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Understanding Lowbed Capacity

dieseldog5.9

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Aug 11, 2014
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New Hampshire
2 issues:
-Looking to purchase a larger excavator for a bigger Hammer.
-Want to get away from tag trailer for smaller excavators.

Before shopping for a larger excavator: Cat 325 (60,000 lbs ) or 330, (75,000 lbs) looking to figure out the transportation aspect.

If the tractor is 14k front, 46 rears, ( haven't purchased tractor yet ) what capacity does that give me with:
A) Tandem 35 ton low bed, is it 70,000lbs minus the weight of the Truck and Trailer?
B) 3 axle 50 ton low bed
 

CM1995

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Also need to read the manufacturers rating of the trailer in order to determine load capacity and total weight. Some trailer builders include the weight of the trailer in the overall rating and others give an actual load rating.

What you are talking about is something I am begrudging kicking around as well. Personally I wouldn't fool with a 35 ton trailer just go with the 50 ton to start. I would love to have a 55 ton Landoll slider.:D

https://landoll.com/landoll-trailers/model-455/

It's the $150K price tag that's the hold up..:oops:
 

bam1968

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Hopefully junkyarf will chime in as he is pretty well versed in these trailers. I will just add, in my understanding, that most of the better trailer manufacturers rate there trailers using a 12 ft concentrated load. So a 50 ton trailer can handle 100,000 lbs spread over 12 ft of the deck. It has nothing to do with the empty weight of the trailer itself. If this is not correct I am sure someone will be along to correct me.

CM I would love to have one of those trailers as well!!! Such a wide variety of uses....But the price tag!! Dang
 

crane operator

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You won't legally scale out a 75,000lbs excavator on a tandem lowboy. You would be too heavy on the rear tandems of the trailer for most states axle allowable weights.

From what skyking1 posted for new hampshire regs:

Looks like bridge review kicks in at 108,000 for a 5 axle and 120,000 for a six axle- you don't want to have to bridge review (in missouri they call that "superload" and its time and $$$). Also- No tandems with a individual axle over 25,000lbs.


So starting with these values- the tractor is going to weigh around 20,000, the trailer is going to weigh around 18,000. That's a rough estimate. Daycabs are lighter, tandem trailer is lighter than tri axle. Double frames and lift axle on tractor adds weight etc. You might get the tractor under 18,000 and the trailer under 15,000, but that's about it.

So you're talking 33-38,000lbs just the truck and trailer. Add in a 50,000lbs excavator, and now you are 83,000 to 88,000lbs gross. I usually figure 1/2 of the weight of the entire tractor/ trailer/ load is on the rear axles. So in this case, you're probably going to have 40-44,000 on the rear tandems with a three axle truck and a two axle trailer. Which would be easily doable with what those state specs say.

So instead of a 50-55,000 excavator, lets do the same thing with a 75,000lbs ex. 38,000lbs of truck and trailer plus 75,000 of ex. is 115,000lbs gross. 1/2 of that on the trailer is 57,000 on the rear of the trailer- would put your rear axles over 28,500 per axle- so you need a triple axle trailer, to get the axle weights on the rear of the trailer down. With a tri axle you would be just over 19,000 per axle which is where I need to be in my state - I can't permit more than 20,000 per axle. So you would be fine with 3 axle truck and 3 axle trailer with the 75,000lbs ex.

I have a two axle landoll type traveling axle trailer. 37' in the flat of the deck. Its a paver special trailer and stupid heavy. I usually don't buy permits with anything I haul with it- and I can be legal weight (under 80,000) with around 44,000lbs up on the deck. If it gets much heavier than that, the 10r tires on it tend to heat up and I'll just eat tires with it. I could haul 50,000 with it, but you wouldn't want to go very far in hot weather. Its rated for 35 ton. Deck height gets to be a issue with it. You better have short equipment to haul.

My 50 ton lowboy is a hydraulic removable neck, with a side drop deck, with three axles, 24' well. I haul three different cranes on it, from 35-70,000lbs. I'm actually fine on my triple axle rear of the trailer with the big crane, I'm a little heavy on the tractor drives instead. If I was any heavier, I'd need 4th axle on the truck (to meet my more stringent state axle weights).

I think you could carry around a 55,000 lbs excavator on a three axle truck and two axle trailer with no problems. For a 60-80 thousand lbs excavator- I think you are probably looking at a three axle truck and three axle trailer. If at the upper end of that all the time, I would want a 4th axle on the truck- or for sure heavier drive axles on the tractor.

If you're to the light side with a tractor and trailer, I think you could do the 60,000lbs excavator (33,000 tractor trailer + 60,000 = 93,000 gross divided by 2 = 46,500 on the rear tandems) But that's going to be about it. It wouldn't be legal in my state, but from that link it shows it would be legal for you.

You need your actual state regs- it should be available from them, so you've got the full regs before you go shopping. I don't have near the experience of the guys that haul all over- I only do permits for 7 different vehicles and we only go to two states. I'd want to look at NH regs pretty good before I went shopping.

Someone that heavy hauls all the time in your state will know your regs like the back of his hand and will be able to tell you what the best set up is to be legal there. From what I've seen of NH, its much like my terrain, lots of short steep hills, and narrow roads. So shortest trailer and tractor possible, and don't skimp on the HP of the truck, and get the engine brakes.
 

suladas

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So much is going to depend on what type of trailer you go with, some 50 ton triple trailers could weight 15 ton empty, whereas others under 10.

