Stupid trailering guy

[gobbler]

I went home for lunch today and happened upon a guy who lost a JD455 from his trailer. By the time I had arrived, he had it upright and nearly back on his trailer. The 455 was damaged pretty good; hood gone, steering wheel bent up, suspension damaged, and body banged up. Surprisingly, the tractor was running.

I helped him get it back on his trailer, and then the guy proceeds to tie it up with some kind a rope that didn’t look very strong. I asked him if he had any proper tie downs, and he said all he ever uses is rope. Well, to make a long story short, I just happened to have a couple of nylon tow straps in my truck and we used them it tie it down. He said he’d drop the tow straps off to me at work later.

I don’t know who is more stupid, me for letting him use the straps (which I may never see again), or him for not having any common sense. I’ll vote for him … /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Jim

 

[boustany]

Sounds a bit like the post I read here about one armed guy fiddling with his driveshaft whilst it was turning. SOme people are slow learners. You did the right thing, but he was probably just being polite when he took 'em.

Not as bizarre, but I was picking up scafold once and I watched a guy tie his load up with ratcheting tie downs. It appeared it didn't occur to him the ratchet mechanism had a function - he was tieing them in knots, until I demonstrated 'proper use and function'.

Who knows, sometimes.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I've been trailering vehicles, mostly race cars, for a long time. While some people like chains and chain binders, I like a full set of tie-down straps. Here's a link to Racer Wholesale, which offers a complete tie down set for what I consider low bucks - the 8' set I use is $72. If you click on the towing information link, it has a lot of good information about how to tie down a vehicle. The straps shown have 12,000# webbing, and 10,000# ratchets and snap hooks. Using all four properly gives you a rating of 20,000#, which is way more than the D.O.T. recommendation of 3:1.

I guard my straps carefully. Except when they're actually in use, I don't let them get wet, don't let them stay out in the sun, and don't put them away wet if they get wet in use. If they get any abrasion, I replace the whole set. The old ones are great to have around for non-critical lifting slings, etc. I replace them every 5 years just as a matter of course.

 

[Taylortractornut]

In my 23 years of existance ive seen alot of wierd tiedowns in my life. A fella here tied a big concrete culvert on hi s t1 ton with a chain later he callem me asking if i cold take my backhoe and dump truck and clean the debris from the street. I have a freind that used to swear ski rope was the thing for every tie down his insuaran had to pay the rental company for the loader on there Kubota after it rolled off the trailer. My old boss when i was in college at a tool and die shop had to deliver a new die set we worked 3 months on. He thought the quickest was was down the Natchez trace but no commercial trucks are alowed on it. THe company truck was a 95 Ford F250 with magnetic signs on the sides. He pulled them off i loade the die with our hoist and put it near the cab. It had a plastic bed liner and I pleaded him to bind it don but he refused and iwe hopped in the truck and took off. I told him id slide out but hes the boss. We stopped at a an up hill aproach and when we left he gassed it to get out in the road as we heard a crash. The big die set Science class came to my mind An objet at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. My freind sai it was like the die hung there and the truck moved from under it. THe tailgate latches wer torn off the reciver hich lmpaled the tailgate skin and a 250 000 dollar dieste was on the ground and a ranger came up 1500 dollar fne for the commercial vehicle on the Trace. All because of no time to use a 50 dollar binder set.

 

[cowboydoc]

That's a tough lesson to learn. I have a 455 and they are about $11k new! I wouldn't even want to know what it would cost to fix that one! I know I had to get a hood once for my 279 and it was around $400 list.

 

[surfran]

Don,

Thanks for that link, I have been looking at different options for hauling my BX1800 and I like the looks of these straps.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You're welcome. They've worked for me over many years. I use the same straps and trailer for my TC18 as I do for my car. I imagine the guys at Racer Wholesale will probably get a giggle out of selling straps for a tractor, but in the Sports Car Club of America, some of the old Sprites, Midgets, Datsuns and such probably started out closer to tractors than to race cars. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[bmac]

Don,
The next time you trailer your TC 18, could you snap some close-up photos showing exactly how you secure your tractor to the trailer. Specifically, to which tractor component do you attach your straps? How are the front straps oriented relative to the FEL? Are you using D-Rings on the trailer?

