The Big Rentals Guide to Towing an Equipment Trailer in and around Nashville, TN

Few cities are growing like Nashville, and growth means machines. Skid steers, compact track loaders and mini excavators are grading lots, digging drainage and prepping foundations all over the metro and the spreading suburbs, and every one of them has to get to the site on a trailer. Loading a heavy machine safely is the part that demands your attention. Then Nashville hands you rolling hills and a sky that can turn on you fast.

Do the loading right and secure the machine for the road, and an equipment trailer is a straightforward tool. This guide covers the trailers that match real Nashville machines, the Tennessee rules that apply once you couple up, and the loading, the hills and the storms worth planning around.

Why Nashville Renters Choose Equipment Trailers

The boom leads. As one of the fastest-growing metros in the country, Nashville keeps compact machines busy on site prep, foundations and drainage across the city and out into the suburbs, and the equipment trailer is how the machine gets there. Read more about what trailer you need to haul a mini excavator.

Property and land work adds to it, with grading and excavation on Middle Tennessee's rolling lots and rural parcels, and many of these machines are rented for a weekend or a single job, so the trailer is what makes that possible without a delivery fee. Read more about how to choose an equipment trailer by machine weight and width.

Wherever the machine is headed, you will find trailer rentals across the Nashville area from local owners near you.

Tennessee Towing Laws to Know

Brakes

Tennessee requires trailer brakes at 3,000 lb, driver-applied, with an automatic breakaway (TCA § 55-9-204). A compact machine plus its attachments clears 3,000 lb easily, so brakes and a breakaway are a given. Confirm the trailer's brakes and breakaway and your tow vehicle's controller, and check the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) before you book. Read more about what GVWR means and how to read it.

Securing the machine

Chain the machine down at four points to its designated tie-down spots with rated binders, drop and secure the boom or bucket, and secure any attachment separately rather than letting it ride loose. Safety chains carry the trailer itself. Read more about how to load and secure equipment on an equipment trailer.

Width and permits

Width is capped at 102 in, and that is the line a compact machine can cross. A wide skid steer or a machine with an attachment can push past it and need a TDOT oversize permit, so measure the machine, not just the trailer. Read more about when your equipment trailer needs an oversize load permit.

Speed, HOV and license

Tennessee sets no separate towing speed limit, so the posted number applies. Nashville's interstate HOV lanes are occupancy-based carpool lanes during weekday rush hours, and the state does not spell out a trailer ban the way some do, but a loaded equipment trailer belongs in the general lanes anyway. A standard license covers a personal haul, with commercial licensing only for the heaviest rigs.

Matching Trailer to Machine

Machine and attachments

Add the machine's operating weight and its attachments together, since a full bucket or a grapple adds real weight, and match that to the trailer's rating with margin.

Deck and ramps

A lower deck and a dovetail flatten the ramp angle so a low machine loads without high-centering. Match the ramp to the machine, since a tracked mini excavator and a wheeled skid steer load differently, and reach for a gooseneck for the heaviest machines.

Hitch and balance

Match the coupler and receiver to the loaded weight, confirm the brake controller, and place the machine for 10% to 15% tongue weight so the trailer tracks straight instead of swaying.

Loading, Hills and Storms

Loading is the danger point

Most of what goes wrong on an equipment haul happens on the ramps. Load on level, firm ground with a spotter, drive the machine straight up the ramps centered on the deck, and never turn on the ramps. A machine sliding sideways is the worst thing that happens on a haul, and a flat spot and a spotter prevent nearly all of it.

The rolling grades

The Highland Rim rolls rather than climbing to mountains, but a loaded equipment trailer still works the brakes on the longer descents. Downshift and let the engine help, and recheck the tie-downs before a grade so nothing shifts once you are on it.

Heat and tires

Long, hot Middle Tennessee summers are hard on trailer tires under a heavy load, so check pressure when the tires are cold and watch the sidewalls.

Storms and traffic

Storms come up fast here, so plan around them rather than pushing through. And with I-40, I-24 and I-65 converging through a congested metro, give yourself long, planned merges with a machine on behind you and keep right.

Insurance and Damage Protection

What about insurance and damage protection?

Before towing a rented trailer, contact your auto insurance provider to ask whether your policy covers liability and towing-related damage claims.

Eligible rentals booked through Big Rentals also include Basic Rental Protection at checkout. This added protection can help limit your financial responsibility for certain damage or theft events during the rental period.

For full details on how Basic Rental Protection works, including deductibles, exclusions, and renter responsibilities, review our FAQ and platform terms.

Ready To Book?

Match the trailer to the machine plus its attachments, load on firm ground, chain it down at four points, and mind the 102 in width. Do that and an equipment trailer is the safest way to get a compact machine across the metro and to the job. When you are ready, browse equipment trailer rentals in Nashville from local owners near you.

The Short Version

• Equipment trailers move Nashville's compact machines for a boomtown's site prep, foundations, drainage and land work.
• A machine plus attachments clears Tennessee's 3,000 lb brake threshold, so assume brakes and a breakaway (TCA § 55-9-204).
• Chain the machine down at four points, boom or bucket down, and secure the attachment separately.
• Load on level, firm ground and never turn on the ramps; a wide machine can cross 102 in and need a TDOT permit, so measure it.
• Posted speed applies, and the HOV lanes are occupancy-based with no clear trailer ban, but the general lanes are the call with a machine on behind you.
• Downshift on the rolling grades, check the tires in the heat, and keep 10% to 15% of the weight on the tongue.