From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Snag"  wrote in message news:10mbomj$2h1p8$1@dont-email.me...   
      
   On 2/8/2026 10:06 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:   
   >    Put brakes on anything that excedes 50% of the tow vehicle's weight   
   >   
      
      That may be a good rule of thumb for a highway application . But I'm   
   talking about dragging a load of firewood a few hundred yards down a   
   dirt road to my driveway and the splitter next to it .  Top speed MIGHT   
   be around 10 MPH ...   
   --   
   Snag   
   ----------------------------   
   I pushed that rule with a 600# Sears garden tractor and 450# empty weight   
   trailer for firewood, and had to be careful to avoid the steeper slopes that   
   had kept the area from being developed. Even empty the tractor could bounce   
   and lose steering and braking going downhill, fortunately tested on a short   
   slope. Increasing tongue weight to improve 2WD traction reduced steering   
   traction, especially uphill.   
      
   I mounted the ATV winch on the back so the loaded trailer could be uncoupled   
   to drive the tractor past obstacles and chain it to a tree to winch the   
   trailer through, this was more controllable than winching both forward while   
   trying to coordinate two speeds and dodge rocks.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)