Trailering a Farmall A

Sometime very soon, I hope to transport a Farmall A. It is about 4 hours away, by interstate. I have no trailer, so I will have to either rent or borrow one. I will be using a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with a 350 engine in it. What do I need to know about transporting tractors before I begin? I can handle a trailer, and have done it many times. But I have never loaded a tractor on a trailer before. Does anyone know about how much an A weighs? What parts of the tractor should I and should I not attach to? What size trailer do I need? And how fast can I realistically go on the interstate with it?

Plan on the A being about 2500 lbs plus any implements which might come with it.

Your pickup sounds like a fine tow vehicle. My strong preference is for a double-axle trailer normally suitable for hauling a car, typically these have double 3500 lb axles and so are a "7000 lb" (gross weight) trailer, which includes the trailer itself plus the payload.

One important issue is that the ramps be the proper width for the track-width on the A. A tractor is a little narrower track than a vehicle. You don't have the issue of the tricycle front end, but some measuring is still in order.

As far as chaining down the A, I'd focus on the large front axle tube, and the rear drawbar (if present). My Super A doesn't have a drawbar but does have a large tube crossmember for the mower mount, which is suitable tie-down point.

As far as highway speeds, I'd first add that you need enough tongue load on the trailer so it will "trail" properly and not "wag". Very important. I do this by eye, basically you know the load must be slightly forward of center, and I watch or measure the trailer ball to make sure the rear truck suspension has been compressed slightly, but visibly, a couple of inches. In other words you don't want the hitch ball dragging the ground but you don't want it where it was with the trailer empty either.

Next most important issue is condition of trailer tires and axle bearings. I own my trailer so I know what's up as far as condition. With a rental or a borrow, you don't know exactly what you're getting into. Sidewall inflation pressure should be observed on the trailer tires. A good condition "7000 lb" trailer as I mentioned above should tow safely up to 65mph, although I'd start off at 55mph until you feel more comfortable. You must be "cargo conscious" and leave extra following distance for stops, braking, and emergencies.

Good luck with the move.

There's some information here: http://www.external_link/farm-tractors/000/2/8/285-farmall-a-dimensions.html that will help it gives the weight, length, width and height. You can put a strap or chain from the front corner of the trailer over the axle tube, under the bolster and over the axle tube to the other front corner of the trailer. The draw bar will work good as another safe point to attach like the previous post said. Another way to attach is to put forged lifting eyes in the cultivator bolt holes on the bolster to hook your chains or straps to.

that way of tying on is totally wrong!A chain and a secureing device must be one on each corner.Dont beleive me talk to your local DOT.

The A is well under 10k and therefore does not require securement at each corner. I'd still do it that way, myself, but it's not required.

First off, for a trailer, avoid U-Haul. They won't rent if you're hauling a tractor and their slotted deck isn't particularly useful for what you're trying to do. Check instead with an equipment rental outfit, like SunBelt or somebody that rents tractors and the trailers to haul them on. It'll be a lot less hassle.

The A will be somewhere in the 2500-3200# range, allowing for things like wheel weights, tire ballast . . . The trailer ought to weigh about a ton, and the truck you describe ought to handle it just fine, as long as there is provision for trailer brakes -- surges or electric.

As far as securement, somebody down below mentioned having to secure it at all four corners. That is true for equipment weighing over 10,000#, but is still a good idea for lighter equipment. See if the trailer rental outfit will rent chains and binders to go with it. Ideal would need two chains 14' or better and four binders.

If the tractor has a drawbar, you can chain down either the corners of the drawbar or set clevises in a little ways from each corner and chain to those. Hook each end of the chain to your stake pockets (pull it up through the bottom of the stake pocket and hook it over the top) as an anchor point. Then using either the drawbar or the clevises, but a binder on each corner, with any excess, slack chain in the middle. One chain acting like two.

Do the same general thing on the front, tying onto the ends of the front axle tube. Up there it's easier/better to do it one end at a time, as it's helpful to take an extra turn of chain over the axle tube on each end. So do one side loosely, run your chain and do the other side loosely. When both ends of the chain are anchored, pull all of the slack to the middle that you can by hand, and then bind both sides down. To get things tight the way the should be, you should notice the tires squatting a little as you bind it down.

If you're not used to using the breakover binders, the ratchet style would be a plus. Which ever you use, find a place to pull over about a half-hour after you start hauling and check your chains and retighten them if needed. I try to set my binders in a way that I can see them and also see enough chain in my mirrors to gauge how tight things are.

Thanks for all the info everyone. I really appreciate. One thing I didn't think about is that my truck is not set up for trailer brakes. Can someone give me an explanation of what is needed to get trailer brakes? The things I have towed in the past are utility trailers, small enclosed trailers, boat trailers, and other things that just used the 4 pin boat type plug.

what I am getting from everyone so far is that I need trailer brakes, a tandem axle trailer, and least two chains (4 would be better?) and four binders while going 65 mph or less. Is that about right?

