Towed Tractor Rollover

[CCWKen]

Pilot Error!

 

[Garandman]

It looks like way too heavy of a load behind a 1/2 ton truck.

Dodge RAM Invincible! Ask any of the [zero money down] owners!

Glad they were OK or I wouldn't be trolling....

 

[Redneck in training]

This is a question for you experienced guys. What should you do if your trailer start fishtailing? I have only very limited towing experience but based on one event while transporting upright piano (high CG) stepping on brake (no hard braking) stabilized the trailer instantly. My guess is that braking removes energy from the system while acceleration would add energy flipping the trailer.

 

[prichard]

Not sure it's a fact that it was overloaded. Seems to be a lot of conclusions drawn about the incident and quick judgment on the driver.
Haven't heard anyone mention mechanical failure.

Agreed. An awful lot of people sure seem to "know" exactly what happened based on a picture and an account from some guy on another forum who may or may not have been there.

 

[CCWKen]

This is a question for you experienced guys. What should you do if your trailer start fishtailing? I have only very limited towing experience but based on one event while transporting upright piano (high CG) stepping on brake (no hard braking) stabilized the trailer instantly. My guess is that braking removes energy from the system while acceleration would add energy flipping the trailer.

Actually, I've found the opposite to be true. The last thing you want to do is touch the brake or slow down. You MUST stay ahead of the trailer. I've come out of two fish tail occurrences by flooring the accelerator. Once going down a hill and once on a level road after a truck passed doing about 90. A white knuckler without a doubt but accelerating pulled the sway out of trailer and I was able to maintain control. In both cases, the trailers had serge brakes--An enclosed rental trailer and a 20' boat trailer, both loaded.

If the trailers had electric brakes, I may have opted to engage the brakes manually but I would still keep the power on the tow vehicle. There's something about seeing your trailer along side of you that never works out.

 

[check]

Actually, I've found the opposite to be true. The last thing you want to do is touch the brake or slow down. You MUST stay ahead of the trailer. I've come out of two fish tail occurrences by flooring the accelerator. Once going down a hill and once on a level road after a truck passed doing about 90. A white knuckler without a doubt but accelerating pulled the sway out of trailer and I was able to maintain control. In both cases, the trailers had serge brakes--An enclosed rental trailer and a 20' boat trailer, both loaded. If the trailers had electric brakes, I may have opted to engage the brakes manually but I would still keep the power on the tow vehicle. There's something about seeing your trailer along side of you that never works out.

Good point about surge breaks, Ken. I had them on a boat trailer once, and thought they were really nice to have, since I did not have to worry about a brake controller and an electrical supply to the brakes. However, now that you have mentioned it, the surge brakes leave you no option when your trailer starts to sway. Since then all of my trailers with brakes have been controlled electrically by a brake controller, and several times I have use the brake controller to control or reduce sway. No serious incidents, but I have had the trailer start to sway a bit, and instantly stopped the sway by touching the brake controller, before things got out of hand. Now that you have mentioned it, I will probably never get surge brakes on anything again.

 

[dieselcrawler]

I stand corrected. I looked more closely at the picture, it is indeed a 3/4 ton, long bed truck. Blurred picture, but it does seem to have 8 lug wheels, and being upside-down made it look like a short bed to me.

However... if the tractor was loaded backwards, with the loader over top of the mower, it still may have caused a light trailer tounge...

Lots of speculation on all parts, including mine.

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[sixdogs]

So if you have electric brakes on the trailer and a brake controller, it's OK to put the brakes on?

 

[aczlan]

I am going to go with those who say not enough tongue weight, probably from too short of a trailer for the tractor and the bushhog. Might have been preventable with the tractor being backed up a little more, but without seeing it loaded, its hard to tell.

Aaron Z

 

[4570Man]

So if you have electric brakes on the trailer and a brake controller, it's OK to put the brakes on?

There is a lever on the brake controller that will only engage the trailer brakes. Don't touch the truck brake.