Hauling an Excavator behind a dump truck

[B.K.Jackson]

Is there any reason (legal/common sense) why you cannot haul a 50K class excavator behind a tandem dump? I have seen numerous Tag trailers that are 25-35 ton and with an overweight/overwidth permit you would be legal as far as I can tell. I have never seen this configuration in my area. Any ideas?????????????

 

[muddauber]

50k from 80k gcvw leaves you 30k empty weight truck and trailer - if your dump weighs 22k that leaves you 8k lbs for a 25 ton payload trailer. Not sure but that sounds kind of light. My 35 ton lowboy weighs 17k or so my old 55 ton weighed 20k+\- so i bet a 25 ton triaxle tag weighs 12k lbs or so, I guess you could blanket permit the weight. Besides the weight you are going to be sitting a foot or so taller on a tag instead of a lowboy and might be overheight. Ymmv.

 

[Hendrik]

Don't know the laws in IL but here the trailer cannot weigh more than the tow unit, so you would need a pretty big dump truck.
How's it gonna work when the dump truck is empty?

 

[FWD]

Here, you would never be able to haul that much because of bridge laws (this is the lengths between the axles). With this type of set up you are too short. Another thing is the tongue weight on the pintle hitch, most are 20,000 lbs max. If you have a larger excavator, in order to get the boom low enough the excavator needs to be swung around so the counterweight is over the hitch. This makes the weight on the hitch very heavy. The pintle hitch is capable of pulling a large load but not able to have extreme weight on it.
BTW, my 25 ton Eager Beaver 3 axle trailer is between 13 and 14,000 lbs empty. Add a bunch of chains and binders and you have a bunch more weight.
FWD

 

[pemolitor]

Got 2 companies that did it around here. One was the Union Pacific Rail road. They haul a Deere 220lc on a triple axle tag with a tri axle international. Talked to the driver. He said it wasn't bad once he finally got used to the weight on the pintle hitch. The other company hauled behind a mack CH700 tri axle. They had a cat 325. He owner hated it and went back to a cowboy. Iowa law lets us go 20000lbs per axle with permits. That means 60000lbs on tri axle trailer. If the trailer weighs 12000lbs that means you can still haul 48000lb on the trailer. You can put 20000lbs on rear tandems of truck on not be overweight. I called the Iowa DOT hotline and asked about the amount of weight I can legally put on my pintle hitch on was told there is no regulation regarding vertical weight. Scary thought....

 

[denver m farms]

Around here the biggest we hual with a dump is a 200 class so just under 50000lbs. I don't see a big problem with it, but no way to do it without being over 80000lbs.

 

[DGODGR]

It's very common here. I do it all the time but my hoe only weighs 40k#. I'm at about 74,000# when loaded like that. I can legally put a 50k# machine on my triaxle trailer (weighs 11k# empty). If I had a 20tn hoe (they weigh about 50,000#) out back, I would gross around 84k#. That is legal, in my state, as I can go 85k on secondary roads. I think that the 80k# rule on the interstate is on 5 axles (I've seen B-trains on the interstate in Utah- I doubt they are 80k#). My set-up has 6 axles. Regardless, my tow unit weighs in at about 12tn, and I often run the trailer at 23tn (excavator, trailer, and compactor). I have no issues with the trailer being heavier (almost double the weight). It tows like a dream. Very stable.

 

[B.K.Jackson]

Illinois DOT overweight permits allow up to 110K gross so I am not worried about being overweight. I am at 83K with my Pete and non-detach lowboy now so I run an annual overweight/overwidth. Most tags are 34" tall and my hoe is 9'9" folded up so I would still be under 13' 6" on height. My concern would be having the tongue weight of the tag not dispersed over the tractor tandems like it is on my semi. It seems like the steer axle would be light and the rear axle would be real heavy. I am going to look into it more.

 

[DGODGR]

I have moved a Volvo 210 on my trailer (about 10k# heaveir than my 315CL). I have not experienced a light steer axle. I have a 377 Pete, N14 under the hood, 15' rock tub behind the cab, and I tow a Towmaster T50 tri-axle out back. Very stable to tow. The trailer does not sway nor does it push the tow vehicle around. The trailer deck has plenty of room to move the excavator forward or backward so you can add or subtract weight from the tongue. I like placing the undercarriage centered over the tridom. I have towed the 315 with the tracks all the way froward (touching the head rail) and it still towed well. It did comprimise the ride though (pretty rough ride).

 

[coalroller]

we have a sterling quad witha tk tri that we have pulled a cat 330 with not fun but it was doable now the heaviest we put on is either our cat 320 or 6 way cat d6t

 

[DGODGR]

we have a sterling quad witha tk tri that we have pulled a cat 330 with not fun but it was doable now the heaviest we put on is either our cat 320 or 6 way cat d6t

Yikes! That's asking a lot of a 25tn trailer when you put 70,000 pounds on it.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Are the early 330's that light? My 330 BL is about 85,000.

 

[DGODGR]

Are the early 330's that light? My 330 BL is about 85,000.

Well that's even worse. My thinking was based on what I had heard from a friend who has a couple 330s. The first one he bought was a 330B. It had a ME dipper and short undercarriage (not a 330B vs 330BL). Maybe that is the difference. I made the assumption that the 330 weighed about the same as a 330B. I have never run any of them across a scale so I will say that you are correct Jerry. Regardless, that is far too much to put on a 25tn trailer. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Komatsu 150]

I'm in Illinois also so I'm going to give you my take on it. Laws may have changed but I think this is still current. The most you can carry on a standard tag is 34,000 lbs. Even a spread axle would only get you 36000 lbs. This means very high tongue loads. Our trailer weighs 10,000 lbs and I am legal with a 37000 lb excavator, just barely. I have been checked by the police a few times and we are right at max. This requires a 15000 lb tongue load. Almost none of the pintle hitches someone will sell you are rated that high. I special ordered a pair of 100,000 lb New Holland hitches and basically had to argue with the vendor to get him to order them. They are maxed out at 15,000 lbs. tongue wight. This tongue weight makes a lighter truck pretty squirrely. It's OK with a heavy tandem but never wonderful. I think the rule of thumb for a good tow is 10% of total on the tongue. We haul local so it's OK. If your going to permit, obviously you can run multiple axles and make it better. Our local three communities require a daily permit just for overwidth and I got sick to death of it just because we were over wide. Sorry to get so wordy but just add the reason I was so insistent on ordering heavy hitches. Shortly after I bought the trailer and a tandem dump (used), I broke a pintle hitch on the road. By some goofy miracle the trailer was empty but was still fairly exciting. The guy I bought the rig from had been a hauling a machine of the same weight for years.