Has anyone towed a 20-25 ton pintle hitch tag trailer behind a semi/road tractor? I'm looking to expand my business and the cost of a tag trailer is far less expensive than a rgn trailer. It will be for shorter moves 50mi or less and the size of machine will be 20-30k excavator, tellehandlers and other various pieces of equipment. The truck to tow the trailer will be a w900 kenworth longer wheelbase truck with a sleeper not a daycab. My main concern is safety and making sure I can load the truck properly to steer and brake well. This will be temporary until I can save up more for a bigger trailer. Thanks, Marty
Since you have a road tractor with a 5th wheel something like these might work better.
There are some guys around here that will haul a 140-160 sized excavator or D6 on a tridem pintle equipment trailer behind a road tractor. A lot of our roads are steep and winding and there are some jobs they can't access with a RGN. Most are using a day cab tractor with a short wheelbase and use the same truck to pull the RGN whenever conditions allow. Another option is a drop deck semi trailer as mentioned above. These are a really good trailer for the money: https://www.kaufmantrailers.com/flatbed-trailers/drop-deck-flatbed-trailer/ There is another guy local here that has one of those 40' drop decks behind a single axle tractor, looks like a pretty handy setup. I've been thinking about one of those if I have the need to move larger equipment in the future. I have had 3 Kaufman trailers and gotten very good service out of them.
If it's a non tilting tag with ramps two or three axle one bit of advise hauling heavier items. If loading or unloading on a unlevel area a slight incline--make sure you have about 6 yards of something in the box if trailer doesn't have parking brakes. That's with a dump, tractor is another issue.
Saw this today
Yes, that's exactly the type of rig some of the guys around us run, although some are just running a 20T tandem trailer.
Friend of mine runs a little 20 ton behind his A model 4 axle for the smaller stuff. He says it’s the handiest thing he’s ever bought. When he ordered it he was anticipating 25% usage. It’s more like 60% now vs his lowboy.
Welcome to the Forums! Glad to have you.
Excavation company here has pintle hooks on all their tractors. Not sure how they are plumbed. Wouldn't want to run the glad lines that far. Maybe a diverter valve. Found out something the other day. Here, it's $29 to license a trailer for a year. Tri axle, 60 ton. As long as it is a fifth wheel. A tongue hitch like a 3 axle tag along $1400. Something to do with weight