Pintle or Ball??

[CUMAPART]

I'm picking up a used 16' 10,000# drop deck trailer this weekend. I got it for a good price. It's got a pintle and two of the guys at work say that I should change it right over to the 2 5/16" mount. I've yanked pintle trailers before and have had no problems. Anyone have any problems or have a preference???

 

[QRTRHRS]

CUMAPART,



I have towed heavier pintles with dump trucks but nothing lighter. Only advantage I can think of is being able to grease the ball. You can get pintle hooks to plug right into your receiver. There is even one that works both ways.

 

[CUMAPART]

Yeah, I can see the advantage because nnot too many of my frieneds can borrow a pintle. UNLESS, they borrow my hitch and the trailer ('')

 

[Bob Horrell]

My 16 foot, 14,500lb equipment trailer came with a pintle hook. I changed to a 2 5/16 ball for two reasons. One, I tow this trailer with my tractor on it on really bumpy dirt roads and the pintle hook banged around a lot. I was afraid it would eventually cause cracks in my truck frame. Second, with a 2 5/16 ball I could use a equilizer hitch which makes the towing a lot smoother. If I was towing it behind a dump truck I would leave on the pintle.

 

[JHerrlich]

Most people use pintle hitches because of their weight carrying capacity, when properly mounted they can handle huge amounts of weight. When you mount the pintle on a regular reciever adapter, as I do, it drops the towing capacity down to normal hitch levels. Not to mention pintle hitches run around $100 without the receiver adapter. I usually have mine on there for looks right now. BTW, the ring on the trailer is called a lunette.

 

[DieselDoghouse]

I had also been told that most construction trailers are pintle because they are a closed hitch— when latched they did not depend on a compression pressure like a ball mount to keep them hitched. This means they won't pop when loading heavy equipment onto the trailer which might make it seesaw severly. Truth, or myth???