(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Pulling a backhoe with a 3/4 ton pickup

J

JDemaris

Well-known Member
I'm working in a rural area in northern Michigan and need to get my backhoe/loader moved a few times back and forth. 60 miles each trip and all pretty much "Michigan flat-land." I'm having trouble finding someone reliable and reasonable for the trucking. Last time I needed a backhoe that was 60 miles from where mine is parked - I just rented one from a local tractor dealer. It was a 30 horse Kubota and cost me around $125 for one day. Cheaper then paying to have mine trucked a 120 mile round trip. I do not want to rent the Kubota again. Too small and too narrow. Soil is all sand here and the narrow wheel track causes the ditch keep caving in. I also don't like rushing and "working on the clock." The rental place wants it picked up and brought back the same day for a "one day" rental. Winds up being more like 5-6 hours of use for what is called "one day."

So, I'm considering getting a trailer and pulling with my 3/4 ton truck. I would never consider it in the mountains of NY. But here it's all flat-land. Truck is a 94 Ford F250 HD 3/4 ton diesel with a receiver hitch and a goose-neck hitch. I already have a 6 ton trailer that I use to move my Case 310G dozer around with. But it's too small for my IH 3414 backhoe wheel-loader. I figure it weighs 8500 lbs. I assume a trailer is going to weigh 3500 to 4000 lbs. So that's 12,000-13,000 lbs. I'd be pulling. Can't say I ever tried it before with a pickup. Anyone else done it? A few years ago I hired a guy to truck my Ford 4000 backhoe-loader to the center of the NY Adirondacks. He had a 1 ton Ford dually diesel with a gooseneck trailer. He said the pull scared the heck out of him and he'd never do it again. But that was in the mountains.
 
I use a '94 Ford F250 HD 3/4 ton pickup to pull a 24ft gooseneck flatbed trailer loaded with my 4020 JD Tractor/w loader. I'm guessing the tractor weighs 10,000lbs? In flat land I'd not give it a second thought. Make darn sure the trailer brakes are working and hit the road. HOw much does your backhoe weigh? Maybe you could rent a trailer to do your immediate hauling needs?
 
I think you know the answer.

It'll work on flat roads, but...

pulling's the easy part, stopping fast is a different story. I don't know the real numbers, but I'm guessing you'd be about 1 ton over loaded. That's not insignficant.

If you kill somebody, it might end up costing you more than just money. Unlikely of course, but it comes down to how much you're willing to risk.

Also depends on how nosey your local police force is.

But aside from all that - if it's an automatic, I'd at least consider bumping up the cooler capacity.
 
i bought a minnie miline big mo 500 loader backhoe a few years back. i needed to haul it about 50 miles to the farm. it was too heavy for our flat bed tow trucks. hired a local contractor with a 10 wheel dump truck and a beaver tail to haul it. cost me about 300 dollars. well worth it.
 
I am not a towing expert, but your chances of getting caught by the police is pretty small. I'd stay off the interstate.
 
I think if you have to ask, you better not haul it. Myself, with my trailers, I wouldn't give it a second thought. I have been hauling livestock and tractors, since before I had a drivers license, more then 35 years. Only load that I have been afraid of was a load of salt. I had ordered 10 ton, and they loaded 14 ton on me. I ended up with a torn up trailer, and pickup.

Make sure you have good brakes, and its chained down well, and go for it.
 
I suspect your only issue will be the DOT. I'll bet you'll be overweight for the GCWR of your truck.

Otherwise it should not be a problem.

I have an 06 Dodge w 5.9 Cummins and a 14k 20+5 gooseneck. This rig is legal, per manufacturer, for about 21k Gross Combined Weight Rating. I loaded 2 Farmall Super H's and scaled 22k. About 1000lbs over. I sweated he whole 200 mile trip home. The engine and trans temps started getting hot at 60 mph. Which was plenty fast anyway. I made it but won't load it that heavy again.
 
I pull my 3500 Ford TLB on a 20+5 14,000lb gooseneck trailer with a 2500 Chevrolet. No concerns with it.
 
I have a Dodge 2500 4x4 and a gooseneck grain trailer. I ordered the trailer new, with the option of two 16,000 pound axles. The grain weight ticket I am currently reading states, 25,040 pounds net... 447.14 bushels of corn.

I went with the overkill on the axles to provide me MORE braking surface.

