No.  A modern 1/2 ton is more than enough truck for 6500#.  Apparently youve already heard the stability nonsense, youre also going to get the standard crap response about brakes and being able to stop........the new 1/2 ton tahoe has larger diameter brakes than the 2500HD Dmax Im driving, sure hope I can stop.

The other issue to resolve, you need to have is a WDH...weight distribution hitch...

http://www.etrailer.com/faq_weightdistribution.aspx

Here is a blog about a 1/2 towing test...it appears the Toyota edged out the Chevy...

http://blogs.trucktrend.com/6202409/truck-news/toyota-tundra-beats-chevrolet-and-nissan-in-half-ton-test/index.html

Everyones 1/2 ton truck can pull a two horse bumper pull with horses, as a few have mentioned above working trailer brakes are a plus. A Weight Distribution Hitch could help if you have alot of sag in the rear after hooking up your load.

We pull a three horse slant BP with my wifes Escalade no problems and it has air ride rear suspension so it adust the ride hieght according to the load.

Chadsalt: there wasn't a thing wrong with our trailer brakes,or our truck brakes either.It just had too much of a load back there pushing it.Kinda like a locamotive,you know? Takes a while to stop it with all that weight back there."Tail wagging the dog. "

We personally didn't like that feeling,so,we won't ever be caught doing that again.We want a bigger truck ourselves.

Thats all good and well that people "feel" better with the bigger trucks.  But feel is ALL it is.  Dont believe me?  Surf around till you find some magazine, Motor Trend, Truck Trend, Car and Driver etc and check out the 60-0 stopping distances for a 1/2 ton and a 1 ton dually.  You will notice the 1 ton with its almighty larger brakes stops NO shorter than the 1/2 ton even when empty.  There are of course variations, but you will notice a pattern.

Now when you put the same trailer behind either truck, be it a 2H BP or 3H GN (which Im sure there are a few that would not overload a 1/2 ton) how do you think it is magically going to stop faster????? 

Why do you think Chevy, and others over the years, get away with using the same brakes on their 2500 and 3500 trucks despite the fact the 3500 will be rated higher?  Probably because a class 3 truck is allowed MORE distance to stop.

Man,I dont' know about all that,and,I really don't care.All I know is this: our 1/2T couldn't hold our 3H steel trailer,and,our dually holds every trailer we've had better,tows it better,ect.There's a reason,I don't know,and like I said,I don't care.There are greater questions I have about the universe than that one.

Fair enough. Perhaps you should refrain from giving advice on a subject that "I dont' know about all that,and,I really don't care"??????????? If you feel better with the larger truck, good, the OP may very well come to the same conclusion. However stating your half ton "wasn't enough to hold it" is just silly...unless you were overloaded?

I pulled a three horse BP trailer with a Ford Expedition that had four wheel disc brakes. We almost wrecked when I had to swerve and hit the brakes to avoid an idiot. Even with the trailer brakes locked, the #5900 weight of the Suv which is built on the 150 frame and running gear, didn't have enough mass to safety handle the situation. The same trailer behind a Ford SD with 4 wheel disc brakes never had that problem.

The braking distance and directional stability of a bare vehicle is grossly different than the stresses encountered when hooked to a trailer. If brakes are applied when in a turn or on a less than a perfect surface, all bets are off. The braking numbers realized on a test track have no bearing in the real world, with a moving load, varying conditions and multiple equipment options.

Your comments that all people who disagree with you, don't know what they are talking about, will not serve you well. In this forum are many well educated and experienced drivers who have been there and done that. They have had many different rigs, and done the miles. They know what they are talking about, through experience and education.

They are also here to graciously help any person who requests assistance. If you were to take your rhetoric down a few notches, you would discover that we are all here for one reason: to enjoy our hobby and get through life as easily as possible.

BOL  Gard

My 1/2 ton Dodge pulls and stops my trailer with no problem, but I prefer the stability that my 3/4 ton's suspension offers. 

If you must get a 1/2 ton, I would get the 1500HD from GMC, additionally I would have it equipped for towing directly from the dealer.

We had a friend who purchased a 1/2 ton from another brand and it was supposed to be towing equipped, well, when she got home and hooked up a 3h Aluminum Charmac bumper pull (Steel frame), the back end of the truck squatted down so bad it was scary! We towed her trailer to the dealer, she then hooked the trailer up and put on a good performance for the salespeople (the truck looked like it was squatting to pee!). Needless to say, they under good faith, took the truck in added extra leaf springs and timbrens for her at no charge. She was happy with the result, but added that she would never buy a 1/2 ton again! I think that trailer was around 3,200lbs empty.

I always like to feel "overpowered" rather than underpowered towing and I always would recommend go with the bigger truck (2500HD), but that is just me. I think alot of this decision would come down to how much you tow, how much weight you typically tow and how far you typically tow with each trip. Good Luck!

Hank
I agree that the suspension has a great deal to do with the stability of a vehicle. Some other stability factors would include the height of the center of gravity, the tire sidewall ratios and the wheelbase lengths. There are many variables that would also include a 4x4 verses 2x4, solid front axle or IFS, sway bars etc.

