Securing Equipment on Trailer

[Marlowe]

I've towed trailers as part of my job all of my adult life. I can tell you from that experience that without a doubt an improperly loaded trailer can hurt you or someone else when you least expect it. You might get away with it once, or twice, or a hundred times, but sooner or later it's gonna' bite you. Load it right and tie it down every time.

 

[SouthernX]

I've towed trailers as part of my job all of my adult life. I can tell you from that experience that without a doubt an improperly loaded trailer can hurt you or someone else when you least expect it. You might get away with it once, or twice, or a hundred times, but sooner or later it's gonna' bite you. Load it right and tie it down every time.

I'm new at this game. I'll be loading a gooseneck with a NH2420. I want to do it right. Any online resources that you want to suggest or perhaps share your insights with us?

 

[john_bud]

Actually my point is a 10K fully loaded trailer at 15% would be 1500lbs of tongue weight. Even at 10% and a 1000lbs. your into 1ton territory. So how are all these 1/2 and 3/4 ton bumper pulls able to do it? Then there is me with the 14K trailer. I have a titan hitch with a 2000lb ball mount which isn't the norm for most people. I guess thats where I'm coming from. Then think about all these SUV's out there supposedly towing 6-8K and there is no way they can handle the 10-15% tongue load.
I'm guessing may be at 1000lbs tongue when I'm loaded to 12K. I know thats considered light but it pulls perfect and I'm saying that because my axles are quite far back.

How are the 1/2 ton and SUV's doing it? They aren't. It's just that simple. They don't allow straight bumper pull with over 5-6000 pound trailers. UNLESS they use a WD hitch, then they can go 7500-9000 or so. So, YES, they do it by using the correct equipment - a weight distributing hitch. Or better yet a gooseneck. And a goose gives higher tongue weight (but less lever action on the towing vehicle).

Also, a typical soccer mom SUV towing a 10k equipment trailer with 5% tongue weight is a catastrophe waiting to happen in so so so many different ways. Just not bright in my opinion.

By the way, my 3/4 ton is rated to tow 14k on the bumper with a WD hitch, so most 3/4 tons can do it.

jb

 

[JohnDeere4300]

JB,

here is the way i bind mine down, i only use 2 chains and binders and that is legal in my state, but it is probably different in your state.

I use high test chain and i use ratchet binders, but in my pictures i have the manual binders, just to show you how i bind it down.(a lot quicker)

In some pictures it shows how i bind through the loader arms.

on some it shows how i bind it with a BH, and when i haul it i put my pins in to keep the BH from swinging and letting down.

If i haul a bush hog on the back, then i bind it different with high test straps over the bush hog and a chain at the back of the tractor.

I had my chain cut to 12ft. lengths and still have slack if needed.

In your pictures, it looked like you did a great job and i wished they would have put something on tractors to make it easier to tie one down.

 

[Mundy]

JohnDeer4300,

Maybe its the angle of the photo but your chains look to be both pulling the tractor to the rear of the trailer rather than pulling against each other.
Like this / / rather than / \ or \ /.
This // configuration will allow the tractor to move rearward and losen the chains.
These configurations: / \ or \ / are pulling against each other and keep the tractor from moveing.

I like how you wraped the excess chain around the snap binder. No way that could come open with that wraped like that.

 

[wkpoor]

This pics is a good example of my situation. When I hauled this car I just pulled it forward till the truck started to sink just a little. But for the most part its still level. It pulled perfect on the highway. Whats the tongue weight, have no idea.

 

[em14]

JD 4300 - It is my understanding that your tiedowns are not the way the Fed Guide Lines intented or require. It is fine to the way you have the bucket if you are intending to tie the bucket down only. The backhoe is not tied down ... if that chain is to tie the tractor, it is not pulling againist the front which is required. The back hoe should be tied down so that it can not rotate nor liftand requires it's own tie downs. (IMHO and myunderstanding of the Fed Guidelines.)

