Trailering a tractor

Inno

Well-known Member
Picking up a tractor on the weekend (MF TO-35 with FEL) and I'll be trailering it about 125 miles through some hilly terrain. I have a good double axle trailer (two 7000lb axles) from a friend and just installed an electric brake controller on my truck.
Are heavy duty ratchet straps enough to hold her down or should I be getting some chains? What do you guys use?
 
A lot of people prefer chains for equipment but I
think if you use at least 2" ratchet straps and they
don't go over any sharp edges would be fine. I find
that chains will come loose sometimes. Four
attachment points would be best.
 
I would get chains. The ratchet straps are not rated for that type of load. You don't need four chains on a MF 135 tractor. Use good series 70 load chains. One front and one rear will be fine.
 
The truck is a 1998 Chevy 1500 with a 350 engine.
I am hoping to get by with straps, I can get some very heavy duty ones from a neighbor. 4 straps, one over each axle and possibly another one pulling forward and one pulling backward. If I stop every 25 miles or so and check/re-tighten I think I should be ok.
 
If I was using straps I would use 3"wide straps they are rated at 3,300lbs. work load limit.If keep tabs on the load you will have no problems. I have a 97 GMC K1500 and pull a 24FT. deckover hauling a Farmall 450 and handles it. I prefer 3/8 grade 70 chains on my load and use 4 chains on tractor.
 
I have never seen a chain cut where a strap will cut easily under load. You try hauling a tractor an have DOT inspect you and if you have straps on it you will be red tagged.
 
You can use straps and DOT won't say a word if you have proper size straps on it.Straps get cut when driver doesn't put straps on right( they make an edging that you put over sharp corners). If you read the DOT regs. You can use chains, straps,cable and ropes (on certain loads.
 

Adequate straps are fine. Take note of OTR truck trailers, I see far more straps than chains. Be advised though that law requires a separate strap or chain for the loader. I trailer a tractor that size a lot with one chain in the rear through a clevis on the draw bar and a strap around the front pedestal. If the tractor were over 10,000 lbs the four chain rule would take effect.
 
you are wrong I do this for a living for many years straps are great get used to it straps will not cut if used properly.Never seen a load red tagged for straps.You have no idea what you are talking about.
 
Straps are legal but the problem is people want to use those 1 inch 400 lb straps from harbor freight with no edge protectors or have them pulling at a angle from the attaching point.

The one I do not understand is rope.
They say rope is legal and even give ratings for differant types and size ropes.
Then they say......
393.104(f)(1) Tiedowns and securing devices must not contain knots.
How the heck am I suppose to tie something down with a piece of rope and not use knots.
 
Well I am glad you do this for a living. You are wrong about the strap issue. If you are using the four inch straps they are rated and tagged for DOT load binding. The better 2 and 3 inch are too but most of the 2 straps are not. If it does not have the tag in place then it is not legal to use for load binding. If you are using the regular 2 inch straps from a cheap supplier they are not rated or tagged for DOT load binding.

As for not knowing what I am talking about. I live directly across from the WI DOT scale at Dubuque. I get to see the loads/trucks get red tagged all of the time. It is fun watching the private guys hauling an old tractor all dolled up with a couple of two inch straps from Harbor Freight get red tagged and fined. See a lot of guy that have had straps repaired and not had the DOT tag put back on get ticketed too. The white rating tag MUST be on the strap or it is not legal.

You guys that want to use straps on a equipment load go ahead. Here is what the DOT officer I drink coffee with every morning told me this morning when I asked him about it. He look much harder at loads tied down with just straps. The tie down rating on straps is much lower than the working rating on the tags. So on a smaller tractor you may have to have as many as six straps to equal two chains. It all is the rating on the restraining device. His words not mine. He told me any strap with out a rating tag is a insecure load ticket from him. Yea he is a puncture wound when he stops you but he is the one with the ability to write you a ticket.

So Like I said you guys can use what ever you want. Just know if it is straps you are going to be looked at harder. Plus personally I will take cold hard steel any day over a little piece of nylon.
 
I use the 2" heavy duty industrial type straps when I trailer my MF35 (should be real similar in size to your TO35) and pull it with a Toyota Tundra (the smaller version) with a 4.7L V8... Does just fine... but.... I did upgrade the front brakes on the truck from the same size as Tacoma to same size as Sequoia... Slow and easy will git-er-done...
 
Straps are fine... but I wouldn't use less that a 3" with the load rating on it. The truck will also be fine.
It's not like you're hauling a D9.

Rod
 
Newton said that something in motion tends to stay in motion. I use straps and chains to keep tractor from hitting me in the head if I have to stop real fast. My chains are the right length to stop tractor where I want it in the trailer. Install chains, pull forward to tighten, then use 2 strap to pull tractor forward. Then use 4 more straps to angle brace tractor to keep it from rocking sideways. Perhaps an over kill. To date I've never been stopped. My tractors are held in place a total of 8 ways to Sunday. Haven't lost anything either. Knock on wood, use wood on trailer to knock on too.

George
 
I have some of the cheap 2 inch nylon ratchet straps. They are tagged and it says "10,000lbs load limit 3,385lb working limit"
Ask him how to compute the load or the number of straps for a load using these.
 
