Hauling or towing new-to-me trailer

[mijoe]

So the trailer I need to pick up is in Ohio, and I am not. So, in addition to seeking freight quotes, I am working to figure out what it would cost me to go get it. I understand the wisdom of not grabbing that thing and heading across half the country without a thorough run-down on the bearings, and I have a 16' double axle flat trailer here. I was debating picking the mil trailer (m1102-like) on the 16 footer, but the release says no flatbed and no RGN trailers will be permitted to pick the unit up without appropriate ramps. Do you suppose that applies to commercial-height flatbed trailers, or one like my Anderson as well? I have been looking into car haulers, but the car rental company ones have 2 rails and a gap where the nose wheel would go and the heavy equipment rentals (United and Sunbelt) want their equipment brought back to Ohio, not returned in FL. Are there other options I am not considering that I should be?

Thanks in advance

 

[porkysplace]

Assuming your trailer is wide enough (I am guessing from your post you don't have ramps) you should be able to use some 2" x 12"'s for ramps and pull it on with a cum-a-long .

 

[Scrounger]

If it were me, I would take the 16’ flat bed and trailer the load back. Just in case they didn’t want to load the trailer for you could load the trailer yourself. If you don’t have ramps, 2x12s work well for lite stuff. Two ways come to mind. Use a winch to pull it onto the trailer. The second involves dropping the 16’ trailer, using a receiver hitch with a pintle hook, and backing the trailer up onto the 16’ trailer. You may have to block the rear of the 16’ trailer for stability. Then tie everything down and away you go. That way you are don’t have to worry about tires, bearings, and what not till you get home.

 

[mijoe]

It has a fold-down gate on the trailer, and I use it to load/haul a compact diesel tractor, so I think the ramp would support the weight of that trailer. I expect it is about 3400 lbs.

 

[TOBASH]

Go to harbor freight or tractor supply and get some steel ramps.

 

[porkysplace]

It has a fold-down gate on the trailer, and I use it to load/haul a compact diesel tractor, so I think the ramp would support the weight of that trailer. I expect it is about 3400 lbs.

The curb weight of a M1101 is 1460 lb so your ramp should be fine.

 

[Tinstar]

I picked both of mine up with a dual axle car trailer.
Worry free about the trip back.

That location might have a forklift and you might not even have to lower the gate.

Call the site manager and ask.
You definitely have the appropriate trailer for recovery.

 

[mijoe]

Just following up on this one, I appreciate all the advice! The wheels were set about 3" too wide to fit on my 16' trailer, so I just towed the power plant itself, checking the hubs and tires periodically. It followed along dutifully and made it back to sunny FL with no problems. Now the work starts!

 

[gimpyrobb]

No pics?!

 

[Weller]

No pics?!

Yes, pics please.

And thanks for posting a follow up. Even after doing 100+ pickups, I learn something new from folks here regularly.

 

[fasttruck]

The flatbed RGN language seems to be boiler plate from GP. This is not a hard and fast rule and apparently varies by site. I have loaded pintle trailers of various sizes in Chambersburg onto a landoll trailer via the yard's 10k forklift. They were willing to do this in spite of having the ability to tilt the trailer and load from the ground. Picked up an electronics van at Picatinny Arsenal and I had the bring my own tractor for that one as the site had sold off all the 5t tractors before they sold the trailers.

 

[mijoe]

OK, now that I have it home, let's share some pics...


So I was surprised to see that the deck on this thing is attached with pins, and can be lifted off. That makes me think twice about pad-mounting my 803, and instead, I am considering driving some pilings and just mounting the whole powerplant deck.


Also interesting is the integrated aux tank in the platform, but I am not sure of the capacity on it yet. Note the covered fuel gauge and the ports for connection to the generators:


I am planning to take apart the switch box to see if I can hard wire it since I do not have any of the mil connectors (and they are quite expensive). I would do that if I can determine that the switch will work with single phase 240V.

So far, the only change I have made was to add a 4-wire plug so the lights work with a civilian truck, and I attempted to straighten the rear lights a little before I towed it. I suspect I will have to take the light fittings off to pound them back straight. I did have to add some brake fluid as well (thanks to the board for the note on using DOT5). The generators themselves have been drained, so I'll be adding coolant, oil, etc soon to see how they run. The fittings are all in great shape, and one unit has 9 hours, the other has 10.

 

[Weller]

Great pics, what a sweet trailer.

If you are removing the aux box or even the mil connector outlets let us know, I'm starting a shelter/generator project and planning to put similar plugs in an exterior wall box.

 

[mijoe]

Great pics, what a sweet trailer.

If you are removing the aux box or even the mil connector outlets let us know, I'm starting a shelter/generator project and planning to put similar plugs in an exterior wall box.

I'll certainly let you know if I don't end up using them

 

[98G]

I'll certainly let you know if I don't end up using them

FYI - those plugs are 208v 3phase 100 amp plugs. This information may be useful when looking for compatible equipment/cables/etc.