hauling sap with a tractor

[PARKER MAPLE]

Just remember a Toyota tundra haul the space shuttle endeavor. Lol. I see it on tv so it must be true

[gmcooper]

Just found this thread. For years we had a 3250 gallon vacuum load liquid manure spreader we hauled with a 135hp tractor. Tractor had cab, front weights, rear wheel weights and loaded tires. It was ok to haul with but you still had to pay attention on any uphill or downhill. It still wouldn't take much pushing down a hill to break traction. I also left more than one set of rubber marks on paved roads going uphill and rear wheels would start slipping. Have to say that the spreader had hydraulic brakes I ran from in the cab.

We had a 1500 gallon spreader also but there is no way I would be comfortable pulling that with our 45hp Kubota other than just moving it on dry flat ground.

[BreezyHill]

gmcooper,
doesn't manure weigh in at around 10#/gallon? So that was about 16.5 ton in a 5 ton spreader so about 21-22 ton on a tractor that weight in at around 13,000#.
With brakes on the tanker, so it is safe in your experience that a ratio closer to 1:1would be better than 3:1 when talking hauled:hauler?

I just hate to see somebody else rap a tractor around a wagon. it happens in a split second and if you lucky, there are no injuries.

You didn't list the times there were brown marks on the tractor seat. LOL

Thanks for the perspective!

[gmcooper]

gmcooper,
doesn't manure weigh in at around 10#/gallon? So that was about 16.5 ton in a 5 ton spreader so about 21-22 ton on a tractor that weight in at around 13,000#.
With brakes on the tanker, so it is safe in your experience that a ratio closer to 1:1would be better than 3:1 when talking hauled:hauler?

I just hate to see somebody else rap a tractor around a wagon. it happens in a split second and if you lucky, there are no injuries.

You didn't list the times there were brown marks on the tractor seat. LOL

Thanks for the perspective!

The liquid manure we were hauling was definitely not in the 10lb/gallon range. It was very liquid with some sawdust mixed in. Load would have been 14-15 ton max(NRCS analysis put it at 13 ton) with if I remember our spreader was under 8000 lbs. What we ran worked and yes you have to pay attention with any load. We met the recommendations from the manufacturer when we purchased the spreader. Spreader had baffles and filled to limit each load. Hauling on ice and snow would certainly be a different set of circumstances. We never came close to a wreck but I have seen several loaded kicker wagons in our area jackknife going down a grassy slope pulled by too light of a tractor.

[TunbridgeDave]

It's not the hp it's the weight of the tractor that's important. These newer sub-compact tractors have plenty of power to run bush hogs etc. but they don't weigh very much. In a pull-off an old 23hp John Deere B would be towing your Kubota L4600 backwards and laughing all the way. If you're buying that tractor for other reasons than I would just haul a smaller tank and feel safer about it. If it was for hauling that big a tank I would get a tractor that weighs at least 10000 lbs. I think there are too many variables for anyone here to make a perfect suggestion.

[BreezyHill]

Personnaly I would not haul more than 350 with a tractor under 50 hp our 500 tank on a wagon frame is too much for our 50 hp JD compact style. Bu the K 6950 handles it great.

It is not the go that I have had issues with but the whoa. Then add in a partial load, snow, ice, and it would get wrapped around a tree. The tongue is bent on the water wagon and let that way so every time you hook it up, you are reminded to go slow....very slow.

Bent pole was from coming back to the pond with a quarter tank. Cows stop drinking and wanted to have a full tank for the night. Came down the hill and the load sloshed and tipped the tank upright onto the pole. I only saw it in the mirror. It was up and back down in under a second. Poped one tire when it landed back on the wheels. Definitely messed up that day.

I side with the smart guy that said use small tank make more trips...enjoy the day.

[antler creek]

I use a JD 4600 4 wheel drive compact tractor hauling a rugged trailer with 275gal tote. on level ground it was more than sufficent to do the job. on the hill IT>>>WAS>>>NOT. Took a nasty ride on my neighbors property and the only thing that saved me from taking a 200ft free fall was the tractor had a bucket that when i put it down slowed me down enough to get the rig back under control. I remeber thinking , man if I get killed on his land he probably won't let me tap next year. It happend so quick...I stay on level ground now.

[collinsmapleman2012]

In high school we ran 2 85 hp tractors with 1025 gal tanks, a JD 5083E and a Ford 7710. the ford, being at least twenty years older, handles the load easily, but the deere was much too light for hauling hills. it worked pretty well, but it depends entirely on the load and the grade. there were a few times i had the deere and i hauled 800 gals in the tank, it all went to the back, and te tractor suddenly was losing traction on the upill ascent. this is a big factor off the road, because the hill was well gravelled but the loss of weight on the tires required some extra pull from the 4wd. another thing that helped immensely was the size of the trailer tires. if you have options, larger tires are much more maneuverable and haulable with bigger loads, especially in mud.