Securing Equipment on Trailer

[Diamondpilot]

The reason its illegal and not safe to use one chain/strap on the front and the same on the rear is the chance of one coming loose or breaking. Lets say a rear one lets go and you do not notice it and then you have to do a panic stop, where is the tractor going to end up? Thats right, in the back of your head. With 4 separate chains/straps at 45 deg angles or so it not only gives you redundancy if one fails but will prevent the machine from either going forward/backward and left/right.

Trust Dargo. He had a tractor come loose and was man enough to tell us all about it and the mistakes he made that day. We have all learned from them which is a good thing.

Chris

 

[WantedWolf]

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.
....

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

JB.

strap vs chain...
My inventory of straps did read 6pcs 20'x2'(10000#) straps. now it reads 5
I had a brand new strap snap in half, giving a tug to a car with my 4runner on level ground in the snow. A chain would have never broke.

 

[JB4310]

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.

strap vs chain...
My inventory of straps did read 6pcs 20'x2'(10000#) straps. now it reads 5
I had a brand new strap snap in half, giving a tug to a car with my 4runner on level ground in the snow. A chain would have never broke.

I agree that's why I'm going with all four corners with 3/8 chain and binders, bought 2 new G70 chains and matching binders and already had 2 5400LB binders and unrated chain. so that's about a 6x safety factor using the weight of the tractor added to the 4x safety of the chains and binders, so that equals a 20x safety factor total, I am pretty sure this could withstand a roll over a cliff.

I will use my 2 ratcheting webs for implements, I have not had my Back hoe on in 2 years, but I do want to be able to move that as well, since it will be attached to the machine I would think just rest the bucket on the deck and thread a web strap thru and tie it side to side.

I've also got an extra new ratchet binder I bought from AWdirect, it's a tee handle 6600 pound rating that had a 6' 3/8 G7 chain already attached, I though it would be better to have chain attached but found it isn't, then I cut the chain in half and installed another hook cause I thought that might make it better, but I just decided to stay with the conventional binders. Can't return this one now since I cut it, turned into a $60.00 experiment, I may find a use for it, maybe with the back hoe or other separate implement not connected to the tractor like my forks etc.

 

[JMynes]

strap vs chain...
My inventory of straps did read 6pcs 20'x2'(10000#) straps. now it reads 5
I had a brand new strap snap in half, giving a tug to a car with my 4runner on level ground in the snow. A chain would have never broke.

No, maybe the chain wouldn't have broken, but one of the vehicles would have. Nylon straps are the best choice for coaxing a car out of the snow, but not necessarily half of a rachet tie-down. I have a purpose-designed tug strap, bought years ago, and it has pulled several cars, trucks, and even tractors out of a mess.
Nylon straps stretch a little, storing energy. When the stuck vehicle starts to move the strap returns to original length and adds a little oomph to the pull.
Chains don't stretch. A good hard tug puts sudden force on the attachment point, potentially breaking axles, ripping off bumpers, and causing all sorts of dismay.
But, that's a topic for another thread.

 

[JB4310]

Trust Dargo. He had a tractor come loose and was man enough to tell us all about it and the mistakes he made that day. We have all learned from them which is a good thing.

Chris

Anyone have a link to that thread?

 

[wkpoor]

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.

I found on the net somewhere (been awhile) 4" ratchet straps. I use 4ea. of the 4" point to point to secure my tractor. They were $200.00 for the 4. These ratchet are strong enough to bend up my old trailer. Basically I could damage the trailer if I wasn't careful. You can easily flatten tires fully inflated.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Anyone have a link to that thread?

Here you go.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/53683-ratcheting-tie-downs-broke-transit.html

Chris

 

[Dargo]

Anyone have a link to that thread?

I admit that I really ate crow on that ordeal. I stupidly thought that 2 of the 10,000 pound rated (that's what it says all over the straps) 2" wide straps on the front and 2 on the rear of a Kubota L5030HSTC would be fine. After the incident, I felt like I needed "moron" tattooed on my forehead.

