147 Tow Capacity
 

About how much can I tow with my 147 without damage? I have an old snowmobile trailer that I have had on it a few times, and it tows it good, I just don't know if it will cause damage after a while. I will probably never load it too heavy, mostly just tree branches and stuff when I'm cleaning up the yard. I know they are strong, but I don't know what is too much. I do not want to learn the hard way that I was towing too much.

It will tow as much as it will tow. The rear end will handle the weight it will handle. People hook their tractors to ridiculous things like 2 axle car trailers and box trailers on here all the time. How much until it breaks? Likely more than you will put on it. The only safe answer is you should never tow something that weighs more than the tractor, and the hitch that is on it will bend if it's overloaded before the rear end will break.

Me, I have carts I use behind the garden tractors. If I want to pull something bigger, I use a bigger tractor, or my pickup. That's what the pickup and bigger tractors were made for, bigger stuff, like snowmobile trailers.

I think you will run out of traction before you run out of tow strength. I have seen people tow small planes, boats, cars, etc. with their cubs. The only time you would do damage is if you have a hydrostat, which you have with a 147 and you tried to roll it too far (tow IT).

Cub Cadet 123

You will run out of traction before anything else.

I see you live in Pa, remembering they have a hill or two there. :biggrin2:
I'd be careful of stopping on an incline as brakes and traction are a factor.
Just let common sense prevail.:beerchug:
if you had a little lawnmower I'd say not to tow anything bigger than a lawn cart, but that is not the case.

I have a sno-mobile trailer that I actually use to transport lawn/garden tractors highway wise. And you could load anything up to a super on it and pull it around your yard all day with your Cub and never hurt it. But like ol' George sez, if your gonna tackle going down a steep slippery curvy slope with a 500 pound load it's likely that you'll need a change of underwear that day.

Thanks for the answers. I did not think it was a problem, but I wanted to be sure. The brakes are a problem because it doesn't really have them, but I have not had trouble stopping yet. I don't have any really steep hills to worry about, only small inclines. Now I also know I can tow my John Deere when it breaks:biggrin2:

This is a good quote! :bigthink:

If it's on relatively level ground, any cub can probably pull a half ton pickup if one starts gradually, as once it's moving it's not a significant load. Tongue weight is a major issue and STOPPING is potentially the biggest issue!

My driveway isn't that much of an incline and I used my 125 with loaded 10.50 tires exactly ONCE to jockey my 18' i/o boat around.

There was severe pucker factor involved as it pushed me down the driveway.

My son and I have narrow frame gear drives which I presume the 147 rear is essentially the same. I have pulled loads that I lost traction with chains and on bare ground. Those tractors are still with us without any issues. We have also pulled some quite heavy loads on really big trailers with our supers that have essentially the same transmissions. Still no harm came of it. These tractors are designed to lose traction before reaching their max pulling weight. I can't wait till we get one of our 149s fixed up to see how they do. I live in the hilly part of PA so brakes are a godsend.