is pretty much spot on for my Tacoma.
A F150 is a beefier truck than my Taco, so you should be fine. I only have the V8 in the 2005 F250 too & it does fine here in Colorado where we have no oxygen. It's not a speed demon, but it gets the job done.
Somebody else mentioned brakes on 1 axle. Personally I'd never do this unless it was a single axle trailer (which is not appropriate for a tractor). Brakes on both axles are required here in Colorado & most states I believe. I'm a firm believer that stopping is MUCH more important than going.
I LOVE my tilting deck trailer, but they are noticeably more expensive (If you don't get a killer deal at an auction like I did). I have to drive up a 4-5 degree slope as opposed to 15-20 degree ramps. As the pivot for the deck is perfectly between the axles I just have to drive forward until the deck tilts forward, then go forward a couple more inches to get my 10-15% & I have a perfect balance without weighing tongue weight.
Trailers pretty much come with 3.5 or 7k lbs rated axles. My 14k trailer rides like a tank behind my Tacoma, better behind the F250. Figure 2k lbs for the trailer itself would leave you with about 5k for payload. My L3200 with loaded R4s & a loader clocks in at a little over 3.5k lbs, so you should be fine for tractor + a couple impliments on a lighter cheaper 7k lbs rated trailer.
Things to wory about on your tow vehicle in order of priority:
Braking
Suspension
Power
Make sure you can stop things (brake controller in the truck & working brakes on both trailer axles).
Make sure the truck is heavy enough & has enough suspension to keep things under control.
Then finally worry if you can pull the thing at appropriate speed only if the other factors are met.
My Tacoma & the setup in the photo meets all those requirements, but is at the limit where I'm comfortable & I don't like beating up my equipment pushing it to the limit (Hence the beater F250). Brakes & brake controller worked, but they were working hard to stop things, back end of the Tacoma was dragging a bit & I had to flog the engine to get up to speed. The 6.5k lbs rating is pretty much spot on for my Tacoma.
A F150 is a beefier truck than my Taco, so you should be fine. I only have the V8 in the 2005 F250 too & it does fine here in Colorado where we have no oxygen. It's not a speed demon, but it gets the job done.
Somebody else mentioned brakes on 1 axle. Personally I'd never do this unless it was a single axle trailer (which is not appropriate for a tractor). Brakes on both axles are required here in Colorado & most states I believe. I'm a firm believer that stopping is MUCH more important than going.
stoyan79
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This is what I bought, and I am very happy with it. Tilt bed makes loading easy. Steel bed is very strong. Got it for about $4K (demo unit, few years ago) directly from manufacturer in Elkhart, IN, no middle man. LED lights, whole trailer is powder coated, spare and tool storage under deck, super, super nice. I got gravity tilt, for extra money they have power tilt with remote.
Open Car Trailers - Towable Car Haulers - JB Enterprises
Open Car Trailers - Towable Car Haulers - JB Enterprises
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wcampbell47
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I have a mechanical tilt bed 18' trailer with two 3500 lb axles built for my B3200. It handles that tractor well even with a 5 foot rear implement. For my L3901 I went to a 20 foot goose neck. With FEL and a 5 foot implement there is little room to spare. FEL and rear implement rest of the deck of the trailer when transporting. The gooseneck has two 5200 lb axles with brakes on both. Much easier to stop than the 18 footer. Personally I would rather have a bit more trailer than required than always being at the max with a lesser trailer.
Fallon
Super Member
Looks like a nice trailer & $4k for a nearly new tilting deck is great. How long is the deck?
tractorshopper
Veteran Member
I had the L3800 with FEL and a 16' trailer. Certainly not ideal. You want enough weight on the front that you have proper tongue weight to tow without jackknifing. My loader would sit out on the long tongue as someone else mentioned and I could barely get the ramps up with a bush hog on it. With a box blade it was tight, but worked. I'd recommend a 20'. 16 is doable, but not ideal at all. If I had known that when I bought it, I would have got the 20' and been done with it.
