New Trailer questions

[rcrcomputing]

Hi Guys!
I finally bought a trailer. 18' Dovetail Maxey carhauler with a metel bed.

But I've questions.
Best way to lock trailer to prevent theft?

Best way to keep the truck on the ground when I roll the tractor on it? (Wheels of the truck 3 feet off the ground just seemed like a bad thing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Since the "cranker" is in the middle of the tongue, I can't hardly mount a toolbox on the tongue. Can I change this? Or bad idea...

Lastly, I was in an all fire hurry when I bought it. (Needed it quickly). So I bought the first thing I found. It's a Maxey brand. Ever heard of them?

I know I'm rambling... But if you could answer one or all of these, I'd appreciate it.

 

[beenthere]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Best way to keep the truck on the ground when I roll the tractor on it? (Wheels of the truck 3 feet off the ground just seemed like a bad thing. )</font>

Usually the ramps have a 'block' connected that holds the rear of the trailer. If not, then carrying a wood block or piece of firewood to throw under the rear of the trailer, will keep it from settling down when loading.

Not sure there is a "best" way to lock it, as a determined thief will circumvent most anything. I'd just use a padlock on the hitch latch.

 

[Thorndike]

You must either have a little truck, or large tractor to lift the tires 3' off the ground. At any rate, there are stabilizer jacks on the market that can be welded or bolted to each rear corner of the trailer. The larger equipment trailers, 6-7 ton, usually have stabilizers an integral part of the ramp. I can load/unload my TC35DA with loader and BB, and never have the truck hookedup, with no tilting problems.
How long is your trailer and gross wieght? How big is your truck trailer combination? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Your trailer dealer, or any other one, should be able to tell you about the jacks, and/or where to get them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Casco1]

I had the same problem loading my tractor. My front wheels didn't leave the ground, the truck just dropped too much to make me happy. I brought it to a welder friend and he welded two 5" peices of 2 1/4" pipe to the back of the trailer inside these are two 12" peices of 2" pipe with plates welded on the bottom so that they don't sink in soft dirt. the inside pipes have a series of holes drilled in them so I just drop them to the ground and secure with the same pins that hold my hitch in the receiver. Up to drive, down to load. My trailer is not here so I can't take pics sorry. very simple but works well if I'm on uneven ground I drop one side lower than the other. Mistakes I've made: 1. remember to bring them back up before you take off 2. When you put them down to load don't put them all the way to the ground. the weight of the tractor will drop the trailer some & you won't be able to pull the pins to raise them for travel. ps: the second one really aggravated me because should have thought of it before it happened I'm just glad I was alone when I did it.

 

[ronjhall]

I added a couple of jacks to rear of my trailer. It stops lowering of of trailer rear and raising of trucks rear end. I use these same jacks when storing trailer to raise trailer until tires do not touch ground.
I also use them to load trailer when I do not have truck hooked up.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Great, the picture helped to...

For the moment, I got some jacks from walley-world. But I like the lift on the side..

As for toolboxes, I think I'll mount two 4x4's across the tongue and get two toolboxes to go across the tongue. (I'm not a metel man).

With an electric wench between them to pull a car up with. Of course, with this in mind, I guess the cable would rub the bed at the rear until the car comes up the ramps a bit. Sound good?

PS you guys should charge for all the good ideas. You'd be rich! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[George2615]

My previous 16' trailer had a dovetail with fold down ramps that had angle iron stands welded on to contact the ground when driving on them. problem was they were too short. As a result, when I started to drive the tractor on the ramps, the rear of my 1/2 ton truck got light and started to lift. I used two jackstands under the rear frame of the trailer to prevent the back end of the truck from lifting up. After loading I removed the jackstands and put them in the pickup bed. I've since bought a heavier truck and a 20' tiltbed trailer.

 

[VA_Joe]

Great idea - I was thinking of storing my tractor on the trailer and was going to use blocks to keep it stable. I like the jack idea - much quicker/easier to set up.


Joe

 

[countrybumpkin]

I bought my trailer with the screw type jacks on each rear corner. These are very nice to have. As for the tool box I Placed an aluminum top opening single lid from a small truck like a Ranger on the front. Mine has a rail across the front of the trailer so I set the back edge of the toolbox on the rail and had some supports for the front. Mounted the winch inside the toolbox, and made a removable cover for the cable to come thru. Works great. The only time I have trouble with the cable dragging is on a low car. The trailer is 20' with a 2' dove tail.

 

[skipmarcy]

I built the ramps on my 20' flat trailer and made 2 stands on each ramp out of 3" channel iron - 1 stand up close to the back of the trailer where the stand attaches and 1 mid-way down the ramp - my ramps are almost 6' long and didn't want any bending. Has worked great for 4 years now and I trailer my tractor sometimes 5 or 6 times a week. I installed my toolbox on my left fender - when I used to tow this trailer behind my LN600 dump truck the bed extended out too much and would hit the box on a sharp turn with it mounted on the tongue - have liked the box on the fender ever since and left it there even after getting rid of the dump truck.