 

[JohnDeere4300]

OK. Now that I finally got an Equipment trailer I need to learn how to secure loads properly. For now it's a JD4310 and a ford 1700.
What I would like is pictures of how you connect to machine.
Pictures help me get the idea quicker if any one has any.
I'm going out now to experiment.
Thanks
JB.

JB,

The way you did it is fine, it looks secured enough.

You wanted pictures, but no one has any but have advice on how to, but its hard to know what their talking about without any pictures.

JD 4300 - It is my understanding that your tiedowns are not the way the Fed Guide Lines intented or require. It is fine to the way you have the bucket if you are intending to tie the bucket down only. The backhoe is not tied down ... if that chain is to tie the tractor, it is not pulling againist the front which is required. The back hoe should be tied down so that it can not rotate nor liftand requires it's own tie downs. (IMHO and myunderstanding of the Fed Guidelines.)

1) I know the FED GUIDE LINES in my state and my brother-in-law is
a Sargent with the KSP, and i have talked to plenty of Kentucky-Vehicle-Enforcement officers and they have also seen my tractor loaded and didn't say nothing about it, the way i secure it down is the way the dealers deliver them.

2) The backhoe is tied down, and did you read about me saying that i
put the pins in to keep it from swinging from side to side, and the pin
to keep it from going up and down, *On the main end of the backhoe
it wouldn't move up and down, unless you took a jack and jack it up.

3) The bucket wasn't the only thing tied down, if you looked at where the chain went through and the tractor has never moved an inch every time i hauled it and been hauling it that way since 01.

I also use to drive a tractor trailer flatbed division all over the U.S. and hauled tractors, steel, large pipe etc... and know how to secure a load.

*Do you have pictures?__That would help JB.

JohnDeer4300,
Maybe its the angle of the photo but your chains look to be both pulling the tractor to the rear of the trailer rather than pulling against each other.
Like this / / rather than / \ or \ /.

It was the angle you was looking at.__It has never moved.

If you look at the way JB has his, you might see this / \ also.

Pictures would be better than // / \ or \ / Do you have any?

JB was needing some pictures.

JB,

here is the way i bind mine down, i only use 2 chains and binders and that is legal in my state, but it is probably different in your state.

In your pictures, it looked like you did a great job!

JB,

I pulled my pictures off, there is more experts than me with no pictures

 

[garydc]

this is how I tie mine down using straps 2 on the front and 2 on the back of the tractor 1 over the loader and 1 on the backhoe (and pin the hoe so it can't turn side to side) or whatever implement I have on the back and I use pieces of fire hose over the straps in areas where they may rub.Gary

 

[Mundy]

I have been formally trained by my employer to haul large excavators backhoes and dozers according to FEDERAL Regulations but I have no photos to offer. I am not an "expert" by any means and did not offer input on this topic until I saw your photos of an improperly bound piece of equipment.

Even in your Avatar the rear chain is hooked behind your trailer fenders which is pulling the tractor to the rear of the trailer and the chain across the loader attachment arms is hooked so it is pulling the tractor toward the rear of the trailer. If your parking brake failed or released the tractor could roll back and cause the chains to loosen. The tires could also slide. I am glad it has never moved on you and I hope it never does.


Gary has provided excellent photos. He is securing the tractor front and rear with opposing force and is also securing both the loader attachment and the backhoe attachment.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I have no photos to offer. I am not an expert and did not offer input on this topic until I saw your photos of an improperly bound piece of equipment.

Even in your Avatar the rear chain is hooked behind your trailer fenders.


Gary has provided excellent photos. also securing both the loader attachment and the backhoe attachment.

1) If it is a improperly bound piece of equipment._*I wouldn't haul it.*

2)

Even in my Avatar the chain is hooked behind my fenders.

* Can you see where Gary's is hooked.___*Behind the Fenders.*

* Go to page 1 and see where JB's is hooked.

(Where would you hook yours.__ Around the fenders or the wheels.)

3)

Gary is securing the loader and backhoe attachment.

* Go to page 1 and

what attachment is secured on the front and rear of JB's.

