Hello all, My first real post on the forum... I'll tow with a 2024 F-150 3.5 EB (~13,500 lbs.) I'll seldomly tow from point A to point B and back (45 miles of gentle terrain) I'll be towing a 2026 Takeuchi TB235-2 Transport length 16' 1" Weight 7639 lbs. What trailer and/or trailer characteristics would you recommend? Thanks in advance.
That sounds like a bad idea with a F One Fiddy. You will exceed the hitch capacity by the time you include the weight of the trailer and excavator attachment. Give the One Fiddy to your girlfriend and get a Superduty. Check out the overload-of-the-day thread. https://mail.HeavyEquipmentForums
Welcome. 500lb hitch danger & guess tare weight of 5000lb truck & 8000lbs excavator at 13000 no room add a trailer. Need a heavy trailer combined say 10k rating
A bigger/stronger truck may be necessary...
Everyone beat me to it but I would agree you don't have enough truck. A friend of mine will tow my dump trailer (empty 5000lbs)to a job for me with his F150 he would never tow it home for me full. It is also worth mentioning that even if it could tow it could it stop it. I would recommend no less than a F250 and would step up to the F350 if you can afford it, then when you get a skid to go with your mini, you could probably tow both, maybe. For trailers I prefer a gooseneck with hydraulic dovetail but would also consider a bumper pull gravity tilt trailer. you are going to be limited when loading things from the side on the tilt because of the fenders, You might also look at a low profile dump trailer you will probably need one some day,and could start and finish with that and skip the others
Please don't do this, no matter what your dealer tells you. This is a nice truck but not enough to tow and what's more important, stop, the load your thinking of towing. Do you have a trailer now? I ask because every new trailer owner thinks it'll be seldom until they have ready access to a trailer. You'll likely do more towing than you expect. And heavier loads than you expect. We all do it... The trailer is secondary here. You first need a truck that can handle the load you have in mind. And when you have a trailer you're going to end up loading something even bigger and heavier than you think. As mentioned above get a 3/4 truck at a minimum. After that you can look into a trailer of your choice. For a starter trailer I'd recommend a 14k tandem axle trailer with reliable brakes at all wheel positions. I prefer electric brakes over surge brakes as they give you better control. For moving equipment I prefer a ramp trailer over a tilt deck because most of them are more robust than a tilt. With a tilt, sooner or later you or a friend that borrowed your trailer will unload a machine without releasing the tilt latch and will turn that nice flat deck into an arched deck ...
My f150 is rated to tow 11400. Ive done it before and if its whats at the junk sale with the trailer ill do it again. I dont make habbit. Its uncomfortable. Id reather gross 100000 on 5 axles in the hills of wv in the dark with no permits.... Not that i would ever do that
It is not about the GO! - It's about the WHOA! That's why you never let friends borrow a truck, a piece of equipment or especially a trailer. I shut my non-profit rental business down years ago due this.
I hear you can get lots of new budfys if you buy a auto lift or a car trailer
I’ll jump in too. I was in the heavy haul business. Short story is, stopping is the MOST important concern. I had a 12K rated tilt trailer I used to haul small forklifts for the Cat dealer so I didn’t have to tie up a lowbed for the little stuff. I had a new 02 GMC2500HD I used for the lifts. It worked well but a few times I got one of the bigger lifts that made me a bit uncomfortable. A 1/2 ton pu is not safe for this stuff without years of experience and then it’s still risky. Anything can happen.
They called them 1/2 tons for a reason
Thanks for all of the replies. I'll upgrade to a 3/4 ton or hire the towing/hauling done.
Depending on how much you will move the machine, hiring it out may be the cheapest option. This mini can be hauled on a single axle car roll back which are a dime a dozen. Local towing outfits haul CTL's, mini's and other small machines for the Cat Rental store on single axle roll offs all the time.
It takes a proper truck to get the job done, don't mess around with 450, 550 weenies. *
Bigger truck for sure. Even a 250 is a bit small. You can get a 350 with the single rear wheels. A lot of the smaller guys around here will buy a fifth wheel dump trailer for their pickup, and haul their mini or skid steer in it. Then you have something to haul material around in as well
There is a big difference between a 250 and SRW 350. Springs being the main difference.
The dump trailer is a great way to go.
Problem with that is finding one, they don’t want to trade a house for!
If you're only going to be hauling the mini-ex very occasionally I think your F150 would be OK. It would be legal according to the trucks rating. A tandem 18' bobcat type trailer with 7000lb. axles would be ideal. You would be about 5800lbs. shy of the max. trailer rating. A good 14K trailer even if made made from tubing instead of channel would be well under 5800lbs. You would want the best brakes on it though. There are much worse cases of overloading a 150 but technically you aren't overloaded. If you were hauling the mini-ex on a frequent basis a larger truck would be the best option. People haul a holiday trailer that weighs as much or more than your mini-ex with an F150 all the time.
The weight of the truck isn't included in the tow rating. As long as the loaded trailer isn't over 13,500lbs. he'd be legal.
@Willie B has a house he would trade for one I'm sure: HeavyEquipmentForums
They sure do with less than great outcomes - OP you need a bigger truck or hire out the moves. Pulling a 14K lb trailer with an 8K mini ex on it behind a F150 in todays world of distracted drivers is careless and asking for trouble.