As a new tractor owner (who doesn't have a trailer yet) I want to make sure that when I get the trailer, I know how to tie down properly. Also, (other than appropriate size and weight capacity, brakes, etc.) are there any features you would recommend for a trailer that I might look for when I begin shopping? In other words, are stake pockets acceptable tie down points or are D-rings the way to go? Wood deck or diamond plate?

Anything you, as an experienced trailering kind of guy, can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous Poster]

OK. Since our Div of Forestry has put a burn ban in place because of dry weather, we're moving all the brush piles to one corner to be buried. It's a long way with just a rake-full at a time, so we've been piling it on the trailer and pulling the trailer to the other end of the lot with the small tractor. So, right now, the trailer is covered with sand and brush and stuff, so it will be a little while before I could take any pix (wish it was a dump trailer - we use the back hoe on the big Cat at the other end to drag the stuff off).

I can tell you this. The trailer has a wood bed, but it's in three sections. There is angle iron running the length of the trailer approximately 12" in from the outside rails, and a HD plank laid in the tire tread area on each side. The center, a little less than 4', is filled with PT 2x12's.

It has D rings on the front, stake pockets both front and back, and some D rings on the planks. I use all of them, at various times, for tying things down. Actually, for the TC18, I'm using the outside flange at the front corners to hook the ratchets - it's tough to show without a picture - but the idea is to have the straps angle in from the outside front corners to the front axle. Not only does this keep the tractor from moving back on the trailer, the straps are working against each other to keep it centered - things can shift to one side or the other when you hit bumps, etc. The front straps are the ratchet straps. I hook them at the trailer, then the other end loops around the front axle and hooks to itself.

In the rear, The straps are fixed length (no ratchet). I loop them around the uprights that hold the rear axle and hook them to themselves (there is an adjustable D ring on all these straps so they can hook to themselves at the axle end), and hook the other end to the stake pockets. I have these carefully adjusted so that when they reach full taut, the tractor is balanced on the trailer.

The procedure is to drive up the ramps until all 4 wheels are on the trailer. Then, hook up the rear straps, which are already adjusted to the proper length. Then, ease forward until they are reasonalby taut. I leave the brake off, get off the tractor and hook up the front straps. Ratchet them really tight, and the tractor moves forward an inch or two until the rear straps are very taut. Then, I climb back on and lock the brakes down. I also make sure the FEL is down just enough to make good contact but not enough to unload the front wheels.

Finally, I have a heavy chain that I loosely loop around the front axle and through one of the stake pockets in the front. The idea is that if the straps break, the chain will let the tractor move back a little, but will not let it fall off the trailer. I don't have a safety chain in the back. 1), I don't care as much about the tractor coming off the front of the trailer and hitting me, as I do about it going off the back and hitting someone else. 2), There is a rail and a heavy tool box on the front of the trailer that the FEL would have to get through to get to me.

The key thing with straps or chains or whatever else you use as a tie down is to get them working against each other. Each strap you put on should be working in an opposite and pretty much equal force against some other strap. Think of tying ropes from 4 tractors to a man's wrists and ankles. If all 4 tractors exert the same amount of force in opposite directions, the man's arms and legs should all pull off at exactly the same moment. (Yeah, I know. That's sick. But, I'll bet you never forget the concept, now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).

Features? Lot's of them, none of which my trailer has, but my next one will. Ramps that slide underneath, pull out when needed, and then slide back and forth across the back of the trailer for different widths. Beaver tail (last 2 feet of the trailer slanted down) so the ramps don't have to be so long. A winch for pulling things onto the trailer when they don't run. A decent size tool and strap box on the tongue (I have one, but it's small). You want really nice? An electric tongue jack. If you have the bucks, go for an aluminum trailer, like a Featherlight - it will never corrode, and you can haul more capacity with the same rated truck, because the trailer is a smaller percentage of the load. If you buy a used trailer, be sure it has trailer-rated tires, or replace them as soon as possible if it doesn't. You don't want to learn how badly a tire can beat up a fender, and don't ask me how I know. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[sandyc]

Don:

I have a boat winch on my utility trailer for pulling pieces of equipment that don't run and before I got my tractor with the FEL I used the winch for pulling stumps up on the trailer. Additionally, I use the winch cable as a tie down to stop any backward movement of a load.
My next trailer will have an electric winch!

 

[bmac]

Don,
Thanks for the description. I fully understand why photos cannot be added now. If you think about it the next time you trailer the tc18, I would still like to see some photographic documentation of the process.

As always, I appreciate your help.

