Towing NH T2320 w/2013 F-150 Eco Max Tow

[gtrippleb]

I'll be hauling a NH T2320 from ND to NC, roughly 1450 miles, with a 2013 Crew Cab F-150 4x4 Eco with the Max Tow and 3.73 gears. I'm looking at picking up a WD hitch to help distribute the weight and I was wondering if there is anything that maybe I'm not thinking about to help make this move succesful. The fun part will be coming down I-77 through WV, VA, and NC mountains.

Weight of Tractor, Loader, and rotary cutter is around 6,100 .lbs according to NH.
Weight of trailer is roughly 3,000 .lbs according to the guy at Sunbelt rentals.

According to Ford, I'm good for 11,100 .lbs with my truck combination.

Here's a picture of when the dealer delivered the tractor to the farm in ND back in 09. I was trying to remember if the pickup was a 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton that the dealer had. Looking at the picture I can't really tell. Nothing like playing in the snow with a new toy.


Here's a picture of my truck at the Ford dealership when I picked it up back in Aug. It was hard to find an Eco 4x4 with Max Tow, 3.73 gears and 157" wheelbase at the time. I had to drive to Alexandria, VA which is roughly 5 hours from here to pick it up when I bought it.


Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Ron50]

I tow a Branson 4020R with loader and chipper on a 10,000# rated trailer with a 2011 ecoboost rated to tow 9800# with WD hitch. Trailer and load weigh about 8500#. Easy towing load and great brake controller. Smooth, quiet, and stable. hard to believe is a 3.5L V_6.
Ron

 

[Diamondpilot]

You will have no problems what so ever. Keep track of your speed and mpg and report back.

As for the WD hitch, what brakes are on the trailer? If they are surge I would not use one.

Chris

 

[gtrippleb]

As for the WD hitch, what brakes are on the trailer? If they are surge I would not use one.

Chris

Chris,

I'm not sure on the type of brake system the trailer has. When I talked to the guy at Sunbelt Rentals, he couldn't tell me. I'm going to try and stop by today to see how the trailer is setup. The guy I talked to couldn't even tell me what type of trailer wiring hook up the trailer has.

I take it, it's not good to use a WD hitch with surge brakes?

Greg

 

[tcartwri]

Make sure you put blocks under the tail of the trailer when loading and unloading, and set your e-brake so you're not beating up the parking pawl in your tranny.

 

[aczlan]

Make sure you put blocks under the tail of the trailer when loading and unloading, and set your e-brake so you're not beating up the parking pawl in your tranny.

And chock the trailer and FRONT truck tires...

Aaron Z

 

[gtrippleb]

Thanks for the info on the blocking of the trailer.

The trailer I'm looking at renting from Sunbelt Rentals is an 18ft Felling FT-10 IT-I FT-10 IT-I tilt bed trailer. They told me that if I rent the trailer between 4-5pm the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it would be considered a one day rental if I returned it by 8am on Monday due to the holiday weekend and them being closed. So for about $100, I can rent the trailer for four days.

I went and looked at the trailer today. It has D-rings for tie down points. There is no rub rail on the sides of the trailer but there is a lip that could be possibly used as an attaching point. It has a 4-way wire connection which surprised me. I asked the guy what type of braking system it had but he couldn't tell me. All he could tell me was that the brakes only work if the trailer breaks away from your vehicle which didn't make sense.

I didn't have my phone on me to take a picture but it looked like it might of had some type of hydraulic brake system as there was a steel line coming out of a black box which was close to the hitch that looked like a brake line on a car. I didn't see a sight glass that showed any fluid though. There was a lever on the top side of the black box that was connected to a break away cable. It had two positions locked/brakes applied and unlocked, brakes not applied. Looking online at some surge brake images, it looks like that's the type of brakes it has. I'm going to contact Felling tomorrow and see what they can tell me.

I'll track my mileage and fill ups and post them. It will be interesting to see what type of mpg I get. I can't remember what I get with my 16ft 7k dual axle utility trailer with my Sc2400 on it. According to the trucks computer, I'm averaging 17-18 mpg with no trailer. It showed 20 once coming back from Burlington, NC running 55-60 mph.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Greg

 

[toxic]

The trailer would definitely be surge brakes. They use no electrical connection to the tow vehicle which is why rental yards like them as many trucks are not setup with trailer brake controllers. The 4 wire plug is your brake lights and turn signals. You won't have a problem with that load at all. I tow more weight with my 2008 f150 fx4 and have never had an issue.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Yes, that is surge brakes. It's basically a master cylinder in the tongue that as the truck comes to a stop it applies pressure to the master cylinder and applies the brakes. The emergency brake away cable does just what it's name implies.

Chris

 

[jejeosborne]

Just fyi, you will be over your hitch limit without a weight distribution hitch. They make a system that works with surge brakes. I have the same truck and the weight won't be a problem.