To tow or not to tow that is the question! Peterbilt w/MV tow bar 6x6 cornbinder

[1971cj6man]

Hi fellas, I got a little sideways with a bid I didn’t think I was gonna win.... whoops I bought a 6x6 international 7400 down in San Diego and need to get it home, about 600 miles into NorCal. Because this thing is a Derrick truck it’s pretty tall, I have access to a standard lowboy which will be boarder line. I could knock the tires off and set it down on wood, but even then Its to long. I was thinking about hooking up my military TOW BAR to my peterbilt! The 6x6 truck needs work or I’d rode it home. The 6x6 is tipping the scales around 30,000lbs. Has anyone done this? Will it tow like crap? If it did go down, I’d be running at night on the weekend outlaw style.

my pete has 46krears with 550 hp, it’s setup for the hitch and I have air, lights and chains figured. I already made up some mountIng feet to bolt onto the bumper of the international. The angle wouldn’t be prefect because the Pete sits lower. The weight rating for the tow bar match up, I included a pic of the bar with the 1009. Let me know- thank you

 

[Robo McDuff]

Can't you do it like this? The Pete is strong enough for it.




The picture is taken at Mile 422 Alaska Highway late March 1981. .. ..
(I want to go back there, I miss it )

I like the Pete, can I come and drive it? I can visit the museum next door as well, looks great.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Is that a medium or medium heavy bar? If it's a medium, I would shorten it up a bit before towing 30,000#. I think you would be wise to add weight to the back of the Pete. With all that said, it would be advisable not to bolt that tow bar to the bumper. All the tow bar attachments for the military trucks are tied to the frame. Piggy back would put the boom way too high. Absolute best idea is to suck up the labor and pull the tires and use a drop deck or rent a low boy.

 

[simp5782]

Rent a protote wrecker unit for your pete. You will be fine. Much safer than a towbar and faster

Tow baring it with air bag rears on the Pete won't be much fun. Lateral push on the air bags isn't good.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Rent a protote wrecker unit for your pete. You will be fine. Much safer than a towbar and faster

Tow baring it with air bag rears on the Pete won't be much fun. Lateral push on the air bags isn't good.

Standing down, that makes so much sense, my brain housing group hurts. This fixes every single issue.

 

[simp5782]

Standing down, that makes so much sense, my brain housing group hurts. This fixes every single issue.

The air bag issue was the reason Ron had a hard time with BART and the M322 with the FLU419. The HET wasn't designed to pull from the pintle even with all that weight from the mk15a1 on it it still has a push from the forces on the bag. It feels weird. Won't lead to a wreck really on BART . It's just a lateral push but on a truck with no 5th wheel weight it is alot different

Only option I would take for using a towbar on something like that would be a 5th wheel weight plate.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Regardless of the air bag issue, which I know absolutely nothing about, I still thought that weight needed to be added to the back of the tractor. 30,000# would push that tractor right around in a wet curve. Ultimately, the FWTD is best. Holmes made a neat (complicated) one for the military. Electric over hydraulic and ran off a slave cable.

 

[simp5782]

Regardless of the air bag issue, which I know absolutely nothing about, I still thought that weight needed to be added to the back of the tractor. 30,000# would push that tractor right around in a wet curve. Ultimately, the FWTD is best. Holmes made a neat (complicated) one for the military. Electric over hydraulic and ran off a slave cable.

Nah. With a 5th wheel plate or ecology block chained to the back of the Pete frame it would be fine

 

[1971cj6man]

Those are some great ideas!!! I will look into that 5th wheel tow adapter, I’ve never seen a rental but I’ll do some digging. The Pete has heavy duty Hendrickson suspension, no air bags to worry about. I like the 5th wheel weight plate!

 

[simp5782]

Those are some great ideas!!! I will look into that 5th wheel tow adapter, I’ve never seen a rental but I’ll do some digging. The Pete has heavy duty Hendrickson suspension, no air bags to worry about. I like the 5th wheel weight plate!

Last I checked you could rent a protote for around $300 a day. But it is well worth it.

5th wheel weight box is a 4ft x 4ft by 2 or 3ft tall steel box with an open top. All sides welded together. Use 1/2" plate. With a kingpin welded thru the center lower box.


Either fill with concrete and reinforce it or use a large amount of tractor weights. They need to be secure though.

Use a rebar to stick out of the top of the concrete to be able to lift it off with equipment

 

[Jbulach]

There are a lot of heavy haulers in California, they may rent you a weight box reasonably cheap. It wouldn’t be very cost effective to build your own for a one time use.

 

[Robo McDuff]

That is a neat contraption

Looked around and found a nice video on how to use it, although maybe a bit long
(disclaimer: its from the manufacturer, unfortunately they don't pay me for it).

 

[1971cj6man]

That is a neat contraption

Looked around and found a nice video on how to use it, although maybe a bit long
(disclaimer: its from the manufacturer, unfortunately they don't pay me for it).

that would be SWEET!!! I looked around at renting one but no dice, gonna keep looking for a used one. Something tells me folks that buy those keep them around. I am back to using the lowboy, it’ll be super tight but worst case I’ll trim the load with a torch!

 

[1971cj6man]

Ps if anyone is interested in a Digger Derrick buildup less the chassis let me know... smoking deal! 60’ crane rated for 25k lbs bunch of winches and a auger to boot!

 

[simp5782]

I have a 5th wheel wrecker for sale.

 

[royalflush55]

Is it a PRO-TOTE?

 

[simp5782]

Is it a PRO-TOTE?

It is a walker WW20 unit like in the pictures.