hauling coal in a trailer

I recently bought a trailer so I could haul my own coal. I planned to get a weight distribution hitch but I've found that the box on the front of the tounge area is in the way. I thought about just raising it up but the hydraulic hose is too short. I guess I could have a longer hose made. But I'm wondering how many of you use a WDH or just use a regular hitch.

I use a pintle hitch, but do know a bunch of folks that use the WD hitches. It provides MUCH greater stability and a more secure feeling on the combo you are driving. Personally I would not haul without one unless you have a vehicle with a hitch and frame designed for the 'heavy haul' trips to coal country. Check the electric brakes carefully, or the surge brake system; it is your lifeline!!!! Make damned sure the safety chains are crossed, and are of a rating suitable for the load you are carrying.

Lately the DOT guys are looking over the electric brakes, safety chains for 'tagged strength certification tags on those chains', inspection reports on the trailer, and DO NOT have any lights out...or in rusted sockets. Oh, weather-checked tires are on the hit list also, more to prevent accidents than to bust your chops.
They will put you out of service on the spot....and that will REALLY spoil your day. They ARE favorably impressed if you have spare bulbs, lenses, and pliers and test light, screw drivers, etc. .....we all want your trips to be memorable and SAFE!

VigIIPeaBurner uses a WDH on his trailer. He had to move the box back, I believe....

How much do you plan to haul and with what?




Eric

I prefer a load distributing hitch, but it really depends on the tow vehicle..
If you are towing the trailer with a 1-ton truck with dual rear wheels, then the LDHitch may not be needed.
If you are pulling the trailer with a half ton truck, or a SUV, then I'd recommend figuring out how to make a Reese or similar hitch work.

Can you post a photo of the hitch conflicts ??

Greg L

I know a few guys that always run without a WDH. I'd worry about the load on the truck's hitch - wouldn't make me comfy. That can be a lot of weight under the right circumstances. With a properly installed and set up WDH, the rig feels great loaded and looks level too. Police have looked me over by riding along side of me about 2/3 of the time I've hauled loads in a few different states. Thankfully they've just kept on down the road so they must have been satisfied.

I can't find my photos of the Brimar I used with a WDH. The box was mounted to the tongue via studs. I and a friend unbolted the box, lifted it up off the studs, slid it back toward the trailer and slipped some 2x under it. I strapped the 2x to the frame and then strapped the box to both. Doing so left just enough room for the pinch bolt style snap-up brackets. It was a temporary fix and after the run, the box had to be moved forward again to dump the load.

There are different styles of snap-up brackets available. The style I have is removable and uses a pinch bolt to mount on the channel. The pinch bolt style is not easily used on a Brimar as we've both discovered There are weld-on and bolt-on permanent styles too. Get a pair of those. That would work and if you already have a pair of the pinch bolt style, you could still use your WDH on another trailer The other thing my dealer said they do is weld a piece of channel on the outside of the trailer's channel to bolt the snap ups to. I can't quite picture how this would work without off setting the welded on piece. Might as well get permanent snap-ups installed.

Trailers save you money. You have to use them a lot.

Are the axles centered or more towards the back end of the trailer ? Depending how you distribute the load their may not be alot of tougue weight, you want some tongue weight to begin with. If the distribution hitch is too strong, you take the weight off the drive wheels and could get stuck if you go in the mud (if you go there).

I use a weight distribution hitch with all components, hitch, balls, chains, etc. exceeding my load requirements. The 10K trailer tows wonderfully with my two wheel drive 3/4 ton diesel Silverado. Especially nice is the vehicle integrated brake controller, it applies the trailer brakes first and then progressively applies the truck brakes. I do all I can to avoid that spoiled day or worse.

I'll try to post a picture later today of the conflict with the WDH. I'm towing with a 3/4 ton dodge ram diesel. It's a heavy truck by itself (6,700#) I plan to put a ton in the bed also. The trailer is a 10,000 GVW trailer that weighs about 2,000# empty. I plan to put 4 tons in it. I'd much rather have the WDH. It looks like I will have to replace the hydraulic line with a longer one in order to use it.

The big question is...with 4 tons in the trailer, how much weight is on the tongue?

I have a 1 ton ford diesel, and I found a class 5 receiver hitch for it. I don't have a wdh. Without the wdh the rating is lower on the hitch. I have a 7000 trailer I have hauled cars and trucks with, may of gone a little over the 7000 rating, but when I load a vehicle, I try to keep the weight back, or back on to keep the engine to the back of the trailer. http://www.etrailer.com/faq-trailertowtips.aspx The receiver, class 5 is rated 10k or 14k with the wdh, and toungue of 12 hundred or 17 hundred lbs. with the wdh.

coalkirk wrote:I'll try to post a picture later today of the conflict with the WDH. I'm towing with a 3/4 ton dodge ram diesel. It's a heavy truck by itself (6,700#) I plan to put a ton in the bed also. The trailer is a 10,000 GVW trailer that weighs about 2,000# empty. I plan to put 4 tons in it. I'd much rather have the WDH. It looks like I will have to replace the hydraulic line with a longer one in order to use it.

6700lb truck + 2000lb in bed + 2000lb trailer + 8000lb of coal = 18,700lb Isn't that stretching the limits of a older 3/4ton dodge


Eric

I've stretched the limits on more than one occasion ...

I once put 5k lbs of coal in a 1,290 GVWR enclosed single axle trailer. The tires with 80 psi in them looked flat. Only had to go 8 miles though.

Here's me old half ton Chevy with 3k on board:

SMITTY wrote: The tires with 80 psi in them looked flat.

As long as their only flat on the bottom, you should be good to go

SMITTY wrote:Here's me old half ton Chevy with 3k on board:

I bet the axle bearings in that 10-bolt weren't happy with that load!