NEED ADVICE: Moving construction equipment

[BCarmicle]

Me and my dad are in the construction business and he is thinking about buying another truck and trailer to move the forklifts. We currently use 3/4 ton Dodges and a gooseneck with four total wheels to move loads of boards, scaffolding, and other material.



The forklifts weigh 10 ton without the fluid in the tires. My dad would like to step up to a dually and a tandom trailer to move the lifts. Is this possible?



The truck will be a six-speed with exhaust brake with some performance mods. We have never used an exhaust brake before, but hope that it makes an big difference it braking ability because we are running into that issue now.



Is there a trailer that can safely handle this load? We have moved over 10 ton before with the gooseneck, but we were overloaded and stopping was difficult. We have also been told the heaviest tandom weighs 5 ton. This would make the full load 15 ton obviously.



I feel like with the truck properly modified it can handle this weight. My question is what trailer to you guys suggest and will we be able to safely stop the load and is it legal to load a one ton truck with this weight?



Brandon

 

[TRCM]

the MAX load any dodge truck is designed to pull is 23,000 lbs combined. that is truck, load & trailer.



You are way over that.



Can it carry it... yes, but will the DOT like it. . NO !!!!

 

[BCarmicle]

I made a mistake on the trailer weight. It is 6,000lbs. not 6 ton. That would put us at 13 ton. Only a ton and a half over DOT regulations.

 

[Peter Campbell]

Big tex and others make the tandem dual axle trailers, they are good for 20K, triple 7K axles also get you to 20K. Those are both over what even a dually is rated for. My SRW is also rated for 23K GCWR. Fo anything close to going over get the duals/long bed/4. 1/Ebrake. If you are going that route- especially for short hauls- check with your insurance and DMV (States vary ). If you pay the "VIG" to the government for being overloaded ( door frame GCWR only), and do not exceed any axle or tire rating, and insurance knows what you are doing, you are registered for what you have, it should be a warranty issue only. You probably do not have one anyway due to commercial use. A big beat up Tri axle dump, with air brakes and an eager beaver type air brake pintle tow is legal out of the box And those rigs can be gotten cheap- just look for liquidation auctions of contracting companies. Towing fast is not a problem- they are not capable of fast. The pickup is still in the running- but at the edge of its ability, what helps is you are "not for hire" and local.





Never mind, I confused 10 ton with 10,000Lbs. No way to set up a pickup to tow a 10 ton load.

 

[Paychk]

Cats meow for hauling fork lifts:



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4566896063&sspagename=ADME:B%3***:US:1

 

[bmoeller]

I doubt the trailer is wide enough for Brandons machines, if they are on pnuematic tires. I think it is more for moving something like a Hyster Challenger 60.

 

[MDietrich]

Your talking about putting a 20,000 pound machine on a 6,000 pound trailer. That's a 26,000 pound load on a truck designed to pull maybe 16,000 lbs. Your 10,000lbs over weight. That's asking for trouble.



I'm not going to say that I've never been over weight, but mine was maybe 1500 pounds over GVW. So I'm not perfect.



You and your dad are in medium to heavy duty truck territory. Pick up a copy of Truck Paper or start shopping at heavy duty truck dealerships. You can find fairly resonable priced trucks and flatbeds out there. With the right set up you'll be able to go to 80,000 lb GVW. You'll be able to haul the forklift and the materials in the same load.



MD

 

[kah68]

Buy a S/A tractor, it will be better on fuel , carry the load better, be legal and won't bankrupt you if you have an accident and the lawyers want to jump all over you for pulling 13 ton with a 1 ton truck.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Buy a S/A tractor, it will be better on fuel , carry the load better, be legal and won't bankrupt you if you have an accident and the lawyers want to jump all over you for pulling 13 ton with a 1 ton truck.

Yep, and with air brakes on the tractor and air brakes on the trailer, you would minimize your braking problem.



Bill

 

[DavidBurt]

10 wheeler / tri-axle, eager beaver type trailer and air brakes all the way around is the only way to go with that much weight.

Dave