Hello, I recently pulled a CAT 416C backhoe with a Zieman trailer with a Ford L8000. And I go some tire flats coming home. What type of tires and brand are the best to pull this machine? The tires that are left are 9.5R16.5LT. What does the LT stand for? Thanks a lot for your guys help.
Yair . . . OMI . In Australia LT is the light truck designation. Cheers.
LT is light truck in the USA also. I prefer Power King tires for my trailers, but any good brand, Goodyear, Firestone, etc. should work. Make sure you get the highest load range, and keep them aired up. A chinese load range F with 110 psi in it will out do a Goodyear D with 50 psi anyday.
Thanks for your guys help. This backhoe + trailer will have a long journey crossing from Southern California to McAllen, Texas and then cross all if Mexico untill it gets to its final destination in Guatemala. The tires need to be in good shape so my brother won't be stranded in the middle of no where. Just to bring the backhoe to out house in CA from AZ we lost 2 tires, one rim exploded, some wheel studs broke off and another rim cracked. What is the highest load range? Thanks again.
I been looking at the LT tires and notice that there are tires that have LT in front of the 9.5R16.5 and at the end. What does that mean and which should I get?
How many axles and tires on that trailer?
It has 2 axles and 4 wheels. It's a zieman 2710.
You are grossly overloaded on a 2-axle single wheel trailer. What is the GVW? My 12ply 9.50r16.5 tires are rated for 3550lbs ea. I also have some 7ply that are only good for 2780lbs. You usually need a double tandem or a tri-axle to safely move a full size backhoe.
Sorry I made a mistake it has 8 wheels in total it is a double tandem. This is a pic of the trailer. The GVW i think is 26,000lbs.
I pulled a Zieman just like that all over southern California for over 10 years. By far the best tires for those are Michelin XPS. They are not cheap but they lasted a lot longer than Goodyear or Cooper. Also make sure that your brakes and wheel bearings are adjusted properly to prevent any extra heat.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into that. Another thing where should I place the big rear wheel on this trailer? Should it be above the 2 rear axles just how I did above or a bit more forward? On the Zieman website shows a pic that has a backhoe slightly more forwards. What do you recommend? Here is the website http://www.zieman.com/trailer-information/trailer-ratings-and-selection-factors.html
I wouldn't go by that Zieman picture, the way yours is loaded looks fine but you could go to a local truck scale and check your axle weights.
Ok thanks. I am new to pulling a trailer with a backhoe. I don't want to strand like last time, a rim exploded on me. While I was going 40 mph. Are these Michelin XPS tires LT as well?