Should I attempt to tow a 14X70 mobile home with a 71 f-350?
 

Found a free 14x70 tri-axle mobile home about 20 miles of backroads from my house. I'd really like to bring it home and make a car trailer out of it but I don't know if my old dually can take it. The trucks in good shape for a 71 has about 130k on it and is geared super low (tops out at 55mph). I've got a brake controller on it and have pulled some big ***** before but I have no idea how much a mobile home weighs or behaves going down the road. If anybody's done this before input would be appreciated.

If it is just the trailer than ya. But if it is the whole freaking house than NO. I tow them with a Log truck or tandem axle Tractor. Ya can prolly move the full house with a F350 but ta go 20 miles is plain NUTs. The first hill ya come to it will push ya down it and the crash at the bottom is all that will stop ya. I want ta see a video of this.

Ya kinda figured that was a retarted idea to tow the whole thing. I can probably strip the house part on site and just tow the frame home. Think that would work? Or is the sheer weight of the frame still too much to stress to put on the truck?

I wouldn't try it. I've never towed one but I have levelled them and it takes a 20-ton hydraulic jack under the hitch just to lift them. A 12-ton jack wouldn't even lift it a fraction of an inch. It was a 14'x70',mind you it did have furniture in it at the time.

If ya strip it to a flat deck than you can tow that with the F350. Just know that even that little bit will try and push ya down hill as it weighs about as mush as the truck and would have no brakes. Please take videos.}>:-X03:-jammin:-X04

I remember when I was a kid, we moved a mobile home with a tractor, about 12 miles. The weight is pretty close to being centered so that helps. But the traffic lined behind us was not very happy about the speed of a tractor towing a trailer.

Arctic Y; the guy who's property its on said it has hydralic brakes on the axles I took his word for it cuz I know nothing about mobile homes and just assumed something that big had trailer brakes or do you think he was just BS-ing me so I'd take it?

Cracker; thought about doing that but I seriously doubt my overgrown lawnmower of an 8N could do any better than the dually.

Dont think ya ever said how old the mobile home is. But if he is giving it away the chances of the brakes still working are slim and none. Fine someone with a tandem axle tractor truck to move it for ya. We use a single axle like an F9000 to spot them with once on site but transport with a tandem for the more brakes. Think about it Bud. You are moving a house not a camp trailer.

There are services that move those, usually with a small HD truck.

14 foot wide? Don't you need a permit and pilot car for that?

70 foot long? Not gonna cut in on the corners at all, I suppose....

IMO if you want to risk a fatal accident, go ahead.

Alright yeah stupid idea I originally thought I could get away with it seeing as I've hauled a full manure spreader with the same truck 1/2 dozen times down the same relativley flat unpopulated county rd the mobile home is on but its way heavier and too much of a risk for a lousy free tandem car trailer platform. Just curious any of you guys know how much somebody with a rig would charge to tow this thing the 20 miles to my yard?

Free quotes or so they say:

Wisconsin Mobile Home Movers

Too much if this is correct:

How Much Does It Cost To Move a Manufactured Home? Free a Mobile Home Move Prices and Estimates

That kind of cost would dictate demo'ing it on-site, and having a big bonfire party as you load the axles and sections of the frame into your truck or on to a smaller trailer.....

cheapest quote i found was 1800 bucks. Ow.....I'm starting to realize why the guy was so eager to give me this thing.....:-roll

Years back i hauled a 12x50 house trailer about 40 miles with a 1980 f350 with a 4 speed tranny and it was less then a fun adventure with old tires that kept blowing out and wheel bearings that were worn out and getting hot. The truck handled the weight fine but stopping it was a little tricky. To say the least i would'nt do it again but if you do please post pictures.

Yeah...we really don't want to read about you in the news papers or see you get a Darwin award for this. I think you've already seen the wisdom in giving this idea a miss...:rolleyes:

That said, my brother-in-law probably would have tried it, but he's a bit short in the common sense department.

Scrapping one of these out is no simple task. I've done it to a 10X35 and you're dealing with twice as much. But if you have friends that will help and the property owner is willing, you can strip it down on-site. You'll need to arrange for a couple of dumpsters, and you're going to need that anyway if you do it after you get it home. You can recoup a little of the cost by salvaging and recycling the aluminum siding and maybe even the windows and some of the interior fittings. If it's new enough to have copper wiring instead of aluminum wiring, there's a couple more bucks to be found there.

Even better if you can do your frame alterations onsite as well, cutting it down to a useable length and either moving the tongue back closer to the axles or moving the axles up to the tongue, taking the wing extensions off the sides to narrow it (as stated, a 14-wide will need an oversize permit to move, even just the bare frame.) Two or three axles? On a 70' I would assume three. You might even be able to make two trailers out of this thing, a single axle and a tandem. Still gonna be wide I'll bet...