Old Iowa DOT rated 3" and 4" straping is rated the same as grade 43 - 3/8 binder chain which is 5,400 LBS. I am not a big fan of straps but after being stuck in mud at construction sites and having the semi pulled out with nylon straps I have more respect for them.
 
A DOT worker that knows how to do that? Good luck. He'll probably ask his coffee drinking buddy how to do it.
 
I would NOT use 2 chains, because if one comes loose the tractor is not secured at all. I used to do that, then became enlightened here about the risks.

Straps are also fine, but are at risk of being cut on a sharp edge. I had a plow come loose on a trailer when it cut the strap.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I kind of figured there would be some sort of disagreement. I plan to use straps after reading all of this, proper ones, and make sure it's tied down with 4 of them and one or two extra for the loader. I plan to stop regularly to check tightness and make sure nothing has moved. I won't be making any speed records but the speed limit on this particular stretch of highway is only 80Km/h or 50mph.
The weather is supposed to be good also so it should all go well!
 
If it can roll...G70 (minimum) chains and binders, secured all 4 corners, if it is a box,crate,etc ...4" straps, with edge protection where needed.
 
Remember the trailer will get you in trouble going down the
hills, take it easy there.

The trailer brake also has an emergency override in case the
trailer starts swaying. You slide the lever over to apply the
breaks on the trailer without the truck.

Do you know how to set the sensitivity on the controller?
 
Straps should do the job well.

50 years ago a lot of tractors were hauled stuck in reverse and the brakes locked. I have always used chains on tractors except for the smaller ones on my small trailer which I use straps or both.
 
I am only going to say this once. If your going to IRON then use IRON . Straps are fine for what they were designed for and hauling tractors or implements is not what they were meant for . May be if your hauling gravity boxes with out running gear or flat hay racks with out gear then the strap would be fine . I have hauled a lot more iron then most of you and if it was on tires or tracks it got chains If it was pipe it got chains if it was plastic pipe then it got straps If it was wooden shipping boxes depending on what it was and how it was made it was a toss up between chains or straps. If it was a load of hay it got a strap every three feet . also i do not care how many chains and binders you put on something IF it wants to come off that trailer it is coming off.
 
I prefer to use chains as well, but as long as the straps have the WLL marked on them, whether printed or tagged, and you have enough, that is not an unsecured load ticket, and he'll waste a day in court trying to write it.

I believe there is a default rating for any strap without a WLL marking, as there is with unmarked chain.
 
(quoted from post at 18:17:23 09/14/12) I am only going to say this once. If your going to IRON then use IRON . Straps are fine for what they were designed for and hauling tractors or implements is not what they were meant for . May be if your hauling gravity boxes with out running gear or flat hay racks with out gear then the strap would be fine . I have hauled a lot more iron then most of you and if it was on tires or tracks it got chains If it was pipe it got chains if it was plastic pipe then it got straps If it was wooden shipping boxes depending on what it was and how it was made it was a toss up between chains or straps. If it was a load of hay it got a strap every three feet . also i do not care how many chains and binders you put on something IF it wants to come off that trailer it is coming off.

Well it looks like tractor vet has been holding out on us. Apparently he wrote the FMCA.
 
Got it done, made the trip successfully without any close calls.
I was very aware of what the trailer was doing at all times and made good use of the trailer brakes when necessary. I checked 4 times on the way home (150 miles) and nothing moved, everything stayed tight.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
(quoted from post at 06:36:57 09/14/12) Well I am glad you do this for a living. You are wrong about the strap issue. If you are using the four inch straps they are rated and tagged for DOT load binding. The better 2 and 3 inch are too but most of the 2 straps are not. [b:86cceb7c7c]If it does not have the tag in place then it is not legal to use for load binding.[/b:86cceb7c7c] If you are using the regular 2 inch straps from a cheap supplier they are not rated or tagged for DOT load binding.

As for not knowing what I am talking about. I live directly across from the WI DOT scale at Dubuque. I get to see the loads/trucks get red tagged all of the time. It is fun watching the private guys hauling an old tractor all dolled up with a couple of two inch straps from Harbor Freight get red tagged and fined. See a lot of guy that have had straps repaired and not had the DOT tag put back on get ticketed too. The white rating tag MUST be on the strap or it is not legal.

You guys that want to use straps on a equipment load go ahead. Here is what the DOT officer I drink coffee with every morning told me this morning when I asked him about it. He look much harder at loads tied down with just straps. The tie down rating on straps is much lower than the working rating on the tags. So on a smaller tractor you may have to have as many as six straps to equal two chains. It all is the rating on the restraining device. His words not mine. He told me any strap with out a rating tag is a insecure load ticket from him. Yea he is a small puncture wound when he stops you but he is the one with the ability to write you a ticket.

So Like I said you guys can use what ever you want. Just know if it is straps you are going to be looked at harder. Plus personally I will take cold hard steel any day over a little piece of nylon.


Straps without the tag in good condition are most ceretainly "legal" to use, The FMCSA book has the rules for straps and load ratings right in it. There is nothing wrong with straps used properly. As for this statement- "The tie down rating on straps is much lower than the working rating on the tags.", that makes no sense at all. I was a DOT inspector for the last 6 years of my career, that's better than having coffee with one.

Most important thing in all this discussion was missed- DOT regs don't apply unless he's a CMV, but common sense always applies.
 

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