Single axle truck and trailer to haul 12 ton track hoe?

I am in the market for a truck and trailer to haul my Komatsu PC-120 with. I came accross this add on craigslist and it seems like a really good deal if it will tow the weight. The add says 6500 dollars but on the phone he came down to 5500 and Im sure I could get him down lower than that in person.

The trailer is a single axle 12 ton lowboy. The truck has a 12000lb front axle and a 24000lb rear axle. I figure the trailer weighs about 4500lb and the operating wieght of the excavater is 11600kg wich works out to be just under 26000lb. That puts the total trailer weight at just about 31000 lbs.

NC DOT says that you can only load a single axle to 20000lb. That would put me needing to put 11000lb of tongue weight on the rear end of the truck. I figure the way a track hoe goes on the trailer that would work out just about right. But this is my first tracter trailer and even though it might work on paper would this setup tow safely? Would if be easy enough for me to load it right so that the weight was where it needs to be?

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?18306-Single-axle-tractor-and-lowboy

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?17679-Trailer-Mfg-ID

I have an almost identical trailer and very similar tractor. I use it to haul 34,000 lbs w/ no problems, and have hauled 44,000, once a short distance. I use the tractor frequently to haul much heavier things on other trailers. There are pics of my truck and trailer in both those threads; and a lot of comments on the subject. In short though, you should be fine.

Like Mitch said, that trailer will haul more than the DOT man will allow but you are still restricted to 20K per axle. Many moons ago, there was a guy that hauled his 943 track loader for years on the same set up. I don't know off the top of my hand what a 943 weighs but it has to be in the 28-30K lb range, a 953 is 36K give or take.

The only way you will really know if you will be legal with your excavator on that trailer is to load it up and run across the scales at your local truck stop.

The tractor and trailer should be 20-22k, you should be legal for 50k gross; thus legal for 30k load, have to experiment w/ where on trailer to put hoe to get axle weights right. Check this, cause NC is a PITA, but 24k should be no problem. Be careful to check the inner and outer bridge on your rig too, I think this trailer is long enough for it to be ok.

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/sw/brdgcalc/calc_page.htm

Ran a similar setup for years, just sold it this summer, I hauled a load like that for years, cm is right run it over the scale and weigh it for each axle but check on the bridge laws in your state, on mine we hauled a lot of weight over the years that was above the axles load limit, my crew didn't like going over the hump and we went to detaches instead, that and my equipment got too big to ever load on it.

Id like to put it on the scale before I buy it but the truck is located three hours from where I live and I dont have any way to move my track hoe right now. It sounds like it will do the job so I guess its worth going to pick it up and figuring out where to load the hoe when i get it home.

Does 5 grand sound like a pretty good deal for it? I know I can find L9000s everywhere for three or four grand but they have really high miles and this one only has 200,000 on it. Also I cant seem to find a trailer for less then four thousand, even really old ones. My next problem is getting it home. I dont have an air brake endorsment yet so Ill either have to take back roads and drive illigally or pay somebody to drive it for me. Driving it empty seems like I wouldnt get pulled but going through a road block would do me in.

Can you tell me what engine and tranny are in this truck? I have an L8000 with the 8.3 cummins and 6-speed. Also, I wouldn't drive it unless you have the correct license / endorsements. It's not if you get pulled over that you should be worried about, it's what happens if the brakes fail and you drive through a schoolbus....

I forgot to ask the guy what engine and trans are in it. I am supposed to call him tonight and get some more info about it, Ill ask him then. Good point on the school bus thing. I would make sure I had insurance on it first but I can only imagine the field day the lawyers would have if they hit me with a driving without a license charge and causing an accident.

