Preparing to tow a trailer 1200 miles

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Empty weight 1920lbs. ...


There are 3 6x12 U-Haul trailers, 2 open (with and without ramp) and one enclosed. They range from 1730LB to 2290lb (assuming one believes U-Haul...)

Unless it is a HUGE riding mower or snowblower any of them are extreme overkill. I suspect a couple days rental on one would buy a trailer at Lowes/Home Depot/Menards ETC...

Anyway...


What are those single axle steel mesh floored trailers, 600 lbs or so? It seems weird to me to haul another 1000 lbs of trailer frame just to get "brakes" of questionable maintenance.

And I thought Uhaul had an aluminum utility trailer, though it's probably built like a brick outhouse. I know their car trailers are ridiculously heavy.
 
Why so much trailer to haul a mower one way and a snow blower and some personal effects the other?

Unless your personal effects are several concrete blocks and the mower is actually an old Farmall tractor with a belly mower, I'd think that you'd be better suited with a smaller trailer. It'd be cheaper and easier on the Escape.
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Why so much trailer to haul a mower one way and a snow blower and some personal effects the other?

Unless your personal effects are several concrete blocks and the mower is actually an old Farmall tractor with a belly mower, I'd think that you'd be better suited with a smaller trailer. It'd be cheaper and easier on the Escape.


The difference in cost would be minimal, and I want to make sure it's big enough to bring anything I need to bring back, back. I may have gone a bit oversize, but that's fine.

And yes, according to the guy at the uhaul I'm renting it from, it's ~1900lb empty. The lawnmower is probably 3-400lb I think. That is really all that is being brought down. On the way back, we will have the 26" 2 stage snowthrower, all the rest of my clothes, computer stuff, etc. There will be more stuff coming back than going down. I plan to have the OBD2 reader hooked up to my grandfathers tablet to keep an eye on trans temp. I also was planning on using engine braking on hills when possible. I'm aiming for 60-65mph, but we will see how it feels when I have it on the road.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Empty weight 1920lbs. ...


There are 3 6x12 U-Haul trailers, 2 open (with and without ramp) and one enclosed. They range from 1730LB to 2290lb (assuming one believes U-Haul...)

Unless it is a HUGE riding mower or snowblower any of them are extreme overkill. I suspect a couple days rental on one would buy a trailer at Lowes/Home Depot/Menards ETC...

Anyway...


What are those single axle steel mesh floored trailers, 600 lbs or so? It seems weird to me to haul another 1000 lbs of trailer frame just to get "brakes" of questionable maintenance.

And I thought Uhaul had an aluminum utility trailer, though it's probably built like a brick outhouse. I know their car trailers are ridiculously heavy.


I can't use an uncovered trailer, as I'm bringing back stuff in boxes, like clothes. A covered trailer in this case was the only reasonable option.

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Empty weight 1920lbs. ...


There are 3 6x12 U-Haul trailers, 2 open (with and without ramp) and one enclosed. They range from 1730LB to 2290lb (assuming one believes U-Haul...)

Unless it is a HUGE riding mower or snowblower any of them are extreme overkill. I suspect a couple days rental on one would buy a trailer at Lowes/Home Depot/Menards ETC...

Anyway...


I'll be paying $100 for 3 days rental, which isn't bad at all. Heck of a lot less than it would be to rent a small truck or something.
 
Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Pulled a 6x12 4000 lbs 1500 miles with my Tacoma. Added heavy duty fan clutch and a secondary transmission cooler. The transmission cooler will be smart to get. Monitoring transmission temp is a good idea also.


The escape V6 with the tow package comes with a trans cooler standard, and I do plan to hook up the OBD reader to my grandfathers tablet to monitor trans temp.
 
Holy .... 1900 lbs empty?

My 35 travel trailer weighed 6290 on the scales with full water tank, batteries and full propane tanks. That U-Haul thing is heavy.

Best I can say is take your time. I have towed my 35 footer all over. Remember ST tires are only rated to 65 mph.

