Some of you have trailers for enabling old Ford trucks to follow you home. I am not only envious, but curious as well. I have only ever pulled a 2-horse trailer and a 12 foot rocket trailer, so the car trailer concept is new to me.

Since I don't ever plan to drive my '51 F4 across this beautiful country, I will need an open trailer that will haul her. I'd like to also have my Harley on this trailer with Betsy, either in front or back crosswise on the trailer if possible (preferably in front). But that would mean the trailer would have to be over 20" long (loading deck).

Betsy is 18' 6" (222") long and the rear track is about 7' 1" (85") wide with the duallies. I believe the track with the outside duallies removed is under 6' (67"). I really don't want to remove the outside duallies to load the trailer, but I have found only one trailer manufacturer so far with 102" (8.5') width and 22' length. That's a Load Trail. And I think I'll need a special permit to pull a trailer that's 8.5' wide.

Betsy weighs about 5,000 pounds and the bike is just under 700 pounds. So the trailer load weight rating has to be over 6,000 pounds. I'm just guessing that the GCWR would need to be around 8,000 pounds.

I'll of course want twin axles and trailer brakes (probably required). And wouldn't I want the front wheels over the axles since that's where most of the truck weight is?

I remember someone here built his own hauler, but don't remember who it is.

What do you guys have, and what do you suggest?

 

Could you not load your Harley on top of Betsy and get a shorter trailer? Would the Harley be much higher than the cab of the truck?

 

I'd hate to get it up there (or back down)! You'd need 20 ft ramps at least.

What are you going to tow this with, Joe? To be honest, I bet it would be cheaper to just ship it ahead to wherever you want to go, compared to buying a truck big enough to tow it across the mountains safely, a trailer, etc.. You could ride the Harley to meet it. Or buy an F-1 for trips....

 

I thought about that option. The bike would be higher than the cab by a little. That's not what bothers me though. I don't want to try to put the bike onto or off of that bed. At 42" off the ground, it's too high for me to load and unload it. I'd be all over YouTube.

I think I'll figure a way to pull the bike on my utility trailer behind my Ranger.

But that still leaves Betsy to be trailered.

 

Is there a loading dock at a truck yard near you that you could load your bike or a ditch you could back into to load it? Just another thought.

 

Are you finally moving out of The Peoples' Republic of Kalifornia? Or just planning ahead?

 

Lets brainstorm this a bit.
Consider hauling the Harley in the bed of the tow truck. An eighteen foot deck trailer would then work.
The standard trailer axle is rated at 3500 lbs. IMO, this is not enough payload, IMO. With a trailer chassis weighing in at 2000 lbs, itself, that leaves little payload. My trailer has an eighteen foot deck and two 5000 lb axles.
How about an overdrive transmission for Betsy? Probably the cheapest.

 

That's a good thought, there are flat deck trucks that could haul it back and likely at a deal if their back trip would otherwise be empty. There was a guy at work that mentioned a TV series called U Haul or something like that and you get all kinds of trucking outfits bidding on the move.

 

I can't even move the truck to the bottom of my driveway and use my ramps to load the bike. It's just too steep. And then if I need to unload for some reason when my driveway is thousands of miles away and I'm stuck on the side of the road, I'm SOL.

I think the utility trailer (very low) is the best bet for the bike.

 

I guess we should know, is this a one time cross country move or multiple trip type scenario?
Not the best picture, but this is what an F4 looks like on an eighteen, 18' x7' deck.

 

I have considered shipping the truck.

I'd be towing it with the rented one-way moving truck.

And my next project will probably be a '65 F100 instead of an F1.

 

I have an Aluma 8220 Tilt, which ironically enough, I store in your town. It weights 1500 lbs and is easy to tow and with the tilt, easy to load, unfortunately I couldn't find anyone that rented light weight, tilt trailers, so I bought.

 

I am starting to plan the departure from the asylum. We have lived in this house for 37 years, and have a LOT of planning and preparation beforehand.

Heck, we don't even have a place to go yet. But I'm getting out of this Liberal madhouse, and taking my guns and ammo with me.

 

Will it accommodate a dually width?

 

it's 6'10", so probably, but you'd definitely have to have the dually portion in the rear of the trailer so that it wouldn't hit the tire guards