My route to the elevator is about 12 miles one-way. Rolling terrain, no hills or grades longer than 500 yards. My speed is limited to 45 but the truck has the potential for (guessing here) 55 on some sections of the route.
 
Well, we pull 9000 pounds on a bumperpull car trailer behind our half tone Chevy... If you can keep the a$$ end of of the ground it will do it just fine!

DOT is the big problem though... I don't know how strict they are over there, but over here in Idaho, you are looking at $1500-$3000 and a night in jail for a loose binder!

I think that the truck would pull it fine on a goose neck, just make sure that you have BEEFY brakes on the trailer! Bryce
 
I use a backhoe, rarely. didn't want to put one on my skidloader, not cost effective. found a gofor digger at a local tractor jockey's dealership. cost less than a decent trailer, used($3000). Mine has a 25? HP kubota motor, and my mazda B2300 can pull it, LOL! If you can find one of these for rent, I like them better than the compact tractor ones, too.
Gofor digger
 
Yep. When I had the last barn put up, the fella that was hired by the builder and leveled the ground did so with a Case 450 dozer. I don't know what one weighs, but he dragged it over from the next county over on a gooseneck behind his F350, not dually, and he did a fantastic job. I remember when he pulled up and left, that F350 really struggled, and the back end was really kneeing down. Maybe he should have just moved it back a foot or so on the platform, deck to take some of the tongue weight off. He told me up front that he sneaked it over on the back, back roads so he wouldn't get caught being over weight. Back then I paid the guy $75 an hour for 6 hours to level the ground, plus an hour each way in travel time to and from the job. He wasn't so lucky trailering it back to his place. He told me that went right out the window in tickets and fines. He did a great job though using a laser transmitter and reciever. Great job, but he needed a bigger truck. Real nice fella too, just trying to survive and get by.

Good luck and be careful.

Mark
 
If the trailer brakes are in tip top shape and the wiring tests ok I'd be fine towing it weight wise . Bigger problem here is yellow equipment behind a pickup seems to be a cop magnet and then they call commercial vehicle.

Green or orange 10k tractor not a blink but yellow gets you noticed.
 
A few years ago on the new York thruway there was a older chevy pickup pulling a bumper pull trailer with a R john deere on the trailer. Was in the left lane keeping up with traffic( passing most).This was thru the hills. Anyway I pull my 530 case loader, backhoe with my 95 F250 diesel. Haven t had a problem yet.
Everett
 
I would not pull more than the nameplate rating on the truck, it is a magnet for a sheriff or state trooper to pull over.
 
"Was in the left lane keeping up with traffic( passing most)."

Those are the guys that ruin it for everybody and require all the regulations.

Just because you CAN go fast doesn't make it a good idea.
 
I've hauled my 850 ford with a wagner loader and a heavy cast iron weight on the back behind a 3/4 ton with a tandem axle 4 wheel trailer, a friends truck and trailer, locally to a job I was doing, 5-6 miles, with some hills, it was ok, but.... with a better set up, trailer brakes and everything matched weight wise, with truck, trailer and brakes, both trailer and truck, properly lashed down, it would not bother me going that distance, but all the while knowing its not too heavy, the truck and trailer will stop safely within a safe distance, and is not over GVW's of truck or trailer. What you are hauling is got to be much heavier, or enough to put it over, personally I just would not like to have to do that. I would hire it out, to eliminate the risks involved, and though I am sure it will pull it, its the risk involved that I would not like to deal with, something goes wrong and you are a bit over, something to consider when weighing the costs, safety vs just paying a hauler even if its a premium. You seem to need to move equipment enough, it might warrant having a truck and trailer, though the costs between DMV, INS and all the rest may not justify it, you are still ahead hiring it out if you cannot justify owning your own rig.

I know you have experience with all this stuff, so I don't want to preach to the choir, typically machines that size get hauled by a class 3 truck or medium class single axle if I remember the truck nomenclature correctly. I used to move rubber tire backhoes on single axle and tandem trucks with the "tag" trailer, tandem axle trailer, with 8 tires, and with air brakes, the weight, braking was no issue, now maybe a modern dually 1 ton or slightly heavier will do the job now, back then I don't think so. I would never consider it. One thing I hated about tag trailers is getting these darned hoes up over the beaver tail or whatever you want to call it, using the hoe to get it up over center, I remember how different Ford and Case were to load, as well as others, I ended up sideways once with the ford 655, on the ramp scared the heck out of me. Front ends on these are too light, so we would counter act that with the hoe, then get over center, fold up and lock the hoe in place, that old case 580, an '81 I believe, had that trick to lock the hoe, where it would hit home and click in.
 
