# 99 dakota pull 863 bobcat



## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

my brother has a 99 dakota 318 5 speed manual tranny. is there any way he could pull an 863 bobcat with a tandem axle trailer? the truck has a trailer brake controller but i wonder if that will be too much for it. thanks.


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## Wesley's Lawn (Sep 18, 2002)

Maybe once but not on a reg basis.


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

how far
whats the speed
even know you can dosen't mean you should
it may be cheaper to have it delivered.. if your axle seal go you''ll know why


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

probly 4 hours round trip at 70 mph on the freeway


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

allot of people will say yes............ but i say NO......... if you get stooped by a cop, he'll take it..(for weight reasons) and if you hit my car because, you were over weight and killed my kids..how would you feel??


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## Wesley's Lawn (Sep 18, 2002)

Just go rent a truck from boyer ford.


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

Wesley's Lawn;365311 said:


> Just go rent a truck from boyer ford.


or test drive for the day.....lol
good idea


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

crb 2500;365306 said:


> allot of people will say yes............ but i say NO......... if you get stooped by a cop, he'll take it..(for weight reasons) and if you hit my car because, you were over weight and killed my kids..how would you feel??


well how much can the truck tow and not get into trouble by the police. i see durangos and dakotas pulling huge boats all the time in the summer and they seem to be doing ok. and i am not worried about stopping the truck handles a trailer preety good and as i mentioned before it has a trailer brake controller


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## carl b (Dec 28, 2006)

read the sticker in the door (also may be on the hitch or bumper) than try to figure the trailer tung weight, and your front tires may be off the ground.... the weight on the truck in my opinion is triple what you should run...thats a big skider!!!!!!


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

i guess i could let my brother borrow my 99 2500 ram but it would be nice if the dakota could pull that 863


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

i just looked on msnautos.com maximum towing is rated at 8800 pounds how much does an 863 weigh on an average sized bobcat trailer


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## zman9119 (Oct 3, 2004)

The max towing for that truck is around 3,000lbs. Anything over 2,000lbs you have to have active trailer brakes.


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## zman9119 (Oct 3, 2004)

dodgeguy99;365370 said:


> i just looked on msnautos.com maximum towing is rated at 8800 pounds how much does an 863 weigh on an average sized bobcat trailer


That might be the GCWR, but there is no way a dakota could pull 8800lbs.


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

zman9119;365373 said:


> The max towing for that truck is around 3,000lbs. Anything over 2,000lbs you have to have active trailer brakes.


as mentioned earlier the truck has trailer brakes and on msn autos 8800 pounds is max towing


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

zman9119;365375 said:


> That might be the GCWR, but there is no way a dakota could pull 8800lbs.


i am not sure the truck is preety torquey and is geared at 3.92


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## Vaughn Schultz (Nov 18, 2004)

dodgeguy99;365305 said:


> probly 4 hours round trip at 70 mph on the freeway


Dont do it, you will never get it up to 70 and if you did it would be a death trap. 280 miles is way to far for that truck. Why do you need to move it ?


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## Vaughn Schultz (Nov 18, 2004)

You should really have a 3/4 ton truck


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

my brother needs to do some landscaping at his cabin up north he could take back roads at 55mph but it would be 5 hrs then


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

Grassbusters;365404 said:


> You should really have a 3/4 ton truck


i know i think i might have to loan him my 3/4 ton ram


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## RODHALL (Nov 23, 2005)

NO 

I don’t care what MSNautos said the tow weight for a Dakota is, Dakota can safely tow in the 4000-5000 range at speed with trailer brakes. My 96 2500 CTD has a 8800lbs trailer tow weight, I can’t see a 318 Dakota even being close to what the ¾ CTD can tow. the bobcat weight is around 6000lbs trailer weight light weight car trailer 2200 steel car hauler 2600 steel/wood floor Skid steer 3000.

hitch for a Dakota – umm there has never been a manufacture that has made more then 500/5000 (class 3) hitch for a Dakota


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## Vaughn Schultz (Nov 18, 2004)

Trust me I am all for doing some ridiculous things and do not consider safety in my normal decision making process but a dakota is just not a good idea. Not to mention if for what ever reason it worked, you are going to beat the piss out of it for 10 hours. Sorry


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## DTLandscape (Dec 28, 2006)

*mn dot*

you do not want to mess dot! the mn dot are really bad too. I have dealt with them many times and they don't mess around. Back roads in MN are dot targets so be carefull. 
Where is your brothers cabin?


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

gleenwood mn i have now decided we are going to either use my 2500 ram v10 or my dads 3500 chevy 454


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## Vaughn Schultz (Nov 18, 2004)

Both will be an awesome choice


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

i know i just have a hard time handing my keys to my brother


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## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

dodgeguy99;365430 said:


> i know i just have a hard time handing my keys to my brother


but you will let him use the skid???


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## SnoFarmer (Oct 15, 2004)

dodgeguy99;365426 said:


> gleenwood mn i have now decided we are going to either use my 2500 ram v10 or my dads 3500 chevy 454





dodgeguy99;365430 said:


> i know i just have a hard time handing my keys to my brother


Good decision..

would you feel batter handing you keys to your dad?

