Towing trailer (5000 lbs) w/ tractor

[houska]

I'm in that dangerous stage of having survived my first 18 mos as a tractor newbie, and therefore maybe feeling cocky

I'd like to occasionally pull a loaded trailer around my forest property with my tractor.
Trailer is a 8.5 x 14' flatbed (deckover), when loaded about 5000 lbs.
Tractor is Branson 4225h, 4WD, loaded tires (R4s). Tractor alone is 4100 lbs, so with loader + tire ballast the weight is comparable.

I've learned from a nine-year-old thread here (https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/226039-pulling-trailer-your-tractor.html) that for towing I should use the drawbar, not 3PH -- 3PH fine for moving empty trailers around the yard, but not for towing real loads. Makes sense. But I'm a bit nervous about braking on hills in particular -- this will be on a decent forest road, but with several 12% slopes.

1. Is this a dumb idea to begin with?

2. The trailer has brakes, which would be actuated through the plug when towing by truck. Is there any way to connect this to the tractor, either tied in to the tractor brake or via a separate hand switch? Or is this overkill with the weights involved and keeping to a slow speed I'll be fine without?

The context is I'll have a 8x12 wooden shed that I want to follow me to a few locations on the property over the course of next summer. Since I have access to the trailer, I figured I'd just set it on top and move it around. I don't keep a truck up there, just this tractor, plus a Mule and the SUV (Subaru Forester) I use to drive up from home.

Apologies if this is a dumb question -- after all, farmers pull loaded hay wagons all the time -- but better safe than sorry!

 

[Rock Crawler]

On generally flat ground.... go at it. In my property... your gonna die.

 

[George2615]

As mentioned, if on flat ground then no problem. If you have any hills / slopes etc. then find a way to hook up the trailer brakes such as an aftermarket brake controller you could manually operate. A loaded 5K trailer will push your tractor easily down a hill and the tractor brakes won't help.
I regularly move trailers around with my tractor. They range from 4K-10K but only do so on level ground and in low range.

 

[Deere Dude]

I would be scared to death if pulling a loaded trailer down a 12% grade with a tractor unless it was only a very short span and level off quickly. Nothing like a trailer pushing a tractor and eventually passing it. And no doubt the road is tree lined.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Your tractor will weigh close to 7000 pounds.

My cabbed tractor with loaded (Rim Guard) tires, FEL and bucket, and 6' box blade weighs 7100 lbs. That is not a guess, that is weighed on a CAT scale. We have the same tractor chassis, but looks like you're minus the cab, and take away the weight from the box blade, since you're using a draw bar. So I'd say you're pretty close to 7000 lbs, maybe 6500-ish.

Anyway, you said you have 12% grade? Are you certain that's the slope angle? How far will you have to travel that way? Is this all over your place, or only a small portion of your travel path will be sloped? Are you willing to crawl along at a slow speed during this time? Can you go straight up or straight down this slope? If you have to side hill it, that brings a whole separate set of conditions to worry about.

Slope angle chart:



A true 12% slope really isn't that steep when putting around at slow speed on a tractor. We're not talking 18 wheelers at 80 mph going down The Gauntlet here.

Depending on your circumstances, I'd maybe try it. Put the tractor in 4wd, L range or *maybe* M range on the hydro and crawl along. If you're in 4wd, you have braking traction at all 4 wheels instead of just 2. Use your diff lock on the slope too. Also wait for dry soil conditions, don't need to add mud or wet grass to the equation.

 

[4570Man]

It wouldn’t be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

 

[houska]

Thanks for all the replies. This Canuck is grateful for all you Yanks who can't stay away from TBN even on Thanksgiving weekend!

On flat ground then no problem. If you have any hills / slopes etc. then find a way to hook up the trailer brakes such as an aftermarket brake controller you could manually operate. A loaded 5K trailer will push your tractor easily down a hill and the tractor brakes won't help.

I would be scared to death if pulling a loaded trailer down a 12% grade with a tractor unless it was only a very short span and level off quickly.

Anyway, you said you have 12% grade? Is this all over your place, or only a small portion of your travel path will be sloped? Are you willing to crawl along at a slow speed during this time? Can you go straight up or straight down this slope? If you have to side hill it, that brings a whole separate set of conditions to worry about.

It wouldn’t be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

It's hilly Canadian shield terrain, but it's only a few short sections, not quite straight up/down, but level side to side. No problem creeping down slowly.
It's possible the trailer has surge brakes rather than electric ones; it's being given to me and I made assumptions and am not sure. In a way self-contained surge would make it easier than modding a brake controller, right? Or are electric (+controller) much better?

 

[bcp]

A neighbor's 10-12K trailer, with a light load of scrap lumber, pushed him over the edge of his moderate downhill driveway and rolled the tractor.

Bruce

 

[RickB]

I wouldn't be that concerned unless the slopes involved turning sharply. Pulling a load weighing less than the tractor isn't a big deal. Use 4wd and proceed with caution.

