Planning on pulling a 7721 425 miles

rockyridgefarm

Well-known Member
I have been trying to arrange shipping for a pull type combine for about a month without much luck. So I am planning on pulling a 7721 425 miles from northern Minnesota to home in southwest Wisconsin one of these next few weekends. I am up for the challenge.

My pulling pickup is a 2011 F 350 diesel dually flatbed in good repair. The combine supposedly has recently new tires, but I do not know if that means 5 or 15 years ago. Guys tend to lose track of years. Supposed to weigh about 14k. My first idea was to dismount the pickup head and put it on my flatbed, but he said I would have negative younger wieght, so I am going to pull it with the head mounted. It will be 15 wide. I am going to see what it takes to check and adjust and repack the wheel bearings. I am going to bring along an adapter to plug in the tail lights, but I am also going to bring along remote controlled battery taillights.

What I am wondering is if anyone has pulled one, and if so, how did it pull? What is the max speed I can expect? Interstate has a minimum 45 mph and I hope it can be pulled at that speed. I intend to get there the night before and leave at or just before sunup on a Sunday.
 
You will get ticketed on the interstate with a fifteen foot wide load without permits and banners. Plus the majority of interstate highways are limited access and that means zero farm equipment unless it is on a trailer.

Just plan a route that uses good state highways and you will be much better off. These can be four lane roads too. Plus in a lot of places there will be very little traffic.
 
You will want to call the real dot to get the permits
where you are moving across state lines they?re
usually cheap . The real dot will also tell you what
route to take . No sense even bringing the ytdot on
board for a question like this ! I pulled a 500 bushel
grain cart 600 miles the real dot did not care if I
went the freeway or two lane I did need a permit
signs and flags speed limited to 45 mph daylight
only restriction. It pulled great at to 55 both tires
had big cracks they made the trip and they have
been hauling grain all fall
 
14,000 pounds is an awful awful lot to try to tow behind a one ton truck without any trailer brakes.

Why not bite the bullet and pay the cost to hire someone to haul it for you, maybe up to $2,000? When they were new those combines were disassembled far enough to fit on rail cars and semi trailers for delivery to dealers. You should be able to do the same, are there any shipping manuals for the combine?

Another option would be to drop the header, pull the header on a trailer behind your one ton truck and if the combine is within legal width, pull the combine behind a 150HP+ tractor on only gravel back roads.
 
I've seen guys do it with bigger trucks but I'd never try it with anything less than a tractor. They do narrow down well in transport
but still plenty wide even on our grid roads. But then I'm known to be over cautious with equipment and transporting.
 
That is a long ways.
I pulled a few old JD 12A combines and was really amazed at how well they towed. My uncle had a offset hitch on his truck to help keep them more centered on the roads.
 
Not something I would try with a one ton. Even if it is perfectly flat you still need to negotiate traffic and be able to stop in short distances. I would most likely given the distance trailer it. Permits and working with actual state DOT's is important here.
 
You are really setting up a lot of things for disaster.

Leaving the head on.
14K without brakes @ 40MPH plus.
Potential bearing issues.
 
The closest interstate, I-94, will take you through both Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN for a distance of thirty to forty miles of urban freeway.
 
I pulled a 12 row planter home 80 miles never again.i find a hauler. I had my combine 6620 jd sidehill hauled from iowa to new York. also sold ac 60 pulltype it also ended up in same state, was on back half of flat hauling huge cat generator to hospital out there. I do not have there names any more or I would give them to you. pulling that thing that fast is trouble. I used to assemble machinery and the ton dually they used had huge cement weight on the flat bed. year later they went to semi tractor to pull stuff that they did not haul. the one I worked for has passed on otherwise I would still be help him on the side. both of haulers were set up for wide load stuff, the buyers made the connection for the trucks. I just watched it leave my driveway. they are out there just need try harder. theirs a will theirs away that's motto at our place.
 
I'm more concerned about the 15' wide. You'll need permits, and most likely a lead & chase vehicle.

Express ways have minimum speed limits that vary. They also often post "no farm equipment" signs on the on-ramps
for good reasons.
 
my experience , first of all there is a world of difference in a 12ft wide and 15 ft wide. Most
states even require an escort over 12 ft. Interstate is an absolutely no no unless you haul it. If
I were you I certainly would rethink this project.
 
Looking over the route, I can easily avoid the interstate. I can bring 71 to 10 to 15 to 14 to 52 to 18.

I pulled my 7200 corn planter 100 miles to home and it's over 15 feet wide. I also pulled a large grain cart from north of eau claire home with a half ton pickup. Obviously the combine is a whole lot more than a corn planter, but I have dealt with pulling farm equipment long distances. The seller said he pulled it a couple hundred miles to his place when he bought it.

