Size of truck engine vs weight of trailer

[LindaL]

We have a 1/2 ton 4.7L V8 Toyota Tundra truck and right now pull a 2300 lb 2 horse straight load trailer (empty weight). The Toyota site says our truck can pull up to 7200 lbs, but we have noticed that on inclines, our truck doesn't have much "umph". We are thinking of "upgrading" our trailer to a 2 or 3 horse slant, but are worried about the weight issue.

So...I am asking you...

 

[krissy3]

I live in the Swiss Mountains, have a miniature horse trailer , slant load , holds up to 3 miniatures.... we have a VW Passot . I was worried about the pass going into Italy with the older modle Passot... so we did upgrade to a newer one , I believe its a 4 leiter , 4 wheel drive , and its more than enough power. I think your truck is fine . Keep the maintance up , and check the trailer tires , and you ll be fine.

 

[Jill]

We have two mini trailers. A steel bumper pull that is 8' long x 5' wide x 5' tall and a aluminum gooseneck that is 14' long, 6' wide, and 6' tall. We pull both of these (very easily) with a Ford F150 Lariat that has a 5.4L V8. I think with our mini trailers, it's the decreased wind resistance as much as the lesser weight that makes them so easy on the truck. We've pulled the bumper pull easily with a Chevy S10 that has a V8 engine as well.

 

[minimomNC]

We pull a three horse Sundowner with modified living quarters with a Ford F-350 King Ranch Edition Dually. Its more truck than the trailer really needs but I use to have a lot bigger trailer too. I also have a mini bumper pull that I pull with my Ram 1500. I would rather have more truck than necessary than less.

 

[Davie]

I have a 99 Ford F250 Super Duty Super Crew with a 7.3 Diesel and I pull either a 1996 S&H 5'x14' bumper pull high sideded stock trailer or my 1982 Double L Lite Line 22'x7' modified 5 horse slant aluminum over steel trailer that weights in at 9200 pounds without any problems. I don't think I would want to pull anything bigger because of weight as my truck is not a dually. When pulling the bumper pull I hardly know it's back there.

 

[SampleMM]

I have a GMC 3/4 ton Dura-Max diesel, crew cab and I pull a featherlite two horse extra tall trailer.

I used to have big, tall quarter horses. I'm sure that my big truck is over kill when I haul one or two minis but I will say that I'd rather have too much power than not enough.

 

[HGFarm]

Here is just my own personal opinion on trucks....

Half tons are light duty trucks. Every one I have had has been gutless, especially when it came to pulling a hill.

I have stuck with the 3/4 ton trucks. Chevy seems to have everyone beat for hauling and power in that department... if I remember when I did my homework, Ford was next I think.

I like the Chevy Vortec engines, they have more power without really compromising gas mileage. For a regular sized horse trailer they do great. If I was hauling a big giant one or one with living quarters etc... I would go to a one ton, but I dont need that much truck. My last truck had a 5.7 liter Vortec in it- that's about a 350 motor, and the new one I JUST got has a 6.0 liter Vortec in it.... They haul an average load just great.

If your vehicle is having trouble pulling the current load, adding more weight with a bigger trailer is going to be worse, and harder on your motor AND your transmission. The bigger trucks are made heavier duty for hauling a bigger load and I will never own another half ton. I would rather have 'too much' truck than not enough and I just have not found a half ton that is really going to haul well when hills, etc.. are involved.

 

[TangoMango]

I have a 2001 F-250 4x4 super duty, with the 7.3 diesel and I pull a 16' 6'W X 6.5'H stock trailer. This truck tows it like it isnt even there.

 

[Minimor]

we towed for years with an f-150 with a 300 cyl. straight 6 motor. Initially we had a small, light 2 horse, then went to a 4 horse gooseneck with was older, steel and quite heavy. The truck pulled it with no problems--those little 300 cyl Ford motors are WORKHORSES, especially when combined with a standard transmission, which our truck had. The truck would slow down on a long hill, but it would get up that hill... The trailer was, however, too heavy for the truck's suspension & we ended up selling that trailer & getting a 2 horse that was 10' long, 5' wide & 7' tall. That trailer pulled heavy--partly due to its 14" rims (huge difference in how those 14" tires pulled compared to the 15" ones) and partly due to its height. It would really catch the wind, and the truck had to work harder to pull it.

We then switched to a 14' stock trailer that is just 6'6" high & it pulls much easier. We towed that with an F-150 302 V8 AT, and it wasn't much different from the 300. Now we've still got that same trailer & an F-150 with a 351 V8 AT--this truck has more power & I like the way it handles. It is enough truck for this trailer, even if we've got it loaded with 7-8 ponies.

If we were towing a bigger trailer, say a WB size one that is 6' or wider, 14+' long and 7' high or higher, I'd want an F-250, especially if I were hauling long distances or across the mountains. Here we haul mostly locally, where we don't have much for hills--so our truck isn't having to work real hard. Keep in mind too that trucks often tow heavier weights easily enough, but there is also the stopping power to consider. a lighter truck and pull a heavy trailer, but it may not do a good job of stopping that trailer, especially in an emergency stop, even with the trailer brakes working.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Minimor and others make a good point, and one that you will find STRONGLY repeated on the truck/trailer forum(filled w/ folks who do a LOT of trailering of horses, over on HorseTrailer World)...that it is ALWAYS better to have 'too much' towing vehicle rather than too little...especially from the standpoint of being SAFELY able to stop the towed weight!

Years ago, I pulled w/ half-ton pickups(F-150s; in fact, my FIRST Ford Pickup was an F 100, back in about 1960!I had a two horse Straight load steel Stidham, that weighed about 2200 lbs including the old-style 'woven rubber' mats.Later, I had a couple more half-tons, BUT, with the BIG V-8 engines--our first SuperCab, a '75, had a 390...still w/the Stidham, and although they slowed a bit uphill w/ two 'big' horses, they were OK(the Stidham didn't have trailer brakes; NEVER was that an issue.) But, IMO, the newer half-tons aren't really up to PROPERLY towing much. I now, and for the past 11 years, have had a 3/4 ton SuperDuty.

I have a friend who has a Tundra,a V-6 to be sure, but I drove it pulling her single Brenderup(a super LIGHTWEIGHT horse trailer) w/ a couple of minis in it, and it faded NOTICABLY on pretty minimal hills, even with that minimal load.

My advice would be to upgrade your TRUCK to a 3/4 ton with a suitably adequate engine if you are going to continue to haul horses. I like the adage: "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it"...told me by my great riding instructor many years ago!

Margo