Hey guys I've been looking at some tri axle tag trailers to pull my 200 excavator and can't seem to find any with large enough tires. Typically tags come factory with 215 75 R17.5s or 225 75 R17.5s which are both approximately 30 inch diameter tires. These tire sizes I've been told are too small to handle a 200s weight. So I've been looking for a trailer with 255 70 R22.5s which are about a 35" tire. Anyone had the same problems I'm having or know which tires can or can't be run?
tag axle I think someone wrote on another thread, that pulling a 200 excavator with a tag axle is not a good idea and I whole hearty agree with him. Thats just too much weight, for something of this size and weight, to pull with a dump truck. Lowboy, Lowboy, Lowboy or get someone to move it A friend of mine, moves his with a tag axle and he tells me he is a nervous wreck, every time he moves it. He never goes over 45mph and just does local work. He has to replace his brakes on the truck and trailer quite often. He has been lucky that he never has been in a accident, or been stopped by DMV I know there are pintle hooks out there large enough to handle this weight, but it would more than a 20 ton, because of the tongue weight If you do this anyway, make sure you have air brakes, not electric brakes Good Luck
http://www.loadstartrailers.com/heavyduty.htm
No those tires are not too small for that kind of weight. We have a TrailMax TRD-50-T tri-axle with 17.5 tires which a carrying capacity of 48,700 lbs. The newer model of our trailer is the TRD-54-T and the only difference between ours and this one is the axle spread. Ours has a axle spread of 49" center to center, the TRD-54 has a spread of 54.5". So with this extra spread the TRD-54 is rated for 53,950 carrying capacity and has the same tires 215/75R 17.5 load range H. So weight wise it is not a problem, but some trailers can carry something like that better. It is really not a big deal with our TrailMax and this is because it is longer than most other brands. Example the hitch to center axle length is 21' 2.5" on our TrailMax where it is 18'5" on a Trail King TKT50, almost a 3 foot difference. The deck length on our TRD-50 is 36'7" and 33'6" on a TKT50. Also the loaded deck height on most 17.5" tire tri-axles is only 6" or so higher than a lowboy. These and a lot of other reasons are why the TrailMax trailers are the most popular in the NW. Also I have no problems carrying that size of excavator on our trailer, and regularly carry 48,000 lb loads. Edit: Noticed something Willis mentioned. And he is right, make sure your pintle can handle the weight. We have Premier 2300 air hitches, rated for 20,000 lbs tongue weight and 100,000 lbs trailer weight. And hauling this kind of weight is normal around here. When hauling dirt/gravel we are at 105,500 when pulling the pups for the whole combination with 45,000 and 50,000 on the pups legally and usually more.
I was going to say pulling 60,000 lbs. (trailer 10,000 and machine 50,000) behind a dump truck is doable. A dump truck pulling a transfer trailer full of sand or gravel weighs at least that much.
Those tires are no problem, as has been mentioned before. That is the standard size on my Murray lowboy. The tires are a lowboy special, and they are rated for 5675 Lbs each, dual at 125 psi. That is for the 235 75 R 17.5 Plenty of tire there. That is over 68,000 Lbs of tire capacity on a tri axle.
i move a link belt 225 on a triple tag and it is not that big of a deal. obviously not for any long moves, maybe 40 miles is my longest haul. there is no big interstate here so i dont worry about that. the machine weighs 54,ooo so it is quite heavy. the tires are 17.5's and they handle the load well. i dont have a problem wearing out brakes and my truck has a 350 cummins with a 10 speed. if that is what you have use it , but be careful.
Do you have height clearance issues doing that. Because the problem is I'm in a big city with lots of traffic and infrastructure, overpasses, tight neighborhoods etc.