If the truck and trailer are in decent shape, I don't see how you could go wrong at $5K. It may have a small motor and trans but it's a cheap lowboy to move your equipment around. As far as the license goes, do you have a buddy that has a Class A w/ air brakes? Take him with you and let him drive it back. Oh yeah get insurance coverage first.

kinda funny theres a company around here with the exact same truck and trailer combo and they haul a pc200 on it ....but that weights fine here for three axles........u should be fine

Just read the tire load carrying capacity on both the truck and trailer, I've hauled up to about 30,000 on mine before many times, I was about maxed out for tire capacity though, I did blow a set of rims apart on it once hauling too heavy of stuff with it. My old ford had a 3208T cat and a 10 speed, nice little rig just didn't use it enough to justify the liscence and insurance anymore. I'd avoid anything over about 30,000lbs your asking for problems but for what you've got you should be fine. I'd never consider a 200 size machine on a rig like that, there no way you could ever do it legally, let alone have the tires and rims to hold it up for long, that would be very dangerous to say the least.

I just found out that the trailer is only 18 feet long. 16 foot flat bed with two foot of dove tail. The overall travel length of the track hoe is 21 feet, but they tracks are only about nine feet. Is it okay to have the boom hang off the end of the trailer if I put a flag on it? I thought the trailer was longer and this wouldnt be an issue but im not sure if I want it if its going to cause problems with the length being so short.

My neighbor at my farm is a trucker so he might be able to drive it for me if the length isnt an issue. I wouldnt say we are freinds but a little cash might convince him to give me a hand. What kind of insurance premium should I expect for this rig? Right now I run a single axle dump truck and its about 30 bucks a month.

As far as hauling anything bigger than my track hoe, I doubt I will have a reason to move anything bigger. For now I like the size of my machine and I might get a ten ton dozer to go with it but I dont see me upgrading sizes anytime soon. Even when I do, I still want to have a little rig to get into small jobs. Im terrified of the DOT around here so I dont plan on pushing my luck hauing other peoples equipment either if its too heavy.

Make sure you check the I-beams for places that have rusted through.

I have hauled a 200 class (45,000 lb) machine on mine, (for a short distance, off road), and a 15 ton freuhauf will not take that for long. It bows down alarmingly!

In my state you can leave things hang over four feet beyond the furthest thing on the trailer, so if the ramp supports stick out the back some if it has them you can go beyond that, but that changes from state to state you need to talk to the dot in your state, just call them and ask questions. You need to measure from the back of the tracks where you have the boom folded up, the counterweight can hang over the neck and not bother anything, I always tucked the bucket up between the tracks on mine, my deck was 18 ft with a 3 ft slope after that, it might be a tad short but I wouldn't worry much about it, just tell him you want to try loading your excavator on it first, if it fits, you'll pay him, that way he can drive it to your place to see[then you got it home and he delivered it for you]. Did you measure the flat deck ahead of the axles or from where it breaks and goes down the tail?

Truck505 is right check under it to see if the frame is rusted or cracked, if its either shy away from it, the dot will not let any of them pass with cracks or rust holes in the frame or supports. As for the dot, I'd look at it differently, go seek them out on the phone and ask plenty of questions to get educated and then avoid them as much as possible on the road but first you need to know what you should be doing instead of what you will be doing, there is a difference, simple things keeps them at bay and happy, most have figured out what they are going to fine you for before ever getting out of the car, they can see something obvious and thats why they stopped you.

I blew a set of duals out from under mine while driving the rims were rusty and exploded, nobody got hurt and I was lucky, I've also seen a trailer overloaded that the frame blew out of, the sides split right out and it was crushed to the ground, not a pretty sight, I've also seen plenty that were bowed from too much weight, check it over to see that nothings sprung or bowed or bent.

Also check what size tires it has on it, you want tubeless tires on both, especially if your going to keep it for any length of time, the old tube tires are a thing of the past and it costs to covert them over to tubeless rims and tires, just something to keep in mind.

My 87 Ford LTL9000 with a 25 ton Phelan trailer runs about $135 / month for PL/PD insurance to haul my 1950 TD6. No commercial work, just big boy toys I only plate and insure it for the summer. Plates run another $100 / month for 54,000 lbs in MI on the tractor, the trailer was $300 1 time fee.