hauling cattle

[9 ER]

If you are going to take a couple of cows to be bred, should you put them in the front or the back of the trailer? I have a 16' covered trailer with a center gate. The trip is only 30 minutes.

What if you were hauling them 5 hours or longer?

 

[certherfbeef]

Most of it is personal preference I think. I like to keep the load off the truck and over the axles of the trailer. I also pull a gooseneck with a dually. A single wheel bumper pull will tow different.

As for the weather, it doesn't necessarly matter to me. My cattle ride the same place in the trailer no matter the temperature.

 

[sidney411]

I also pull a 16 ft gooseneck w/ dually BUT I always put them in the front section. The way I figure, it isn't going to hurt my truck at all and there is one more gate they got to get through to fall out of the trailer.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

If we are only taking 2 or 3 cattle, we usually load them on the front of the trailer to keep the weight on the truck for traction.

 

[9 ER]

Thanks for the response centerbeef,
It's a bumper pull that has 2 axles located more towards the back than the front. My '95 ford F-150 has 200,000 miles on it and I know it's better to have the weight located on the axles of the trailer, but didn't know if hauling cows was different.

 

[9 ER]

Cattle Rack Rancher wrote

If we are only taking 2 or 3 cattle, we usually load them on the front of the trailer to keep the weight on the truck for traction.

Do you need the extra traction because of the snow or ice? We dont get any of that stuff here and it's flat. If you didn't need the extra traction, would you still load them in the front?

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Do you need the extra traction because of the snow or ice?

I actually had written that down and erased it. The trailer we use is 22' long 5th wheel. I just feel a little more comfortable with confining them a bit tighter for the trip. I don't know if they would be slipping around the trailer worse if I didn't tighten them up in the front but in my mind they would. Also, like Sidney I think it gives them one more gate to go through. I actually had a young bull that we loaded in the front of the trailer end up in the back section. Don't know if he jumped over or somehow managed to trip the gate. I would still put them in the front whether it was snow, ice, or mud. Just my personal preference I guess.

 

[rwtherefords]

If you're only hauling 2 or 3 cattle, why not use the center gate and distribute the load evenly. That's what I do unless there's some unusual circumstance (traction issue) to deal with.

 

[memanpa]

f350 dually 4x4
3 trailers
1 bumper pulll 2 horse
1 16' goosneck
1 24' goosneck
i personally like to have the weight over the trailer axles, just a personal preferance!!
haul stock from ok to az couple of times a yr , of course i load as many on the trailer as possible and make it a non stop trip, except for fuel and potty!
bout 18 hrs never had a problem!!
maybe i am lucky

 

[9 ER]

good point rwtherefords. Thanks

 

[jkwilson]

If you'd ever tried to pull a trailer without tongue weight, it's a no doubter. If you put them in the back, you won't make it a mile before you flip the whole rig. A bumper pull trailer with no tongue weight will begin to oscillate, and things get really ugly, really fast.

Had a load fall over once.
Believe it or not, you can turn an F250 with a 16 ft flatbed trailer around on a two-lane road at 50mph without touching the shoulder on either side. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[Farmhand]

We personally load our trailers to the front. Found it is more important on our 16' bumper hitch than it is on our 20' gooseneck but the reason is the same for both. We feel the trailers do not get to moving around so much if they are more forward. Feel the cattle do not get as jittery if kept together rather than having a gate between them. Feel they do not move around so much if you confine them to a smaller area. jkwilson - I believe! - I've seen it done! - closer than I cared to be! :shock: :shock:

 

[Bama]

I also load heavy on the front. As mentioned before they can get squirlly if all the weight is on the back. I have always figures if I had to make a sudden stop the whole rig would control better if weight was centered closer to the truck. Most 16' around here don't have trailer brakes. The last thing you want to see is your own trailer passing you. BTW if this happens the cows will probally be giving you the middle hoof.

 

[El_Putzo]

If you'd ever tried to pull a trailer without tongue weight, it's a no doubter. If you put them in the back, you won't make it a mile before you flip the whole rig. A bumper pull trailer with no tongue weight will begin to oscillate, and things get really ugly, really fast.

Had a load fall over once.
Believe it or not, you can turn an F250 with a 16 ft flatbed trailer around on a two-lane road at 50mph without touching the shoulder on either side. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I agree, load to the front. Had a similar experience while towing an 18 ft winged disc with spring harrow on the back. This is probably about a 6000 lb piece of equipment pulled off my bumper that is so evenly weighted, a 5 yr old could probably pick up the tongue. Needless to say when that thing gets to whippin around, it'll make you suck the seat so far up your behind, you can taste the fabric. :shock: I figured out real fast that if I stayed below 40 MPH, it pulled pretty straight. It was a long ride, but at least we made it in one piece.

Haven't hauled to many cattle as we contract someone to haul our calves, but I go to a lot of tractor pulls and haul my 3020 JD there on our 24 ft flatbed, and it makes a lot difference whether or not you have enough weight on the truck with a flatbed too.

JMO

 

[TLCfromARK]

We have a 16 ' bumper pull & a 24' goose neck and load the front heavy on both. Same reasons as a lot of the other posters, traction, extra gate and less room for them to bounce around in case someone pulls out in front of you. :shock: Don't know if it happens to anyone else but it surprises me how often someone will pull out of a small dirt road on to a 2 lane blacktop right in front of a truck & loaded trailer. Then they seem surprised when you have to lock up your brakes and lay on your horn.

;-)

 

[preston39]

TLC
I heard that.

ER,
I have always found weight up front best from MANY standpoints. Best sumarized as ... better control of the truck and trailer. On my 20' Featherlite GN, we had a third gate put in...for an occasional one animal...always upfront.

 

[9 ER]

Thanks for input everybody.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Heck you must be a hobby farmer if you can't figure out how to haul two whole cows in a 16 foot trailer. Heck since this could get hard use a two horse trailer.

 

[Texan]

Heck you must be a hobby farmer if you can't figure out how to haul two whole cows in a 16 foot trailer. Heck since this could get hard use a two horse trailer.

ROTFLMAO

 

[9 ER]

Wow Bruno, you usually have a lot more to say. What's the matter? Did you use up all your hot air blowing up your date tonight? Or maybe you used it on Texan!