The Build to "Beware of Husqvarna Garden Tractors!"

Dan L said:
Nice trailer, but, why didn't you put a hitch on the trailer. (I put one on all my trailers to use the same 2" ball.)
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If I understand your question, I think you are referring to installing on the trailer tongue/draw bar? The trailer is set up to connect from the factory, to a 1 7/8", 2"ball, or the traditional rear pin.

I have hauled 2 full loads of sand, not heaping, and not with the boards in. It works well so far with a caution. The swivel feature for unloading may be useful with 300 to 500 lbs? I don't plan on using that feature. I also had to pick up 2, 45 degree zurks from fastenall (a couple bucks). I could not put my grease gun tip on the factory zurks because of the tight fitting place they are installed up too close to the inner wheel.

It rolls well, the thin wheels on the old trailer would dig in the sand becoming an anchor. It came with 4 ply.

Will see how long it lasts, but my tractor supply had a Polar, and the big Gorilla trailer side by side with this one, and this was very helpful to me in my decision. The Polar's tub is very flexible and thin, the Gorilla trailer is a great idea I liked and for its dump angle but the load of 1200lbs put on a front axle with out roller bearings was a concern and the backing up part, (single axle trailer when backing up is "steer towards trouble" the double axle is "steer away from trouble") Single axle is much easier for reverse precision. Decision made.
 
larrybl said:
I think you may have an issue with bending the back plate if there is too much trailer tongue weight. Here is my setup. I tow a 6 X 10 trailer easily.
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Thank you for reminding me of this, it was a concern of mine too and I need to weigh the tongue weight with load. You have what looks like the same ATV hitch? That looks like some good insurance. The rear light looks like a trailer brake light and working?
 
Exactly, if the trailer already has a hitch for a 1 7/8 or 2" ball, why not use it?
It seems to me that a ball is a lot less trouble then a pin, as a pin only has motion in 1 plane, and a ball has it in 2 or 3.



GT48DXLS said:
If I understand your question, I think you are referring to installing on the trailer tongue/draw bar? The trailer is set up to connect from the factory, to a 1 7/8", 2"ball, or the traditional rear pin..
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GT48DXLS said:
Thank you for reminding me of this, it was a concern of mine too and I need to weigh the tongue weight with load. You have what looks like the same ATV hitch? That looks like some good insurance. The rear light looks like a trailer brake light and working?
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Yes, LED Trailer light, and I added an adapter to light up the trailer lights also.
 

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FixItCharlie said:
Watch that hitch or you will end up in the trailer with the tractor on top of you. Just a warning getting hitches to close or above the axle center has flipped many a tractor even the very large ones.
Charlie
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I am wondering, how does this poses a risk? I mean I doubt the risk is on rotation on the center of the rear axle (lifting the front of the tractor) even if this can be dangerous in come cases. I guess it's more about flipping the tractor on it's side (center of rotation would be the outside of the rear wheel near the ground)? I never thought about this but it seems to make sense if I am correct.
 
Having the hitch high is leverage on the rotation force. Having a high hitch can seem to be OK as long as everything is smooth & easy. The problem comes when everything seems fine & your are moving at a comfortable speed then something happens tire goes flat or drops in a hole even problems with wheel bearings on what you are towing. It is that sudden instant drag that flips the tractor on its top. My Grandfather used to preach that to us all the time. Probably one the strangest instants where this happened was a young farmer was using a chain to pull something. He finished his task & threw the chain up in front of the seat post on the floor. This was back before farm tractors had cabs. He was headed home had the tractor in road gear & one end of the chain falls off the back of the tractor. The hook on the end of the chain grabs a root. It just happens that the other end of the chain caught on the seat post. The farmer was killed instantly as the tractor flips. Remember the rear wheels are the drive wheels & most times are set to have lots of traction. It is something to always remember even when you are only using a garden tractor, you are sitting on the pivot point . Not to get off of the topic but when I see things talking about hitches & the height of the hitch it makes me uncomfortable even when I am not involved with it.
Charlie
 
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To illustrate what he said above. Last weekend I was splitting wood. To pull the splitter to the wood pile, I clamped my hitch to a cultivater frame on the 3pt. Why, I needed the height and it was simple. The splitter hit a hole and the front end came up and swung around. But out on the road, the splitter felt no heavier than my cart filled with wood. The approximate 1' out and 1' higher on the hitch point made a huge difference through the rough field.1013180819.jpg1013181822.jpg
 
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FixItCharlie said:
Having the hitch high is leverage on the rotation force. Having a high hitch can seem to be OK as long as everything is smooth & easy. The problem comes when everything seems fine & your are moving at a comfortable speed then something happens tire goes flat or drops in a hole even problems with wheel bearings on what you are towing. It is that sudden instant drag that flips the tractor on its top. My Grandfather used to preach that to us all the time. Probably one the strangest instants where this happened was a young farmer was using a chain to pull something. He finished his task & threw the chain up in front of the seat post on the floor. This was back before farm tractors had cabs. He was headed home had the tractor in road gear & one end of the chain falls off the back of the tractor. The hook on the end of the chain grabs a root. It just happens that the other end of the chain caught on the seat post. The farmer was killed instantly as the tractor flips. Remember the rear wheels are the drive wheels & most times are set to have lots of traction. It is something to always remember even when you are only using a garden tractor, you are sitting on the pivot point . Not to get off of the topic but when I see things talking about hitches & the height of the hitch it makes me uncomfortable even when I am not involved with it.
Charlie
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This is a great discussion, Though I have only the tractor experience this forum is witnessing, not much I know, I do have a career worth in military track or wheeled, I possess a private pilot license (VFR, not IFR) and of course my other toys, such as jet ski's and/or boats. I don't want to give the wrong impression here with military vehicles, just that my experience as a whole with trailers and flight does influence my awareness of load, balance and terrain. In my experience a load shift with the right amount out of balance will make for a bad day faster than most people can react.:)

I do plan on using my GT as a trailer tug but not until I redesign my front end and build adapters for front and rear UTV/ATV disc brakes with a parking or locking brake on the disc. Just my comfort level with the weight being towed on a machine I just pulled out of the glorified lawn mower category.

