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How come I see so many tractors converted into 10 wheelers and roll-offs for sale south of the Mason-Dixon line? Is there something about the weight laws down there that I don't know about? I'm from Philly Pa and here and in Nj pretty much everything is on 44s and 18s & 20s with double frames. Is there some advantage to having 38s and 12s down there? I would guess the tare weights would be a couple of thousand lighter.

Joe

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How come I see so many tractors converted into 10 wheelers and roll-offs for sale south of the Mason-Dixon line? Is there something about the weight laws down there that I don't know about? I'm from Philly Pa and here and in Nj pretty much everything is on 44s and 18s & 20s with double frames. Is there some advantage to having 38s and 12s down there? I would guess the tare weights would be a couple of thousand lighter.

Joe

WELL JOE, I CANT SPEAK FOR EVERYONE DOWN HERE, BUT IN MY CASE OF A 1O WHEEL DUMPER, WITH A 55000 TAG, WE ARE ALLOWED 10% OVER THAT FOR FARM USE BECAUSE OF NO SCALES HERE ON THE FARM. A LIGHTER TARE EQUALS MORE ROOM FOR SOYBEANS, MORE ROOM FOR SOYBEANS EQUALS MORE MONEY. SO I GUESS IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THE ALL MIGHTY DOLLAR. IM SURE IT WORKS DIFFERENTLY FOR COMMERCIAL HAULING BUT FOR FARM USE A LITTLE BIT COUNTS. DOUG

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WELL JOE, I CANT SPEAK FOR EVERYONE DOWN HERE, BUT IN MY CASE OF A 1O WHEEL DUMPER, WITH A 55000 TAG, WE ARE ALLOWED 10% OVER THAT FOR FARM USE BECAUSE OF NO SCALES HERE ON THE FARM. A LIGHTER TARE EQUALS MORE ROOM FOR SOYBEANS, MORE ROOM FOR SOYBEANS EQUALS MORE MONEY. SO I GUESS IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THE ALL MIGHTY DOLLAR. IM SURE IT WORKS DIFFERENTLY FOR COMMERCIAL HAULING BUT FOR FARM USE A LITTLE BIT COUNTS. DOUG

Doug,

Up here in the north they wouldn't even let us register a truck with 38s and a 12 at 55,000. I know they will handle it but it is tough to raise gvw on a truck up here, they want to see the sticker on the door jam lots of times. And up here you don't get any 10% over. They pick on trucks pretty bad around here. Almost makes me want to move down south.

Joe

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Doug,

Up here in the north they wouldn't even let us register a truck with 38s and a 12 at 55,000. I know they will handle it but it is tough to raise gvw on a truck up here, they want to see the sticker on the door jam lots of times. And up here you don't get any 10% over. They pick on trucks pretty bad around here. Almost makes me want to move down south.

Joe

HEY JOE, COME ON DOWN, IM SURE WE'D HAVE ALOT TO TALK ABOUT.

DOUG.

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Even my pick-up can carry more legally. The GVW states 5000, but my registration automatically states 6500. BUT we seem to have stricter laws here. You are more responsible for your actions here. For example, a person can carry the extra weight, but needs to be able to deal with it. If you take a curve too fast and end up in a ditch you can be charged for "Failure to Control Vehicle".

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Even my pick-up can carry more legally. The GVW states 5000, but my registration automatically states 6500. BUT we seem to have stricter laws here. You are more responsible for your actions here. For example, a person can carry the extra weight, but needs to be able to deal with it. If you take a curve too fast and end up in a ditch you can be charged for "Failure to Control Vehicle".

The 5000 pound GVW rating is probably the manufacturer's rating for what your pickup is really capable of. The 6500 pound figure is probably the minimum the state licences for, and doesn't mean your pickup can carry that.

The weight capacity of a vehicle is always the lowest of manufacturers rating, licenced weight, etc. Don't make the mistake a friend of mine did after having a 10,000 pound rated hitch installed on her Explorer- she tried towing a nearly 10,000 pound trailer and blew out the transmission! Her explorer was rated for only 3500 pounds towing, and the transmission rebuild set her back over $2000.

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The 5000 pound GVW rating is probably the manufacturer's rating for what your pickup is really capable of. The 6500 pound figure is probably the minimum the state licences for, and doesn't mean your pickup can carry that.

The weight capacity of a vehicle is always the lowest of manufacturers rating, licenced weight, etc. Don't make the mistake a friend of mine did after having a 10,000 pound rated hitch installed on her Explorer- she tried towing a nearly 10,000 pound trailer and blew out the transmission! Her explorer was rated for only 3500 pounds towing, and the transmission rebuild set her back over $2000.

I was just making a basic point about weights here in Virginia, but as much as I'm not one to overload any truck, a few times that my half tons got loaded up to around 6200 or 6300 at the gravel yards, the trucks handled it just fine. (I run 60's and early 70's Chevy pick-ups with manual transmissions). And it was nice to know that I was within legal limits to boot.

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I was just making a basic point about weights here in Virginia, but as much as I'm not one to overload any truck, a few times that my half tons got loaded up to around 6200 or 6300 at the gravel yards, the trucks handled it just fine. (I run 60's and early 70's Chevy pick-ups with manual transmissions). And it was nice to know that I was within legal limits to boot.

Hi Bill, Boy do I miss my '71 Chevy C10 step side! Drove it for 19 years, and well over 200,000 miles. Second best thing to my B model. Bob martyn

Ain't a Mack? Take it back!

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Bill, when I saw the 5000 pound rating it sounded like your truck was a compact pickup lile a Ranger or S-10- a full size pickup should have no problem grossing 6000 pounds. Heck, some of them these days weight damn near that much empty!

I was just making a basic point about weights here in Virginia, but as much as I'm not one to overload any truck, a few times that my half tons got loaded up to around 6200 or 6300 at the gravel yards, the trucks handled it just fine. (I run 60's and early 70's Chevy pick-ups with manual transmissions). And it was nice to know that I was within legal limits to boot.

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why dont you lot get metric , like the rest of the developed world. you are living in the past guys! a 6x4 tractor here in NZ is average at 21 tonnes gross weight legally, even though the manufacturers ratings on the axles are higher, It is just that the government wont spend the money they gather fron Diesel tax and Roadusercharges to put back into the highway network, so therefore the trucks are rated lower to reduce road damage.

nig :chili:

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why dont you lot get metric , like the rest of the developed world. you are living in the past guys! a 6x4 tractor here in NZ is average at 21 tonnes gross weight legally, even though the manufacturers ratings on the axles are higher, It is just that the government wont spend the money they gather fron Diesel tax and Roadusercharges to put back into the highway network, so therefore the trucks are rated lower to reduce road damage.

nig :chili:

No offense Roaduser but they needed something real simple for the rest of the world to use, that's why they came up with the metric system. Here in the states we're smart enough to work with what we've got and build some of the best trucks the rest of the world has ever seen like B model Macks.

Ain't a Mack? Take it back!

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