she aint heavy

[Crawlinhome]

anybody know around how much my JD 420 crawler weighs no implements just the blade

[440 iron popper]

I got this link on this site that could be good.

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... .php?t=697

Also:

http://www.murphyused.com/specs.php

Hope that helps!

[dustin]

Id say only 20lb, cuz i can lift the entire front end off the ground with just my right hand...

[57pilot]

The 420 Operator's Manual says the shipping weight of the 4-roll crawler is 4,150 lbs and the 5-roll is 4,700 lbs.

[Crawlinhome]

The 420 Operator's Manual says the shipping weight of the 4-roll crawler is 4,150 lbs and the 5-roll is 4,700 lbs.

well my grandfather thought the right idea would be to load are crawler onto a single axle trailer (with no trailer brakes) an pull it with a jeep grand cherokee an go thirty miles with anyone see a good idea in this? just wonderin.

[Tigerhaze]

The 420 Operator's Manual says the shipping weight of the 4-roll crawler is 4,150 lbs and the 5-roll is 4,700 lbs.

well my grandfather thought the right idea would be to load are crawler onto a single axle trailer (with no trailer brakes) an pull it with a jeep grand cherokee an go thirty miles with anyone see a good idea in this? just wonderin.

It depends on the type of single axle trailer you have - I have a Miller Tilt Top trailer rated at 4 tons (20" rims and tires) that I pulled behind a 1/2 ton pickup truck. I found out after the fact that the trailer brakes weren't working properly. I hauled a medium sized Bobcat (around 4,000 lbs) about 230 miles and it pulled OK but took a little bit of distance to stop and you could definitely feel the weight behind it.

I don't think it would be a good idea behind for anything less than I described.

[Patrick]

Probably be safer driving the dozer Look up the tow capcity of your vehicle. Just Google it I've done this before. It will pop right up. You will probably find you'll be over. Our cherokee is around 5000 but I think that is to much. I towed a 16 ft Walleye boat with it, and it was squarlly.

[Ray III]

The 420 Operator's Manual says the shipping weight of the 4-roll crawler is 4,150 lbs and the 5-roll is 4,700 lbs.

The model 62 blade weighs 1,000 lbs if I remember right, for a total weight of 5,700 lbs.

After adding the weight of the trailer I would stay far away from any Cherokees seen driving down the interstate towing a 420.

[chickenman]

Mine weighs 6060 pounds, but that's with a 62 blade and a heck of a big limb riser cage on it. I hauled it one time on a double axle trailer rated at 7000# with no brakes and found out that wasn't very smart. Now have a trailer rated for 11000# but still pulled with a 1/2 ton pickup. I don't haul it much--not in last two years, but the pickup is too light for that weight. My new trailer does have brakes.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I've pulled my 420/62 all over the place with a 10,000# GWR 2-axle trailer.

But, all four wheels have electric brakes and the tow vehicle is an F350.

I don't think I'd want to try it without brakes, for sure. Nor with a smaller tow vehicle, either!

Now, using the 420c as the tow vehicle, I recently pulled an old Ford F5 2 1/2 ton flatbed truck out of the spot it was sunk into for 50 years. The truck wheels no longer turned, but the crawler didn't care one whit. I got it up out of it's final resting spot so it could be pulled onto a large rollback and taken off for a restoration.

I'm glad *I'm* not the one that has to deal with *those* rusted bolts!

Anyway, I did that as a favor for a buddy in our local antique farm equipment club and I towed the 420 over on my trailer so it could become a tow vehicle in turn.

Later!

Stan

[Paul Buhler]

Hi: When I need to move my 420 w/winch and blade, I use the ~5700lb estimate and use a local flatbed towing service. Their truck has a steel bed and carries Ford F250's with ease and my tractor carries easily as well. The ease of loading and unloading and peace of mind make this a good way for me. Happily I have been able to negotiate reasonable rates depending on how much time is involved in the move; an easy move, cheap. A longer or more risky move; more costly. Paul

[Gil]

We all make decisions with our equipment that involve some risk. You rebuild an engine and the oil pump looks OK, so you put it back in. But it fails and you lose an engine. You rebuild a transmission and the sliding gear looks passable, and since it is so expensive to replace, you put it back in. But it wasn't really that good and the transmission locks up.