I've only loaded on a landoll on/off once and can't say i'm a fan for an excavator, especially solo. In the winter I wouldn't like the idea of parking the hoe on that incline and getting out and then sliding the deck back, or even tying it down on the angle. I'd be concerned about the thing just sliding off. If you had two people or wireless remote and did it from inside hoe not as bad, but still not a fan, also most are only 9' wide so not crazy wide for a 10'6" hoe. I just don't see the appeal unless it's for paving or other equipment that can't load with regular ramps.

Depending what else you want to haul with it BWS makes a great trailer. Beavertail with air ramps easy to load and the trailer is also good for hauling so many other things with a flat deck compared to RGN's where you have very little actual deck space.
 

CM1995

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I've only loaded on a landoll on/off once and can't say i'm a fan for an excavator, especially solo.

Might want to give it another try with an experienced driver. The two towing companies we use to move our equipment had detach and Landolls, I will take a Landoll any day for the equipment we have. With the right driver it's a breeze. They can get in tight spaces by sliding the axles and you can land a 325FL behind the curb and not need any plywood to keep from marking up the asphalt. With the triple axle 55 ton we can get a 533 roller and D5G in one move.

Of course we don't have ice and snow in the winter just **** loads of rain but the apitong deck does pretty well when wet.
 

skyking1

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^ I like that about my tilt, the ability to get behind a curb or even a sidewalk if it is narrow enough.
 

Junkyard

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If you’re looking to scale a 330 size machine with a hammer you’ll need a 7 axle rig. Etnyre makes a 42.5 ton that’s made for the states with unusual superload requirements. Trailers are rated at their capacity in 10-12’ concentrated and often have a higher rating evenly distributed. Say 55 ton in 12’, 60 ton even. The GCWR of the trailer will be it’s rating plus it’s tare weight so a 50 ton that weighs 15k will have a GCWR of 115k.

I didn’t read the link posted but I’ll also add the wheelbase of the truck sometimes influences what you can get on the steer axle or what you can gross based on total bridge length. I don’t know what it’s like to navigate where you are but my suggestion is to keep things as short as possible which means truck wheelbase, trailer deck length, axle spacing etc. If you do end up with a 4 axle truck then make sure trailer neck has enough swing clearance to get the weight up front.

I could go on and on about this. Tire sizes, deck width…..on and on.
 

suladas

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Might want to give it another try with an experienced driver. The two towing companies we use to move our equipment had detach and Landolls, I will take a Landoll any day for the equipment we have. With the right driver it's a breeze. They can get in tight spaces by sliding the axles and you can land a 325FL behind the curb and not need any plywood to keep from marking up the asphalt. With the triple axle 55 ton we can get a 533 roller and D5G in one move.

Of course we don't have ice and snow in the winter just **** loads of rain but the apitong deck does pretty well when wet.

I can get behind curbs with my tilt beavertail really well, have like 8' from back of beavertail to first tire. I can't comment on the driver I don't know much about the trailers and just had someone move my hoe with one once, but I found the deck had a pretty good angle to it when loading, fine dry or even wet but ice/snow it would be a lot more sketchy. With no ice and snow ya it's different, a wet deck doesn't bother me, iced up track pads and a icy deck is a whole different game. There is times after loading my hoe on my tilt deck (once enough weight is on it goes back down on it's own) I tie it down before I swing the house around because i'm concerned that little motion could make it slide off sideways. I guess with a landoll you could anchor the bucket against the front of the trailer until you had the deck back and it tied down and even if it did slide off it's not going on it's side or anything, but still a concern for sure. I also really like a beavertail for iced up tracks as mine has upside down angle iron on it that the pads lock onto and it cleans them out and gets really good traction on, also beavertail doesn't ice up and get slippery.
 

AzIron

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I never thought about the hammer weight.

Hammer weight is usually what gets a guy the ticket when pushing those size machines ask me how I know

My traileze is awesome for a 35 ton they actually rate it for 35 tons of load plus trailer witch is rare for the lowboy game

Around here its murrys with 16 tire for 44 ton rated trailer get a truck with a heavy front you can do a 360 size with a hammer and have just a little weight to spare but most states dont recognize 16 tire groups like the southwest does
 

DMiller

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Central Midwest see a great deal of Construction companies with Tri Axle low beds with detachable neck and a detachable air tag 'Jeep' behind a four axle drop axle tractor, As JY stated a lot will go into calcs as WB truck WB Trailer, tire sizes, suspension type(Trk and Trlr) and whether or not has a Detachable behind for added trailer capacity or a drop on the tractor for four axles. That gets you into Oversize Overweight either a standing annual permit or a renew as needed permit, and expenses thereof. Tandem Tractor and Tandem Trailer will only get you to 80K in ANY state.

Hammer is a real problem where most here remove detachable tooling including oversize buckets then carry separately on a tools hauler due to excessive weight. Pays your moneys takes your chance.
 

cuttin edge

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We run a 3 axle Etnyre, or Blackhawk with the detachable 4th axle. Get one with the rear fenders. Protects excavator windshields, and makes it easier to haul stuff. I can put put the 308 on the back, and the D4 on the deck
 
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