I see 200 size machines on triaxle pintle hich trailers and think that its the most dangerous thing on the road,every one seems to be loaded with way too much weight on the hitch.Thanks
And it may be that those trailers you are seeing are too short. Like I mentioned before our hitch is rated for 20,000 lbs of tongue weight and 100,000 lbs of trailer weight. The pintle eye on the trailer is rated for 100,000 lbs, the axles are rated at 20,000 lbs each. And the dump truck can more than handle the tongue weight as long as the box is empty. Never had a problem and it pulls like a dream at all speeds as long as you have adequate tongue weight. Too little tongue weight and the trailer is squirrely, too much tongue weight and it is trying to lift the front of the truck off the ground and the ride is terrible. You got to find that sweet spot with each piece of equipment. I have marks on our trailer for our equipment so that it loaded in the optimum spot. When hauling something new I can usually tell within a block if it feels right or not, and if not I stop and readjust the load and then usually pull by a scale and verify. Link to specs for our TrailMax. http://www.trailmax.com/Tiltbed/trd-50-t(17_5).htm
trailering a 200 I really hate it when someone replies to my comments with negative comments, but Im sitting here reading this about too much tongue weigh and not enough tongue weigh. I guess the devil, is going to make me reply Does this sound strange to anyone else? To me its more of a reason to use a lowboy and not a tag trailer to pull heavy loads (the words squirrely and lifting the front end, scares me) it tells me the load is too heavy for the truck/trailer. Yes I know you need to find the best loading place, but what might happen before you find the good loading place, Ive seen some crazy stuff being done out there. Stay safe everyone
not to pick a bone , but i didnt see anything negative in the above comment. it is just a forum, take a chill pill. c/d
Basically I am saying that you have get your load balanced right on the trailer, just like you would with any other trailer lowboy or whatever. In the past we owned both Trail King TK70 and TK110 lowboy trailers. And hauling a 200 class excavator on the 2 axle lowboy the TK70, load placement is critical with our bridge laws. And yes you can the same problems with the weight trying to lift the front of the truck on a lowboy, especially when you have to slide the 5th wheel back when you are trying to distribute the load for the bridge law we have in the NW and get the wheelbase. Which is why we got the TK110 after the TK70. But then you have a bigger trailer you get bigger equipment and then the same problems all over again. And then you have these trucks and trailers just sitting around most of the time. So then you decide to downsize just a little so you can haul it around with a more useful dump truck. We bought out first lowboy around 25 years ago
The comment that you quote in this response isn't even remotely directed at you it's directed right to George39. And, it doesn't matter what size machine on what sized trailer you are pulling, you get the same results. How many people here wouldn't give a second thought to putting a 4 ton mini-ex on a 5 ton trailer and pull it(AS LONG AS THE MACHINE WAS PRETTY WELL SET OVER THE AXLES). Put that same machine forward of the trailer axles and you loose steering and have too much on weight on the rear axle. Put that same machine behind the axles and now you've got a squirrelly trailer. The only difference is the size and that the tolerances of where to place the machine on the trailer are tighter on the bigger equipment.
This is the problem whenever discussions about 200s on tag trailers come up (perhaps I shouldn't have started this thread). There are too many opinions, one person says yeah it's fine, another says no way and nobody knows what to believe anymore. So really it's not fact it's opinion.
Look at the specs for the TrailMax TRD-54. http://www.trailmax.com/Tiltbed/trd-54-t(17_5).htm Manufacturer says trailer is rated for 53,950 lbs capacity, trailer GVWR of 66,600 lbs. This trailer is designed for the strict bridge law states and can legally carry that amount of weight legally. That is why it is longer than most other manufacturers. Now who is wrong, the manufacturer, DOT, etc.? Now are the guys back east who can legally carry a lot more weight in the dump trucks crazy too compared to us with the bridge law. I can only legally gross 60,500 with my 5 axle dump truck, whereas in some places back east they gross 80,000 plus. I don't think so as the law allows them too and I do know my truck can handle that amount of weight as I have been up that high a few times since I have a 17-19 yard box. And then those guys in California must think we are crazy in the NW since we can legally gross 105,500 with our dumps and pups, whereas they can only go up to 80,000. As they don't allow the extra axles we can have here to meet bridge. Is the California DOT smarter than the Federal bridge law states? Who knows, but since they are so worried about heavy truck emissions there think about all the extra truck miles to make up the missing weight.
Don't be too hard on yourself about asking this question. The facts have been posted, you can pull a 200 on a tag. Opinions are, fear and nervousness when pulling larger excavators... It's no different than the debate about pulling 160's on 20 ton trailers. I use to pull my 160 all the time on a 20 ton, did it work? Yes! Did I not like pulling it? Yes. The facts are what weigh can the trailer handle and what's the length of the trailer. Then you can determine if you want to drag a 200 behind you. While it isn't that common here in WI, I do see guys doing it. Good luck with your trailer choice. BTW, I pull a 25 ton Towmaster now, with a 160 Volvo. (safe and secure)
Thanks blowerman. kgmz I looked at the trd-54 specs. Do you guys prefer tilt bed over beaver tail for large machines like 200s. I always thought beaver tail was the way to go.
I prefer a tilt bed, but we also own a Eager Beaver beaver tail backhoe trailer. Tilt bed is great if only carrying one piece of equipment, beaver tails are great if you ever need to carry 2 pieces of small equipment. But I hate lifting those ramps up. And it is debateable, if you look at the specs for a TrailMax beavertail. The deck and trailer is a little shorter on the beavetail, but the wheelbase is longer on the beavertail. The problem I can see with the beavertail is what is the tongue weight going to be with those axles a foot further back and how is the load going to fit if you have to slide it back with the trailer 2 feet shorter. And then remember with most other manufacturers the trailer is going to be shorter.
So basically because a beaver tails axles are further back tongue weight will get to high but if you move the machine back you'll have to much rear over hang of the arm because of a shorter deck. Is that what you mean? My biggest concern as stated in an earlier post is that I live in Vancouver which has a lot of traffic, confined areas and I'm worried about overhead clearance issues and not being able to side unload etc.