Dan Hunter
Truck Terrorist
I've been busy bringing the 94 1/2 ton up to speed for towing...injectors, a Heath towing chip, 4" straight pipe and a refreshed front end.
I took delivery of a John Deere 3720 along with a tree shear, a grapple, and an MX5 mower. I drove the tractor the 3 miles from the dealership to the house with the salesman in trail with the trailer and the attachments. Why?
I walked around the back of the truck about a week ago and noticed the 4000# Class III hitch. Just the tractor and trailer put me 1000# over that. I'd hate to think about that hitch running with my highest expected load of the tractor, the tree shear and the chipper - about 7000#.
I've since contacted etrailer and they've sent me a 10000# Class IV hitch, a 18000# ball mount and a 10000# ball. It's a little disturbing that six bolts are supposed to handle keeping the hitch on the frame.
Also, I installed a hitch up front with a 500# tongue limit and a 9000# pull. I'll push/exceed the hitch while push/backing the trailer into the garage but it's not like it's going anywhere at a crawl. It's right up against the Heath RSD but everything is in place and working.
I'm going to pull the package around the neighborhood this week just to get a feel for how the truck handles the load. I'm running 3.42 gears but am pulling on some of the flattest land known to man. With the Heath chip in and controlling the transmission, I guess if it starts to run hot I can lock it in 3rd and have the equivalent of 4.55s.
I took delivery of a John Deere 3720 along with a tree shear, a grapple, and an MX5 mower. I drove the tractor the 3 miles from the dealership to the house with the salesman in trail with the trailer and the attachments. Why?
I walked around the back of the truck about a week ago and noticed the 4000# Class III hitch. Just the tractor and trailer put me 1000# over that. I'd hate to think about that hitch running with my highest expected load of the tractor, the tree shear and the chipper - about 7000#.
I've since contacted etrailer and they've sent me a 10000# Class IV hitch, a 18000# ball mount and a 10000# ball. It's a little disturbing that six bolts are supposed to handle keeping the hitch on the frame.
Also, I installed a hitch up front with a 500# tongue limit and a 9000# pull. I'll push/exceed the hitch while push/backing the trailer into the garage but it's not like it's going anywhere at a crawl. It's right up against the Heath RSD but everything is in place and working.
I'm going to pull the package around the neighborhood this week just to get a feel for how the truck handles the load. I'm running 3.42 gears but am pulling on some of the flattest land known to man. With the Heath chip in and controlling the transmission, I guess if it starts to run hot I can lock it in 3rd and have the equivalent of 4.55s.