Your truck should tow this just fine. I have the 5.4 Triton in a 2006 supercrew 5.5' bed. Make sure trailer has brakes on one axle and put a brake box in your truck. That's the biggest thing with towing. Truck will handle it fine, but braking is where the truck alone falls short. 7k lb trailer is fine. I pulled mine across a scale with loader/tooth bar/full tank of fuel in tractor, full tank of gas in truck/camper top on truck/550# box blade and trailer weight/tool box on trailer tongue with tools and chains/binders/etc/filled rear wheels in tractor, etc. Total gross weight of all of it was 12,850#.
Your truck should tow this just fine. I have the 5.4 Triton in a 2006 supercrew 5.5' bed. Make sure trailer has brakes on one axle and put a brake box in your truck. That's the biggest thing with towing. Truck will handle it fine, but braking is where the truck alone falls short. 7k lb trailer is fine. I pulled mine across a scale with loader/tooth bar/full tank of fuel in tractor, full tank of gas in truck/camper top on truck/550# box blade and trailer weight/tool box on trailer tongue with tools and chains/binders/etc/filled rear wheels in tractor, etc. Total gross weight of all of it was 12,850#.
stoyan79
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ClaySlayer
Bronze Member
I've got a 81" X 20' on order. Went ahead and spent an extra $800 to upgrade to a 10k trailer. I figured a 7k would be pretty close to max plus just seeing the size of the brakes on the 5,200lb vs 3,500lb axles was worth it to me.
Fallon
Super Member
Good call. Heavier axles ride a bit harsher, but are safer & more flexible in what you can haul.
Tompet
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I have 18' (16' + 2' dovetail) 7k trailer brakes on both axles. It functions ok, but if I were to do it over it would be 20' (18' + 2' dovetail) 10k trailer. Since op asked 16' or 18' as choice....18' with 10k axles would be minimum with 20' length better.
The weight of trailer between the sizes is minimal. At times a good trailer has features that can make use a better experience rather than a pain in the rear. I have three different types of trailers: hauler, dump and small aluminum utility....they all work well, but with experience would alter each one if buying again...experience as teacher.
A couple things I did learn from first cheap landscape trailer I had to current hauler was: slide in rear ramps with the ramps being reinforced smooth plate on top and not ladder style (allows loading small tire items) 16" wide vs 12" , and tapered bed on front along with tapered tongue tool box.
The weight of trailer between the sizes is minimal. At times a good trailer has features that can make use a better experience rather than a pain in the rear. I have three different types of trailers: hauler, dump and small aluminum utility....they all work well, but with experience would alter each one if buying again...experience as teacher.
A couple things I did learn from first cheap landscape trailer I had to current hauler was: slide in rear ramps with the ramps being reinforced smooth plate on top and not ladder style (allows loading small tire items) 16" wide vs 12" , and tapered bed on front along with tapered tongue tool box.
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bspeedy
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I don't think a 10K trailer is needed for his setup. It will only overwork the F150. My vote is 18' 7k trailer. Fine for what you are doing.
ClaySlayer
Bronze Member
I was told on a 20' the difference between 7k & 10k is maybe 500lbs which makes sense. My F150 won't notice it as far as pulling power goes and it will appreciate having an extra 2' to tweak tongue weight or throw more crap on the trailer. Just seeing the size difference in the brake drums was enough for me...
newbury
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Check your local DMV laws, you might want to have that as a 9,950 trailer. And what's a "10K trailer"? My Hudson is 12,000 lbs GVW but labelled (by Hudson) as a 5 ton.
The slight extra weight will be quickly forgotten if he has to haul an extra couple of thousand pounds.
My trailer/tractor combo was ridiculous when I bought it in 2009.
A 12k GVW trailer for a 2k tractor.
But when I need to haul my M4700 (bought 4 years later in 2013) from DC to Mississippi it came in right handy, just a little narrow.
The tires barely fit in the 78" between the wheel wells.
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