Thread: Towing?
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Old 12-12-2012, 11:38 PM   #11 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ksa8907 View Post
Id like to add that, anything can pull anything, but not everything can stop anything. Once saw a ranger pulling a 32ft flat trailer of round hay bales.... id sure hate to be in front of that.
To an extent, I'd agree... but the issue isn't so much that you can't stop it, it's at what speed you can no longer stop it. I've pulled in excess of 25 ton (equipment) with some vehicles that you'd never think would be able to get it moving, let alone stop it, but I do it between farms on back roads and such. I'd never do that on well traveled public roads, personally, but I understand how towing works enough to use some good sense in doing so.

If you're going 5MPH, you can pretty much stop about anything you'd be able to get started moving with most vehicles. The idea is to not overheat your brakes and plan the move according to what you have at your disposal.

When I'm towing really heavy loads, I try not to use the brakes unless I absolutely have to, and I'm always moving at low speeds (under 10MPH for most equipment moves). The further outside the "safe" recommendation you get, the more prudent it is to operate the load proactively instead of reactively. Reactive driving could really get someone/something hurt with quickness.

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