Pintle Hitch vs. Ball Hitch

[yooperdave]

Are their distinct advantages and disadvantages regarding pintle hitches and ball hitches?

Is one type quite a bit better than the other?

My 2008 F150 4x4 I think is limited to towing less than 10,000#.

TIA

Yooper Dave

 

[Builder]

Are their distinct advantages and disadvantages regarding pintle hitches and ball hitches?

Is one type quite a bit better than the other?

My 2008 F150 4x4 I think is limited to towing less than 10,000#.

TIA

Yooper Dave

The heavier the trailer, the better a pintle hitch works. They're heavier constructed of thicker iron and IMO, they're coupling system holds on better.

For an F-150 towing, a ball hitch is more than adequate for anything you'll ever tow. Don't waste your time on a pintle hitch for an F-150.

 

[JB4310]

I have both, a pintle on my 5 ton dump and a 2-5/16 ball on my new to me 9K equipment trailer.
Was gonna put a pintle eye on the equipment trailer since it's the adj type and can easily be swapped, but since I got the solid insert with a 25,000 pound rated ball on it from the guy I bought the trailer from, I'm just gonna use this for now.

It's a little less movement with the ball, with pintle there's a little for and aft banging around. The pintle is a bit easier to couple.

JB.

 

[yooperdave]

Hi Builder,

The only reason I ask, is that there is a 8-9 year old 20' H and S equipment trailer for sale here locally (e-bay). I might go have a look, as it seems to be in fairly good condition.

It has the pintle hitch.

The trailer is 16' long + 4' beaver tail and ramps.

I am trying to figure out how much to pay if I deceide to buy.

I think it was stored outside.

Any advice regarding price?

Thanks

Yooper Dave

 

[Builder]

Hi Builder,

The only reason I ask, is that there is a 8-9 year old 20' H and S equipment trailer for sale here locally (e-bay). I might go have a look, as it seems to be in fairly good condition.

It has the pintle hitch.

The trailer is 16' long + 4' beaver tail and ramps.

I am trying to figure out how much to pay if I deceide to buy.

I think it was stored outside.

Any advice regarding price?

Thanks

Yooper Dave

Ah, OK, that might be a good reason to buy a ball/pintle combination.

If it's a good deal and it has a pintle, then put a ball/pintle combination hitch on your F-150. If anything, you'll have more versatility. Let's say you buy that trailer with a pintle, but sometime in the future, you rent a logsplitter, a concrete buggy, etc and it has a ball hitch, you'll have both hitches in one hitch.

I can't imagine it'd be worth more than 2K.

Make sure you hook it up and tow it around to check the brakes, light functions, etc.

 

[Diamondpilot]

All good advise here. The biggest problem I can see with a pintle hitch on a trailer being towed by any 1/2 ton truck like a F-150 is you can not use WD hitch which will be necessary with a trailer that big and a good load. If you look at the factory hitch on your F-150 it will have different limits for both strait pull and WD hitch on the placard. I think my 2007 F-150 is labeled 7,500# strait pull with 750# tongue weight, and 10,000# WD with 1,000# tongue weight although the tow limit on my particular truck is 9,240# after weighing it then subtracting that weight from the max GCWR of 15,000#. It is listed as 9,300# but I have lost 60# due to options and more than likely the tool box in my truck. By the way my truck weighs 5,560# with me and 3/4 tank. So 15,000-5,560=9,240

Chris

 

[wwalkersd]

Are their distinct advantages and disadvantages regarding pintle hitches and ball hitches?

I can't speak to their general suitability, but I can say that the combination of a pintle hitch and surge brakes is highly undesirable, especially on a (rented) trailer that has a tendency to sway no matter how you distribute the weight. The pintle hitch lets the trailer move around a bit more than ball hitch. Couple that with hitch-activated brakes and you've got a recipe for bad behavior even without the sway issue, IMHO. I will never haul another pintle-hitch trailer without electric brakes.