3600 Towing capability

[OBwan]

I need to move a chipper around some land I recently cleared of trees. 12" chipper is 4210 lbs. I need to move it about 50 or 60 feet on gently sloped, uneven ground. Should I expect any issues? Will the ball on the stock front grill handle the load or should I stick with the rear drawbar. This may be a double post the first one didn't show up on the forum.

 

[Matt in Oz]

If it were me hook it to the drawbar you should be able to put a ball on that. I assume the chipper is on wheels? Make sure the drawbar is on the short setting . Not sure on a 3600 but they often have two holes where there are pinned under the diff/tranny housing. Front axles are a weak point on the 3000 series, probably because they are little tractors that can and some of us ask too much of them especially with loaders on them. Ask me how I know this. Take it steady and be safe, remember braking ability on a slope could be an issue.

 

[Sean in PA]

There was no "ball on the stock front grill" on a 3600 as far as I know of. The front bumper was optional, and I've seen some of those with a hole you could add a ball to, but I don't know if those were Ford bumpers or aftermarket. I would add a ball to the drawbar in the rear and pull it with that.

I pulled a 3600 lb. wood chipper up and down my hilly property with my John Deere X500 garden tractor with no problems.

A 3600 shouldn't even notice it's back there, except maybe trying to stop when going downhill, so just make sure you go slow on the downhill slopes so you can stop.

 

[Destroked 450]

Use the rear draw bar only, front bumper on that model will bend if much weight is put on it
I use the bumper for backing wagons but theres no weight to a wagon tongue

 

[strum456]

Another vote for not putting that much weight on your front bumper.

Due to the drought in our area, we've been hauling 2 300 gallon totes full of water in a tandem axle dump trailer out to the pasture on a regular basis. We've been towing that weight with the 841 (not much different than your 3600). Ours has loaded 14.9 rears and the 1100 pie weights. We use a 3 point hitch trailer mover, which is stronger than a draw bar, in my opinion. The bad part about it is how far back the ball is (tongue weight makes the front light).

What's the tongue weight of the chipper? That will make a big difference. Are your tires loaded? If the tires aren't loaded, you will want to be super careful going down hills.

 

[OBwan]

Just a quick update. The chipper was about 3900 lbs, a 9" model. No issues with towing from the rear. The worst butt whooping was on me and my wife trying to feed the beast for two days. We both are straddling 60.