Any thoughts as to how big of a truck I would need to tow my 655D? I want something that I won't max out trying to tow this machine (15K) and trailer (7K) around. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!
You really won't be able to haul that with a gasser at that weight. Most everyone I've ever seen haul have needed to resort to a pintle setup lowboy either with a cab over or dump. All those 5th wheelers have to high of a center of gravity. In NYS the max without going to a limited CDL is 10k lbs. The short is check with your state DMV requirements, they usually post limits per axel and weights non-commercial.
Your going to need a dually. Your choices come down to a late model diesel pickup, a cab & chassis pickup, a single axle dump truck, or a single axle tractor. The choice is up to you, but you are going to be in CDL territory no matter what at those weights. My suggestion would be to find a single axle dump truck with preferably a diesel motor and air brakes. Be leery of the prior box trucks advertised as gooseneck pullers since they usually don't have a heavy enough duty transmission. I can into alot of 2000 series allisons in the SA trucks before I bought my International.
There is a nice 1968 IH S1600 single axle dump on craigs list locally, 345 with a 4 speed... Howard