20' Trailer - 7000 or 10,000#?

[hillbilly rick]

I will be buying a 20' trailer for my Deere 2520 with loader and brush hog. Total length is 18', but weight is just under 3500#. I have a 1/2 ton Silverado rated at 7500# towing capacity. It seems like a no brainer to get the 7000# trailer, but the dealers I am talking to are recommending a 10,000# trailer at that length. The cost difference is about $500. Their reasoning is resell value and future proofing. The guy today told me I could get by with an 18', so he does not seem to be trying to sell me the more expensive model. I will be going with a 20 footer by the way.

I have no plans to buy a bigger tractor and it is doubtful that I will sell the trailer once I have it. I have family property that I need to brush hog about 70 miles away (mostly interstate) that will not be sold. It has been in the family for over 100 years, and I plan to pass it down to my son. What are your thoughts?

 

[jeffsw6]

It sounds like you are convinced you would not have any use for the 10K vs the 7K. If so, why spend the extra money on purchase price and maybe more expensive tags?

You might think about stake pockets.

 

[crbr]

I will be buying a 20' trailer for my Deere 2520 with loader and brush hog. Total length is 18', but weight is just under 3500#. I have a 1/2 ton Silverado rated at 7500# towing capacity. It seems like a no brainer to get the 7000# trailer, but the dealers I am talking to are recommending a 10,000# trailer at that length. The cost difference is about $500. Their reasoning is resell value and future proofing. The guy today told me I could get by with an 18', so he does not seem to be trying to sell me the more expensive model. I will be going with a 20 footer by the way.

I have no plans to buy a bigger tractor and it is doubtful that I will sell the trailer once I have it. I have family property that I need to brush hog about 70 miles away (mostly interstate) that will not be sold. It has been in the family for over 100 years, and I plan to pass it down to my son. What are your thoughts?

10k. ....

 

[s219]

You're right to go with at least 20' -- you need to leave some margin to balance the load for proper tongue weight.

I guess if the difference is only $500, I might go with the 10K -- not only for resale, but also since you never know when you might want the extra capacity. But does it weigh significantly more or subtract from your vehicle's gross tow capability or tongue weight capability? Sometimes bigger/heavier is not always better if it hurts your overall cargo capacity.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I just bought a 20 foot 12K rated trailer and the paper work says is weighs 2900 lbs and it is a heavy duty car hauler style frame. It works well for my B 26 TLB and I have about 4 feet in front of the FEL when balanced for proper tongue weight. I hauled a Yanmar 4220D with loaded tires, FEL and bush hog and had to pull forward a bit more but still had some room up front that I could have move forward a bit more but the tailwheel on the bushhog was right at the end of the trailer. I think the 20 foot is perfect size for moving tractors and equipment. I did find out that my published towing capacity was with a weight distribution hitch which I didnt have but the towing went fine, just might have been an issue with DOT inspection if I had been stopped with the 4220D as it pulled much heavier than the 4001# of the B26. I dont know the weight but it was much harder to pull. Anyway, get the 20 foot trailer and get brakes on both axles. It only cost me $150 extra for the extra brake axle with drum brakes when ordered and it would have cost at least double that to retrofit.

 

[MasseyWV]

Get the 10,000# trailer, or I guarantee there will come a time when you're sorry that you didn't.

 

[meburdick]

+1 on the 10k.

I have a 2520 with FEL, 60" bucket, loaded rear tires, a ballast box, and pallet forks. Additionally, I have the 54" front-mount snowblower. If I need to "take everything" with me, my 18' (16+2 dovetail) trailer will handle EVERYTHING without a hiccup.

My trailer is label-rated at 9950 GTWR (it will handle a higher load but the label rating ensures that I don't cross into CDL territory) which means I can take about 7200 lbs of cargo.

How are you arriving at your 3500 lb weight? The tractor is 1800 with all fluids... Where's the other 1700? For the very small difference in price, having that extra load-handling capacity can do no harm. As long as you don't overload to beyond the GCWR of your vehicle, you'll never have an issue.

On a related note... Is your truck rated at 7500 "max", or is that the max rating without a Weight Distributing Hitch? Some trucks can go higher with a WDH (I'm fortunate that my half-ton will take 9800 straight into the receiver with no WDH), so you may find that you're able to tackle more weight in some ways down the road.

Another thing to consider is this: With a 7k trailer, you're probably looking about 2500 lbs of trailer weight. That gets you 4500 lbs of cargo. If you end up with tow vehicle in the future that can handle the heavier trailer, you'll likely be wishing you had that extra 3k or so of capacity available to you.

 

[AG48]

Something to think about is that the 7000# trailer has 7000# as it maximum loaded weight and that includes the empty weight of the trailer which will be about 1700#, leaving you only 5300# for tractor plus bush hog ,etc.

For $500 I'd recommend you get the 10k lb trailer. I have difficulty with 3500# as total weight of tractor, front loader and bush hog.

I bought a 7000# tandem for my 'Gater and it is only 1500#. The F-150 walks away with it though.

 

[deere5105]

I would go 10k.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Get the 10,000# trailer, or I guarantee there will come a time when you're sorry that you didn't.

Yep, you might haul something other than your tractor someday.