I am soon to buy a tractor/front end loader/bushog. And a tandem trailer. My farm property is about 100 miles from my house, but most of the time the tractor will live there. Any of you have any experience hauling 4,500 lbs with your 100 Series?
Real world towing capacity
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100's aren't my first choice for towing, but they can certainly move a trailer.
A lot of hills? In a hurry? Don't expect much.
Standing by for photos of Hundys hauling well over their rated limit of 6500lb. 
Limiting factors for safety IMO are brakes, rear suspension (these first two can be largely mitigated by whether the trailer is equipped with brakes and whether it is appropriately loaded), and whether or not the truck has LT tires.
Limiting factors for safety IMO are brakes, rear suspension (these first two can be largely mitigated by whether the trailer is equipped with brakes and whether it is appropriately loaded), and whether or not the truck has LT tires.
I tow about 6000lbs with mine along with a few hundred pounds of gear in the back. PJ 18' open car hauler steel 5" channel frame, and my 87 Toyota SAS'd pickup. I use airlift bags in the rear springs to help the AHC pressures stay close to spec. It tows great but can get slow through big hills.
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My quick math tells me that all in I will be around 4,500, but ratings can be misleading and it is, after all, a 25 year old truck. I am looking at compact tractors for some lane clearing, food plot making and beer drinking work.Standing by for photos of Hundys hauling well over their rated limit of 6500lb.
Limiting factors for safety IMO are brakes, rear suspension (these first two can be largely mitigated by whether the trailer is equipped with brakes and whether it is appropriately loaded), and whether or not the truck has LT tires.
Louisiana - flat as a board. And state highways, so likely never over 60. Not twisty either.
Send it! should be fine.
Last time I was in Louisiana they didn’t have mountains so yeah you’ll be fine. Trailer brakes are legit, I recommend the Curt echo Bluetooth controller if you don’t have one
I tow over 4,000 lbs regularly and have never had an issue. As SombodyElse5 said, hills will be slow and steady. Make sure your breaks are in good shape.
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An aussie 100 is rated to tow 3500kg - ~7700 lbs.
Drive with some mechanical sympathy and make sure your brakes are sorted.
Once brakes are sorted, make sure the cooling system is sorted.
Then, tow to your heart's content.
Drive with some mechanical sympathy and make sure your brakes are sorted.
Once brakes are sorted, make sure the cooling system is sorted.
Then, tow to your heart's content.
Lots of good info above.
I would add not a bad idea to monitor trans temps. Try to keep it in gears that lock the torque converter when possible. Keeps trans temps down.
I would add not a bad idea to monitor trans temps. Try to keep it in gears that lock the torque converter when possible. Keeps trans temps down.
You can do it.
I pull my 5000# boat / trailer all the time just not very far. Given your location and lack of hills, I wouldn't sweat it at all. The 100 is a decent tow vehicle, but far from ideal for repeated long hauls. Anticipate stops sooner and don't plan on passing anyone. And expect 8-10 mpg.
I've rented U-trailer, to hauled a 100 with a 100 series. U-haul does not actually allow for this. As they limite at ~ 80% (IIRC) of pulling vehicle weight. Which is ~4,500.
You'll be fine!
You'll be fine!
I tow our 18’ travel trailer with ours. Fine on the flats, dog slow 2nd gear pulls up some of our not too steep hilly/mountain terrain. Last windy segment was sub-8mpg, usually get 8-10mpg average. Weight is in the 3800lb range.
I’ve only done two “long hauls” with my 100. 320 miles with 5500 lbs, didn’t notice much back there. 50 miles with 6700 lbs, I can feel the weight but mainly braking. Both routes are flat (from Nola). My experience may differ from yours as I’m supercharged, lifted with progressive rear springs, and have E load tires.
About 10 years ago I bought a popup camper that weighs 2,600 lbs empty but has a cargo deck in the front and attached to that is a toolbox filled with extra gear so it has a pretty heavy tongue weight of about 400 lbs. I had some serious rear sag/squat issues on the 100 due to the tongue weight and additional weight of gear in the rear cargo area of the vehicle. So I installed some Airlift 1000 air springs inside the coil springs. I also added an electric brake controller. It tows that trailer that I'd estimate at about 3,200 lbs fully loaded in a weight carrying hitch configuration without any concerns. Is it slow on hills? Yes. Is it slower because I live in NM and go to CO a lot, which means 5,000' - 10,000' elevation? Yes. Lower elevations and flat routes are perfectly fine. My '99 doesn't have a lot of miles (150K) and I keep on top of maintenance but it's a non-vvti motor so about 230 hp and a 4 speed transmission. And I have some slightly oversized Load Range E tires with original gears, so more things to make it slow.
Last weekend I bought a Jayco Jay Feather Micro 166FBS. All those words might make you think it's lightweight but it weighs about 4,000 lbs empty/dry. I did a test tow around the area with some small hills and it seemed ok but not like it's no problem. The trailer came with a weight distributing hitch and I've set it up per the directions. But the truck certainly struggles to maintain speed on bigger hills. I'm really worried about this summer when I go up to Silverton and I have to go over Coal Bank and Molas Pass north of Durango. My truck just chugged along at 25 mph in 2nd gear with the lighter popup on those passes previously. I'm pretty nervous about what I will experience with this newer, heavier trailer that is also a bigger profile for catching wind resistance. I really like my 100-series and I don't want to replace it but I also would struggle to justify keeping it if I had to get something bigger to tow the bigger trailer.
Last weekend I bought a Jayco Jay Feather Micro 166FBS. All those words might make you think it's lightweight but it weighs about 4,000 lbs empty/dry. I did a test tow around the area with some small hills and it seemed ok but not like it's no problem. The trailer came with a weight distributing hitch and I've set it up per the directions. But the truck certainly struggles to maintain speed on bigger hills. I'm really worried about this summer when I go up to Silverton and I have to go over Coal Bank and Molas Pass north of Durango. My truck just chugged along at 25 mph in 2nd gear with the lighter popup on those passes previously. I'm pretty nervous about what I will experience with this newer, heavier trailer that is also a bigger profile for catching wind resistance. I really like my 100-series and I don't want to replace it but I also would struggle to justify keeping it if I had to get something bigger to tow the bigger trailer.
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I don't normally find myself towing above 4,500. I do have a brake controller and air bags. It doesn't love going up long hills, but part of it is my driving style. If I let it drop to third it would do pretty well but most of the time I try to keep it in 4th. It doesn't lock the torque converter in third so the trans temps will climb very fast. Granted, they don't go too high... But I guess it's kind of a game to me to keep them down. 
I don't normally find myself towing above 4,500. I do have a brake controller and air bags. It doesn't love going up long hills, but part of it is my driving style. If I let it drop to third it would do pretty well but most of the time I try to keep it in 4th. It doesn't lock the torque converter in third so the trans temps will climb very fast. Granted, they don't go too high... But I guess it's kind of a game to me to keep them down.
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What do you typically see your trans temp get to? I took a recent trip with about 4,000 lbs, and had some pretty long hills; I was getting up just over 200 degrees. Granted, it was a pretty cool day at around 60 outside.