towing question

I have chance to buy a 300 IH tractor my only issue I dont think my truck can pull it back its only a ford f150 with the small v8 and its 2hr ride each way what do you guys think have any of you ever tried this
 
Truck would do it, even with the smaller motor. Be smart about it. Just take it slow and give yourself extra stopping room.
 
Is it just the tractor, or does it have a loader? If it's just the tractor I would use your truck.
I hauled a 1945 H with a 16 ft utility trailer with twin 3500 lb axles pulled with a 1990 F150 with a six cylinder five speed from College Mound Missouri back to Greenwood Indiana. Took around 10 minutes to get up to highway speed, but once up around 65, it was smooth sailing.
I certainly don't recommend it ever, but it was all I had at the time.
Use a bunch of common sense on speed, stopping distances, and corner speeds you should be fine. Trailer brakes are a must.
 
I don't know about local laws where you are but in some places you could get into serious trouble if your truck is overloaded ( combined weight of truck and trailer).
 
I used to have a '92 F-150 extended cab with the 302 and 4-speed automatic. If I remember correctly, the tow rating of that truck was 7700 lbs. I hauled a late Deere B (around 4400 lbs plus the trailer) 400 miles from Colorado to Kansas without problems but of course that is pretty flat country. The few hills on the trip made the little V8 work pretty hard.

If your truck has a manual transmission the tow rating is much less. A friend had a truck similar to mine with the 5-speed stick and his rating was only about 4000 lbs. Apparently this transmission wasn't up to the constant loads like the auto was.

No matter how much power you have the ability to stop is even more important. Make sure your trailer brakes are fully functional before loading up and hitting the road.
 
I have a GMC 1500 with a 5.3 v8 auto trans. Truck is rated 7,500 lbs towing.I tow a 10,000 trailer and a John Deere 50 that weighs 4,500 and 1,000 lbs of weights.Anything over 65 mph the gas milage is not so good but it pulls it no problem.good brakes is a must. go for it but drive safe.
 
How flat is the countryside where you live and how bad is the traffic. Here in the plains of NW Iowa I wouldn't be afraid to pull it with a 1/2 ton and smaller bumper hitch trailer. Our traffic is light and we have plenty of little traveled blacktop roads. If you're in the twisty, turny hills in traffic you'll be on edge the whole way. Good luck. Hope you get it bought. Jim
 
I had similiar concerns about towing a large boat with my vehicle for a friend. Solution, rented a truck for 100 bucks, was cheap insurance against over doing it with my vehicle.
 
steve, In College, not a very new truck at all, I towed, "not hauled" a Farmall M 120 miles w/ a 66 chevy pickup with a 250 Hot water I-6 engine w/ 3 on the tree.
A 300 is in the same wt. class as a Farmall H!
An older F-150 with a 302 V8 or a 4.6 V8 will have NO Problem hauling a 300 on a 16 ft trailer. If it does it is Very, Very sick!!!
I have a 96, F-150 Super cab, Long box, 4x4, 4.6 V8, Auto 3:55 gears with right at 350K miles it will burn some oil now, I wouldn't think twice about hauling a 300 IH on a 2 hr ride!
Fill it with gas check the oil, check the tires and put my right foot on the floor!
Hope this helps!
Later,
John A.
 
Is there any problem with the DOT for being over weight in terms of towing capability? I often worry about that because I have a 1998 Dodge 2500 with a 14K gooseneck trailer hauling a Farmall M. When I consider the empty weight of the trailer and the tractor I am exceeding the towing capability of my truck.
 
The DOT doesn't look at factory ratings. They look at the weight you have your truck registered/tagged for. If you're over that, you will get a ticket.

DOT generally doesn't bother PRIVATE haulers, though, unless there's something really obviously wrong. If your rig is keeping up with traffic, pulling straight and steady, tires are up, nothing dangling or dragging, load chained down at 4 points, they won't even look your way.
 
My dad has a 99 f150 with a very small v-8 in it that I had to borrow once to make a run with an 18" bumper trailer from Springfield MO to western Kentucky. As long as I didnt try and use the overdrive the truck did fine. In overdrive even with the empty trailer it couldnt but the wind without shifting up and down. It did have brakes. Your mpg wont be good but it will do 55 or 60 mph all day long. Make sure your tires are in good shape and all air up. And take a dang spare for the trailer.
 
Your truck will haul the tractor no problem. You will have to use common sence while driving and also when you load the tractor on the trailer place it so you have the right amount of weight on the truck hitch. Too far ahead truck too light on front end. Too far back you will not have enough weight on rear tires. Also if you are worried about it don't do it your self hire it done. HTH

Bob
 
Should be no problem. I've hauled M's and F-20's on my trailer (It has electric brakes.) with a 6-cyclinder Ford pickup for 300-500 miles.
 
I wouldnt worry about DOT. My first tractor was a 1941 A pulled with my 1500 silverado v6. Now, that wasnt(and still isnt) a big tractor but, I had it loaded on my buddy's single axle landscaping trailer with a loader, sickle mower, weights, a pile of misc levers and stuff. The trailer was waaaaayyyy overloaded but I had no alternative at the time. I got passed by several cops and a dot truck too. They dont care about private owners, they are only out to screw commercial people.
I would say tractor was 2400# + 300# weights + #500 manure loader/hydraulics + 300# misc + #300 sickle roughly #3500-#3800 pounds...
 
If you have doubts try getting a bid on Uship. I had a 560 hauled couple months ago and was pleased with the process. Cost me 450 bucks to have it hauled 300 miles. Have no idea how they were able to do it for that price.
 
I would not worry about hauling a 300 on a trailer with out brakes, I pull a 22 ft. goose neck without brakes with 2 h farmals on it. Never had problems with stopping. Good luck.
 
My Dad poo-poo'd electric trailer brakes for decades. Said they were too much trouble, too much maintenance, too expensive, and didn't do any good. Luckily he never had a problem.

I bought him a Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller and the plug-n-play harness for his 2000 Chevy truck for a birthday present. Took him 20 minutes to install it.

Next thing I hear, "Wow what a difference!" One trip sold him on trailer brakes.

The trailer he was towing was a rusty old cattle trailer that he'd owned since new. Never used the brakes, not once, until I bought him the controller. THEY WORKED FINE, and he didn't touch a thing.

Just sayin' you may be fine without but life could be much more enjoyable with.
 

All 1/2 ton OD manual transmissions were light weight junk and not geared low enough or built heavy enough. Chances are if it's a 5-speed OD or 4 speed OD it's rated 2/3 to half of the automatic, if it's a granny low 4-speed, it's made to work, but those got dropped in favor of the OD boxes.

We used to have a 300 4-speed(T-18) F-150 and it would pull and haul, neighbor had a 300 4-speed(OD) F-150 and you had to rev it up to pull away in 1st or you'd stall. Drove a 89 C1500, 305 5-speed, same thing, it would stall on level ground if you didn't rev it up when letting clutch out.
 

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