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Realistic Towing Capacity

3K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  klhansen 
#1 ·
Hey everyone and thank you for having me.

I currently own a 99 F250 extended cab single axle with the 7.3. By far the best truck i have every owned.

I have a question regarding realistic town. I'm a small farmer and the truck carries a single round bale of hay off my spear anywhere i need it to go. I am currently shopping for a round bale hay hauler gooseneck, and am wondering if anyone has any experience with them. I don't want to overload the truck, and don't plan on driving cross country,. max 3-4 hours one way. The truck is complete stock with standard trans. I want to buy the round bale hauler that best fits the truck.

Appreciate any guidance with this.
 
#2 ·
Soooo, if it can tow the load for one hour it will do fine for 48 hours(to some people 4 hours is cross country)!!! If you want to be legal you are looking at around a 12,000 lb load including trailer. If you are are not pushing hills and do not need to pass any one it will pull more but it will be over the legal GVWR. How about some more info. Total miles on truck and tranny/auto or manual/ what part of the country/ any mods to the truck/early or late model 99?
DENNY
 
#3 ·
There is no "towing capacity" or limit - the truck can pull a battleship, for a short distance & at a low speed. The only hard limits are the legal ones when on public roads. If that's what you're asking, it's explained in the owner's manual:
http://www.fleet.ford.com/partsandservice/owner-manuals/

If you're asking what you'll be comfortable towing regardless of legal technicalities - only you can say. The more you drive the truck, the more you'll know how to tow, and the more-comfortable you'll be. So to start, stay low, and work your way up slowly. Don't jump from a single bale to 20.

If you're asking what will hurt the truck - that depends on how well it's maintained, and the quality of the towing equipment you use. You can certainly find a brand new cheapo trailer; and you can find a well-built one, which will probably cost a little more (because it'll be a better design, with thicker steel, and stronger suspension on better tires). Same for the hitch. I don't have one, but if I get another big pickup, I'll put a B&W Turnover Ball on it.

So to give you more-specific answers, you have to supply a LOT more-specific information. It's better for you if we can see it all in your signature so we can review it every time we want to reply, without having to ask or go digging back through your old posts or threads. Look at DENNY's signature, and read this caption:


(phone app link)
 
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#5 ·
Steve83 gave you the link to the owner's manual, repeated here.
http://www.fleet.ford.com/partsandse...owner-manuals/
Go to the diesel supplement page 16, where it gives your GCWR of 20,000 lbs. for gooseneck. Weigh your truck, and subtract that weight from the 20,000 lbs. That is the maximum weight of your trailer and cargo. Subtract the weight of the trailer to get the cargo capacity. Weigh your round bale to see what it weighs. Divide the cargo capacity by the weight of one bale to get the number of bales that you can carry. Look for a trailer that can carry that number of bales. Also check the driver's side door pillar to see what is the GVWR of your truck. A gooseneck trailer carries about 25% of its weight on the hitch. For example, a 5 bale trailer with two 6,000 lb axles would carry 12,000 lb on the trailer axles and 4,000 lb on the hitch. A 4 bale trailer with two 4,500 lb axles would carry 9,000 lbs on the trailer axles and 3,000 lb on the hitch.
 
#7 ·
If your jurisdiction is like mine, once you put a farm plate on a vehicle all the rules go out the window. My garden tractor will tow my 30' boat. Its not pretty and it doesn't go very fast but I've done it. Your biggest concern should not be towing but rather stopping. I think that truck would have had a 13 or 14,000 GCVW when it was sold - your owner's manual should tell you. That's the combined weight of truck plus trailer that Ford's legal department was comfortable with when the vehicle was built. I've pulled overweight - if you deliberately go that route I recommend slowing down and having a good story to tell the judge if the stuff hits the fan.
 
#8 ·
GCVW should be around 20,000 for the 99 F250. The key to stoping with that much weight is good trailer brakes and controller. It will stop that size load without trailer brakes but it takes a lot longer to get it done.
DENNY
 
#10 ·
FYI, If your truck is a 4x4, it's going to weigh right around 7400 lb empty. I have basically the same truck and mine weighs about 7400 lb when I roll across the scale with me and my miscellaneous stuff I keep in the back seat.
 
#12 ·
Knock off about 200-300 lb for the 4wd stuff that isn't there. I'll bet it still weighs in at around 7000 lb.
 
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