Using a half ton truck to move equipment is a great way to save money so you have enough cash to cover the extra drivetrain and brake repairs on said half ton truck! Heavier trucks designed for the load cost more so you don't have anything to set aside for the extra repairs you won't have... /s
In my fathers early road to entrepreneurship he owned a framing company. Only bought 3/4 ton vans to haul all the tools and guys around since they would last much longer than a 1/2 ton one. That's something I've carried throughout my business career. 9 times out of 10 it is cheaper to pay up front to upsize than chase after and pay more for something that is undersized.
I was thinking if he only needs to move it 3 or 4 times a year on fairly flat roads and takes his time. More than that a 3/4 ton for sure.
It only takes 1 time
Half ton towing accidents have jumped posters & salesman are doing there job. Scary 13k is not gcwr a f250sd was 15k tow rating. f150 with designer wheels & tires, solid rotors, light frame & inexperience driver add a trailer,longer the trailer the more violent the sway loaded wrong at highway speed. Late 90s Ford 7lug f250 was a danger on the roads folks trying to do 3/4ton things with a dressed up f150 it was 8600lbs tow with beefy lower geared axle,brakes & springs.
The 2024 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost V6 , towing capacity depends heavily on cab style, bed length, drivetrain, and whether the Max Trailer Tow Package is equipped. Best configuration (max towing): SuperCrew cab, 6.5′ bed, 4×2 drivetrain with Max Trailer Tow Package and 3.55 axle ratio Max towing: 14,000 lbs (conventional bumper-hitch rating) Fordmasterx Max payload: ~3,000 lbs Fordmasterx Max GCWR: ~18,600 lbs towingspecs.com I have a 2007 Chevy Silverado 3500 4x4 gas engine, a 14 gvw tilt trailer, and a Takeuchi TB240 excavator. I've tried to tow it a couple of times, and now only tow it with the International Dump truck. It just struggles on the hills even though it has an up-graded transmission. Of course the truck does have a service box on it. He would be ok as Welder Dave says for a few miles on flat roads at low speed. Otherwise go bigger and diesel.
I have the exact same truck as yours but I didn't order mine, just found a prebuilt on the lot. You can have the max tow package but unless you have the optional max tow axle you'll be limited to around 11,600lbs. If you check your driver door jamb and look at the sticker, if your axle code is either L5 or L7 then you can tow 13,500 else it's probably L9 and you'll be limited to 11,600. You can also read the sticker on the hitch too.
The biggest problem I've had with light trucks is getting the tongue weight right. Not enough springs to put much weight on the truck and u sure don't want it to wag the dog. That's a life changing experience!
Gotta be Johnny on the Spot with hitting those trailer brakes instead of the vehicle brakes. Doesn't take long for it to all be over....
I don't care what the manufacturer or the sticker on the door says but 13,500 lbs is WAY to much weight behind a F150. The truck may have the GO but it won't have the WHOA.
But but it can pull 27tons
We just sold our Ecoboost 3.5 at Ritchie bros (Kamloops). It had the ‘rare’ high GVW package. 7850gvw. -Hdpp- Hauled our small rv (Jay Feather 197) home, a 530km distance over mostly 2 lane highways. A very steep grade on hwy24 little fort. Almost zero holdback on that 6-8% 10km descent. The 10 speed tranny downshifted a bunch of gears & the engine made a lot of noise. Almost zero holdback… Also pulling out on the 18%mine road (2km long hill up out of Quesnel River) it did not have the necessary weight to provide proper traction. Thought an F150 would do the job as we also have a semi for larger hauls….went back to a dually Ram…no comparison. To add insult to injury the (pretty good fuel economy) of the F150 was terrible —-even with this light load (under 6000lbs). Safety on descents can not be underestimated…
I would reckon it entirely depends what road conditions you will be hauling it with. Driving in Kansas vs the Rocky Mountain passes is a different animal.
We have hills in Kansas, the Flint hills just out side of Wichita come to mind, we are not as flat as the rest of the country thinks, but I know what you were getting at.
All I know about kanas is we bought a pottawanamy county truck to bring to pa it went in to derate at the missorri line and once I was able to keep it running we held 50 mph till we hit wheeling west by god virgina and it was up hill hitting the bottoms as fast as I could make it roll and pulling the tops at about 15mph. A turtle passed me so did a snail and the pony express. The tears of joy when I could see the shop about flooded the cab. I dont know about the rest of the that state but its pretty flat from there to zanesville/wheeling. In the 1100 miles I got the truck in to 13th 4 times Was 24 hours of drive time. The lee prefix c13 went bye byes
Very true…
Sharing the road sometimes requires defensive driving which sometimes requires an emergency brake application. Whether you're on the flat or in hills or mountains you'll never regret more braking capacity at that moment.
^^exactly Don’t get me wrong; I really liked the F150 for everyday use. Smooth engine power; nice tranny really nice suspension. But…not really suited for heavy hauling. I have heard the 2.7 Ecoboost is a really strong/robust engine. That is the one I would choose for an everyday driver/light hauling.