Tragedy averted, can only laugh about it now.

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I may have talked about this years ago on here but I think it can be a good lesson for rookies to learn from.

A buddy goes to pick up his "new to him" 8N and shredder. Takes his 1/2 ton Suburban and 16 foot tandem axle trailer.

Test drives the tractor for a short period (this is probably what saved his neck). Barely enough seat time to get a feel for it.

He had parked on a very slight incline. He put the ramps down that hook on the back of the trailer. As he slowly inches the tractor up the ramps, when the back wheels got on the ramps, the weight actually pushed the rear of the trailer down and lifted the Sub's rear wheels off the ground. Being on an incline, the Sub, trailer and tractor started rolling downhill and picking up momentum. He panicked and let the clutch out all the way making the 8N pop a wheelie while everything was rolling downhill. At the moment the 8N wheelied itself nearer the axles of the trailer (balancing the Cg), the Sub's rear wheels came back down skidding the Sub and trailer to a sudden halt whilst my buddy is pushing the clutch back in and hitting the tractor brakes. He said it took all his might not to get thrown over the steering wheel. Miraculously, he managed to stay on the 8N and not go over the front of the trailer hitting the Sub. He said it was the "skairdest 3 seconds of his life". Had he come out of the seat, the tractor would've started forward again with him in front of it probably killing him.

Many things could've prevented this. Some chocks under the rear of the trailer where the ramps attach to keep it from pushing down. Parking on a flat area. Wheel chocks in front of all the Sub's tires...the list goes on. I told him the Lord counted that towards 1 of his 9 lives...I would've loved to see a video of this.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Good story.

It also brings to mind the point that just because you have lots of experience in one area, i.e., driving a tractor, does not mean you know everything in all areas, i.e., transporting a tractor. I, for one, have learned a lot from reading posts like this.

 

[JB4310]

Yeah I've heard of that phenomenon in another thread, people have been killed from it!! I would of never thought about that happening, so it is good to bring it up.

Even though I would not expect it I THINK I would be able to react quick enough to it to avert tragedy. either by pulling forward quickly like your friend, or backing off quickly, a hydro would make that pretty simple, stick would be tricky.

Couldn't happen with my current set up though, since my ramps have the stands built in that touch the ground plus my truck weighs 12.5 thousand pounds.

JB.

 

[PeterK]

I carry a set of jack stands that I put under the rear corners of my trailer for loading. btdt

 

[arsenix2001]

Yeah I've heard of that phenomenon in another thread, people have been killed from it!! I would of never thought about that happening, so it is good to bring it up.

Even though I would not expect it I THINK I would be able to react quick enough to it to avert tragedy. either by pulling forward quickly like your friend, or backing off quickly, a hydro would make that pretty simple, stick would be tricky.

Couldn't happen with my current set up though, since my ramps have the stands built in that touch the ground plus my truck weighs 12.5 thousand pounds.

JB.

Dont be comforted into thinking it cant happen. Undulating ground and the rocking effect on a steep enough grade can easily defeat those ramp braces, believe me I speak unfortunatly from personal experience. I trailered 15k on a 24' deckover with those exact ramps with an f550 for 7 years and quickly learned that a 5$ traingular block of wood and the 15 seconds it takes to place it is ultra cheap insurace you will never have an accident. I figured that out after i slid down the hill. And always chock the trailer, not the truck.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Yeah I've heard of that phenomenon in another thread, people have been killed from it!! I would of never thought about that happening, so it is good to bring it up.

Even though I would not expect it I THINK I would be able to react quick enough to it to avert tragedy. either by pulling forward quickly like your friend, or backing off quickly, a hydro would make that pretty simple, stick would be tricky.

Couldn't happen with my current set up though, since my ramps have the stands built in that touch the ground plus my truck weighs 12.5 thousand pounds.

JB.

Nice trailer, thanks for posting the pics showing the supports under the ramps. This is an important safety helper but as with everything pertaining to trailering, know how and common sense is the bottom line.

 

[leonz]

Sure makes me glad I am limited to lawn mowers on my dump trailer using a long lanscapers deck ramp!!!!!!




___________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:

 

[mrmikey]

We had a fella at work darn near killed unloading a cherry picker off a fifth wheel trailer....without having a truck attached or rear props.
He made it as far as the front wheels of the picker on the ramp which caused the rear of the trailer to drop and the front to fly up. The picker then rolled down the ramp partially causing both ramps to come unhooked from the rear of the trailer. By this time both wheels of the 10,000 lb picker were off the trailer and on the ramps which obviously were in mid air and went crashing to the floor. The bucket, which was, before anything dropped, quite close to the floor flew up like a slingshot throwing him out. he ended up flying as high as our shop crane 20+ ft and landing on a cement floor.
He was off work for over a year, no fractures believe it or not, only lasting side effect was lack of smell. Coulda been a lot worse,he missed an ironworker, steel benches and miscelaneous other crap. had he hit anything he would have ended up looking like a shishkabob.
After all said and done we asked him if he ever got his pilots license out of it, the replies we got are not printable LOL.....Mike

 

[The Haymaker]

Life is like a game of pool. For every ball you hit, ya gotta think ahead to see where the others are gonna end up.

 

[Ken]

While visiting a friend with a case track loader and back hoe He had parked the trailer on a slight slope not over steep put down the ramps and blocks on rear of trailer. While loading backing up the ramps the muddy treads sliped off the ramps sideways.
He had used this method for years no problem But loader holding up the front end and back hoe holding the load on the rear of the trailer. had to raise the loader to gain traction to get away from the trailer. Then repositioned the trailer to level ground and loaded with back hoe to the rear of trailer.
There is the correct way and other ways to do anything. Some get 2nd chance to learn.
Always use extra caution when you feel the situation is going to cause problems.
ken