Anybody have an idea about how much this '49 ton-and-half can safely tow on a trailer? I have a piece of machinery that weighs about 7000#, and the trailer about 1500#; will my old girl do the job?

Should be no problem with a 1 1/2 ton truck.....except for the brakes.

Driver controlled brakes on the trailer will be a help in stopping. As Gene suggested stopping will be your main problem though you wont break any land speed record.
Tony

Thanks guys; are your responses based on actuall experience or your best guessess, is there information published about this? I don't want to drive five hundred miles and find out the truck wont do the job. I have trailer brakes and my trailer is a two axle, the tires say they're rated at 1750# each.

The truck will pull the load but not at a high speed. Don't want to go too fast in case you want to stop. Your trailer will be overloaded as I am 99% sure you have 3500 lb axles. That makes 7000# for load, plus 1500# for trailer, totaling 8500#. It is legal (if stopped and checked) to overload by 10%.

My advise is two fold.

If you want to haul it yourself then inflate the trailer tires to about 5-10 psig over rating and drive at moderate speed. There is a safety factor on the tires. They are rated at much higher speed than you will be traveling. Heat caused by flexing is the death of tires. The higher pressure and lower speed will help. The only problem with higher pressures is chuck holes or other objects that can break the belts and/or blow out the tire.

If you don't feel comfortable check with U-Ship or one of the other online transport brokers. I have found that rates are reasonable and service good in most cases. What they do is get bids on your load and then you can contact the people to see if you trust them with your stuff. Has worked out well for me. Often they will transport your stuff for less than it would cost you for gas, meals and motel room.

Yes I have personally used both methods. So the advise is based on experience.

Thank you for the response, this was what I was looking for and helps a lot. I'll try uship and see what happens.

ron