Bruce

 

[MDNick]

Was out with a friend of mine on his boat last week. After our trip, we were pulling it back out. He mostly drove the boat all the way up on the trailer, I just had to winch it the last 6-8". His winch is a strap winch, seat belt material, only wider. I got it about where I thought it should be, but he said make sure it is snug. I give it one more click, and snap. The strap ripped all the way across. Looking at it, you can see it was weathered significantly. There is no way I should be able to rip a strap in two with a hand powered winch. Just ironic, $86,000 boat, and a $25 strap. We tied a knot in the strap, and he made it home fine. Just one more case of forgetting the small stuff. He was actually happy about it, better it happen with me, and not his girl friend, or when he was on the road.

Another case on a large bridge over the potomac, guy had his brand new boat on, took a sick day and was going fishing. Problem was a 1-7/8" ball on a 2" receiver, just enough slop that it came off. Must have thought the safety chains were optional. Boat took off and hit a semi coming the other way. Obliterated the boat. Now what do you tell your coworkers? And your boss?

 

[GaryM]

I'll admit that about 28 years ago I was stupid enough to flat tow a car with a towbar that required a 2" ball and I only had a 1 7/8". It was a friday evening and there was no place to get the right sized ball. Didn't think it would make that much difference. Made it all the way from St. Louis to the TriState West of Chicago before she let go. No injuries, but a totaled car that we were towing. I sure felt stupid, and for good reason.

Not one of my proudest moments.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

As long as we're doing "true confessions" /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif, I once had a 1-7/8 coupler come off a 1-7/8 ball. I had just had a pool installed and decided to save some money by re-sodding the small yard, myself. I had a strong trailer and a Jeep to tow it, so I went to the nusery and had them put a pallet of sod on the trailer. The trailer was almost too narrow, and the fork lift kid wasn't very good, and the pallet ended up on the very back, behind the single axle. Are you starting to see where this is going?

I decided that if I took it slow enough, I'd be OK - the weight on the back of the trailer wasn't lifting the back of the Jeep up all that high. Of course, what I learned was that with enough force, a coupler can flex. I learned the reason why they have 2" and 2-15/16 couplers for larger loads. I learned about tongue weight. I learned a lot about "I think I'll be OK."

Oh, yeah, what happened? I got lucky. The trailer came off just as I was slowly turning onto a side street; the tongue flew up and the chains broke (I learned about those, too); and the trailer kindly tried to climb a slight rise into someone's yard, but it didn't get very far. No damage. I was only about a block from home, so I spent the next couple of hours unloading the trailer a few squares of sod at a time onto the Jeep, driving home and unloading, and repeating the process until I had the trailer light enough to chain it down to the hitch for the last block. I did get a lot of strange looks from the passing cars and was so embarrassed I wished I could hide. My CFO clamped her lips shut and I couldn't tell if she was ticked or laughing. I was just glad that sod doesn't come in rolls in this area...

 

[dourobob]

True confessions??

Not really trailering but, I was taking an old 16 HP Wheel Horse tractor to my friend's place about 22 years ago now and thought heck, the tractor is safely inside the box on my old GM 3/4 ton, the tailgate is latched, the tractor is in gear and I'm only going about 5 miles - what could happen??

Well, the washboard gravel surface on one of the big hills was enough to shake the tractor out of gear, against the tailgate and, you guessed it, on to the road. What a sickening feeling to look in the rearview and see the tractor bouncing up the hill behind the truck. When I got stopped and went to look at the potential damage I quickly realized this was one of the cheapest lessons I could learn. The tractor had a broken tie rod, which I had welded for under $5. Other than my ego that was the only damage.

Now, even when folks laugh at me, I used straps, ratchets, ropes, and chain as deemed necessary just so there is no chance of a repeat.

With age comes wisdom - we can only hope. The extra few minutes to do it right doesn't cost, it pays.

Bob

 

[GaryM]

When I haul my JD4100 on my utility trailer, I use nylon ratcheting straps. They're rated for 4K or so working load.

I run one from a welded tie ring, around behind the grill guard that's part of the FEL and back to another tie ring.

On the back I run from a tie ring, then in front of and across the ROPS at the fender level, then back to another ring.

I like to think that a higher attach point helps hold the load down as well as secure fore and aft. And as I usually haul with the FEL and mower attached, hooking to the tow bar and axle is a little inconvienient.

I don't recall anyone ever mentioning using the ROPS as an attach point.