Hi, new here and looking for trailer advice

ronn said:
A wench perhaps?

I sure hope not. that could be a bit rough...........
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Yes, in front of the tool box is a wench.
 

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Aside from making sure your tow vehicle has the tow capacity and the trailer is rated to carry your AA truck, two things are important. First, make sure your trailer has brakes on both axles. Not all trailers with 3500 lb axles have brakes on both axles and my personal experience has told me you need the best possible braking capability. Second, get a trailer tongue scale to be sure you have the correct tongue weight, which is critical to avoiding a swaying condition which could cause you to lose control. Your tongue weight should be 10 - 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight. Of course, make sure your trailers wheel bearings are freshly packed and your tires are in good condition and properly inflated.
 
Thanks everyone for the recommendations. At this time I don't think I will actively pursue a trailer but keep an eye out if one pops up. I poke with my father who has a trailer that would work if I needed to borrow one.

Regarding being in central IL, it isn't all cornfields with no big towns. I love 10 min from a sister town of 120k...surrounded by corn and bean fields. [emoji16]

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Paul Bjarnason said:
Aside from making sure your tow vehicle has the tow capacity and the trailer is rated to carry your AA truck, two things are important. First, make sure your trailer has brakes on both axles. Not all trailers with 3500 lb axles have brakes on both axles and my personal experience has told me you need the best possible braking capability. Second, get a trailer tongue scale to be sure you have the correct tongue weight, which is critical to avoiding a swaying condition which could cause you to lose control. Your tongue weight should be 10 - 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight. Of course, make sure your trailers wheel bearings are freshly packed and your tires are in good condition and properly inflated.
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I would have to greatly disagree. That is way too much weight on the hitch. My trailer and Model A weigh in at 5500#. maximum for the trailer is #7000. According to your figures I should have 550 to 825 pounds of weight on the hitch. Way over most hitches capacity.
As long as your trailer is nose heavy by a couple hundred pounds and you don't have an overslung condition it will tow fine.
 
whirnot said:
I would have to greatly disagree. That is way too much weight on the hitch. My trailer and Model A weigh in at 5500#. maximum for the trailer is #7000. According to your figures I should have 550 to 825 pounds of weight on the hitch. Way over most hitches capacity.
As long as your trailer is nose heavy by a couple hundred pounds and you don't have an overslung condition it will tow fine.
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No. I used to think what you are saying is correct, i.e., just have "some" tongue weight and make sure your trailer and tow vehicle are level. I found out the hard way that this is not the case, when a couple of years ago, I came close to having a serious accident while pulling my skidsteer on my 14K GVW trailer, when my gross weight was probably around 10K. It was a horrible experience. After that, I did some research and everywhere I looked I got the same answer: 10 - 15% of the gross trailer weight should be on the tongue. Some places recommended a weight distributing hitch, to help out. Also, I bought a scale to measure my tongue weight, just to be sure. Here's what GMC says, which is the same as what everyone else who is authoritative says on the matter: https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/why-tongue-weight-is-important-for-safe-towing But, you could go for years without a problem and ignore this advice, like I did. Now, I am a believer!
 
Wow am I jealous. Beautiful truck. Get a trailer it will go into with a bit of working room on either side. The F150 I had had a straight 6 and I pulled a 1940 John Deere from Oklahoma to a museum in San Ramon with no issue except backing up. Then it reacted as if I had no brakes at all. After the first adventure of backing down a driveway and across a busy street I made sure to never had to back up again until I got rid of the trailer. I believe the trailer brakes (electric) were non existent when moving backwards. I felt like someone had covered the area with ball bearings.
 
Paul Bjarnason said:
No. I used to think what you are saying is correct, i.e., just have "some" tongue weight and make sure your trailer and tow vehicle are level. I found out the hard way that this is not the case, when a couple of years ago, I came close to having a serious accident while pulling my skidsteer on my 14K GVW trailer, when my gross weight was probably around 10K. It was a horrible experience. After that, I did some research and everywhere I looked I got the same answer: 10 - 15% of the gross trailer weight should be on the tongue. Some places recommended a weight distributing hitch, to help out. Also, I bought a scale to measure my tongue weight, just to be sure. Here's what GMC says, which is the same as what everyone else who is authoritative says on the matter: https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/why-tongue-weight-is-important-for-safe-towing But, you could go for years without a problem and ignore this advice, like I did. Now, I am a believer!
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If you are going to put 800 # of toungue weight in an F150? Good luck, I hope you can keep the front wheels down.
 
whirnot said:
If you are going to put 800 # of toungue weight in an F150? Good luck, I hope you can keep the front wheels down.
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Good point, Bill. Depending upon the weight of the trailer load, keeping the front wheels down could be an issue and maybe require a weight distributing hitch. But, we're talking about a Model A on the trailer here and, therefore, I doubt the necessary tongue weight to get into the 10 - 15% tongue weight area would be more than 500 lbs., which should not be a problem for a half-ton pickup.
 
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