hitch question

[white cloud]

This is going to be a little windy but please bear with me. My wife and I bought a travel trailer a few years ago. Our truck at the the time was a V6 Tacoma. This was a great truck but it was clearly not up to pulling the trailer. The trailer has a GVW of 6000 LBS and a tongue weight of 482 LBS. The dealer installed a weight distribution hitch that seems to work very well. My wife told me to quit screwing around and get enough truck. So I sold the Tacoma and bought a RAM 3500 Cummins. It pulls the trailer just fine! I adjusted the WDH to work with the new truck. This set up is great.

We have decided to purchase some forest property here in S.C. To help us manage this land I am thinking we need a tractor. I am looking at a Kabota B2320 or a John Deere 3032. I will need a trailer to pull the tractor and implements. I looked at a 20' Diamond C 14TUT. This looks like a nice trailer for this task. Any comments about this trailer would be appreciated.

I am finally getting to the question. I am thinking that the trailer + tractor + implements + whatever else I need is to tow is going to weigh > 6000 LBS. Do I need the weigh distribution hitch for this? If not, why not?

Thanks for reading all of this.

 

[powerstroke444e]

I have never used a wd hitch, as I have always had 3/4 ton or larger trucks and hauled 12000+ on pintle hitch no issues, but was usually a balanced load as to not over load truck. On your 3500 if it was me I wouldn't mess with wd on an equipment trailer but if it makes you feel safer go for it.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I would at least think about a goose neck. You can put a goose neck where it would be very hard to put a bumper pull, and they pull so sweet. Ed

 

[Egon]

Check out the legal aspect for the use of a eight distributing hitch.

 

[white cloud]

I would at least think about a goose neck. You can put a goose neck where it would be very hard to put a bumper pull, and they pull so sweet. Ed

The truck has the prep for a fifth wheel/goose neck. I have never used it but apparently all I need to do is lock the ball and safety chain hooks in and I am ready to go. I had wondered about a goose neck but thought it might be "over the top". Do you know of a high quality smaller goose neck?

Thanks to all for your replies.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I agree the wd hitch is over kill for 6k. Really if the truck rides ok and the headlights aren't in the sky I wouldn't worry about it. Right now 20' might seem long but go measure the tractors geared up and I bet you would be surprised at how long everything is. I just moved my neighbors jd 750 with loader, box blade and rake and it took up every inch of 20' deck. I still had a bit of tail space to use and I didn't need to balance the load because I had a long enough trailer and a 3/4 ton truck pulling it.I'd say I was in the 7-8k range with the trailer and payload. Never weighed the tractor so I'm guessing.

 

[Diamondpilot]

No need for a GN under 12K with that truck. For that matter no need for WD for that load either.

Chris

 

[newbury]

Check out the legal aspect for the use of a eight distributing hitch.

Exactly

No need for a GN under 12K with that truck. For that matter no need for WD for that load either.

Chris

"need" and legal requirement are two different things.

OP - read the manual, for my truck w/ factory hitch it says rated to 12k w/ WD, 5k w/o.

But in true TBN form let's start solving the problems you are not looking at yet and help you spend more money.
How much land, for what purpose?

IF you are going to be moving timber the

Kabota B2320

is too small.
My first tractor was advertised on CL as a Kabota B7610 (in 2009). Which is basically the same size as the 2320.

The Kubota B7610 is the size I needed for maintaining narrow trails. To make those trails I needed more lift capacity and got an M4700.

When I bought the B7610 it came with a 12K trailer, 16+2 feet w/ 78 inches between the fenders. When I bought the M4700 it was about 84 inches wide.

Luckily I was able to narrow the wheelbase.

So since you have not bought the trailer or tractor yet GO BIGGER if you can park it. I can barely squeeze my Hudson trailer, 24' overall, into my 2 car suburban concrete driveway. Fit's fine in my workshops in Mississippi

A few feet more for the trailer should be your minimum unless you have parking problems. and a 30HP PTO plus tractor is minimal for a forestry operation.

$2 HP isn't bad either

more room in the bucket for saws.

 

[LD1]

There is a huge difference between a 1995 cummins 3500 and a 2015 cummins 3500. So what year truck did you get?

As to the tractor/trailer issue, first, dont compare a B2320 to a JD3032. Two different sizes. Compare apples to apples. the larger deere with a loader and bushhog is going to be a tight squeeze on a 20' trailer with little room to adjust load. But in any case, the Deere + loaded tires + loader + implement is not likely going to exceed 4500# So add the weight of the trailer. May be a tad over 6k, but not much, and certainly not enough to warrant a WD hitch IMO.

Do you have any plans to tow anything larger? A 3500 diesel is a overkill to a 6-7k tow. Any 1/2 ton built within the last 10+ years can handle that.

 

[white cloud]

My RAM is a 2015 3500 with the Cummins engine. It has the crew cab and the eight foot bed. It is an automatic. I am sure there are stouter trucks out there but going from the Tacoma to this was amazing.

Our plan is to purchase about 30 acres initially. I would expect to wind up with about 100 acres eventually Most of the land would be planted in pines as you can make some money off them. We have a forester who will engage loggers to harvest the pines and replant when it is appropriate to do so. I may be confused but I do not anticipate moving a lot of logs and such. Just cleaning up and planting food plots for deer, turkey and such. There is logging activity on my hunting lease and they can really bugger up a road so I expect to be spreading gravel and leveling out ruts in the access roads on our property after the loggers finish. I am very open to suggestions about tractor sizing.

Thank you.