Gene,
When I ordered my Dak, I planned to tow my landscape tractor with it so I
included all of the options that were available to make the job easier. My
member profile shows the options I have. The factory seven wire trailer
harness and hitch receiver make the hook-up much easier.
The tractor is a John Deere 755 and with the backhoe and front bucket
mounted, it's about 4000 pounds. The double axle trailer weighs 1200 pounds
and has electric brakes. Pulling away from a stop sign is a little slow but
the speed builds fast. In hot weather, WOT starts produce some pinging but
nothing too dangerous. The trailer is long enough to allow me to position
the tractor to get just enough tongue weight without making the back of the
truck squat too much. This saves the additional complexity of a
weight-equalizing hitch. If the tie-down location of your car is pretty well
fixed in relation to the trailer axles and that gives you too much tongue
weight, the equalizing hitch will definitely help. Most of my towing is less
than 30 miles and a fair amount of stop-and-go. This brings the gas mileage
down to single digits; especially since the posted speed limits are the
minimum velocity I drive :--). For long distance cruising on level terrain
with the trailer I might use the overdrive, otherwise I leave it turned off.
The advantage to the Dakota is size. A full size 1/2 ton truck would not
leave enough room in my garage for the welders, gas axe, air compressor,
toolboxes, and all the other "stuff" I need. Actually, the more I think
about it, the next big project should be another two bays on the garage ;-).
Neil
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