icy covered decks

oops!

Interesting thread!had to load without the luxury of doing it right!got over ramps,sitting on bed of trailer,tracks stationary but machine moving!sideways lol!managed not to damage the 100 grand drill boom attached,blocked main road for a bit,at rush hour!,cops turned up had a laugh and left us to it!didn't need change of shorts!sat for a second thinking 5hit3!then 'right lets get it sorted,QUICK!'this happened couple of weeks ago Cornwall,Southern England,bout -10!take care out there!

I can remember to well loading a Cat D-7 in the snow on icy trailer. Man what a bunch of rushes, must of slid off the trailer 3-4 times. Finally the owner son came over and told me that if it is pretty square don't do anything till on the main deck. It sure felt good to be landed on that trailer. Pretty amazing what just a little snow and ice can make steel do and so darn fast, too.

Any body load an excavator on a tilt trailer? Have been thinking about getting one, would like some of your ideas. Thanks for any help!

I just had some fun loading on my tilt deck last Tuesday. I went to pick my excavator up and it was covered with wet snow. Trailer was dry when I left the valley. I was thinking -snowy tracks on dry wood- should be good to go. Wrong! I made it onto the deck and was climbing until I spun out and slid back and sideways. Still upright but a little nervous. I was thinking that it could have turned out very badly!
I managed to get back on the bottom of the deck and hooked the bucket over the front of the deck and pulled myself up. Cheap lesson learned!

Sounds like a short ride that ended ok, but could of gone south in a hurry. That darn snow or even wet can be ones down fall. Glad you worked it out and I bet from now on when it is like that, you would rather scratch the front of the trailer a little than go sliding, in your excavator.

Evening. I haul equipment on an Etenyire trailer with a beaver tail. The trailer is 3ft high. The deck is both wood and steel. It is hard in winter to get track equipment on to it it as it does set outside. I use tires. Some guys around here use conveyor belts. I do have the option of a winch which helps if I cannot get up the ramp. Rollers are the most challenging. If it is a track vehicle I use four tires to come up the ramp and then leave them under the track. This is easier than storing them and having to get them out again when I unload.

Some guys put sand on the deck but some form of rubber is probably the safer way. If it gets cold, say -10F then tires are more like round bricks but they still will work if the equipment is heavy enough.

Hope this helps.

Toolmaker

Lay old chains across the deck every 2 to 3 feet. Once the tracks are on the chains whatever you are loading cant slide. Then leave them under your load till delivered. Have to deal with daily all winter!