If the bucket is hooked up in the pins right and chained down, and down on the trailer floor,__ *You would have to take a cutting torch to get it off the tractor*

 

[Diamondpilot]

I think what he means is there is no angle on the chains. You have them positioned right aft of the fenders, they need to be back about 3 feet towards the ramps. You have the chains pulling left and right.

They should come off at a 45 deg angle minimum from the piece of equipment you are hauling both front and back.

Chris

 

[JB4310]

I've spent close to $350. at AWdirect in the last few days, Picked up some more chain, another ratcheting binder, a bunch of different type hooks and repair clevis gizmo's for other chains I have.

Now I have 4 corners covered, 2 - 7.5' G70 3/8" chains, and 2 - 3/8" ungraded 8' pieces, 2 new G70 binders and 2 G40 binders, I had 2 - 2 ton straps I'll use for implements
That stuff is heavy, I put it all in a pail and couldn't lift it

I think I got lucky finding the attachment points on my tractor, both front and back seem to be ideal and when I bound it down you could see it was not going anywhere. I read some safety warnings on the transport grade stuff where it refers to 30 degree minimum angles?

I didn't see jd4300's pics so I can't comment on them, but checking some other threads here on TBN I saw some setups that did not look safe at all, Seen some pics of tractors where they were tied straight forward and straight back, nothing pulling opposing corners, looked like potential for lateral movement like that?

I'll get some more pics soon, JB

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I think what he means is there is no angle on the chains. You have them positioned right aft of the fenders, they need to be back about 3 feet towards the ramps. You have the chains pulling left and right.

They should come off at a 45 deg angle minimum from the piece of equipment you are hauling both front and back.

Chris

You didn't see how i bind it down, so how would you know.

 

[Mundy]

Johndeere4300,
It is your combination of the front and rear chains. They are both pulling toward the rear.
The front and rear bindings should pull on the equipment in opposite direction. As you said your fenders are in the way so the rear chains have to angle back. This angle pulls down and toward the rear. Thats great as long as the front pulls down and forward. Your front is hooked to the trailer behind the point it is secured to the tractor so it is also pulling down and back. The front a rear both pulling to the back locks your tractor in place against the parking brake or transmission.
The binding alone should hold the equipment securly in place.

What would happen if you placed your tractor in neutral and release the parking brake when you haul?

 

[Dargo]

I use two straps on whenever I'm hauling. On the rear, if I don't have anything on the 3PH, I go thru the tires, and then catch the front on the loader arms with another. I put the straps so that they pull towards each other. I used to use the ratcheting load binders but now I only use the ratcheting straps.

I have seen loads come off before and don't ever want to have it happen to me. I feel confident with the two straps, never go over sharp edges with them with out using something to protect against abrasion. About a year ago I got to see a D4H come off of a tag-a-long near my house, not a big tractor but was hard to handle upside down in the middle of the road. But I need to add that he just wasn't going down the road and it fell off, someone came into his lane and he got off on the side of the road and the trailer slid into the ditch before hitting a driveway culvert.

You do know that you have the perfect recipe for disaster, don't you? If you use only 2 straps, you are most likely a danger to everyone on the road, but illegal. I don't know what size tractor you have, but if it's more than a garden tractor, you are taking a huge risk. Trust me, I know only too well that 2 10k rated straps on the front and rear of a tractor, not even touching any sharp edges, can easily fail on a straight road. I can't imagine how dangerous it is only using only 1 strap on either end. Please tell us that you only have a small garden tractor.

**edit**

OMG!!! I just read your profile and see that you have a L5030. That's exactly the tractor I had on my trailer that snapped 2 10k rated (fine print says 3300 WLL) straps on each end nearly caused a complete disaster. All it took was a dip in the road for the trailer to flex and snap the straps when it flexed back. Many people here have seen the long thread on that incident. Since then, I've never ever used a strap ever since to secure any tractor to a trailer. If you're only using one strap on either end of that tractor, I'll tell you now, you are most certainly a danger to everyone on the road and are taking a HUGE chance of losing your tractor and severely injuring or killing other innocent drivers.

