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9200 lbs with a K5?

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beastofablaze

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Ok, I am going to be buying a bobcat b300d compact backhoe/loader in the future and plan to contract myself out for jobs... can i tow the backhoe with my k5? backhoe weighs about 9200 lbs and the k5 is an 88 silverado 1/2 ton with a 6" and 35's and I may have a d60 up front. i plan on doing a 14bff swap so i will have one ton brakes. Also the motor is a built 355 with a prominator, cam, heads, intake, holley tbi, exhaust, and high pressure fuel pump which will be pushing 350 hp and 400 ft lbs when its all said and done with the prominator.

Is this possible or do i need another tow rig?

If its possible how much of a strain is it on a k5 with this setup?
 
beastofablaze said:
Ok, I am going to be buying a bobcat b300d compact backhoe/loader in the future and plan to contract myself out for jobs... can i tow the backhoe with my k5? backhoe weighs about 9200 lbs and the k5 is an 88 silverado 1/2 ton with a 6" and 35's and I may have a d60 up front. i plan on doing a 14bff swap so i will have one ton brakes. Also the motor is a built 355 with a prominator, cam, heads, intake, holley tbi, exhaust, and high pressure fuel pump which will be pushing 350 hp and 400 ft lbs when its all said and done with the prominator.

Is this possible or do i need another tow rig?

If its possible how much of a strain is it on a k5 with this setup?
Click to expand...

Suspension -- springs and flip, if any -- will affect towing. Short wheelbase in general is bad. You have engine and brakes, yes, but stability will be iffy, IMHO (vertically with the suspension, laterally with the short wheelbase.)

I also think that 9200# is waaay heavy for a K5, even pumped up. Strongly consider a longer wheelbase tow rig, like a Burb or a pickup, with stock 3/4+ suspension.

-- A
 
Don't forget that the 9200# tractor needs a trailer that will weigh at least another 1000#.
 
Dont even think about towing that with blazer of any sort. My 1 ton 98 pickup is only rated to haul 10k so you would be in stupidly-dangerous territory. Sounds like you need a dually and gooseneck.
 
afroman006 said:
Dont even think about towing that with blazer of any sort. My 1 ton 98 pickup is only rated to haul 10k so you would be in stupidly-dangerous territory. Sounds like you need a dually and gooseneck.
Click to expand...

Agreed

My 3/4 Ton Dodge tow rig is about maxed out w/ my 8500lbs setup, and feels every bit of it. Towing 11k+lbs (bobcat + trailer & tools) w/ a SWB vehicle is absolutely insane IMO.
 
A blazer is bad enough with HALF that weight (4000 lbs). I couldn't imagine 9K lbs. MAYBE if you were only going to go 35 mph the whole time!!! :frown1:
 
A 9,200 lb. piece of equipment will require a trailer that weighs at least 2,500-3,000 lbs., so now you are looking at a total weight of 12-13k..........IMO way too much for a lifted K5.

My tow rig is an '03 2500HD crewcab which I tow my 8,500 lb. K5/trailer combo on. It tows that load pretty nice but I wouldn't want to pull 12,000+ with it and it's much better suited for towing than a lifted K5.
 
There is also the bumper mount issue. I wouldn't even want to give 12000# the leverage of a reciever hitch on a short wheelbase. A goosneck is the way to go.

I am sure a blazer 'can' do it, but you also 'can' wipe your butt with sand paper a few times before it'll bleed.
 
A gooseneck would be ideal, but a 1 ton in good condition should be ok... Just check the GCVW rating. You really don't want to exceed that. Some may disagree. Alot of it depends on how far you will be towing it. If it is for business I would just get a 1 ton dually with a realy good hitch. Using it alot will beat the crap out of a lesser truck and downtime costs money. Remember, the NEW ones are rated at somewhere around 19k# GCVW. That leaves only about 7k# for the truck with your setup. Still pretty close. So no, the K5 will not be safe. Used Kodiak maybe????
 
thanks for the info... my dad was arguing about the short wheelbase too. It definetly makes sense... i just hate to have more registration, smog, and insurance to deal with. I've heard of people towing 8,000 with my setup with ease. I would argue that wider tires would help stabilize it but it does have the wheelbase identical to an isuzu pup :crazy:.

so the general concencuss is maybe once or twice if i have to but i need another tow rig?

Check this thing out....
http://www.bobcat.com/products/photos.html?item=7566&photo=1&mp=3

http://www.bobcat.com/products/item.view.html?itemId=7566

http://www.bobcat.com/products/photos.html?item=7566&photo=3&mp=3

http://www.bobcat.com/products/photos.html?item=7566&photo=2&mp=3
4 times the load capacity of a bobcat and more digging pressure than a mini excavator... best of both worlds.

4 wheel steer and 4 wheel drive... I can't wait until i can pull the loan off.
 
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get a bigger tow vehicle...

I think you would be much better off with a large truck--like a 6 or 10 wheel dump truck--I see lots of bobcats hauled around on one ton trucks with trailers--they tow the weight fine,but lack the brakes when its time to stop fast..often a one ton truck will get pushed sideways if the trailer brakes dont work perfectly or the contoller isn't set right..with a backhoe attachment its a lot heavier too..bigger trucks can handle it no sweat..(like a C-60,or F-600)

I see older used 6 or 10 wheel dump trucks for sale around here for less than the price of a decent pickup or K5..like 1500-3500 dollars,depending on age and condition,one F600 down the street went for 2500,it was a 1963 but was in perfect shape..I'v seen newer ones pretty cheap too..--a bonus is you would now be able to haul away the dirt you dig up,and possbly sell it...and you wont kill your K5 or yourself trying to pull the bobcat with it--no sense in wrecking both of them,I'm sure the bobcat isn't cheap,and I'm sure you dont want to risk losing it by towing it with a vehicle thats too small for the job...I know it sucks having many vehicles and registrations,and insurance--but in this case its not an option--you need a bigger truck to tow the bobcat,its trailer,and all the other tools you'll be using... :crazy:
 
well.. one time i was going down the highway and i saw a full size jimmy towing a open trailer race car trailer w/ a race car, a 10ft long and tall toolbox with about 4sets of tires, the jimmy's front tires were almost off the ground, so yeah i'd say nooo i because i'd imagine it would be something like what i saw..
 
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