Bought Tractor!! / Trailer Question

[Climber]

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the good advice over the last couple of months! I've learned a LOT!

I finally found a decent tractor in my price range. It's a 1998 B7300HSD, 200 hours, with 54" MMM. Paid $6,500. No FEL, but unfortunately, I could not find one in my price range.

The tractor is in NC, and I'm in PA. I've decided to go down and pick it up. I will probably rent a U-Haul trailer. Can anybody tell me what size trailer I will need?

I can't wait to pick it up. I already have a large grin on my face, and I don't even have the tractor yet! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

--Chris

 

[JATO_RaT]

The UHaul operators around here would pretty much tell me I must rent a car trailer in order to move anything like that. That may pretty much be all they have anyway. Rat...

 

[Von]

Chris,
What ever you get from U-Haul make sure it has a flat floor. I have seen some of their car trailers and they are open in the middle. Don't know if they are narrow enough for a B7300.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A couple years ago, I asked about renting a large trailer from U-Haul, but they wouldn't just rent the trailer to me {I have my own truck}.

They wanted to rent the whole package to me... their truck and trailer.

Do they rent trailers separately down in PA?

 

[MikePA]

It looks as if the U-Haul Auto Transport Trailer is the only option and according to the picture on their web site, http://www.uhaul.com/towing/index.html it looks like it's got an open center.

Perhaps you could rent an enclosed truck and just drive the tractor into the back of the truck? Some of the U-Haul trucks are low enough that a set of ramps would be all you need.

Perhaps one of the enclosed trailers would work too.

Climber, that's a long haul from Erie (right?) to NC.

 

[TerryinMD]

Yep, you can get your tractor into the back of the truck.

Can you tie the tractor down so that it doesn't bounce around and damage itself or the truck. You are responsible for the damages.

I'd buy a trailer and be done with it.

Terry

 

[GlueGuy]

Chris,

What's the size difference between a B7100 and a B7300? I have a friend with a B7100, and he hauls his B7100 (with FEL and rear blade attached) in the back of his 3/4 ton pickup. His pickup has a rack, and the FEL goes up on top of the cab; resting on the front part of the rack. The rear blade sits a little out the back (a foot or so). He ties the whole thing down with chains. Seems to work pretty well....

The GlueGuy

 

[Climber]

John,

I too have my own truck.

2 years ago, I rented a U-haul trailer for a day. It was $15 per day, unlimited mileage.

I have not checked recently, but I assume they still have something similar.

--Chris

 

[Climber]

Terry,

When you say you that I can get my tractor in the back of a truck, do you mean one of the enclosed U-Haul trailers?

While I would love to buy a trailer, I am really trying to keep costs down right now. (Just bought land & built a house). So I'm looking for a way to use my own truck, and rent something with a fixed cost (not mileage based cost).

Mike: I am actually close to the Harrisburg area, not Erie. I think I can get to where the tractor is in about 7 hours.

--Chris

 

[TerryinMD]

Climber,

No, I meant in the back of a U-Haul box truck. Well, for that matter, even in one of their box trailers. Don't remember to much in regards to tie-downs on the the floor. Neither is made for that kind of drayage.

How 'bout a friend or relative? Being stupid here, you probably have already done that.

Doh!! Have you looked into one of the rental yards? They have trailers to haul around their equipment and may have one that would suit your purposes better.

You'll need to know the distance between the tractors front and rear tires, the total length of the tractor with FEL and the weight of the tractor. There have been other posts which describe loading the tractor onto a trailer i.e. driving on frontwards vs backwards. I may be covering areas already thought out but it never hurts to suggest. Oh year, tiedowns. I'd take them with you. Ya never know....

Terry