Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[hawkeye08]

When I was a teenager, we grew alfalfa and sold what we didn't need for our own cattle. We had a 1960 Chev with a 42' flatbed and loaded it with about 17 tons of hay. 7 layers high, with 5th layer the tie layer. We were pretty good loading it straight (not tilted to one side). To secure it, we had cables that ran from front to back, over corner boards on the top edges. The cables were stretched very tight (person on top of load lifted them in middle of the load and let them down as the guy on the ground was tightening the cables.. Never had a problem in years of securing load.

Some guys from western washington came with a trailer wanting a load of hay. They didn't know how to load, insisted they knew more than my brother and I, they tied from side to side every 10 ft or so.. they lost their load on the vantage bridge going home.. it closed the westbound freeway for several hours. Glad they paid for the load before they left.

 

[zing]

I need to figure out how best to do the next load of roofing though. Length of panels will be 13'6" and there will be 8 of them. At about 2 pounds per foot, the total load should be less than 300 pounds which is well within the 1,000 pound trailer capacity. But there will be about 5-6 feet hanging off the back of the 8 foot trailer. That will also put the weight behind center and lift the tongue. If I pull the stake sides and front, I can shift the load forward a foot or so at the most which might help some, but not a lot.

My plan is to get 3 or 4 bags of concrete (which I need anyways) to stack on top of the metal sheets forward of center to to bring the load back down on the tongue and hitch.

Flagging will handle the marking the extra length off the trailer.


Thoughts?

A single axle trailer usually doesn't have the axle right in the middle, it is usually set toward the back. Your 8 foot trailer probably has close to 5 feet in front of the axle, so if you overhang a couple feet onto the tongue you will have 7 feet in front of the axle and 6.5 feet behind. Your load likely won't be tail heavy and if you are, it will be so small (just a small portion of 300 lbs) that it won't overcome that the trailer is already tongue heavy when empty. A three hundred pound load that is very slightly tail heavy is not going to cause your trailer to fish-tail. Throwing on a couple bags of concrete or salt at the front of the trailer can't hurt though, just to be sure. They don't need to be on top of the roofing, just at the front of the trailer.

I would be more concerned about getting the panels secured safely. Like the other guys said, a couple 2x's running length-wise may support the overhang, but you really should have some on top too because the wind lift on the highway will more likely bend them than their own weight will. If it was me I would secure a couple 2x's cross-ways at the front and back of the trailer so you can lay the roofing above the trailer rails nice and flat so it will cut through the wind better, with some long 2x's above and below to stop it from bending during transit.

 

[Diggin It]

Not my best load ever, but not my worse. Mostly 2 x 6s between 10 and 14 feet. Pushed what I could trough the rails and over the tongue. Trailer sits at a slant when empty, so this isn't as tail heavy as it appears. Ran straight and true for the 30 miles home.





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[Diggin It]

I no sooner pulled out of that lot and at the first traffic light, I see this guy:



Figured he had some weight on it or strap of some kind in the front of the bed. But as we pulled away from the light and I could see better, there wasn't so much as a single 'free' string on it anywhere.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I haul 1 ton pallets of wood pellets that are bagged then shrink wrapped. The bags are pretty secure. I used to strap them, now I don稚.

I have never been sorry I strapped anything down or added a strap others thought unnecessary. I have occasionally wished I had thrown an extra strap. One million miles of flatbed freight hauling experience won't allow me to drive on a public highway with an unsecured load. I would strap down any pallet of anything for two reasons, 1. straps are quicker and cheaper than a ticket for an unsecured load. 2. straps are quicker and cheaper than replacing the back window of my pickup should some boob force me to jam on the brakes.

 

[bcp]

Georgia driver escapes with
"minor" injuries after logs impale car | Fox News

Bruce

 

[LouNY]

Looks to me like the SUV driver was completely at fault, the logs had a red flag at the end of the load and it appears that he rear ended the log truck.
Not a lot of information in the article, like usual.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That sure is a nasty rip in the seat though.

