Prepping to buy a Deuce for farm use. Couple Questions..

[lino]

Hey All,

I'm, with any luck, not far from getting a deuce. I've been searching but I still have a couple unanswered questions.

First, one purpose of this truck would be to transport a Kubota M series tractor ~5500lbs. It fits in the bed, width wise, by the numbers, and should be OK length wise. FEL is only question on length, can't find specs on length with loader.

My question is how viable is it to move a tractor in the bed of the deuce?

I can build ramps, and this would be occasional, but can anyone say whether it's a big no-no or not.
I know a trailer would be better/easier, but that's outside the budget right now.

This would be to move the tractor between my current house and new property, about 15 miles. Probably not more than 2 or 3 times.

Thanks for the advice!

ciao
lino

 

[gimpyrobb]

Welcome to the site. The US is not a state, please fix that. As long as you find a way to load/un-load the tractor, you will be fine.

 

[swbradley1]

Welcome

It might be a little high with the center of gravity. You are at the weight limit if the Deuce if you are taking the tractor off-road with you but you are okay on pavement.

Watch for the overall height.


Per the rules you must list a state, not the United State. Thank you

 

[Warthog]

Welcome to the site.

There is a member that moved a Corvette in the bed of his Deuce. Made it from Seattle to Oklahoma City. As already posted the tractor may have the center of gravity too high.

I would recommend a loading ramp and not stand alone ramps. The bed is too high and too many things to go wrong.

 

[lino]

Sorry All,

Location should be fixed to Wake Forest, NC. Checking with this post.

 

[hklvette]

The bed of a M35 is quite high. Someone here probably knows the bed-height off of the top of their head.

IMHO, You'd be better off with a cheap 1/2-ton truck and a decent car trailer than the deuce for towing your 3-ton Kubota. What else are you intending to use the M35 for?

Background: I live on a beef cattle farm. I had an M35 and traded it for a M931 because the Deuce was a yard ornament most of the time. The bed was too tall for hauling most things, and it was too tall for any bumper-pull flatbed trailer. In the old picture to the left, I was using a hay wagon which you are probably familiar with. The 931 I can use to pull out stuck tractors (like the deuce), but also pull adapted goosenecks to use it more frequently.

my $.02

 

[Tow4]

Maybe a dirt ramp at each location if you have room for it.

 

[rosco]

Build a dirt ramp at both ends. RR ties & dirt, do wonders. Where you get into trouble with weight is taking away from the steering. The pivot on a Deuce is between the tandems, so watch the overhang. When much younger (& dummer), I once hauled a big load of 16' logs with my old M211. I could steer the truck with my baby finger, but sometimes, it just wanted to go straight.

 

[lino]

Thanks all. Dirt ramps may be viable.
Am I nuts for considering this over a 3/4 ton pickup? A deuce is certainly cheaper than truck and trailer. I'm thinking the deuce can help cut roads and haul trees too.

By farm, it's really 90 acres of trees that I hope to turn into a house with small farm.

ciao
lino

 

[clinto]

The deuce is great for this sort of thing, but as somebody who has driven mules and jeeps up ramps to get into a deuce, my recommendation would be a used deckover equipment trailer from craigslist and a civvy hitch on your deuce.

The angle going in and out of the bed will be severe. It's a lot of weight, which means the ramps have to be beefy which means the ramps will be heavy and hard to mount/dismount.

The following pics show a Jeep going in a CCKW, which has a lower bed than an M35.



My deuce works really well with an equipment trailer.

Civvy hitch, 24-12 converter, etc.



So far as "deuce versus 2500 pickup", figure the following:

If you're buying a newer 2500, then it will be more comfortable and less maintenance.

If you're buying an older 2500, the maintenance costs will probably be similar.

Deuce is slow, hot in the summer, cold in the winter. As long as you know what you're in for, I think it would do the job fine.

 

[lino]

Thanks all for the replies.

I downsized the tractor (i'm buying it tomorrow). I was split between an M6060 (~5000 lbs) and an MX5200 (~3700 lbs). My dealer actually talked me down to the MX5200, so it's a fair bit lighter and a little smaller. Unless someone talks me back into the M6060 tonight...

But with smaller tractor, I feel reasonable comfortable hauling the tractor in the bed. I'll eventually have a trailer, but I need to wait a bit. Land, tractor, and deuce in roughly a two month period is tapping me out a little...

