Am I the only one whose uncle swore you can tow a mini excavator with a half ton, and I believed him for one trip | Construction Equipment Hauling

Drew Reed · 2026-09-10T06:05:05.694596+00:00

Back in April I needed to move a 7,900 lb mini ex about 40 miles from a job in Mesquite to a lot near Garland. My uncle, who has towed stuff his whole life, looks at my F-150 and says "you're fine, just keep it out of overdrive and stay under 60." So I rented a 14k deckover, chained it down, and white-knuckled the whole way. Got it there in one piece, so technically he was right. The part he left out was the tongue weight. My rear bumper was about 4 inches off the pavement and every bridge joint felt like a speed bump in a go kart. Also blew through an entire tank of gas for 40 miles. So was he right or wrong? Legally I was way over, but it worked. What's your cutoff for a half ton, and do you bother with a weight distributing hitch on a short haul or just send it?

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Am I the only one whose uncle swore you can tow a mini excavator with a half ton, and I believed him for one trip | Construction Equipment Hauling - Babble Community