The K66 on its internal weak brake is rated at 243 ft-lbs of brake force that tugging a heavier trailer could or most likely burn the viscosity out of the oil in no time, not to mention just plain fail.

The Tuff Torq K66 (considering proper oil maintenance) has a max axle torque rating with the 23" tire diameter (37.22:1 ratio gears) of 310 ft-lbs. I consider most common mid-size tow vehicles develop approximately the same amount of torque, so tugging a 2000 lb trailer slowly is possible with some careful considerations.

If it is my boat, as an example, it weighs 2000 lb total, including fuel, and has a tongue weight of 180 lbs. I am considering adapting the front (bucket removal) to a quick hitch of some kind to make use of the 1200 lb actuator and the weight put on the front axle to avoid rear axle, short wheelbase problems.

This idea will be examined thoroughly like most things I do (I don't like surprises) and I'm probably a year from this project right now, but I'm already putting it to paper now. Maybe this is a terrible idea, for a reason that more skill/ experience will teach? Maybe I'm overthinking the short wheelbase issue? But the rear tail light is slick and that has moved up to the top of my list.
 
Shorty said:
To illustrate what he said above. Last weekend I was splitting wood. To pull the splitter to the wood pile, I clamped my hitch to a cultivater frame on the 3pt. Why, I needed the height and it was simple. The splitter hit a hole and the front end came up and swung around. But out on the road, the splitter felt no heavier than my cart filled with wood. The approximate 1' out and 1' higher on the hitch point made a huge difference through the rough field.View attachment 6976View attachment 6977
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The image in my mind of your story reminds me of a seasaw effect, or a teeter-totter on the playgroung, am I seeing this right? I can see how driving this weight on the road (assuming it's level?) gave a false impression of control? Yeah, this is good stuff, thanks for sharing.

The trailer hitch on my tractor has 25" of arm from the rear axle and is 11 3/4" to the top base of the ball. The rear axle on the tractor is 11 1/2" from ground to center, 48" long wheelbase, and 41" front of the front axle with bucket attached. The trailer has very little capability of exerting negative torsion on the sleeve due to the trailer's free swivel feature on its draw bar when traveling on uneven ground (draw bar, not the dump action). I do have a heavy tongue weight, I'm curious now, so the next thing I will do is weigh the toungh with full load.

I do measure the tongue weight on my boat trailers after any axle work or mods to boats, and if I'm hearing right, this one is no exception, and a good reminder. I will let you all know what I find, could be interesting.

changing directions a bit,

That steel trailer (with what appears to be a wheel/axle adaptation) can surprisingly take a beating, mine hauled all the sand from my dug out drain field during what my family calls the fall of 2016 the "holly-apocalypse 2016!", some crappy language was used and combined to describe Thanksgiving and Christmas being without a septic system (catastrophic failure) while building a system that could actually be homeowner maintainable. On my trailer it was the welds in the front corners that started to fail with rust and the dump lock, but for a $100 + $50 in proper tires, I think they are a great bargain.

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Your wood splitter looks solid and I recognize the Honda motor, I have one on my wood chipper (Eliet Major), that motor can take abuse.
 
Towing something with a high hitch from the front is the best way to do it. This will increase the reaction force. In physics for every action there is an equal reaction so with a wheel turn one direction the axle is trying to rotate the opposite direction. A high hitch helps the axle rotate in the opposite direction when traveling forward so when that force becomes greater then the weight of the front of the tractor it flips backwards.
Charlie
 
GT48DXLS said:
I have a nearly 2o year old Craftsman corded drill that was cheap (in retrospect), been dropped, kicked, crushed, survived rain, and in other words truly used. Very tough drill:)
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Craftsman USED to have good tools several years ago. Then they went to
Chine for their tools and their quality dropped a bunch. Won't go in a Sears store now for any tool. HF is better quality, at least you know what your getting there.
 
Apex tool group makes the tools for craftsman last time I checked. All in china.

However...the rebuild/training shop is using all harbor freight hand tools.

I watched a guy beat on a harbor freight 1.5" wrench with a 4lb hammer with all he had to break a bolt loose. The wrench held in there like a champ. None of the tools we have bought. Almost 2 grand worth(which is a lot of tools) has broken yet.

I am a firm believer that MOST cheap tools will suffice for the average mechanic. I have done some pretty major projects with an 89 dollar crescent brand set! Built whole dirt track cars. Tore down and rebuilt engines. At that time all I had was a good torque wrench.
 
A friend of mine bought me a harbor freight tool set as a thank you for some work done. I accomplished several small jobs with it. When i attempeted to dismantal a fore cylinder Chrysler engine I destroyed about half of the set. Don't buy the supper cheep harbour freight tool sets unless you just want to look at them. Don
 
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