No strap was even close to a edge and the front weight bracket (with no weights on it) made for a great place to place the hooks on the front and the bottom of the hitch plate on the rear worked great there. I'd done the same thing for years without incident. It was only when I went to a friend's office who owns an engineering firm that he took the time to 'splain things to me. In his professional opinion the dip in the road caused my 7k trailer to flex, putting slack in the straps as the trailer actually moved up on both the front and rear and then snapped back in place. That shock load was, according to his calculations based on the construction materials used in my trailer and the weight of my load, enough to have easily snapped 3 of those straps on either end. He politely called me a lucky fool and, as you can read in the other thread, I promptly not only immediately purchased all grade 70 US made chain and binders, but bought a trailer with more than double the weight rating. I now only use those straps to hold down a finish mower or bush hog on the rear of my tractor to the trailer.

As an interesting point of interest, I did use half of one of the newer 2" 10k ratcheting straps to pull other ATVs out of the mud and snow. I don't know what a Suzuki 750 King Quad weighs, but it's nowhere near even the 3300 pound WLL of that strap. It maybe weighs, what, 600 pounds? Anyway, I snapped two of those straps with that Suzuki pulling other ATVs out of mud holes. If an ATV can relatively easy snap one of those straps, they definitely shouldn't be used to secure a tractor to a trailer unless you use like 20 of them!

And, yes, I admit that I'd have been a smart arse and argued that those straps would have been plenty fine, especially using 2 on each end. I count myself as very lucky that my ignorance on that matter didn't result in a life changing disaster. That's why I'm pretty adamant about telling guys what I know to be fact on securing tractors to trailers. Some think I'm nuts and act like I likely would have before I had that incident. As I stated before, if I can by chance save one guy from having a terrible accident, it's worth all the fussing. I can be disliked big time for my strong feelings on this issue, but if it helps someone, I'm okay with that.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I have been formally trained by my employer to haul large excavators backhoes and dozers according to FEDERAL Regulations

How far did you have to travel?__How big of an employer?

I hauled through 21 states and hauled all different kinds of equipment, metal, pipe and ETC...

I was trained by the best flatbed division in the U.S.__T.M.C. and drove for 7 years.

Johndeere4300,
It is your combination of the front and rear chains. They are both pulling toward the rear.

It would be better to show a picture the way YOU bind one down.

I will continue to bind the way i do, because there is no problem with it.

We are talking about the picture in the avatar.
Chris

I know your talking about my Avatar.
You can't tell in my Avatar what is chained down.

We need to see a picture of the way you bind one down.

That's the main reason for this thread, was to have pictures and not talk about a boat.

 

[wkpoor]

I admit that I really ate crow on that ordeal. I stupidly thought that 2 of the 10,000 pound rated (that's what it says all over the straps) 2" wide straps on the front and 2 on the rear of a Kubota L5030HSTC would be fine. After the incident, I felt like I needed "moron" tattooed on my forehead.

No strap was even close to a edge and the front weight bracket (with no weights on it) made for a great place to place the hooks on the front and the bottom of the hitch plate on the rear worked great there. I'd done the same thing for years without incident. It was only when I went to a friend's office who owns an engineering firm that he took the time to 'splain things to me. In his professional opinion the dip in the road caused my 7k trailer to flex, putting slack in the straps as the trailer actually moved up on both the front and rear and then snapped back in place. That shock load was, according to his calculations based on the construction materials used in my trailer and the weight of my load, enough to have easily snapped 3 of those straps on either end. He politely called me a lucky fool and, as you can read in the other thread, I promptly not only immediately purchased all grade 70 US made chain and binders, but bought a trailer with more than double the weight rating. I now only use those straps to hold down a finish mower or bush hog on the rear of my tractor to the trailer.

As an interesting point of interest, I did use half of one of the newer 2" 10k ratcheting straps to pull other ATVs out of the mud and snow. I don't know what a Suzuki 750 King Quad weighs, but it's nowhere near even the 3300 pound WLL of that strap. It maybe weighs, what, 600 pounds? Anyway, I snapped two of those straps with that Suzuki pulling other ATVs out of mud holes. If an ATV can relatively easy snap one of those straps, they definitely shouldn't be used to secure a tractor to a trailer unless you use like 20 of them!

