Make sure you tie down your tractor on your trailer

[deere755]

My Dad and I were mowing roadsides this past weekend. We were using the 6200 and the 755 with a 4 ft bushhog on the back. We were driving the 6200 from one location to another but loading the 755 on the trailer. I sometimes get lazy about tieing the tractor down on a short trip especailly when we are loading and unloading several times a day. I watched my Dad load the 755 on the trailer and thought he had set the brakes but I did not double check. After loading the tractor we decided to go to town for lunch so I put a ratchet stap on the the of the tractor but nothing on the rear. We drove into town and I had to make a sudden stop and when I did the 755 came over the front of the trailer and hit the back of my pickup truck. Appearently the brakes were not set on the tractor. We were able to get it off the road but the tractor was sitting on the trailer jack. We ended up calling my ex son in law to bring his tow truck out. We were able to lift the front of the tractor and pull the truck forward to get the tractor back on the trailer. Needless to say we tied every thing down good the rest of the day. I could not believe the tractor jumped over the front rail of the trailer. I about had another stroke looking in my mirror and seeing the tractor come over the front of the trailer.

 

[donawilcox]

I want to ad and this is not my experience but a guy I worked with was hauling two Jeeps on a 24ft gooseneck. He had always used a chain and boomer on it. But every one said no need so he went to using only straps. He was coming down I10 in west texas runing 70mph and the back jeep came off the trailer. The straps got slack with the jeep bouncing a little. Luckily he had the parking break on. the jeep slid to stop. no one was close enough for it to hit. The only damage was it broke the windshield that was folded down. Then to top that off a police officer came up before he got it back on the trailer and to add to the broken winshield expense he ticketed him for not securing his load property.

This also reminding me of a fourwheeler we had in the back of a pick up with tail gate up. had luggage and supplies sitting all around. so did not think about putting a strap across it. came up on some road construction and hit some bumps and the fourwheeler came flying out. Nothing else did. It did hit the side of the small truck and put a dent in the side. I now strap those also.

 

[Mark_in_NH]

There is very litle if anything that I will put into the back of my truck or trailer's without knowing that it is secured. If it isn't covered by the trucks closed cargo cover it is strapped in.
The builder who just built my front porch learned the hard way. He actually lost his table saw stand out of the back of his truck on I93 about a month ago and before he could get stoped to run back and grab it, a car ran it over. It got caught under the front of the car, fluids leaking every where, police showed up, car had to be towed away. Then he finds out that his insurance had lapsed.
You wouldn't think something like a table saw stand would ever catch enough wind to pull it out of the truck, you would think that 90% of any air would just flow through the stand.
Needles to say, if it goes into my truck or trailer, I make sure it will stay there !

 

[newbury]

There is very litle if anything that I will put into the back of my truck or trailer's without knowing that it is secured. If it isn't covered by the trucks closed cargo cover it is strapped in.

It's people like you that make it hard to find things on the road!!
I only have about a 1 mile commute but in the last two years I've found things like enough tile to do a bathroom (in boxes, unbroken, in the middle of the road) and a big box of christmas lights, enough to string up the whole house.
The tile was a great find because I had to, and did do, a bathroom floor. Never did find the grout

 

[Mark_in_NH]

It's people like you that make it hard to find things on the road!!

I to have found the occasional treasure on the roads over the years. But I also learned the hardway years ago when my 16' aluminum extension flew out of the back of my truck on the highway and before I could get back to it, somebody in a compact pickup truck ran over it. He never slowed down, he ran over that ladder doing 45 - 50 mph and just kept going. After thinking about all the other possible outcomes of that situation, I said to myself. Never again will I foolishly assume, it's ok, it will stay there, I am only going just down the road.
However, I am still keeping my eyes open for that praverbial briefcase full of untraceable cash laying side the road.

 

[Thomas]

Spring time w/frost heaves etc. one can find some goodies..shovels,hard hats,wrench etc.

Local neighor lost brand new Craftman garden tractor,one the way home cheap racket strap let go and the mower bounce of the trailer..what a shame.

 

[Mace Canute]

Speaking of finding treasure on the road, I have a brand new, positively never used even once, 20 foot fiberglass industrial grade extension ladder that I found laying on the freeway. Heck of a nice find!
I remember years ago sitting in a restaurant and watching traffic. Two guys in a half ton truck pulled up to a stop sign, stopped, and then just booted away from it, wheels spinning and rubber burning. Only trouble was, the driver forgot about the stove that was in the back of the box. It had been just sitting there, pushed up against the front of the box so if in case they had to make a sudden stop, it wouldn't come sliding forwards and hammer into the front of the box. (Wise move. Wiser would have been to tie it down securely.) Well, you can guess the rest of the story. Yep! That sucker stayed stationary while the truck sort of drove out from underneath it! It hit the tailgate and did a flip out onto the street, and smashed into many many little pieces. What put icing on the cake, so to speak, was it seemed that the owner and driver of the truck was just helping out his buddy, who obviously owned the stove, get it home.

 

[George2615]

I recently stopped to help a mowing contractor get his zero turn mower off the front of his trailer. Same scenario, He was too lazy to tie down the mower and other implements such as rakes, shovels, weed eater, etc. while in between jobs. A car pulled out in front of him and he slammed on the brakes. The second zero turn (on the back of the trailer) pushed the first one up over the front rail onto the trailer tongue. Everything else that was on the trailer came off and was either in the pickup bed or on the ground.

His bad luck was a local sheriff saw the whole thing, took off after the car who cut him off (gave her a ticket), then came back and gave the mowing guy a ticket for unsecured load. He also told him he was lucky that none of the flying projectiles that came off the trailer killed anyone.

I see tons of these mowing business guys everyday and none I've seen secure their equipment. Accidents waiting to happen. You are also lucky no one got injured.

 

[AchingBack]

In addition to making sure your tractor is on your trailer - check to see if your trailer is on your truck. About thirty years ago I was transporting my rototiller in the back of my utility trailer. Somehow I had missed a step in connecting it to my 1964 Chevy panel truck. While traveling down a semi-rural road, I noticed something passing me on the right side of my truck. To my horror, it was my brand new Honda F 500 tiller, in my 1950 Ford pickup bed, utility trailer.

Thank God there were not pedestrians at the time. I eventually caught up with my trailer, as it had come to a stop on the shoulder of the road. This could have happened at a time when school children were walking home. Whew! My lame brain was spared from disaster, that time.

Since then I have used a numbered check list to make sure I have: clamped the hitch to the ball, put a pin in the hitch to lock it, and connected the safety chains, and the wiring.

 

[tjkadar]

I had my tractor, bush hog, and disc loaded up on my trailer. Everything was strapped and/or chained down. Safety chains on the trailer connecting it to the truck. Trailer on the ball. Everything was good until I got to the job site. Hit a bump and the trailer jumped off the hitch. Luckily, everything was secured and the safety chains worked. No harm, no foul.

That is when I remembered the trailer takes a 2 5/16" ball, not a 2" ball. Could have been a lot worse. Doesn't take much for everything to go bad fast.