Farmall A What does it really weigh

My book Field Guide to Farmall Tractors say it weighs 3570 lbs. I talked to a fellow that was hualing an A to a show the other day and he said an A only weighs about 2000 lbs with no wheel weights, no fluid in the tires. He had it on a 6' x 10' single axle trailer rated at 2500 lbs pulling it with a 90's Nissan Frountier. What do you think?

Shipping weight from the factory is listed as 2350 pounds according to the Hot Line Farm Equipment Guide.

Gary

Guy Fay's data book, -- 1870, no fluid no weights. Ken Updikes data book, 2200. These are the two most reliable sources as they are familiar with the tractors, have actually seen them and use factory data. There are some mistakes, but not nearly as numerous as others. Other sources are less reliable. Most authors write books to make money, Guy and Ken are actually interested in them.

I weighed my B with no wheel weights, no water in the tires, pressed dish wheels (not the cast ones) half tank of gas and a battery, no driver in the seat and it was 2,140 lbs.

Seems to me that an A would weigh about the same under the same conditions, maybe a little more. Where some weight would be lost by having no left side differential shaft housing, some would be gained because of the cast wheel on the right-hand side, and a heavier front end.

Just my estimation of it.

I have a 6'x10' wood floor trailer with a 3500 lbs axle 15" tires rated at 2950 lbs pulling it with a chevy 2500 3/4 ton van so I think I will be be alright putting my A on it for short trips to shows. Thanks guys.

Tires -- total 2950 ratings or is that for each tire? If total, you're marginal for gross weight, but not disastrously so, as long as they're in good shape and you have them inflated to their max rating. Trailer has brakes, right?

A short single axle can work but may turn out to be less than ideal. A lot will depend on how far back your trailer axle is and how your tractor is weighted/balanced. You may not have enough room on a 10' deck to move the tractor back and forth to find the point where it balances and pulls well. Too heavy on the hitch and it will dive and bump a lot - annoying but workable as long as your van's supension is up to it and you keep your speed down. Tail heavy and it will fishtail at speed. Dangerous and tricky to get out of if you're not experienced in trailering. Limiting speed will help avoid but not eliminate that danger.

If it doesn't balance well pulling the tractor on, try backing it onto the trailer. Sometimes that's all that's needed.

If balance is a persistent problem, or you get right into it and want to haul heavier, faster or farther, you may want to look down the road at a longer, car-hauler type trailer with tandem axles. They'll typically have two 3500# axles but, more importantly, they'll have a longer deck. That coupled with the tandems will give you a lot more room to adjust and make for a better haul. It's overkill on the weight rating, I know, but it's a world of difference. It doesn't make much difference with mine whether it's empty, or has a car or a tractor on it, it pulls so well that I have to remind myself it's back there.

The pic is of my BN when I first brought it home. With the rear wheel weights on it, it ws likely a little heavier than your A would be without them, and only a little shorter, just to give you an idea of the fit. I'd rolled it further forward when I first dragged it on, then rolled it back by hand once I was hitched up, to get it where it balanced well, which was 4 or 5 feet back from the front edge.

If you're talking short trips and little if any highway speeds, you'll be fine with what you have if you can balance your load up so that it pulls safely.

Try with what you have first, chain it down securely and happy motoring!

P.S. How you coming with the wiring issues?

At the tractor pull my Farmall B weighed 2450 with rear wheel weights and no fluid in the tires.

I agree with everthing you said. I pull a travel trailer about 5000 lbs all the time with this van its an 06 with towing package. It has electric brake set up. When I went to get the 2 A's from Snow Camp, NC about 220 miles I used a trailer like yours pulled real well. The shows I want to take the A to are no more than 20 miles from the house, no hwy driving.

Good deal! Be safe and have fun!

tackhammetime: My Super A weighed 2350 lbs on official government tested scales, no tire fluid, no wheel weights, but it did have cultivator lift frames, 1.5" square solid tool bar and one point fast hitch. The hitch would be heavier than U type drawbar.

Whew, Hugh! You're datin' yerself! When was the last time the Crown gave a weight in pounds?

Scotty: About 1973, maybe 74. I know my 74 Olds 88 was in MPH. I was one the Board of Directors of the NS Milk Producers Assoc. and we were still selling milk to the processors by the cwt. and they in turn by the quart. All went to hell shortly after that.

Now bear in mind there are still a lot of inspected scales here in Canada, that give both metric and Crown measure. I've even seen a few digital sets with both.

Hadn't thought about the speedometers in a while.

When I got out of college I leased a Ford pickup through the Darling's dealership in Bangor. He had a racket going on the exchange rate where he'd bring down vehicles from Canada that were coming in off two-year leases, and lease them back out.

So one of the first things I noticed on the test drive was that the big numbers on the speedometer were km/h, and the mph were the little numbers inside the circle. I had more than one passenger head for the exits when they looked over at the dash and thought we were doing 90 mph.

The flip side was that I had a much longer and nastier fight than necessary with the company that took the truck back in at the end of the lease. They wanted to tag me some outrageous amount for having gone 30,000 miles over the allotted mileage for the lease term. Of course, the assorted persons I had to deal with were looking at paperwork, not the truck. It was a weeklong fight before one of them took my suggestion to call the auction yard and have them verify that the odometer was stated in kilometers.

tackhammertime: The key to trailering tractors is having enough deck space to balance your load. You need to be able to move tractor fore or aft 2' to 4' to achive proper balance.

I saw an off balance load turn a pickup and trailer end for end at 45 mph. Had I not realized what was going to happen, then stopped, he would have ended up under my set of B-trains. That balance rule applies no matter how large or small the truck-trailer combo.

In an area where I use to live, truckers were having trouble loosing control on B-trains hauling lumber. One thing in common it always happened at relatively low speeds on traffic circles. They discovered that by extending lumber 4' beyond back of pup trailer, it threw everything off balance. Drivers all indicated that when it started to go, you were helpless to prevent roll over.

So heed this, if it can happen to a rig grossing 68 ton, it can happen to a pickup. As Mike Solden puts it every mile of road has two miles of ditches.

Shipping weight was only 1890lbs. Taht is a straight A not a Super A.