Truck and trailer brakes are similar in that both have to work under varying load conditions, empty, partially loaded, and full. An empty truck will handle differently than a loaded truck, as will a trailer.

If you add the weight of a bumper pull trailer behind the rear axle, the torque exerted from the axle centerline to the hitch ball center is being pressed down at a spot behind the truck's suspension. A new weight CG is being added to a point roughly even to or lower than the rear axle pumpkin. The front end is actually unloaded to some extent. This load will be constantly changing as you accellerate, turn and brake. The horses moving within the trailer will also change the loading.

With a goose hitch, a great deal of the weight is placed on the rear axle, with less so on the front end. Thousands of pounds of high cg are now above the truck's original cg, greatly effecting the weight distribution front to rear.

Do you think these situations will give you the same braking ability as was initially developed on a bare truck during testing? Will a light short truck not react more readily to these extreme changes than a longer heavier truck? What happens when the truck and trailer are in a turn and you hit the brakes? These affects will be drastically compounded.

I respectively agree to disagree. My family and I are only alive today because I had a heavy long wheelbase truck attached to a long heavy trailer. When we twice jackknifed at 65 mph and were sliding sideways, we did not roll over and were stopped by the application of the trailer brakes which straightened us out enough to stop safety. A light truck would have tucked under, pushed by the trailer, and we would have gone over.

An empty truck and a loaded truck are two different animals. A lighter truck will react to different loadings more readily than a heavier one. Things in motion stay in motion etc...... More mass, less changes

Best of luck Gard

It may come off silly to you,because you weren't riding with us when it happened or you would have thought differently.I may appear "silly" "Ignorant" or uneducated to you,but as I said earlier,we did not like the 2 close encounters we had pulling with our  1/2T truck so we got a bigger truck.I wasn't really advising the guy what to do,I just related our experience to him.No one is critizing your choice of vehicles,I never have criticized  you and said you are silly for pulling your trailers behind a Ford Explorer or for saying you have no problem doing so,so----

We've got a 3H 27' LQ and I doubt that a F150 1/2 T could cut it.

Retento

You're on the ball. My Expedition was a late 90's model that had a solid rear axle. The new ones have an IRS

Gard

They are also here to graciously help any person who requests assistance. If you were to take your rhetoric down a few notches, you would discover that we are all here for one reason: to enjoy our hobby and get through life as easily as possible.

BOL  Gard

Thanks,Gard.

Now, the OP is pulling a 2H bp.  The 1/2 ton would work, the 1/2 ton HD (GM) is better, and a 3/4 ton is even more gooder better.  Lotsa other factors to consider, and it is ultimately up to the OP to decide.

I have towed a lot of miles with a 97 F150 pulling a 3 horse steel bumper pull trailer.  It did just fine. It always sounded like a blender when I asked it to pull up a mountain grade here in Utah. But it got me to where I needed to be. I remember watching my buddies in their diesels and gooseneck pull away from me as we drove up hills. I watched their Goosenecks sail along in a straight line as the wind buffeted my bumper pull. As I did more with horses, i wanted a bigger trailer and with the bigger trailer came the bigger truck.

One thing I have found is there is not much of a price difference between trucks sizes.  There is a big price difference between Options.

i.e. a 3/4 ton Single Rear Wheel cost about $250 less than a 1 ton dually.  Not much of a difference considering they are both about $50,000  But a bare cab XL model cost $20,000 less than a King Ranch in the same size truck. If budgets were an issue, I'd drive an 1 ton XLT instead of a 1/2 ton King Ranch.

I've also found there is not much difference in fuel mileage between a 1/2 ton running a 5.4L gas  engine and a 1 ton running a diesel engine. But there is a huge difference in towing power.  Both around town here where I live get around 13-14 mpg and 18-19 mpg Hiway empty. And my 1 ton diesel probably gets better fuel mileage than a gas 1/2 ton when towing a full load.

So I choose to own a 1 ton Diesel,  It tows so much better and I feel it handles the load better.  But it's not a commuter car. It's terrible to park at the mall or try to get into underground parking when downtown. Each of us has different needs. If your needs dictate a 1/2 ton truck, Buy it and make sure it's equipted to handle the trailer you want to tow. I'm sure they have 1/2 ton rated to tow a 2-3 horse bumper pull trailer.

I believe we were talking about stopping. More weight takes longer to stop, not less........simple physics here. People are not disagreeing with my opinion, more like arguing with facts.  Emergency lane changes are another matter. I generally dont discuss them as it can be far more subjective.  I will summarize a 5000# 2H BP is more than enough to "wag" an 8000# dually when the "it" hits the fan. Whether a dually would be better off than a 1/2 ton, personally I doubt it. No amount of bigger truck will make up for lack of skill. In your example I fail to see how in an accident you avoided you came to the conclusion that the Expy "didn't have enough mass to safety handle the situation"? My comments have served me well over the years, theyve even helped a few people, but in the interest of "my rhetoric" I wont say anything about your braking and swerving (and still didnt have a wreck) comment.