 

[LouNY]

Pulling a trailer of more then 50% of your tractors weight with no brakes on steep grades can get quite dicey.
When that trailer starts pushing you hard it will jack knife you right around and then climb right up over your tires.
I do not usually use the diff lock going down hill, I am always ready to start shifting up gears to stay ahead if it starts pushing me around.
I grew up bringing loads down hills that you could not stop on.
I have spun out pulling loads up those same hills both scenarios can cause some serious damage to equipment and people.
Even with brakes on your trailer I would consider chains for the trailer tires.
The thing to do is to run your trails with the empty trailer,
after you see how every thing works start adding loads gradually to you know how your setup will handle and behave for you.
Most likely you will find that sometimes and places a loaded trailer is fine, other places over a quarter of a load may be too much.

 

[John_Mc]

I'd put a good set of chains on your tractors rear wheel before pulling a heavily loaded trailer on a grade. (If you don't already have chains, I'd definitely consider "euro-style" chains, such as OFA Eko 8 or 9 - or similar design from other manufacturers. That style has worlds better traction than studded ladder style and even better than studded duo-grip.).

The guy I bought my log forwarding trailer from had electric brakes on it. He ran it behind his truck with the trucks brake controller. I also bought a cheap brak controller which he hung on his tractor fender and used to control the brake manually on the trailer. He had the controller wired up with plugs, rather than permanently hardwired, since no one seems to make a controller that is weather proof. He would just take it off the tractor when not in use, so he could store it out of the weather.

He also had knobby tires on the trailer. The typical smooth farm implement tires used on some trailers are not very useful for braking in the woods - they just slide.

While it's possible to wire the brakes with a simple on/off switch, I would not recommend it. You don't want to be locking up the brakes every time you hit the switch.

I've been considering ways to either make a brake controller weather-proof (while still allowing it enough ventilation to not overheat), or to make some sort of weatherproof system myself that will still allow me to adjust the amount of braking. I have not put enough time into it to come up with anything yet.

 

[CobyRupert]

(IMHO) A huge factor will be how trailer is loaded / tongue weight.
Positive tongue weight, as much as you can stand, will help tractor traction, help prevent tractor tires from breaking free. Now your 5000 lb tractor “ weighs” a lot more and the trailer “weighs” less, that being said weight is still weight.
Less, or god forbid negative, tongue weight is sure fire way for tractor tires to break free and you go for a ride, jack knife, etc...

 

[dieselscout80]

It wouldn稚 be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

 

[John_Mc]

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

 

[dieselscout80]

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

The weather proof box is good idea!

 

[sea2summit]

A momentary switch would work if you could live with the brakes slamming "full on" instantly any time you pressed the switch. You could put a resistor in series to drop the voltage a bit if you didn't want full braking. (If you could find a weather-proof resistor of high enough amperage/wattage rating to handle the load). However, you'd still have just one fixed brake force. If you could find a variable resistor of appropriate rating, that would let you adjust whatever braking force you wanted, and activate it by pressing the button. However, by the time you did that , you are probably not that far off from the price of a cheap brake controller. Just find a weatherproof box to put it in, at take it off the tractor when not in use.

Cheap brake controller with a manual mode would probably work better than anything else.

 

[fried1765]

It wouldn稚 be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

Now, that makes total sense!

 

[4570Man]

I wonder if one could just use a momentary switch rather than a brake controller since my tractor resides outside +90% of the time?

I have had my empty 18' trailer (2500lbs scaled) push my over 4,000 pound tractor around on a hill.

That would probably work for the use it’s serving but it’s going to be 100 percent on or off, no light braking.

 

[John_Mc]

It wouldn’t be that hard to hook up a brake controller for the trailer brakes which would increase the safety by a lot.

Cheap brake controller with a manual mode would probably work better than anything else.

Which is my plan, except that no one makes a weatherproof one. Storing it in a weatherproof box on the tractor might be a solution, but you'd need to take it out to operate it.

 

[Rebeldad1]

I'd put a good set of chains on your tractors rear wheel before pulling a heavily loaded trailer on a grade. (If you don't already have chains, I'd definitely consider "euro-style" chains, such as OFA Eko 8 or 9 - or similar design from other manufacturers. That style has worlds better traction than studded ladder style and even better than studded duo-grip.).

The guy I bought my log forwarding trailer from had electric brakes on it. He ran it behind his truck with the trucks brake controller. I also bought a cheap brak controller which he hung on his tractor fender and used to control the brake manually on the trailer. He had the controller wired up with plugs, rather than permanently hardwired, since no one seems to make a controller that is weather proof. He would just take it off the tractor when not in use, so he could store it out of the weather.

He also had knobby tires on the trailer. The typical smooth farm implement tires used on some trailers are not very useful for braking in the woods - they just slide.

While it's possible to wire the brakes with a simple on/off switch, I would not recommend it. You don't want to be locking up the brakes every time you hit the switch.

I've been considering ways to either make a brake controller weather-proof (while still allowing it enough ventilation to not overheat), or to make some sort of weatherproof system myself that will still allow me to adjust the amount of braking. I have not put enough time into it to come up with anything yet.

You can get a simple 3 wire ( power--ground--trailer brake) brake controler. Would be easy to wire up. Keep tractor in 4WD and be cautiously slow.