I need some advice from folks with more experience pulling a lot of weight. I bought a backhoe that weighs 13,500 or so according to the manual that came with it. Then I bought a homemade gn trailer with 3 mobile home type axles.
My question is will the auto trans hold up for occasional use. I plan to use a 92 3500 that I have sitting around.
What mods should I do to make it more dependable etc?
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Step#1

Buy a better trailer with better axles.

I have home made trailers with MH axles on them too but I don't think I would those kinds of loads on them for much distance at all.

I'd also check into the laws in your state, those axles are illegal in some jurisdictions.

 

When my ship comes in I plan to do that. I will also buy a newer and maybe heavier truck. I'm trying to make do with what I have. For now I am retired and not so wealthy.
Thanks for the input...

 

Let me emphasize that part about occasional use.

 

I hear you on that one, I try to use what I have to, I'm not trying to bust your chops or critisize your rig. Like I said, I have a trailer with those axles too, but I just use it to haul hay between farms here and such.

we've had trailers with those axles on them for years around our farm and have had very little problem so long as you keep decent tires on them and Aired up to the MAX, like 100 PSI. (check the sidewall on your particular tire)

But they definitely are not great, apparently in my jurisdiction you can be fined $2,500 PER AXLE for running them on the highway, so seriously you want to check into that. I have no idea what the laws are in your area.

An acquaitaince of mine was rearended with his triaxle gooseneck with MH axles on it while hauling hay. But didn't really realise what had happened, he thought his load had shifted somehow or something when he felt a "bump".

He contiuned home, unloaded his load and saw dammage to the rear of his trailer, he went back to the scene where the police and dammaged Cavalier were sitting, spoke with the police and he was fined $7,500 for running those axles.

Ludicrous.

I'm trying to look into the cost and feasibillity of replacing those hubs with conventional style hubs and rims.

I believe it can be done but not sure of what works and what doesn't.

 

make sure you have trailer brakes with that weight. the truck should pull it fine. just make sure you chain it and tie the outriggers together so they dont fall outward and boom the bucket and the back bucket

 

yeah no kidding no brakes on those axles right?


but they seem to do ok besides that... I mean a mobile home weighs in that neighborhood.

 

No they should have brakes. All of my MH axles have brakes, should be a standard Dexter backing plate and electric setup too.

I know the backing plate, shoes and magnets look suspiciously similar to the ones on my stock trailer with 6,000# Dexter axles. I'm going to pulla hub off each of them some day and see if they swap. I'd bet 3:1 they do.

Anybody know what the inner and outer bearing sizes are on MH axles off the top of their head?

I have a spare setup of bearings for the 6000# in the truck.

I think a MH axle is rated for 6,000# so if they are in good order it should handle the weight fine. The tires would be my first concern. Those 14.5's that are on MH axles are typically not a great tire and tend to be very old on most home built trailers.

 

What type of springs are attaching those axles to the trailer? So far it doesn't sound like it's built to haul heavy equip. Most heavy "junks" are short or just long enough for the equipment and have tandem duals.
How far do you have tomove the hoe? Can you road it for a little more time and a ton more safety?

 

MH axles use a walking beam setup with an idler between them.

That is, the springs are fixed at opposite ends of a tandem or triaxle setup to a shackle welded to the frame and then each axle is connected to the next spring of the following axle with an idler that pivots on a shackle also welded to the frame.

I hope that is clear as mud.

There are four leafs in the spring pack., Ive seen the springs over and underslung depending on the trailer configuration. Typically ther are overslung and they use those short 14.4" tires to fit under a Mobile Home etc, so typically guys used them to build deckover trailers.

 

Not to start a war here, but unless these 'mobile home axles' are something I'm not familiar with and never seen before, and speaking as a trailer manufacturer as well as an adjunct advisor to the NHTSA, there is nothing illegal with using them for other applications. What IS illegal is running a 6000 lb rated axle with no brakes on it. Or using the mobile home tires that come with the axle that state right on the sidewall, "Mobile Home", and "One Time Use Only". Actually, a replacement 14.5" tire that will fit on those rims can have a higher weight rating than a 16" tire, one of the drawbacks tho is the cost.

chaikwa.

 

Like I said, I have no idea what the laws are in your jurisdiction. But here are the laws for Canada.

Taken from the "Canadian Legal Information Institute"

901. (1) No axle, axle assembly or wheel, tire, suspension or other hardware of an axle assembly commonly referred to as running gear that is designed and manufactured exclusively for use on a mobile home or other vehicle that is not of a class prescribed by the Regulations shall be fitted to a trailer.

 

believe them axles are designed to hold more then 6k have a friend who had a toter businees said them things are like 10k to 14k i believe. those trailers weigh in excess of 35k sometimes

 

Load it up. Boom it down safely. Take your time. That should be fine for occasional use. IMO. Just take your time.

 

I don't see how when they have the same axle tube diameter as a 6,000# axle and the same spindle size and the same brake size, even the spring setup is the exact same as the regular 6,000# axles on my other gooseneck.

A Mobile Home might weigh 35K, I have no idea how much they weigh but the ofetn transport them with 5 axles under them too.