To tow a CASE 580L backhoe I believe a 1 ton should be just at its legal limit for towing. My question is do I need DRW's if I've got a gooseneck trailer total weight about 18K lbs (or will single rear wheels be legal)?

 

To get the rating up over 18K you're going to need a diesel dually.
2015 Ford Super Duty | View Towing Specifications | Ford.com

 

At 18,000 pounds, you should be looking at a DRW F-350. The best you can do with an SRW (using factory numbers) is 16,500.

 

With that amount of weight, it is prudent to tow with a dualie. A rear tire blowout on a SRW would be pretty rough.

 

For the sake of legality your big concern is not exceeding your rear GAWR. On an SRW truck that's 7,000 lbs, and 9,000 lbs for the DRW. That trailer of yours may have as much as 4,500 lbs for pin weight, which would be well over the payload for the SRW truck.

You really need the DRW.

 

Dual rear wheels for peace of mind.

When I went looking for a truck to pull my 8000 lb. trailer while having a 2000 lb. slide in camper in the bed, all I kept thinking about was if I used a single rear wheel F-350, what would happen if a tire blew out.

Dual wheels for the win.

 

I've seen it done, but that backhoe is heavy for a pickup under any kind of frequent use. 18k total sounds really light to me, and a quick Google search shows 17800 for a 4x4 ex hoe. Even an orops 2wd will probably push 16k. Any tandem dual goose I've ever seen weighs in around 7-8k with a 20 or 22k GVWR. So you really should be looking for a trailer in the 24k range, and the truck to pull it, which I'd have to say bare minimum f 450 pickup. No way SRW.

 

It's a 1998 4X4 and is listed at not greater than 16000 in my book extendahoe but no 4way bucket. I dont know what a trailer to pull it weights empty but I'm guessing 3000 lbs itself. I've got my question answered so everyone thanks for the help and links.

Oh, just saw you said trailer would be more like 8Klbs that changes things..maybe this will be a better job for a dump truck and not my daily driver.

 

My 2013 has a rear GAWR of 9650 lbs

 

Yep.

Big Tex Trailers 25GN HD Tandem Dual Axle Gooseneck | Big Tex Trailers

About the smallest trailer you'd want would be a 25' gooseneck with 12K axles. The one in the link above weighs 7,250 lbs. That puts you around 23,000 lbs total weight which is a LOT for a pickup truck. It's in range of a newer DRW F350, but not by much.

 

I'd agree with this if you have a dump truck available. You'll probably need the dump on the job with the machine anyway.