And, yes, I admit that I'd have been a smart arse and argued that those straps would have been plenty fine, especially using 2 on each end. I count myself as very lucky that my ignorance on that matter didn't result in a life changing disaster. That's why I'm pretty adamant about telling guys what I know to be fact on securing tractors to trailers. Some think I'm nuts and act like I likely would have before I had that incident. As I stated before, if I can by chance save one guy from having a terrible accident, it's worth all the fussing. I can be disliked big time for my strong feelings on this issue, but if it helps someone, I'm okay with that.

After reading what happened to you I actually thought that straps had the ability to absorb shock loads way better than chains. In fact some years ago ( no proof here of anything) I had a guy tell me that where he worked they did drop tests with weights secured by chains and straps. He said the straps held more than the chain due to their ability to stretch a little before breaking. I just wonder about the straps you were using. I've pulled hard on those straps loading vehicles onto my trailer pulling with a 12K MM winch and my new bridle is a strap. Never seen one ever break yet.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

The straps are strong if you use them right, and don't have them going over something sharp.

Every flatbed tractor trailer on the road has straps on 95% of the time, and when i drove a truck i would rather use a strap than a chain any day.

I drove for this company that is in Iowa for 7 years.
____________________________________________

The loads in these pictures are secured with straps and a couple may have chains on.

 

[Dargo]

After reading what happened to you I actually thought that straps had the ability to absorb shock loads way better than chains. In fact some years ago ( no proof here of anything) I had a guy tell me that where he worked they did drop tests with weights secured by chains and straps. He said the straps held more than the chain due to their ability to stretch a little before breaking. I just wonder about the straps you were using. I've pulled hard on those straps loading vehicles onto my trailer pulling with a 12K MM winch and my new bridle is a strap. Never seen one ever break yet.

As I said, I'm sure some people will be as hard headed as I was before life proved to me that straps are crap for securing a tractor. The straps I used are the ones everybody buys that are 2" wide, yellow, and say "10,000 rating" all over them. Call me rude, but since I've broken most of the remaining straps with an ATV, I think anyone securing their tractor to a trailer with them is a fool if they've been told that such straps are inadequate. I worked on and with some of the largest equipment in the country. I've loaded hundreds of coal bucket trucks way past their limit based on the truck driver's insistence. I've seen truck drivers with 30 years hauling experience make stupid mistakes in securing their loads that I just shake my head and wonder how they've managed to stay alive this long. Thirty years experience of doing things the wrong way and getting more lax over the years doesn't impress me at all. I'd rather have a complete rookie driver right out of school over a "know it all" driver who has forgotten everything about safety or was improperly trained 30 years ago.

I know for an absolute fact that a Kubota 5030HSTC (forgot what one even weighs) weighs enough to easily snap two of those cheap 2" yellow ratcheting straps that say they have a 10,000 rating. If I'd been in an accident or if the straps had been old or if the straps had been over an edge I may have some doubt about how weak those straps are. The indisputable fact is that two of those straps snapped on a straight road with only trailer flex involved. If I'd been on any curve the tractor definitely would have taken a tumble.

As I've said many times before, do what you want. People always do anyway. Just don't try to convince me that those 2" ratcheting straps are even remotely safe for securing anything bigger than a lawn tractor to a trailer. Just stop and ask yourself if you can deal with it if your cheap straps break and your tractor falls off your trailer and kills a family driving behind you. To heck with laws, regulations and even lawyers. Now that I know such a setup is dangerous and inadequate, I wouldn't be caught dead hauling a tractor that way. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I killed a family because I wanted to save $50 and used inappropriate equipment to secure a load.

 

[SpringHollow]

I had weldable hooks attached to the front and rear of my tractor (tractor is made out of 3/4" plate steel so easy to weld to).