I have not had to use engine braking at all, you will know if the trailer is pushing you down hill. My truck equipped with 4.10s and it's overall weight make it hard for the trailer to push. I just have to tap the brake and presto the truck and trailer slow down.

It is all relative. When I tow with my 3/4 ton it is rated for 10,000 lbs, Payload is 3000 lbs. So the tongue weight is close to 800lbs as the trailer loaded is close to 7500 (7490 scaled).
So your Escape will be working and I imagine with gas, you, tongue weight and whatever else you have, you will be close to the payload weight of the Escape.

As long as you have an aux tranny cooler, FUNCTIONAL trailer brakes, good trailer tires and most of all SLOW DOWN you will be fine.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Your going to burn a lot of fuel, probably in the mid teens MPG wise.

City is 20 MPG/26Highway.

So with the hills and it sounds like his first towing I am going with 12 to 14 overall.
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
I would double check the rating on your receiver as a safety check.

Good call Nate.
 
Wabbout this? Take the OPE apart until it fits better. And stuff it in the way back. I opened the back doors on the Grand Wagoneer and slid a length of 4x4 across the floor. I come-alonged a lawn tractor up some 2x6s into the back, closed the tail gate and drove home. How much room is there with the rear seat removed?
grin2.gif
 
Just watch how you load the trailer, its easy to load the front with heavy stuff and not have any weight behind the axles. And don't count on your trailer brakes to do much, just drive the limit(or less if you have to on hills) and take it easy, you'll be fine.
 
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Well, it's time to return the riding mower to the rest of the family, acquire the snowblower (they don't need it in NC), and the rest of my [censored]. We will be using my grandfathers 2010 Escape FWD/V6 to tow a 6x12 uhaul trailer (Tandem axles, surge brakes). It shouldn't be too bad, the mountains of WVA and VA will be interesting. On the agenda for tomorrow is to change the oil, air the tires up to 38psi, check the brakes and coolant. Not really a whole lot else to do. It barely has 17k miles on it, so not much else to do really.


That is not a load for any vehicle. Enjoy the trip.....

Wow.. So a 2000lb trailer with about 500lbs of mower on it is not a load for any vehicle. Funny, it exceeds the tow rating of my V6 Grand Caravan and most (if not all) cars, as well as CUVs. If you look at the UHAUL link the trailer is close to if it doesnt actually equal or exceed the trailer frontal area limit for Escapes (30sq ft). http://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-Cargo-Trailer-Rental/RV/


I missed the trailer size. I used the smaller trailer 5x9 with ramp with a Honda tractor and granite post the load felt neglible with my 2007 MDX. Not sure why OP is getting such a large one for a snowblower and tractor unless an extra wide tractor.
 
LS1MIKE you need a turbo diesel to tow anything, even air. If you don't have a big ol Cummins rollin coal then you ain't going to be able to pull your pop up trailer.
 
A little over a year ago I towed a 5,500 pound travel trailer 8,000 miles in 8 months around the USA. There was nothing done special to prepare the tow vehicle (2011-2WD Silverado half-ton Crew Cab) I also put another 12,000 miles on the truck touring the various destinations we camped at. So it was a total of 20,000 miles on the truck. The truck and trailer had ZERO ISSUES during this "trip of a lifetime"!

According to the RV boards I frequent - this trip would be wrought with problems with such a set up. You need a diesel for such demanding conditions.

No problems (not even a flat tire) and my wife and I had a blast.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

ctechbob
Little bit of Heavy(ish) towing with the Ranger (Towing Review)
2
Replies
24
Views
6K
ctechbob
L
  • Locked
My Ford F-150 2.7 liter V6 Long Haul Mountain Towing Experience
2 3
Replies
43
Views
13K
HemiBenny
K
2022 Volkswagen Taos SE, FWD - 3,000 mile review
2 3 4
Replies
74
Views
29K
K.Aoi
Back
Top Bottom