We used to haul a 530 Case TLB on a 20ft bumper trailer behind a 3/4 pickup. Even used the half ton a few times for short trips. If you get a gooseneck trailer of any sort it will greatly improve the way the truck handles the weight. You are at the top end of weight capacity but it is doable.
 
Can"t speak for your situation, but I have a 2012 half ton Ford that has a tow rating of 11,300#. You"re saying 12,000# with a three quarter ton. If you do, don"t tailgate!
 
Check it out, if you're over 10,000 lbs on a commercial trailer you're in to CDL territory. You'll need the CDL, the medical card and probably a DOT annual inspection of the truck and trailer and maybe even those snazzy DOT census numbers and all the associated fun in dealing with insurance companies and governmental agencies.
 
You should find out what is legal and safe if you are doing this as a business, not what others thing will work.

That is a moral obligation of having a business.
 
(quoted from post at 06:43:53 02/20/14) I'm working in a rural area in northern Michigan and need to get my backhoe/loader moved a few times back and forth. 60 miles each trip and all pretty much "Michigan flat-land." I'm having trouble finding someone reliable and reasonable for the trucking. Last time I needed a backhoe that was 60 miles from where mine is parked - I just rented one from a local tractor dealer. It was a 30 horse Kubota and cost me around $125 for one day. Cheaper then paying to have mine trucked a 120 mile round trip. I do not want to rent the Kubota again. Too small and too narrow. Soil is all sand here and the narrow wheel track causes the ditch keep caving in. I also don't like rushing and "working on the clock." The rental place wants it picked up and brought back the same day for a "one day" rental. Winds up being more like 5-6 hours of use for what is called "one day."

So, I'm considering getting a trailer and pulling with my 3/4 ton truck. I would never consider it in the mountains of NY. But here it's all flat-land. Truck is a 94 Ford F250 HD 3/4 ton diesel with a receiver hitch and a goose-neck hitch. I already have a 6 ton trailer that I use to move my Case 310G dozer around with. But it's too small for my IH 3414 backhoe wheel-loader. I figure it weighs 8500 lbs. I assume a trailer is going to weigh 3500 to 4000 lbs. So that's 12,000-13,000 lbs. I'd be pulling. Can't say I ever tried it before with a pickup. Anyone else done it? A few years ago I hired a guy to truck my Ford 4000 backhoe-loader to the center of the NY Adirondacks. He had a 1 ton Ford dually diesel with a gooseneck trailer. He said the pull scared the heck out of him and he'd never do it again. But that was in the mountains.
Click to expand...

I haul this one with a 1 ton Dodge and 14k bumper pull trailer. I pulled this one 400 miles over the mountains...bearings got a little warm. I estimate it weighs around 10k. I can put over 3000# on the hitch of the Dodge and she still sits level...sometimes how your rig looks is what draws the attention of the DOT. Gooseneck and duallie will get their attention all the time!

 
I should pull it OK but I'm with the other guys here on the safety issues involved. My backhoe is a tad over 14K. Wouldn't even thing about try to tow that with a pickup.

Rick
 
I worked at an equipment dealer that regularly hauled full sized backhoes and telehandlers with a 3/4 ton dodge. They had a tri axle gooseneck with good brakes, which were a must. If you get right down to it, probably wasn't the most legal or safe. I'm sure the gvw of the truck was exceded. We never were bothered by the weigh master and didn't have any problems. Just take your time and leave lots of space and make sure the brakes are up to par on everything, you'll be okay.
 
Not true in TX.

I'll bet once NE figures it out as a source of revenue they'll start enforcing it.

Just because you haven't been caught yet doesn't mean DOT doesn't care.
 
I don't know what the laws are there. I know around here a buddy of mine hauls a lot more weight than that on a 3/4 ton Dodge with the 6 speed and high output engine on a tridem gooseneck with 3 10k axles. He's had 26k on that trailer and I drove with him... the truck handles it fine and stops it fine. Is it legal... probably not.
What I would suggest... find out what the axle ratings are on your truck as found on the door jamb. Figure out what it can gross on each and what the tare is on each... so you know what you can net... then figure up the weight of the trailer you need, the percentage of weight it needs on the neck, trailer axle weights, etc. and see if you can still carry the net weight of the hoe. I would have pegged that hoe to be more like 12-14k but mabey I'm wrong...
Long story short... I still think you would be fine to tow that hoe on a tridem gooseneck with good brakes. Whether or not the IH engine has the guts to go anywhere with it is another story entirely...