The pickup weighs 9500 pounds. I mightcould find something to add weight to it, but I think that is adequate.
 
Stay off the big road. Invest is magnetic safety flashers that you can put on the outer edges of both sides. I would run the tires just a little low on air so they dont pound the machine so hard when you hit a rough spot. Plan on it taking longer than you expect, so leave extra early, and most of all GO A LITTLE ON THE SLOW SIDE. Take your time and pay extra attention. Al
 
I once towed a 14' disc 18 miles down a two lane highway. I don't even want to think about this.
 
I agree with some of the other posters - 14,000 pounds of over-width, un-braked mass riding on balloon tires (which most likely have a max speed of 25 mph) being pulled hundreds of miles
down the highway by a pickup at the speeds you're talking about sounds like disaster waiting to happen. I would suspect that you'd get about 20 miles into the 425 mile trip and wonder
what you got yourself into. If disaster does come to fruition you sure don't want others who are sharing the road with you to wonder what they got into, either.
 
I pull a 36 row planter from aberdeen
south Dakota to nebraska 4 years ago with
a tractor bout fifteen wide but I was two
lane with a shoulder all the way. so plan
your route
 
Drug this just shy of 600 miles 45 mph in Wyoming
and 55 when I hit Idaho.
cvphoto36244.png
 
I think you would be better off to pump the tires up
to about 40psi. Anyway when we would road a
floater over a 100 miles at a shot, we would bump
the pressure up.
You have pulled enough oversized stuff to know
what you are getting into. I think your pickup will be
fine. You don?t need to go 100 mph. Take a couple
days and get it done!!
 
I agree on Interstate but you know that. Laws vary,here as long as it is a farm implement and you are towing your
legal. As soon as you put it on a trailer you are a trucker,permits.flaggers and routing where the states want you
to go. BTW just for the people who do not know,interstate minimum speed limits are 40 mph and most on ramps here
say no farm implements. (I would hook a safety chain and do what you want to do)
 
I don"t think your route is bad...distance does not matter- it"s on your time. Your planned roads are side roads...just a few miles from me. HWy 15 5 mi. You"re staying away from dangerous areas. Big thing is to keep the bearings greased, etc.
 
Pulled a Brent disc ripper home from 225 miles away. Pulled it about 45 mph with my 91 Dodge flatbed one ton two wheel drive. Lotta tongue weight but truck
handled it fine.
 
[b:654c4848f0]So I am planning on pulling a 7721 425 miles. It will be 15 wide[/b:654c4848f0]


<font size="6">BAD IDEA</font>

You do know you loose all your farm exemptions that far from home.
Pulling something with a truck; even a piece of farm equipment that is 15 feet wide will not only require a permit but a escort also. Two escorts on non divided highways.
 
that combine got to the dealer new and to the farmer new by being towed . in WI don't use a SMV sign if your going over 25 MPH use flashing yellow lights and flags at the widest point have a yellow light on top of your pickup a good one that can be seen 360 degs plan your route to two lane roads
 
OK, in MN the max speed you can tow a farm implement is 45. Neighbor got a ticket for that last year. And nope, no interstate either.

I had a 4401 combine. I pulled it home 45 miles behind a 2000 Ford F350 diesel. Truck pulled it just fine. Stopping was the issue. You could really feel it pushing when you tapped the brakes. I'm real glad that no one pulled out in front of me. And that 4401 wasn't nearly as heavy as the 7721.

As far as getting them from the factory to the dealer? That was either train or trucked. Going the the few miles from the dealer to the farm? Yea they did whatever they had to do. Thing is the local cops tuned a blind eye to it. You get to running down US highways with out of state tags most likely you are going to noticed.

Also keep in mind if you go through with this....MN is a hands free only state now. So if you don't have a hands free device for a cell phone DON'T use your cell phone in MN!

Rick
 
They may have been towed locally from the dealers to the buyers, but they were not towed long distance from the factory to the dealers.
 


Rocky ridge farm congratulations on coming to the worst place possible for this type of information. But then you love drama and suspense and danger and adventure, right. When I need to pull an over-width load I call the state DOT and do it how they want. So dull, no drama.
 
I?ll wave, you won?t know it but technically you can see a bit of my farm as you go through Klossner. 15 is a good farm route, 14 tends to be a lot more semis and town
commuters that are annoyed with farm people, I?d hope to avoid a rush hour timeframe on 14. Let me know if you need a parking spot for a time.

I just brought a 15 foot wide chisel plow home on 15 for 60 miles, smooth driving. Your deal is a little bit more tho.

