Hi folks, I am looking at buying a towable 6k forklift and have been getting conflicting advice about whether to tow it with my pickup. It weighs about 12k, and has a spring loaded pintle lunette to tow it without a trailer. Only planning on towing it home to my shop, but it's about 150 miles.

The weakest link I see is my receiver which is 12k for a distributing hitch 10k without. Obviously there is no tongue load towing this so I am assuming 12k would be the rating (?). The next "issue" I see is pulling 12k with no brakes on the towed vehicle. My brakes are in good shape, and exhaust brake works well.

Thoughts? Is this insane to do, or realistic? Thanks!

 

With no tongue weight and a towed vehicle weighing at least 50% more than your truck, getting on the brakes hard on a curve may be a "clenching" experience, even if the forklift doesn't pass you into the ditch. MAYBE, if you put a ton and a half or two of cinder blocks in the bed to give the rear end some "purchase" by emulating tongue weight. But, that adds more load to the braking system. Any way you can get a gooseneck or fiver flat bed trailer that would have brakes? Can you go 40 MPH on straight back roads in flat rural Nebraska, or are you pulling grades in Colorado?

Aren't these things usually towed by 5-ton dump trucks?

 

Not worth the risk of injurying yourself, possible others and your equipment. If you want/need the forktruck buy it and hire someone to properly haul it to your place.

Even if you could borrow a gooseneck trailer a 14k trailer will not do the job as it itself weights close to 5000#. You would need a 20k, then you need a compatable braking system/controller.

 

Yeah, they are usually towed by bigger trucks. I've usually seen them behind 5 ton flatbeds.

This is sort of what I expected to hear. Some of my "experienced" towing friends said it was OK, one said it was very sketchy. If I can't tow it in a pinch with the truck I have it becomes a LOT less appealing. Thanks for the input.

 

Towing that much weight with no trailer brakes is a very dangerous (not to mention illegal) situation.

Will the Cummins tow it? Yes. Will you be in ALLOT of trouble if the DOT catch you or you are in accident? Without a doubt.

Get a proper hauler to take it for you, it will be a few dollars, but at least you know you'll be safe.

 

with no way to actuate brakes on the towed vehicle. I'd say sketchy at BEST. more like just plain dangerous. thats a decent sized lift truck. you need proper equipment to move it safely. theres tons of medium duty tilt deck trucks running around every city. it shouldn't be that costly to hire a rig.

 

Since it is "equipment" and not a trailer you may not attract too much attention. Put a SMV triangle on it and tow it at 35-40 mph on two lane back roads taking your time would probably be ok. Lots of miles though. Maybe just too far to be practical. Might get a lot of tire wear on the steering tires with all the counterweight if it tows loose and wanders.

It really needs to go on a lowboy trailer. That would be real easy. Might be too tall on a conventional 4' high deck trailer if it has a tall mast. Short mast would be ok. It will cost some bucks to move it. Trust me on that! Been there.

 

Wow, glad I haven't told you guys about the 12,000-15,000 lbs of lumber I haul on a daily bases and have for over 100,000 with never a issue. Betcha all have a fit to find out that I do it with a 14k 25ft deck over G/N.

 

But, your trailer has brakes that will handle its load. That's really the issue here.

 

we have pulled heavier without brakes for 40 years. the receiver handles it very well. you do have to drive ahead, not follow to close and go slow until you see if it tries to whip on you and then stay at 50 mph or below. you will not have a problem

 

will it fit on a roll back wrecker?

call a local wrecker service, and see if they can move it around for you at a decent price.

 

The problem is, and you said it yourself "there is no tongue load " I flat tow a lot and actually jack knifed my truck pulling a long wheelbase Landrover a few years back. Luckily I was almost stopped but it pushed the rear or the truck around like nothing. Admitted the road was a little wet but it really surprised me. I find it can pull no problem it's when you want to stop. Can't you rent/borrow a trailer?

 

busboy we tow a 18,000 lb wagon mounted compressor and no tongue weight and you are correct you have to be very careful and if you try to slow down to fast in a curve it will jacknife you. but he is only going 150 miles one time.

 

i regularly pull a grain trailer behind mine no tongue weight, usually about 15k some weight in the back is definately a bonus to keep traction to the ground but i've done it for years just stay below 35mph and leave plently of room to brake.

this is coming from a South Dakota raised farm boy.. never towed more that about 30 miles at a time but usually make many trips in a day!!!

 

I know this has been quiet for a while now, did you end up getting it?

This is what I was talking about. tiltdecks. probably would go fine on a tandem, but tri-drives are out there. and its just a towtruck. call em up move it where ever you want. These things are all over.