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Bobcat Trailer

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Steve@Advance

Well-known Member
My boss bought a well used Bobcat skid-steer loader with a custom trailer. This appears to be the trailer the Bobcat came with, looks to have started life as a rental unit.

This trailer sits low to the ground, and has short ramps, about 3 ft. long, that fold down for loading and unloading.

Putting the loader on the trailer is a terrifying experience! All of us are novices at operating this, and even with the bucket extended fully forward, it feels like it is really wanting to roll over backward!

I don't think it can go over on flat ground, but with the rear wheels near the top of the ramps, the counterweight would go down between the ramps and sure looks like it could go all the way over.

Has anyone else experienced this? I can't believe something this dangerous would have been turned loose as a rental unit! Or are we just being paranoid?

We.re looking at making some longer ramps, maybe a one piece ramp that would catch the counterweight, just in case... But that would be getting really heavy.

Any ideas?
 
The trailer was most likely designed to have the loader backed on. With most of those small trailers they are not long enough to get the load forward far enough if you drive the loader on. Backing is how I've always done it. Had a couple customers I built trailers for that insisted on driving them on. It was a huge pain to make a trailer that that would work on.
 
I'll second the back on, that 's the only way I've seen them loaded. I've hauled them on my gooseneck trailer that has the deck about 36" tall, just back up the ramps and go.
 
You want it backed on anyway to get more tongue weight. If you have a short trailer with not enough tongue weight it will push the back of the truck all over the place when your driving down the road.

Harry
 
I need to take another look at the trailer, but I don't think it's designed to be backed on. There is an angle iron stop at the front that the bucket hooks into. The trailer pulls well, has good tongue weight. Afraid backing it on will be way tonge heavy, but I'm going to look into it.

Thanks everyone.
 
I get the tape measure out. Measure the distance from top of rear tire to the wheelwell. I shoot for between 5/8-3/4 inch compression of rear suspension when loading trailer. Too much toung weight is a bad feeling. Negative toung weight is a major NO, NO.
 
I've loaded a lot up and down many trailers. It's hard to tip one over backwards. Are the front wheels even coming up off the ramps when you load it? A lot of times it feels like a big incline, but it's not that bad and the front wheels never come up off the ramps.
 
find a little ditch or depression and back the trailer into it so the ramps are more level. Since you have a bobcat you can make one :)
 
Bobcats should be backed up when loading on the trailer. The only thing worse than tipping back on the frame when loading, is doing it while backing off the trailer at the job site and having the customer see it and wonder if he hired the right person??? It's actually pretty hard to roll over backwards but if you're new to a skid steer, it scares the %^&$# out of you! Even scarier is tipping forward with the bucket raised and a full load of wet clay. If you don't have a full width seat bar, wear the seat belt at all times. It could save your life. On flat ground, lift the machine up with the bucket as high as you can to get used to doing wheelie's. Then you won't panic as much when it accidentally happens. You always put the heavy end first going up a hill. Going up a hill with an empty bucket will tip backwards too. 1/2 a bucket is usually sufficient to balance it out.
 
Like others have said back it on.
If that gives you too much tongue weight jack the tongue up so the ramps aren't so steep and drive on forward.
I used to jack the tongue up on my race car trailer to make the trailer in the same plain as the ramps because the car didn't have much ground clearance.
 
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