The question is what are the risk and the cost. A blown engine or transmission is a few thousand dollars and a little work. But when you make decisions about towing a crawler down the highway at 55 miles an hour, you are in a whole different league of decision making. Unfortunately we don't really evaluate the risks until we are going down a hill and our trailer starts push us and threaten to jackknife and we are powerless to stop it. When the trailer starts swaying, that is no time to consider what the weight rating of your bumper hitch really is or if you should have tested each wheel of the trailer brakes, or if the load chains are really attached to a strong point.

And if you take the risk and lose, the cost may not be just a few thousand dollars. More importantly, you are taking a risk for people other than yourself. That three or four tons of steel may crush you and your pickup but it may just as likely sway into the path of a family driving their compact car with their infant daughter strapped in a child seat in the back.

If you do decide you are within rational limits to pull your crawler, there are some things I would think about. Consider the worst hill in your trip. This is the point you should plan for. A compact car can pull a crawler on a level road. But if you have an underpowered vehicle going uphill, so what. The most you are going to do is burn up your vehicle. Again, just a few thousand dollars.

But it is the downhill side of the hill that is going to give you the fear of God. Your tow vehicle should provide the stability, weight, and braking to maintain the weight of the trailer pushing you down the hill. In the weight range we are talking about, if you have hills on your trip you must have trailer brakes. Your tow vehicle may stop the trailer tongue but it is powerless to stop a trailer from fishtailing out beside you if it begins to sway.

I don't use my trailer often, so I take an extra few minutes and jack up each of my trailer wheels and try the brakes to make sure they are working and not rusted. Check your tire pressure too. My trailer tires look full with 50 psi but they only have load carrying capacity at 100 psi. And attach your load chains to some place you would trust with your life if the crawler was dangling over your head.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Good points that everyone ought to understand, for sure.

I'll add that when you do have it all correct, you can pull that crawler down the road 600 miles a day, as I have done.

One other thing to consider is that you have enough by way of tow vehicle and trailer and chains to keep everything under control should that person in the car decide to bounce it off the side of your rig whilst going down the road at 65 MPH.

Same goes for sudden, explosive, blowouts of tires.

Speaking of tires, don't forget to have a spare tire (or two) for every kind of tire you have with you. And a jack that can lift the mess up as well!

Take it from me, these things happen. Been there, done that, didn't get a T-shirt....

Later!

Stan

[JD440ICD2006]

Excellent points!
You can find folks on another tractor message board talking about what they do and how they do it. It is common to read that someone is hauling a heavy load "not going very far", so they take big risk.
I am curious. Just how far do you need to drive before you are allowed to have an accident? It is like as long as they are near property that they own, nothing will happen. Nothing could be further from reality. In fact, studies show that many accidents of all kinds happen within 25 miles of where folks live.
Aside from the risk and damage that can happen when a rig is overweight, the DOT like all government agencies is hungry. If they stop you for any reason, you will pay. And when they find things like axles overweight, or anything that is a risk, you better have a load of money on that rig.
The bottom line is that it is not worth it to get on any public road with a rig that is not completely safe.

[digitup2]

You dont need to be involved in the accident directly .This summer we hauled dirt down a gravel side road .600 feet from the lane entrance the township left a small pile of gravel in the middle of the road .All three of our dumps were maxed out plus on darned near every load partially because we were tiring to get done and the other part was I was loading with the 892E LC excavator and 4 buckets at 5.5yards per bucket make a nice load .The trucks were legal for 16 - 18 yards our guys slowed down early and bounced over the small lump till job was done Thursday pm Now there were five large maple trees on one side and three on the other side made it impossible to miss the lane way.Saturday after noon I had two cruisers pull into the shop and start asking questions . Two truck drivers and I went out with them explaining the little bump .Two kids in a Dodge pickup and trailer overloaded hit that little bump and lost control .They hit the last of the 5 Maples and headon'd the first Maple on the other side of the lane the trailer and it's contents finished the job driver and occupant were killed by flying debris .It's not always the load or the on coming traffic but the end consequences can be a killer ,We had a good discussion all the way home that day we try to keep our job sites as safe as possible and then over load our trucks to drive in public that doesn't make sense or hold a good dollar value It could have been us .If you have an overload or a no brake situation get off the road and get it fixed . The way I see it any way.Digitup.