I was leaning towards a 7.3L F-250 for a while, but for approximately half the price I can get a deuce. I'm not worried about comfort. I like the straight forward simplicity of these machines. Even if you need a "bigger hammer"...

 

[rosco]

Get a Deuce

Get the bigger tractor & the Deuce -- you'll be glad you did. You will continually be over using the larger tractor, as it is anyway. As for the Deuce, the sky is the limit - you will INVENT all kinds of jobs for it. And it will haul the tractor just fine. Just be cautious - it will take a while to gain experience, and gain all the stuff you would like to have. A pickup will be overloaded from the get-go. Good Luck

 

[dawico]

I vote bigger tractor also. When I had my tractor I always wished it was bigger. Not once did I wish it to be smaller.

As far as the Duece goes, that is your call. It will be handy but so will a truck and trailer.

A 15 mile drive on a tractor isn't too bad either.

 

[61sleepercab]

I would suggest the earth ramp loading using a deuce. I have used that method for lots of things. Do you plan to get a dropside bed? They are handy to load from the side with a loader or fork lift. A deuce can be loaded from the back with a forklift . Mark

 

[hklvette]

I'm going to be the dissenting opinion here, but so be it. Something else to consider about the Deuce: if something on it breaks, more often than not you won't be able to get it at NAPA. Not a good thing to have happen when you need it running then and there.

An 7.3 F250 with a 7-ton GN trailer makes a great general-purpose hauling setup. We use that here for hauling tractors and round bales around and it does great. You can get away with a gas-powered 3/4 ton for the weight you'll probably be pulling. That will help your bottom line since their resale value is typically much lower (= cheaper to buy) than the diesel variants and as a bonus aren't typically worked as hard. The 7.3 is a fine motor, but as they age the injectors don't work as well and become increasingly difficult to start when it gets cold.

Benefits of a Deuce would be using it to pull trees out of the ground, as it is more effective than the 6060 will be at that job. It also has the ability to pull out the tractor if it gets stuck. I used mine for both when I had it, and a pickup doesn't really stand a chance at either job.

Agreed on the point of "bigger is usually better" when it comes to tractors. That said, if you're going into a really wooded area the big one may become cumbersome, just as the deuce would be.

 

[John S-B]

Something no one else has mentioned is the bed of the deuce. I'd put some kind of non-skid surface on the floor of the bed, it can be kind of slick when wet. Either some kind of spray in bed liner, or paint it and put down sand or grit while still wet. You might also want to add some heavy duty tie down D rings so it can't slide around, the sides CAN be bent by a load that heavy.

 

[Jeepsinker]

True, I had an axle break off of a pallet and slide from one side of the bed to the other and it bashed a big section of the bedside out. The floor is strong, but the bedsides are not as heavy duty as you would think. The heavy D-ring tie down points are a must.

 

[sandcobra164]

I bought my Deuce 5 years ago and have beat the heck out of it in that short time. 5,000 pounds in the bed is what it was made to handle off road so it should handle that tractor just fine. Many people on here may disagree with some of the things I've used mine for. Mine is a good runner and has made 5 GA Rallies under it's own power including this past one. It has towed in order from heaviest to lightest, 2 M817's, 2 M818's, 1 MK-18 LVS Trailer, 5 MK-14 LVS Trailer, a few other Deuces and it's pulled a few school buses out of the turn around at the end of my dirt road. Everything felt "heavy" with only 134 horsepower on tap but I've turned the IP up a bit so I should be making about 140 or so now. The school buses felt "light" but I only had to pull them a few feet out of a mud hole. I researched and they actually weigh more than I thought but I was in low range when I pulled on those so I had (268hp and 710ft lbs) before sending that to 6.72 to 1 axles on tap. Pull out your calculators, The Deuce is a Beast!!! I should add, It only made it to about 40 when towbaring it's heaviest load up a hill and when unloaded, it can do the double nickel flat out. Actually, it has hit 64 confirmed by GPS but only for a short time. Many stories like that end with a window in the side of the block. Search and you'll find them. I run mine much slower thanks to the information on here.

 

[TsgtB]

not to hijack here, but how many normal round bales can fit in the standard M35 bed..? (Just 2)

 

[Jeepsinker]

Just two.