Or does he have a hard time handing you his keys


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

brunosplace;365435 said:


> but you will let him use the skid???


its a friend of ours bobcat


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

SnoFarmer;365436 said:


> Good decision..
> 
> would you feel batter handing you keys to your dad?
> 
> Or does he have a hard time handing you his keys


my dad drives like an old man i have no prob letting him drive my truck. but he has to be in a good mood to let me drive his truck


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## JSLandscaping (Oct 26, 2005)

I was at the local united rentals this past spring and saw someone trying to load a Bobcat 773 skid steer on a equpment trailer that was being towed by a half ton chevy. Needless to say the guys had no clue what to do, should of had it delievered. As he proceded to drive onto the back of the trailer, the wieght of the machine on the back of the trailer proceeded to lift the entire back end of the truck right off the ground. As i said they had no clue, instead of creeping foward to let the trailer and truck down slowly the guy flies foward, the truck and trailer come slamming down rediculously hard, completly bottoming out the suspension. once the thing had settled it seemed like the front end of the truck was topped out with its suspension, the back bottomed completly out. I was standing next to one of the managers and asked them if they can really let that guy go like that. he said as long as they signed the contract they are responsible for the machine, he said when he sees the do it yourselfers come in to rent equimpent that obilously they have no clue on how to use, they give them the oldest ones outa the bunch so if its wrecked they will be replaced with a brand new one. he said you wouldnt believe what people can manage to do, forgetting to chain them down, no brake controlers, blowing transmisions on thier personal vehicle cause they think its strong enough to pull a full size skid, and besides flipping the machines down hills, and just generally destroying them. there are some items i think people should be checked on common sence, like the 12" woodchippers they rent out....some homeowner joe with a 12" brush bandit, doesnt that sound dangerous. anyway definatly make sure that you have enough truck to pull it, nothin worse then frying your clutch or tranny because you made the desision not to go with a bigger capactity truck, remember bigger is always better!


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

At my work, we have a 2001 F250 super duty 4x4 and we pulled our Bobcat 773 with it on a smaller equipment trailer. The back of the truck was empty, and the bobcat made it sink down pretty far in the rear, and the front tires were just barely touching the ground. So it is a terrible idea to pull something that size with a Dakota. You will be way safer and smarter going with at least a 3/4 ton or more. Just cause it has a V8 and trailer brake controller, doesnt mean it can pull a house off its foundation. There is no need to hurt/kill yourselves or others over not using common sense. It is smart of you to ask first before doing it.


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

An 863 will weigh close to #7000 and another 2500-3000 for a suitable trailer. I wouldn't even try it with a light weight car trailer. At about double the weight of the Dakota and using a bumper pull trailer thats a disaster waiting to happen. I know very well the Chaska Mn area and the hilly twisty roads you have there. That Dakota is a play truck when it comes to hauling things. It doesn't matter the engine size or gear ratio, it's a matter of physics, that heavy of a trailer will push that light duty of a truck around like a rag doll in a dogs mouth. I wouldn't even use a full size 1/2 ton truck. It doesn't matter how far or fast you want to tow that equipment, the Dakota should not be doing it, period.


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

*point taken*

i work for a property service company and the smallest truck we ever used to pull our bobcats was a chevy 2500 454. i really thought that an 863 was way to big for a dakota but my brother kind of thinks his truck will have no problem with any load i thought an 863 was to big for him but to be sure i asked you guys. thanks for all the replys he will be using my ram 2500 v10 to pull the 863 so i think he wont have any problems


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## DeereFarmer (Dec 12, 2005)

dodgeguy99;365749 said:


> my brother kind of thinks his truck will have no problem with any load


Haha... same with my dad. I think you made the right move.


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## RODHALL (Nov 23, 2005)

I also think you did the right thing by letting him use your truck.

I once had the brakes come unplugged on my 86 1 ton. At the time I had a bobcat “XT” on the trailer. It was handful getting it stopped to see why the lights on the controller went off, I don’t want to even think what it would have been like for a Dakota.

Moving it is one thing stopping it is another…


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## Ford Guy (Feb 7, 2007)

that 863 weighs 7180 pounds without any attachments and if it has a cab it'll weigh even more. you would need at least a 5 ton float to move it. i'm in ontario, canada and that would almost be heavy enough that we would require an A licensce (anything over about 11 000 pounds) so it's rediculous to even think about towing it with any pick up truck. and are you going to need any material there, or haul any material out, if so, think about using a dump truck


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## dodgeguy99 (Apr 18, 2006)

i have pulled it with various different pick ups and it pulls and stops fine i just think it needs to be a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

Ford Guy;366905 said:


> that 863 weighs 7180 pounds without any attachments and if it has a cab it'll weigh even more. you would need at least a 5 ton float to move it. i'm in ontario, canada and that would almost be heavy enough that we would require an A licensce (anything over about 11 000 pounds) so it's ridiculous to even think about towing it with any pick up truck. and are you going to need any material there, or haul any material out, if so, think about using a dump truck


Something doesn't sound right, or maybe I misunderstand what is being said. I agree with your estimated weight of the 863. What's a "float"? If you mean a trailer there is no way he would need "at least a 5 ton float" (trailer) to move a 3.5 ton skid steer. Besides, what would a 5 ton trailer weigh about #3000-3500. Similar sized skid steers are towed legally and well within the p/u truck Mfg. towing limits by the thousands every day. Granted, a larger truck would always be safer, but in this case using a 1 ton p/u truck is most certainly nothing that would be "ridiculous". IIRC the Mfg. max trailer weight for my 1-ton is #18,000. I do not know what a Canadian class A license equates to in the USA, could you elaborate please.


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