Ken

 

[wkpoor]

As I've said many times before, do what you want. People always do anyway. Just don't try to convince me that those 2" ratcheting straps are even remotely safe for securing anything bigger than a lawn tractor to a trailer. Just stop and ask yourself if you can deal with it if your cheap straps break and your tractor falls off your trailer and kills a family driving behind you. To heck with laws, regulations and even lawyers. Now that I know such a setup is dangerous and inadequate, I wouldn't be caught dead hauling a tractor that way. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I killed a family because I wanted to save $50 and used inappropriate equipment to secure a load.

I use the 4" not 2". I posted back a few on how they are strong enough to fold up a 7k trailer like the one I used to have.

 

[Diamondpilot]

How far did you have to travel?__How big of an employer?

I hauled through 21 states and hauled all different kinds of equipment, metal, pipe and ETC...

I was trained by the best flatbed division in the U.S.__T.M.C. and drove for 7 years.

It would be better to show a picture the way YOU bind one down.

I will continue to bind the way i do, because there is no problem with it.

I know your talking about my Avatar.
You can't tell in my Avatar what is chained down.

We need to see a picture of the way you bind one down.

That's the main reason for this thread, was to have pictures and not talk about a boat.

I will gladly take a picture the next time I haul it.

Chris

 

[QRTRHRS]

Take the time to download and thoroughly read over this document which IMHO is about the best overall "official" descriptive guide available on cargo securement.

As for the two vs four tiedown discussion, read the following qoute.

"Securing Automobiles, Light Trucks, and Vans (Section 3.7.2)
Tiedowns attached to the vehicle being transported are the most effective securement system.
Securement requirement
♦ Use at least two tiedowns at both the front and rear of the cargo to prevent movement.
− Side-to-side
− Forward and rearward
− Vertically"

Pay attention to the part that says "Use at least two tiedowns at both the front and rear of the cargo to prevent movement." Do you read this as a total of two tie downs or four?

I read four. This is the only place that I have ever read this info. Personally, I don't care what anyone else does as long as they do not disrupt my life or that of my love ones. In that case, things could change. As for myself, I go with four.

I would argue that properly rated and positioned nylon straps are a hazard having hauled more than just a few loads secured by them and having been through more than just a few level one inspections.

I do agree that only two nylon straps to secure a tractor is not adequate. My preference would be four chains but that does not mean that straps cannot be used. There is a heck of a lot of equipment and machinery that can only be secured via straps to prevent damage that gets hauled down the road.

Heck, if you want an eye opener, check out the requirements for big vertical rolls of paper. I can tell you that six rolls of paper weighing in at around 48,000 lbs sitting on 1x3 strips of friction material ride terrible but they don't move.

Lastly, cargo securement rules apply to non commercial as well as commercial. If you ever have an accident, your fault or not, you may find this to be true.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

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.

You might want to look back over Gary's straps and see if you see anything wrong with them.

One off them looks like it has a bad place in it.

It don't look secured to me.

 

[WantedWolf]

I use the 4" not 2". I posted back a few on how they are strong enough to fold up a 7k trailer like the one I used to have.

What are the ratings on your 4" straps
And Are you using deck winches or ratchets with the 4" straps
At least where I am anyway a 4" strap alone costs twice as much as a 2" strap with ratchet. Then I asked how much for a 4" ratchet. $78.00/pc
So $40 strap and 78.00 ratchet = $118.00
It cost $40 for 20' 5/16 gr70 and $20.00 for a lever load binder = $60

 

[JB4310]

Here are the 3-4 inch straps, looks like they are all rated at 5K WWL

LiftAll Cargo Strap Ratchet Tie Down w/ Chain & Long Handle Ratchet - 3" - Mfg# 20489

.

 

[wkpoor]

What are the ratings on your 4" straps
And Are you using deck winches or ratchets with the 4" straps

I'm using 4" w/ ratchets rated at 5600lbs WL. I paid 50.00 ea for a total 200.00 for all 4. I cut the length down so they are custom for my load. I'll take pics later as I'm loading it today