solarity

My family is looking for a tow vehicle and trailer and apparently you have to be a rocket scientist to understand this. We are looking to tow a 4000lbs tractor, 1400lbs front loader, and 1000lbs brush hog. Maybe about 100 mile round trip every month or so, not much towing other than that.

Trailbreak74

I would look for the trailer first, then select the tow vehicle based on total weight of the trailer and cargo. It's not really rocket science. The biggest thing that trips people up is not calculating payload properly. You can be within the tow rating, but exceed the trucks payload depending on the tongue weight of the trailer.

Ricktwuhk

6,400 plus a trailer will likely exceed the capabilities of nearly all F-150s, once you figure out the tongue weight. Good advice on figuring out the trailer first, then weighing it and the tongue.

SixShooter14

I'd recommend a 250 or 350.

But, you may not want one of those for a DD. Then be smart about the F150. Asking here before buying is a great step.

Here's an example as to what you might be looking at.

Let's say your trailer weighs 2000lb. that's an 8400lb load. Round up to 9k for safety.

Tongue weight (TW) is approx. 13% of trailer. So, for the 9k# trailer the tongue would weigh approx. 1200#, add a WDH and you're at approx. 1300# just for the weight that the trailer has sitting on your truck. Add in anything else that is in or on the truck.

Gear: 200#
People: 400#
Misc: 100#

TW = 1300#
Cargo = 700#

MINIMUM PAYLOAD REQUIRED: 2000#


Now, suppose you find an F150 with a PL higher than 2k#. It’s definitely possible.

You will need to check the rest of the weight ratings.

GVWR (this is pretty much covered if you’re under your payload limit)
GCWR (Maximum weight of LOADED truck + LOADED trailer)
GAWR front and rear (Maximum amount of weight that can be supported on the axle)

These ratings can be found on a sticker inside the driver’s door jamb. You can see them before you purchase a truck to make sure it is properly equipped. EXCEPT the GCWR, that comes from the owner's manual or Ford's towing brochure. It varies depending on the cab(WB), engine, axle ratio.

Your best options for an F150 are a 5.0L or 3.5EB XLT or XL with a light option package and the HDPP (heavy duty payload package) and/or the MAX Tow package.

The "Post Pour Payload" thread here has a nice spreadsheet that gives some of these ratings listed with the configuration of the truck. A nice way to see what options help/hurt Payload and towing.

kmlacroix

You will likely need a 3/4 ton. A 10K trailer will run 2600lbs plus. So 9k lbs x .13 is 1170 TW. YMMV.

smokeywren

Nah. Simple 8th-grade math plus some plain and simple logic.



So 6400 pounds payload on a flatbed tandem-axle trailer that will probably weigh less than 3,000 pounds, so call it 9,400 pounds.


Here's the trailer:


http://www.bigtextrailers.com/10pi-t...-pipe-utility/


Note it has GVWR of 9,990 pounds and it can be ordered with the bed either 14, 16, 18 or 20 foot long. Go with 20' bed to give you more versatility. I have a similar Big-Tex trailer with 16' bed I've used to haul my old Massy-Ferguson Model 50 tractor, but without the front-end loader or brush hog tied on. My iitty-bitty (compact) John Deere loader/backhoe fits that trailer just fine, but the folded-up backhoe doesn't add much length to the tractor.


The properly-loaded tandem-axle trailer will have tongue weight of about 13% of gross trailer weight. 13% of 9,400 = 1,222 pounds. Don't even think about towing that trailer without a good weight-distributing (WD) hitch, so add 100 pounds for the WD hitch. That's 1,322 pounds hitch weight. Call it 1,350.


So you need a tow vehicle that can handle 1,350 pounds of hitch weight without exceeding the GVWR of the tow vehicle when wet and loaded for the road. Half-ton pickups that can handle that much weight are rare, so I wouldn't even look for one. Resign yourself that you need at least a 3/4-ton pickup, such as F-250.


Almost any F-250 can handle that 10,000-pound trailer without being overloaded, provided you use your head as to how much weight you haul in the pickup when towing.


But pay attention to details. Be certain the receiver hitch is rated for at least 1,350 pounds TW (tongue weight) with a WD hitch. IIRC, the new F-250 standard receiver is rated for only 1,250 pounds TW with a WD hitch. I know some Ford pickups have receivers rated for 1,500 pounds TW, so insist on that receiver on your tow vehicle. You may have to move up to the F-350 SRW to get that receiver as standard equipment. But the F-350 SRW is a smarter move than the F-250 anyway, because of the additional GVWR (payload capacity), so that's not a problem.