I wish that WOULD happen to all the tailgaters out there.

 

[3Ts]

Chance of the SUV driver being on a cell phone and not paying attention to driving is pretty high.

 

[TMGT]

If you just read the article without the pictures you would assume the logs fell off the truck rather then the SUV rear ending the trailer. Not sure if they have an exception for logging trucks there that doesn't require over length flagging, but that's a lot of overhang for just having a little flag. I would expect a strobe or I've even seen stop/turn light bar assemblies on large rear overhangs.

 

[Jstpssng]

Different laws for different states but here they aren’t allowed to extend more than 4 feet beyond the trailer. I think about that when reading some of the posts in this and other threads about towing, especially lumber.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I will never forget a flatbed 5 ton truck that I saw many years ago, that had a very long deck behind it's axle. Someone had written with chalk on the back. SMILE AS YOU GO UNDER.

 

[duramaxsky]

Georgia driver escapes with
"minor" injuries after logs impale car | Fox News

View attachment 625673

Bruce

That will buff out. Then a new seat cover and good as new.

 

[TMGT]

Different laws for different states but here they aren’t allowed to extend more than 4 feet beyond the trailer. I think about that when reading some of the posts in this and other threads about towing, especially lumber.

In Va they have to be flagged if extending over 4ft to the rear, there is also a max length for the vehicle before over length signage, permits and escorts are needed.
I haven't kept up with the regs but there use to be some xceptions for logging trucks.

Seems with that length of overhang, there should be something more then the little flag visible in the pictures. That looks like over 12ft hanging off the back of the trailer.

 

[Jim Shooz]

Seems with that length of overhang, there should be something more then the little flag visible in the pictures. That looks like over 12ft hanging off the back of the trailer.

They miay not notice the 'flag' unless it was waving around but if they had passed a driving test and eye exam, surly they could see the back of a FB (effing big) truck.

 

[dragoneggs]

When I was a teenager, we grew alfalfa and sold what we didn't need for our own cattle. We had a 1960 Chev with a 42' flatbed and loaded it with about 17 tons of hay. 7 layers high, with 5th layer the tie layer. We were pretty good loading it straight (not tilted to one side). To secure it, we had cables that ran from front to back, over corner boards on the top edges. The cables were stretched very tight (person on top of load lifted them in middle of the load and let them down as the guy on the ground was tightening the cables.. Never had a problem in years of securing load.

Some guys from western washington came with a trailer wanting a load of hay. They didn't know how to load, insisted they knew more than my brother and I, they tied from side to side every 10 ft or so.. they lost their load on the vantage bridge going home.. it closed the westbound freeway for several hours. Glad they paid for the load before they left.

Vantage Bridge eh? Heck of a place to shut down I-90! Not really a good way to detour around to cross the great Columbia River.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

They miay not notice the 'flag' unless it was waving around but if they had passed a driving test and eye exam, surly they could see the back of a FB (effing big) truck.

Yep, if there were no logs they would have ran into the back of the truck.

 

[TMGT]

Quite probable, however if this happened at night on a back road i could see how it could happen and be better prevented with a different system to identify a large overhang.
I live less then a mile from a lumber mill so get to see a lot of logs getting hauled and never see that much overhang. Just seems like a bad idea.

 

[duramaxsky]

Vantage Bridge eh? Heck of a place to shut down I-90! Not really a good way to detour around to cross the great Columbia River.

24 is not that far away. The pass closes all the time in the winter. That's a much bigger detour.

 

[PILOON]

That SUV impaled by logs reminds me of a crash scene from way back, probably in the '70's.

A VW beetle rammed into the rear of a flatbed 'tilt and load' type towing at highway speeds.
With the front gas tank that caught fire all that was left of the driver was a bucket of charcoal on the front seat area.

Since that was B4 cell phones and GPS I assume he fell asleep at the wheel.