Rod
 
(quoted from post at 09:38:19 02/20/14) Check it out, if you're over 10,000 lbs on a commercial trailer you're in to CDL territory. You'll need the CDL, the medical card and probably a DOT annual inspection of the truck and trailer and maybe even those snazzy DOT census numbers and all the associated fun in dealing with insurance companies and governmental agencies.
Click to expand...

No. A CDL, in every state I'm familiar with, requires either hauling people, hazmat or a GVWR of 26,001 lbs or more. What I think you are thinking of is that a vehicle with a CGVWR of over 26,001 lbs hauling a trailer with a gvwr of more than 10K lbs requires a class A. A combination with a CGVWR under 26,001 lbs and trailer under 10K can be driven on a class D. Or at least that the way is used to be before I retired. The DOT numbers and such only apply to CMVs which JD would not be as far as I know. The difference between a private vehicle and CMV is where the word commercial comes into play. State laws in Mich may differ though.
 
(quoted from post at 09:38:50 02/20/14) DOT doesn't care about GCWR, just axle weights and registration.
Click to expand...

You have to define if you are talking State DOT/DMV or State DOT enforcing FMCSR rules. "DOT" means one thing in one state and something else in another and a third thing when it comes to CMVs.
 
As always; getting all kinds of "opinions" If you look in the Federal Motor Carriers Rules and Regulations guide (cost about $10 @ a truckstop): It will tell you this: Combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating over 26,000# (26001 and up) CDL required. Commercial vehicle (that has many definitions as interpreted by vehicle enforcement); Medical card required. If you license 26,000; it keeps you from doing the fuel permits and quarterly reports. DO NOT exceed that weight (26000). Getting caught over weight and they can wright a book of tickets. You know better than anyone your trucks ability to pull it. Just do it by the book. I have a 2002 super duty w/7.3 and 6spd I pull a 32ft. 20K rated gooseneck with. SELDOM leave home @ less than 20-25000 gross. NEVER have had any concerns about pulling it OR stopping it. My trailer has HD brakes and will lock the wheels if the controller is to high. Best of luck!!!!!!!!
 
(quoted from post at 21:31:11 02/21/14) As always; getting all kinds of "opinions" If you look in the Federal Motor Carriers Rules and Regulations guide (cost about $10 @ a truckstop): It will tell you this: Combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating over 26,000# (26001 and up) CDL required. Commercial vehicle (that has many definitions as interpreted by vehicle enforcement); Medical card required. If you license 26,000; it keeps you from doing the fuel permits and quarterly reports. DO NOT exceed that weight (26000). Getting caught over weight and they can wright a book of tickets. You know better than anyone your trucks ability to pull it. Just do it by the book. I have a 2002 super duty w/7.3 and 6spd I pull a 32ft. 20K rated gooseneck with. SELDOM leave home @ less than 20-25000 gross. NEVER have had any concerns about pulling it OR stopping it. My trailer has HD brakes and will lock the wheels if the controller is to high. Best of luck!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I was a DOT cop. There's no confusion. First off, he's not a CMV. He's a private, non-commercial vehicle that isn't subject to FMCSR. 2nd, CGVWR doesn't come into it until you have a CMV with a CGVWR over 26.001 AND a trailer with a GVWR over 10K. A CMV over 26,001 requires a class B, add the trailer over 10 and you need an A. "Licensing" (registering) it at 26K doesn't change the GVWR which is what all this is about. The only thing registration changes is costs, taxes, etc. And then there are state laws to consider. That's where your overweight issues come in.

This site has got to be the worst possible place to come for this type of advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Massey 302 industrial with 300 loader will a 220 backhoe work?
Replies
1
Views
228
Mysteree11
M
Mike440i
440i with 71 loader and pippen backhoe
Replies
6
Views
302
Mike440i
Mike440i
H
Trying to determine the value of an Old Ford D 50 12K with backhoe and loader
Replies
11
Views
631
BarnyardEngineering
BarnyardEngineering
D
If you had to choose one Oliver Super 55 , Farmall Super A, Nuffield 4/65
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
Janicholson
Janicholson
T
Where to buy a rim for trailer?
Replies
14
Views
950
Tractorcedric
T
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top