 

[JB4310]

You do know that you have the perfect recipe for disaster, don't you? If you use only 2 straps, you are most likely a danger to everyone on the road, but illegal. I don't know what size tractor you have, but if it's more than a garden tractor, you are taking a huge risk. Trust me, I know only too well that 2 10k rated straps on the front and rear of a tractor, not even touching any sharp edges, can easily fail on a straight road. I can't imagine how dangerous it is only using only 1 strap on either end. Please tell us that you only have a small garden tractor.

**edit**

OMG!!! I just read your profile and see that you have a L5030. That's exactly the tractor I had on my trailer that snapped 2 10k rated (fine print says 3300 WLL) straps on each end nearly caused a complete disaster. All it took was a dip in the road for the trailer to flex and snap the straps when it flexed back. Many people here have seen the long thread on that incident. Since then, I've never ever used a strap ever since to secure any tractor to a trailer. If you're only using one strap on either end of that tractor, I'll tell you now, you are most certainly a danger to everyone on the road and are taking a HUGE chance of losing your tractor and severely injuring or killing other innocent drivers.

I didn't see anything in his post that said what capacity strap he was using, they have webbing gear that can lift a house. Actually I didn't get a good picture in my mind exactly how he was attaching his tractor to the trailer.

As long as the strapping is rated for the load I don't see how chain would be safer, guys have used just one chain on the front and one on the rear for ages.

I've found in my one day of experience in equipment hauling, it's just easier to grab all 4 corners and pull against each other, less stress on everything and a good solid secure load which means less stress on the operator the cost difference is just the 2 extra binders, cut the long chains in half and your done.

The first time I hauled my tractor in my enclosed dump trailer I used only one strap on front and one on back, they were only rated for 2 ton each, that still exceeds the weight of the tractor but I wouldn't trust that on an open platform like an equipment trailer. With the dump trailer there were only 4 D-rings so you were limited to how you could tie things down. With this long Equipment trailer with the many stake pockets and continuous rub rail there are many places to attach to the trailer for the optimal safe tie down.

The area people seem to be having trouble is how to grab the tractor, I looked at the back of mine yesterday and determined if I didn't have those available BH attachment holes it would be a pain tieing down the back side, would have to try and get chain over axle which there is not much room and many parts to potentially damage.

Everybody stay safe and offer more solutions/ideas to this issue.

JB.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You didn't see how i bind it down, so how would you know.

We are talking about the picture in the avatar.

Chris

 

[Dargo]

I didn't see anything in his post that said what capacity strap he was using, they have webbing gear that can lift a house. Actually I didn't get a good picture in my mind exactly how he was attaching his tractor to the trailer.

JB.

Ok, in 5 minutes find a place on the internet that sells strapping with ends that can be secured on a trailer with a WLL of 5600 pounds or higher. My guess is the only place you will find is AW Direct and then you'll find basket slings. To get to the higher ratings, you'll spend many, many times the price of G70 chain. I'm yet to see anyone on here who uses straps who aren't using the 2" wide straps that say 10,000 rating real big on the straps. With those, positively, 1 on each end is inadequate. Being that most guys here don't want to spend the money for U.S. made chain over Chinese made chain, I doubt someone is going to spend 4X the cost of U.S. made chain for the appropriate sized straps. Even then, most every state in the union is going to require 4 attachments; one on each corner for loads weighing over 2000 pounds. No matter how you slice it, using 2 straps to secure a tractor is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Dargo]

The first time I hauled my tractor in my enclosed dump trailer I used only one strap on front and one on back, they were only rated for 2 ton each, that still exceeds the weight of the tractor...
JB.

If you only use securing equipment equal to the weigh of your tractor, you are way under secured. You need to account for shock loads that will be more than the weight of your tractor. Using only the weight of your tractor as a guide to be equal to your binders will get you in big trouble eventually. That is not safe.