CE EQUIPMENT CONNECTION - Compact Equipment

Tow to Tow
One morning your skid steer is hauling dirt and gravel,
the next afternoon it’s cold planing asphalt on a job across
town. Versatility is what makes a skid steer such a popular
and productive piece of equipment, but it’s also what makes
it a machine on the move (to the next jobsite). While a
commercial driver’s license is not needed to haul most skid
steers, good towing and hauling practices are a prerequisite
for owning such a mobile machine. Before you load up, strap
down and roll off to your next skid steer job, be sure you
follow the safe and smart guidelines below.
1. Size the Machine and Trailer — Selecting the right trailer
for the job always begins with identifying the dimensions,
weight and loading characteristics of the piece of equipment
you will be hauling. Today’s skid steers are classifi
ed into nine categories by the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers (AEM). They’re classifi ed by rated operating
capacity, which is 50 percent of the loader’s tipping
load (tipping load is the capacity at which the rear wheels
lift off level ground). Most skid steers fall into a wide range
of operating capacities — from 600 to 3,700 lbs. But more
important to your crews is the operating weight of the
skid steer (the weight of the unit including tires, bucket, a
full tank of gas and a 175-lb operator). Most skid steers fall
between 4,000 and 9,900 lbs in operating weight.
2. Hauling Attachments? — Along with your skid steer,
you will need to contemplate what other attachments or
accessories you will be carrying on the trailer. Backpack
blowers? Cold planer attachments? Shovels? Bags of
mulch? Take a backhoe attachment for instance — most
weigh about 2,000 lbs. That extra weight will need to be
added into the trailer formula. After you’ve assessed your
average weight requirements for towing, you will need
to fi nd a trailer with a corresponding GVWR, which is
the gross vehicle weight rating. A 6,000-lb axle weight
trailer, utilizing two 6,000-lb axles, has a GVWR of
12,000 lbs. But then you have to subtract the weight of
By Keith Gribbins, Managing Editor of Compact Equipment
the trailer and that would give you the weight of what
you could haul.
3. Add a Little Extra GVWR — Picking a GVWR that leaves
about 1,500 lbs of excess payload is always a smart idea.
That allows your driver greater margins in safety and
fl exibility in what he or she is hauling that day. And it
adds longer life for the components of the trailer (constant
heavy loads will take their toll).
4. Size the Sides — Along with choosing the best GVWR is
making sure that the length and width of your trailer is
suitable for your crew’s needs. Most skid steers range anywhere
from 4 to 6 ft wide and 10 to 12 ft long, depending
on the make and model, so size your trailer specs accordingly.
Many machine owners go with 16-, 18- or 20-ft long
trailer beds for their skid steer operations, always considering
extra room for attachments. These trailers usually
cost between $1,500 and $6,000 and that price tag gets
even higher once options and hydraulic lifts are added.
5. Getting Hitched — When looking for the right hitch, your
main concern is the weight of the trailer and its payload.
You have two weights to be concerned about here — gross
trailer weight (GTW) and tongue weight (TW). GTW is the
trailer weight plus its contents. The TW is the amount of
weight applied directly on the ball. Once you know these
two weights, you can choose the appropriate hitch in the
right class (typically Class 3, 4 and 5 when considering
skid steer towing). Just make sure your towing vehicle can
handle that weight rating too.
6. Chains and Thangs — Double check to make sure you’ve
got safety chains and that you’ve got them hooked up.
You’re better off to cross those chains, going underneath
the tongue of the trailer diagonally, so that if anything does
happen to the hitch, when the hitch drops, it catches on
those crossed chains rather than digging into the ground.
While a commercial driver’s license is not needed to haul most skid steers, good towing and hauling practices are a prerequisite
for owning such a mobile machine. Most skid steers fall between 4,000 and 9,900 lbs in operating weight, so make sure
you get a truck with a GVWR rating high enough to pull the combined weight of the skid steer and trailer.
compactequip.com January 2008 Compact Equipment 21