Cub towing capacity

[vttrailboss]

How much weight (i.e. boat/trailer) can a Cub tow with a fast hitch? I have a New Holland S-12 that tows like a champ, but now I'm looking at a Cub (with wheel weights).

[gitractorman]

If you're comparing it to the little New Holland S-12 garden tractor, then there is no comparison. A Cub will easily pull a 3000-pound boat around all day. Stopping it will be tough, but doable on flat ground. I pulled my 21-foot Sea Ray around for years with a Cub, no problems. I also pulled around a 16-foot landscape trailer loaded with 3 yards of stone, about 6000-pounds, pretty easily, but that's a real load and way more than the drawbar on the tractor is rated for. I believe the technical data will tell you not to pull more than the weight of the tractor, around 1500-pounds with one set of wheel weights installed.

Your S-12 is more in line with a Cub Cadet. Also a good puller, but the Farmall Cub will handle a lot more, just because of the weight difference.

[gusbratz]

I had a dodge d500 truck I used to use around here, it weighted about 9600#. It broke down one day about a mile away and I tried to pull it home with the cub. I pulled it on flat ground but broke traction on the little hill coming up my driveway.

[Connecticut Calvin]

I had a dodge d500 truck I used to use around here, it weighted about 9600#. It broke down one day about a mile away and I tried to pull it home with the cub. I pulled it on flat ground but broke traction on the little hill coming up my driveway.

He nailed it. I've been reading posts about this same topic for a while. It seems that most guys attempt to pull whatever they can. Some YouTube videos show some pretty heavy (and some very stupid) loads. Some guy tried pulling a utility vehicle out of a ditch and the Cub just spun its wheels on pavement. There goes 20 years of rubber! The only thing that seems to "break" is traction. If your rear tires are inflated to 30 pounds or more those wheels will slip on pavement pretty easily. They're not designed for road traction after all. I wouldn't go letting air out either just so you can grip the road. If the wheels spin whatever you're pulling is much too heavy!

But the drawbar is where you'll be connecting your load to. Tongue weight seems to be more of an issue than horizontal load. I recall reading someone with many years of experience with Cubs saying not to exceed 400 pounds of tongue weight on the drawbar. Seems like a good idea to stick with that number. But pulling...well, read above.

[Don McCombs]

Here's something to keep in mind when pulling anything that you think is a questionable load.

[Ike]

If your rear tires are inflated to 30 pounds or more those wheels will slip on pavement pretty easily. They're not designed for road traction after all. I wouldn't go letting air out either just so you can grip the road. If the wheels spin whatever you're pulling is much too heavy!

30psi is really high. The manual indicates that the normal operating pressure for the rear tires is 12psi.

Ike

[Connecticut Calvin]

If your rear tires are inflated to 30 pounds or more those wheels will slip on pavement pretty easily. They're not designed for road traction after all. I wouldn't go letting air out either just so you can grip the road. If the wheels spin whatever you're pulling is much too heavy!

30psi is really high. The manual indicates that the normal operating pressure for the rear tires is 12psi.

Ike

I have new BKTs on the rear (8.3X24). The tractor dealer's mechanics that mounted them said they should be at 30 lbs. I should have prefaced that the tire size variations, age and ply rating will change that number. But you're right, my original Good Year's called for much less. Good call!

[tmays]

I've been pretty close to that 90 deg point before pulling a dirt bucket digging too deep with a big green tractor. First and only time too. It can happen quickly!

[Bus Driver]

The static (vertical) weight of the load is not the primay limiting factor. The towing vehicle will never generate a horizontal pull greater than it's own weight. And stopping requires not only to be able to exert a horizontal force as great as that required for the tow, but to overcome the kinetic energy of the moving object. At Cub speeds the KE is not so great. Pulling uphill and stopping downhill have greater requirements due to the vector forces involved. Steeper hills place more limitations to the loads that can be towed.
To illustrate a bad scenario, fellow had a 4-wheel drive pickup truck. Filled a large water tank (sorry, I don't know how large) at a pond on his property and the plan was to get a running start on the level portion before encountering the hill above the pond-- all unpaved. He knew that the truck would not have enough traction to pull the filled tank up the hill from a dead start at the base of the hill. Got the running start, creating kinetic energy to help move the load uphill. Not good enough. Before the tank cleared the top of the hill, it stopped the truck and started pulling the truck back down the hill. Traction was not enough to stop the rig from going downhill even with the truck brakes locked. The rig gathered enough speed downhill that it all ended up in the pond.
My guess is that a Cub with good brakes might be able to safely tow a load that has a static weight of about 3 times that of the Cub. I once towed on a paved road a trailer with 9 tons load using a tractor that weighed about 3 tons. I downshifted to a lower gear right at the top of each hill before going down. No problems.

[Super A]

Assuming you are pullling from the drawbar, I don't worry too much about rear-end flips. What I do worry about is being able to stop.

There is a pic in the IH archives of a Cub pulling a 52R combine like mine. So I decided I would try it. It would indeed pull it, but being able to stop like I wanted to, that was a whole 'nother story. I pull the combine with at least a Super A instead.

Now if you pull from somewhere other than the drawbar, or even pull with the fast hitch raised as high as it will go, all bets are off!

Al

[ricky racer]

Anyway....getting back to a Cub pulling a boat on a trailer, should be no problem on a fairly level yard. Backing down a boat ramp, better be wearing your swim trunks....

[Connecticut Calvin]

If your rear tires are inflated to 30 pounds or more those wheels will slip on pavement pretty easily. They're not designed for road traction after all. I wouldn't go letting air out either just so you can grip the road. If the wheels spin whatever you're pulling is much too heavy!

30psi is really high. The manual indicates that the normal operating pressure for the rear tires is 12psi.

Ike

Just a quick note - you're right about the Manual's suggested tire pressure. Interesting enough, the 6 ply BKT TR-135 are rated at 2.4 bar and the 8 ply are rated at 3.1 bar or 35 psi and 45 psi respectively. I'm sure the newer tires with a higher ply count have higher tolerances. But yes if the Cub manual says inflation recommendations they should be followed. Stupid mechanics.

[Boss Hog]

If your rear tires are inflated to 30 pounds or more those wheels will slip on pavement pretty easily. They're not designed for road traction after all. I wouldn't go letting air out either just so you can grip the road. If the wheels spin whatever you're pulling is much too heavy!

30psi is really high. The manual indicates that the normal operating pressure for the rear tires is 12psi.

Ike

I have new BKTs on the rear (8.3X24). The tractor dealer's mechanics that mounted them said they should be at 30 lbs. I should have prefaced that the tire size variations, age and ply rating will change that number. But you're right, my original Good Year's called for much less. Good call!

Your Dealers mechanic is not too good on tire pressure on a tractor

[Boss Hog]

You have almost no grip with that much air in plowed land

[Jim Becker]

Follow the pressure recommendations in the Owner's Manual (or Owner's Manual for a mounted implement when it has recommendations). Just because a tire is heavy enough to hold a higher pressure, doesn't make it the proper pressure for any given tractor or use.