Hauling a garden tractor

I'm going to check out a Simplicity Prestige a couple hours away from me because it is a good price. It's a larger framed garden tractor, not your little home depot model. Anyone haul one in the bed before? I could pull my 16' enclosed trailer but wondering if I could get by without it. I have no problem taking the deck off (50" deck) and putting that on my hitch carrier if needed. Just looking for opinions of those who have done it before. I have a 2015 DC 6.5' box. Online dimensions show mower is 75" long and 41" wide. It comes with a snowblower, I was thinking of attaching that one front and backing mower into truck so the blower can be above tailgate. Gosh that long bed would be handy...

 

I have a John Deere x758. There is absolutely no way in heck it will even come close to fitting in the bed.

Tractor is 1,200 lbs. The deck is about 250 lbs. With that being said, that puts it well over the GVWR allowed in the truck so if it would fit in the bed, I would be illegal as far as weight goes.

The Prestige is a little bit smaller, more like the Deere x500 series. With all that being said, I would much prefer to be safe and take the enclosed trailer. Trying to load that heavy of a machine on ramps into the bed of a truck and you are going to wind up on YouTube on the blooper reals.

All this is only my opinion of course.

 

Seems like excessive and unnecessary trouble since you have an enclosed trailer.

Also, I absolutely hate driving anything up into the bed of a truck unless I can back it up against a hill. It sounds like it would fit just fine with the tailgate dropped probably. But again, it all seems unnecessary if you have an trailer. Just use that my friend and make life easier.

 

Also, this is coming from a CrewMax owner, so I truly understand the need for a trailer That's why i have a smallish utility trailer, enclosed, and a car trailer.

 

Take the trailer. Those attachments weigh a hell of a lot more than you'd expect.

My old Wheel Horse 520 is almost 700 lbs bare tractor, 60" deck is 300ish, and the blower is almost 400.

Hauled it home in an 8x10 trailer and it just fit.

 

I would take the trailer as well. I would never want to back a tractor up a ramp into the bed of a truck. I've done it with a 4wheeler once and will not do it again. If it's like my lawn tractor that I had for a short time, it would be way more hassle to take the deck off than it would be to just haul the trailer.

 

Yup! I drove a 4 wheeler up into my old Tundra once and it was terrifying. Anything I have to "ride", I won't load into the bed of my truck.

 

Well that's pretty unanimous!

Not really concerned with dropping the deck, that's pretty quick on the newer ones. I load wheelers all the time with ramps and no issues but wasn't sure about backing a 600lb lawn mower up the ramps. I suppose I'll just drag the trailer along. Thanks for the replies

 

YouTube some loading fails to convince yourself you made the right choice.

 

Yee-oowwch!!!
"Seemed like a good idea!"

 

That guy dwarfed that machine! Definitely threw off the center of gravity

 

I liked how the 400lb tractor just bounces of his chest.

 

Well it all went well. Got about 10.5mpg on the trip so I know what to expect in the future. Glad gas was under $1.00 at all the stops!

New (to me) mower with blower

Towing practice for wife

 

Your plan sounds solid. When I picked up my larger mower a while back, I opted to haul it in my truck bed without the trailer. I removed the deck and placed it on a hitch carrier like you're thinking. Worked like a charm! Plus, I had some space left for other gear. And hey, speaking of gear, have you considered planting some creeping thyme around your yard? It's a game-changer for adding charm and reducing maintenance.

 

^^^^^^ it’s a 4 year old post