 

[TheKid]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Since the "cranker" is in the middle of the tongue, I can't hardly mount a toolbox on the tongue. Can I change this? Or bad idea )</font>

Won't hurt a thing to move it so you can mount a tool box.

 

[cisco]

You need to get blocks under your ramps, or jacks on the back of the trailer --- or in the near future your ball hitch will be toast.
I've a 20' with tilt-up ramps with blocks, and a heavy duty jack on the tongue. My pick-up is not connected to the trailer when I drive the tractor on - doesn't need to be - trailer is rock stable.
Now, as to a tool box, I assume you've loaded your tractor with all possible implements attached onto your trailer, then assessed the weight distribution and what, if anything, needs to hang out over the back or tongue to get the trailer semi-centered so your hitch and the back end of your pick-up are reasonably stable. If so, fine, but if not do NOT put on a tool box or whatever until you've done the above. With my tractor plus FEL and 72' brush cutter, I need to hang something over the tongue and if there were a tool box there -------.
Trailers can be very versatile. I constructed 2X4" post and 1X6" stringer sides to my open trailer, and can use it for hauling branches or whatever.

 

[Highbeam]

I don't use blocks under my ramp trailer and the rear end of the truck certainly gets light, never leaves the ground though. Why do you think that this will make my ball hitch toast? Is the ball not able to handle lift?

 

[mudcat]

There are a lot of great ideas here for you to consider. The tongue jack on my trailer is also located in the center. I thought about relocating it but, liked the fact that I can drop the tailgate with the trailer hooked up.

 

[browns40]

Hi rcrcomputing,

I have an 18 ft trailer with the fold-up ramps, and like mentioned earlier there are "pads" that touch the ground when the fold-ups are down that prevent you from levering the front up... jacks sound good too, but then you have 3 cranks to crank up every time you use it...

If you are new to using trailers, one important thing to remember is TONGUE WEIGHT! Too much & your truck springs get compressed to the axles (not good), too little and you have a chance at a MAJOR catastrophe. Be sure that if your trailer & machine start bouncing, the rear end of your truck does not follow suit & put you in a fishtail situation, for your sake & other drivers.

There are no "short trips" so be SURE every time you load it.

Happy Tractoring!

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[rcrcomputing]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
Now, as to a tool box, I assume you've loaded your tractor with all possible implements attached onto your trailer, then assessed the weight distribution and what, if anything, needs to hang out over the back or tongue to get the trailer semi-centered so your hitch and the back end of your pick-up are reasonably stable. If so, fine, but if not do NOT put on a tool box or whatever until you've done the above. With my tractor plus FEL and 72' brush cutter, I need to hang something over the tongue and if there were a tool box there -------.
)</font>

Lord, ya'll are blowin my mind.. ha

Ok, sooooo, how do I know when the load is level on the trailor? Is there a "rule of thumb"?

 

[keeney]

Rule of thumb for tongue weight:

If the hitch is higher when loaded than when empty, you have negative tongue weight - very bad!

If the hitch is lower when loaded than when empty, you have positive tongue weight - good!

Next level of refinement is to calibrate how much tongue weight. Find something that weighs about 15% of what you plan to put on your trailer. Bags of sack-crete, feed, sand, whatever, adding up to the 1000 to 1500 lbs you will need. Put it on the trailer tongue or the folded-down tailgate of your truck. Measure how far your truck springs dip with this much weight on the tongue. Remember this distance and match it when you load the trailer.

- Rick

 

[Highbeam]

"Put it on the trailer tongue or the folded-down tailgate of your truck." Note that the trailer must be hooked up for this to work. Otherwise you weill need to find 10-15% of the total weight of both trailer and load.

You could also go to a scale and actually weigh it. I have gotten to the point where I check by giving a tug on the tongue by the ball to see how easy it is to lift. Shouldn't be easy but not too hard either.

 

[Thorndike]

[

. I have gotten to the point where I check by giving a tug on the tongue by the ball to see how easy it is to lift. Shouldn't be easy but not too hard either. )</font>

My 14K, derated to 12K, because of the tires on it, weighs 3300# unloaded. It would be pretty difficult to pick uo the end of the trailer without a lot of help!
What I do is, hookup to the truck, load machine, and watch the springs on rear of truck. Once the springs are compressed to the point of the aux springs almost making the stops, I stop. Have used this method for many years. Once you get where you want to be, paint a mark on the trailer deck you can see from tractor seat, and run up to that mark when you load. Note on this, it will only be good for that particular load. With different impliments, you may have to run your machine forward or back from the line to get your balance. But I think you see what I'm saying. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As far as seeing if it's level, just stand back and take a look. Or if your one of the **** types, you could always put a bubble level on it!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Highbeam]

By pick it up I mean lift it a bit. Even your fully loaded 12k trailer can be hoisted a few inches up or down by hand. You are working within the spring assistance since at rest the springs are carrying all the weight so you only need to lift a little weight to allow the springs to extend a little. Just go give it a tug when you take a break while on the road.

Good idea to make a mark. I marked the center of the trailer deck to center pallets and other objects with a known COG.