i gotta 96 150, i6, 5spd, 4x4, and its rated 7,800 or something, but i was looking through the owners manual and a auto tranny is 10,000. why? and about how heavy of a trailer would i need to tow a 8,700lb tractor?

 

You'd need an F-250. Plain and simple.

 

Why, IMO Ford doesn't like replacing clutches under warranty.

I'd recommend a trailer with two 7,000 lbs axles. Might be able to get by with 6,000 lbs axles, but it would depend on size of tractor, to determine the actual size of trailer needed.

 

Most people don't understand how to use a clutch so trannies and clutches get battered. Having towed trailers near the trucks "limits" you probably are pushing beyond the real limits of the truck. Even with a 10,000# rating, you probably have a realistic max of under 8000# (less in hills). A SuperDuty is the realistic truck to pull with. For an 8700# tractor you probably have a trailer that is around 2000-2500#... limits? What limits...

 

His F-150 with the I-6 isn't rated at 7800 lbs. Hell, I'd be suprised if it was even 6,000 lbs. A similar 97-up F-150 would have a tow rating of about 3500lbs. Even so, you're not going to be able to tow that load safely with an F-150. Period. That load would make my Powerstroke sweat just a bit.

 

My 2003 F150 5-speed was rated at 2900 lbs, quoted by a dealer mechanic, so I sold it and bought a 2006 S-crew auto of course so I can tow a travel trailer.

 

I pulled 6000 lbs with my '99 F150 with no issues... and that was up a boat ramp too. The manual helped me control the wheel spin variance by a lot! Some thought I had 4x4... and I did it without slipping the clutch too much when pulling out of the ramp.

On the road, it drove like a beauty... had no difference in 1st than driving it normally. Didn't have to rev it any more than I usually had to, thus having no more than "normal" impact on the clutch wear and tear.

Besides... it is SUPER easy to change out the friction materials on a stick than it is to replace a whole automatic transmission. Not to mention when you do replace the friction material in the stick, you often look to want to get a Centerforce or something a lot better than stock.

Go figure:

Automatic transmission: $3k
Manual Transmission: $1k (at most!)

But if you know how to drive a stick... you should have no worries. Ford doesn't cover it because it's not considered "a heavy duty truck" and anyone could slip up on the clutch and burn it up... where as with the SuperDuties, they can offer the "warranty" up higher.