Farm trailers
A farm trailer is a tractor-drawn trailer for moving grain, silage, bales, soil, machinery and other loads. Tipping trailers lift their body with a hydraulic ram to unload, while flat and bale trailers are loaded and unloaded from the side.
How it works
A tipping trailer has a body hinged at the rear of its chassis. A telescopic hydraulic ram, usually mounted at the front and fed with oil from the tractor's spool valve, pushes the front of the body up until the load slides out of the back door. A safety valve on the ram stops the body dropping if a hose bursts, and on some trailers the suspension is locked while tipping to keep the load stable.
The trailer hangs off the tractor's pick-up hitch or drawbar through its towing eye and drawbar. Most of its weight sits on the trailer's own axles, single, tandem or tridem, while some is carried by the tractor's hitch, which helps traction.
Main types
- Grain and silage tipper: High-sided body with a tailgate, often with extension sides for bulky silage. The everyday trailer on arable and livestock farms.
- Dump or half-pipe trailer: A heavy, rounded steel body for soil, stone and muck, built to take impact and tip cleanly.
- Bale trailer: A flat deck with front and rear ladders or side rails to hold round or square bales securely.
- Flatbed and low-loader: For moving machinery, pallets and, on low-loaders, combines and tractors between fields.
- Two-way tipper: Can tip rearwards or to the side, handy for filling clamps and hoppers.
- Tankers and livestock trailers: Purpose-built trailers for water, fertiliser, slurry or animals.
Hooking it up to a tractor
Trailers attach to the pick-up hitch, a hook hitch or a ball hitch, and need a hydraulic service for tipping plus a brake connection. Trailers built for 40 km/h usually have single-line hydraulic brakes; faster trailers need dual-line hydraulic or air brakes, often with ABS. Lights must be connected and working. The tractor must be heavy enough and braked well enough to stop the laden trailer.
Rules of the road
Rules vary by country. In Great Britain, the NFU notes that a tractor with an unsprung rear axle is limited to 40 km/h, and a laden tractor and trailer combination must not exceed 31 tonnes. In Ireland, trailers built from 2016 for over 40 km/h need air brakes with load sensing. Check the plate on your trailer, the tractor's hitch load limit and your local law before heading out.
Buying and care tips
- Ask for a brake test: A brake performance certificate shows the trailer can stop its rated load.
- Match brakes to your tractor: A trailer that brakes poorly overworks the tractor's brakes, which can fail early.
- Check tyres and wheel nuts: Use tyres with the right speed and load rating, keep pressures correct and fit wheel nut indicators.
- Inspect the hitch and eye: Worn towing eyes and hook hitches can let a trailer come loose. Ball hitches are more secure.
- Mind overhead lines when tipping: A raised body can reach power lines. Tip on level ground with nobody behind the trailer.
Questions people ask
How does a tipping trailer work?
A hydraulic ram fed by the tractor lifts the front of the body so the load slides out through the rear door.
What is the difference between a dump trailer and a grain trailer?
A dump trailer has a tough, often rounded steel body for soil and rubble. A grain trailer has a smooth, high-sided body with a sealed tailgate for loose crops.
What brakes does a farm trailer need?
It depends on speed and weight. Trailers for 40 km/h often use single-line hydraulic brakes, while faster trailers need dual-line hydraulic or air brakes.
How fast can a tractor and trailer go?
It depends on country and equipment. In Great Britain a tractor with an unsprung rear axle is limited to 40 km/h.
Related equipment
Sources
- Trailer buying guide, NFU
- Tipping system, Joskin
- Braking laws for Class R agricultural trailers and towed equipment, Road Safety Authority
- Different types of agricultural trailers, Hale Trailer
Last checked 2026-11-01