Paul
 
Quite a bit of 14 is 4 lane, I should say. The bits of 2 lane near me are the congested bits that I know of, not terribly far tho.

Paul
 
(quoted from post at 19:42:54 09/11/19) Quite a bit of 14 is 4 lane, I should say. The bits of 2 lane near me are the congested bits that I know of, not terribly far tho.

Paul

Paul, I was on 14 on Monday. Went to Gibbon to buy a clipper super 29d for my next cleaner project. This was taken at a Kwik trip on 14 along the way.


mvphoto42516.jpg
 
Be very careful, there are a lot of things to catch with that the right side of that header with ,road signs, bridge ends, mail boxes, i had a 96 and a 106 pull type, the 106 was a little better, you could swing the tongue on it,like the 7721, but it still going to be dangerous,
 
I used to drag/ haul equipment around for our local case/IH dealer in mid eighties. Not many 7721s, but lots of 914s, 14&1682 Pulltypes. The smallest
truck we used was a 1900 IH single axle with 466 & 10 speed. Had winch & deck,probably around 12-15000lbs. We would still throw a 18.4x38 tire with
fluid & weights on deck for extra weight. They would trail pretty good about 40-45 mph but the heavy tow vehicle was key. Later on I just ran with the
4300 transtar tandem & put tire over the fifth wheel. I wouldn?t pull it across street with anything less, wreck looking for a place to happen
 
That dieseltech fellow was wanting to put some road miles on his tractor. Maybe talk him into dragging it along for the ride ?
 

If you haven't checked with MDOT as of yet, you had better. You are too far from home to remain as "farmer status", and hooked to a pickup takes a lot of those simple guidelines away as well.
In Minnesota, over 14'-6" in width causes issues on a lot of highways when permitting. Sunday travel is normally not allowed. If you get into the "metro" area, this could be considered a night move, but I cannot remember exactly where the line is right now, but I think it is Hutchinson, which makes it Hwy 15. If the right person stops you, being that header is "quick" attach, you will be removing it, because the law says "easily devisable", and it is! There are lot of outfits that can haul this for you, as there are quite a few large dealers up that way that go and get there own new combines from Deere. You being in SW Wisconsin, could help them out on a back haul, RDO or even James Equipment are just two names to check into.
In northern Minnesota, I think it was year before last, not quite sure, but someone was hauling round bales on small trailer behind a pickup and they lost one bale, and caused a fatality, and these Minnesota patrol have not forgot. They have been checking pickups and small trailers all across the state.
Six years ago I bought a NH 499 haybine in Wisconsin, on a Saturday morning, in Thorp. When asked about towing it in Wisconsin, the dealer said its farm equipment, you can do whatever you want, but yet I only made it to Elk Mound before the Highway patrol pulled me over and, made me unhook it. I was not local and too far from home, it was too wide for Saturday and I had no permit, and he said then it did not matter where I was from, I was just too far from home.
By the way, there are two (2) sections of 71 that have detours, and 14 is closed in new Ulm.
 
Sounds like a great project! I pulled a
1000 gallon 60ft. Sprayer just bought it
and tied on to it. It is 16 ft wide and 14
ft tall. Not a problem but got dark and
had to leave it for a couple of days and
go back for it. I tried to go 30 mph.
Pulled with a F250. But I would take the
header off it is possible. Can you pull it
on a trailer behind the combine. Anyway
have fun, go for it!
 
(quoted from post at 20:07:04 09/12/19) Sounds like a great project! I pulled a
1000 gallon 60ft. Sprayer just bought it
and tied on to it. It is 16 ft wide and 14
ft tall. Not a problem but got dark and
had to leave it for a couple of days and
go back for it. I tried to go 30 mph.
Pulled with a F250. But I would take the
header off it is possible. Can you pull it
on a trailer behind the combine. Anyway
have fun, go for it!

Vic, and how much does your sprayer weigh?
 
When the hitch is in transport is the left wheel of the combine inside the wheel track of the flatbed pickup? Does the header stick out farther than the right wheel so you can hang it over the ditch if you need to? Remember, every time you come up to a mailbox or a bridge you will be meeting a vehicle, the law of averages is seemingly against you on that one. I have hauled 14 wide combines on a truck many thousands of miles on back roads and I have had many close experiences in doing so. A few mail boxes had to bite the dust in order to avoid an accident with a car. You mentioned you can t find a hauler but I suggest you look a little harder for a hauler. That combine is just too big and cumbersome to be pulling it down the road that far.
 
Another thing, an oncoming car WILL try to beat you to that narrow bridge, you can bank on it and with your limited stopping ability you could end up eating a bridge railing with the header.
 

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