As far as the chains, for no more than your tractor weighs you can be technically legal with one chain on each end as long as it's heavy enough. Those of us that would err on the side of caution would say chain it down at four points, which may require four chains but can be done with two chains as long as they are long enough -- hook each end to the trailer, and use a binder to pull part of the middle section back to the end that is anchored. It's one chain that acts like two, with the slack betwwen the binders in the middle. I had a DOT guy give me some guff once about tying one down like that. Mind it was a light tractor, much like yours and didn't require four chains, but that's what he was tellin' me, saying that the regs called for a chain on each corner, and making noises like he was going to "have to" red-tag me. That's when I went into the chain box on the trailer and came back with some bolt cutters and asked him to show me which links he'd like me to cut so as to satisfy his need for two chains on each end. I could have cut just two links, one on each, and made four chains out of two without ever disturbing the binders or the sections of chain holding the tractor down. He backed down and allowed as how I needn't cut my chain. (Which was a good thing, because I'm not sure those poor old bolt-cutters would have made much of a dent in that chain!)

You DO need brakes. For electrics, some local camper dealers can fix you up for a surprisingly reasonable amount. If you're handy enough, you can get what you need from an online source like etrailer.com or others -- controller, the harness to connect it to your truck, and the wire and plug to connect it all to the back of your pickup.

I don't know about Dodge, especially with their bankruptcy right now, but ask a Dodge dealer if they have a 7 pin trailer plug for your truck. I know thet with my 1997 Ford F350 you could get either a 4 pin or a 7 pin plug. I had to plug a controller into a plug under the dash, and the OEM plug added the connections for the trailer brake and battery. The harness was already in place along the chassis.

I always wrapped a chain around the bellhousing just behind the engine. Because on the Farmall "A" tractors the weak link is up on the right front of the engine block where the front axle bolts to the block. So chaining to the front axle is a no-no. The block can break there just by hitting a wash out while working in the field. I've seen a few that have been welded in that spot. And any tractor that has a mag should have the coil wire or plug wires pulled during transport. I've heard of people loading their tractors then pulling their truck and trailer up just a bit before chaining the tractor to the trailer and the tractor starts and drives off one end of the trailer. It's just like pop starting your tractor. The old John Deere's are good for this since they don't have a kill switch.

Thanks for that heads up! The tractor was my Dad's, and I know that the front end has come out from under it while he was working it once. I don't think anything cracked or broke but the pivot pin, but I do not know what he replaced it with. parts for this tractor back then were not readily available where we lived. After that I always had a fear of that happening again. Is that something I need to be concerned about during transport?

a 16' trialer with dual axles will make the pull nice and give you room to play with the positioning. in reality.. a 14' traielr would be mor ethan enough for that small tractor.. do go with dual axles though.

I pull with a 98 dodge 1500 4x4 with the 5.9 engine..

nowadays i like straps on each corner plus one over the middle.. just makes it safer.. inthe old daus I'd use one strap fron corner to corner and one in the rear, corner to corner, and one over the middle.

to add a controller to your truck is darn easy...

get a 50$ tsc controller ..there are instructions for finding the brake switch wire. controller only has 4 wires.. power and ground brake sense, and brake power.

power..grab from fuse box cig lighter fuse.. ground from fire wall...

tap splice the brake sense line from the brake switch ( read the part about powered lines... ).. last line out is brake power... this can be 10ga.. though 8 is better.. will need to run from cab out to the back. I ran mine down the door jamb to kick plate. drilled down and put a grommet in and ran wire out of cab under truck.. use a glob of rtv to seal er up.. then ran wire down frame with zipties. you will liely want tto change to a 7pin rv plug so you will also need an aux power wire, same gauge, and wire it with an inline fuse.. run these back and then tap into the 4 wire trailer plug and wire inthe 7 pin.. it's that east.. tsc carries the wire kit with plug and flat double insulated wire.. add your fuse and some manual labor and you are good to go..

newer trucks with the 7pin plug already there are even easier as you can get a stub connector to go from controller to back of dash.. then usually just install a maxifuse or CB and go.

soundguy

One suggestion I have for running power to the brake controller is an auto-reset circuit breaker (pickup at any chain-auto parts stores in electrical aisle).

In my thinking, if you happen to electrically overload (ala short circuit) on the "blue" brake-magnet output power wire...you want another chance without having to stop and pull over (because you might not be able to pull over depending on conditions!!!) In other words, if a standard fuse is used and you pop it, no more brakes until you finally come to a stop, diagnose and fix it.

I seem to have problems with draining my battery after installing the latest brake controller, which may be related to the auto-reset circuit breaker, I took the easy route and installed a battery disconnect switch which was good for other reasons but being more patient I should trace out the "leakage".

Edit: one last suggestion: whatever trailer connector you standardize on (I like the Pollak 7-way "RV" connector as this is closest to universal on applications using electric brakes), print or draw a wiring diagram and place this above the sunvisor or in the glovebox, noting whether the drawing is looking at the truck connector or the trailer connector. Someday in the future that small effort will come in handy and you won't have to go fumbling around wasting time.