New Trailer question

KTNC

Member
I am purchasing a trailer to haul my M (n/f). The trailer manufacturer is recommending a landscape style loading ramp to accomodate the narrow front, as opposed to a third ramp. It's a 10,000 GVW trailer with a 4 ft tail and 5 foot ramps. So the the 2 outside ramps are latched in an upward position, but would be hard to latch the middle ramp.

My question - Would a landscape style ramp provide enough traction for loading the tractor? (Yes it is able to accomodate the weight.)

Thanks
 

If you have loaded rears or wheel weights I bet you will bend that landscape gate right down to the ground. I don't think that your trailer guy has an appreciation for what you tractor weighs, but mostly I expect that he does not have the right trailer so he is trying to sell you what he has. Loading an NFE tractor on two ramps is no big deal, been doing it for many years.
 
The trailer is not yet built, he builds to the customer's specs...

How do you do it with 2 ramps?
 
any one that loads a narrow front end tractor with just two ramps must have a death wish. have known a couple of guys who did that, no longer living because they were to tight to spend the money for a third ramp.
 
(quoted from post at 21:04:58 12/02/12) any one that loads a narrow front end tractor with just two ramps must have a death wish. have known a couple of guys who did that, no longer living because they were to tight to spend the money for a third ramp.

A little hard to believe, LOL. I saw a friend that is about twenty years older than me do it, and my immediate thought was "Wow! Slick!" So I quit carrying that bending in the middle plank. I have been loading this way for about twelve years, for about fifteen trips or thirty load-ups a year. I will admit that it probably requires a little skill and experience and confidence, and of course all safe loading and driving practices still apply. There are many pitfalls in trailer loading and unloading to watch for. I once convinced a friend who was unchaining while sitting on a spot where his trailer leaned to both the rear and side, to move to a level place and walk a few more feet.
 
This Coyote trailer, made in Ohio, I ordered this spring works great for me!
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I made my middle ramp from small gauge rectangle tubing and some expanded metal over top. I had it attched to the trailer and folded it up and laid it flat onto the bevertail. It only stuck up a few inches so wide fronts you could just drive over it no need to fold it down. The few times I had a large load clear to the back I just chained the middle ramp up.
 
Does the manufacture of the trailer your looking at offer a third ramp? I have the three ramps on my trailer and they are heavier than the landscape ramp also they can be moved and have spring assit.You can also get the ramps that stand up or the ones that fold over and lay on the beaver tail.
 
D beatty -

Yes they know, their concern is the tail of the trailer is 4 ft and the ramps are 5ft, so too long to lay back.
 
I have a 3ft. beaver with three spring assit 5 ft. standup ramps. My trailer is a 14,00o lb. PJ bumper pull 24ft. long,102 inchs wide and is a low profile. The rear of my trailer looks a lot the rear on the picture of mister Hecks trailer. only differance is that mine has the three stand up ramps.
 
(quoted from post at 16:26:03 12/02/12) I am purchasing a trailer to haul my M (n/f). The trailer manufacturer is recommending a landscape style loading ramp to accomodate the narrow front, as opposed to a third ramp. It's a 10,000 GVW trailer with a 4 ft tail and 5 foot ramps. So the the 2 outside ramps are latched in an upward position, but would be hard to latch the middle ramp.

My question - Would a landscape style ramp provide enough traction for loading the tractor? (Yes it is able to accomodate the weight.)

Thanks
A "landscape style ramp" is kind of vague but the ones I usually see look too light for a full size tractor in my opinion. Here is my story:
I had a trailer built several years ago with two regular spring loaded ramps. I had a third ramp added and fixed them so they all stood up and didn't use up space on the beaver tail. This worked OK but I got tired of lifting and lowering ramps as well as shoving them back and forth adjusting the width for different tractors and etc. So, I welded in a center section between the two out side ramps and made them one full width ramp. I then hooked up a small hydraulic pump and cylinder to raise and lower it. It is safer as I don't have to worry about lining up the wheels with a ramp and my back really appreciates not having to wrestle these things. I have used this set up for two years now and it works like a champ.

 

I sincerely question the 10,000# gvw. Considering that trailer itself will weigh in excess of 4,000#, and closer to 5,000# if it is a gooseneck, by the time you load a 5,000 to 6,000# Farmall M onto it, the trailer is going to be maxed out. Maybe even over-loaded.

Better go with a 14,000# gvw mimimum.
 
So far no problems loading/unloading at all. This set-up works great for me! They have 2 heavy assist springs on each gate. Tractors I haul range from 3500 lbs. to 8000 lbs.
We also haul a lot of equipment for demos at shows.
 
the landscape ramps are usually a joke.

my gn deckover has 2 hd sliding ramps.

i welded up a 3rd HD , lay on ramp tha thas a 3" angle lip that rides the rear tube the other 2 ramps hinge on.

when loaved I toss it up frnnt as a wheel chok, bind down and go.. that's on an H and other trikes.. JD-B.. ford rowcrops.. etc..

no issues..
 
My 14,000lb GVWR 16' deckover with 3' tail weighs 3250lbs empty. A 10,000lb trailer about the same size will weigh <2500lbs.

You'd have to put a LOT of weight on an M to get it up over 6000lbs, unless the tires are loaded.

That said, unless the landscape ramp is built as heavy as regular ramps, they won't hold up. Being that heavy they will too heavy to lift.
 
A trailer built to be a 10K trailer should not weigh that much and be much lighter than a 14K. Many 14K and 20K trailers are the same other than the axles so they are pretty heavy, a 10K such as a Bri-Mar is not like that.
 
How does backing those narrow front end tractors on the trailer work out without the middle ramp? A little tricky I bet.
 
What make of trailer do you have? My PJ 14,000lb. 21'deckover with 3'beaver with 3 standup ramps scales in at 4,200 lbs. empty. This is a bumper pull trailer and if I would have went with a goose neck it would have been 500 lbs. more than bumper pull.
 
I'm with Chuck, full width is the way to go, allows you to load anything from a wheel barrow up.
I load my 7,200 lb Cane tractor on mine no problem.
Look into hydraulics, I promise you, those ramps grow heavier with age(yours that is!) My trailer is a 96 model and those ramps have really took the abuse!
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(quoted from post at 21:17:34 12/04/12) My 14,000lb GVWR 16' deckover with 3' tail weighs 3250lbs empty. A 10,000lb trailer about the same size will weigh &lt;2500lbs.

You'd have to put a LOT of weight on an M to get it up over 6000lbs, unless the tires are loaded.

That said, unless the landscape ramp is built as heavy as regular ramps, they won't hold up. Being that heavy they will too heavy to lift.

My 14,000# rated trailer, 20'+5' beavertail, deck-over gooseneck, weighs 5,250#. Actual shipping weight, printed right on the original dealer invoice, and no, it is not difficult at all to get an M to weigh 6,000#. A bare M, with no belly pump, no belt pulley, no PTO, and no wheel weights or liquid ballast, will weigh in at 4,250#
 
Look at the price difference the dealer charges for the various kinds of ramps to you. Sometimes they push a certain ramp because they got inventory, is cheaper to built, etc.
I assume you have not signed on the contract line yet and are able to still customize things a little.
What do your fellow tractor friends use? Their experiences, good and bad? While there are basic general and common things to a trailer, most can be customized to YOUR needs and liking. Been there, done that myself. Good feedback here but in the end, you will own and use it, so go with that in mind.
 
Thanks to all who provided feedback. It appears the full width deck is the way to go!

BTW - trailer weight is 3000 lbs.
 

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