" If it wants Off , Let it off "

Too bad for that accident. All I can say is, moving equipments is not easy.

wilko said:

Any more you can just put aside what may be a good idea, your first priority needs to be keeping yourself as lawyer proof as possible.

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Well said. You have to be lawyer proof and cop proof both. California is especially bad about tie downs and we generally put on everything we think we need...and a little more. I've seen the commercial cops argue with each other at scales and roadside inspections about tie downs, signage, and flagging. If they can't agree with each other it makes it tough on us to be in compliance...hence the extra chains, signs, flags, whatever.

Moving a piece of equipment off road we generally take it on a piece by piece basis but i like to see the guys put on a couple of chains. It takes less time to put the chains on than it does to explain to some pissed off side rod or owner why you didn't.

i remember a man lift that was chained to a 50 ton sliding axle trailer. When the solenoid screwed up and lifted the boom up , breaking the strap and removing the basket on a overpass. The basket ended up hitting a Hostess delivery van. The end result was a bent 50 ton trailer , it was chained well enough to bend the trailer rather than falling off..OHIO dot had fewer tickets to write.. I have always erred on an extra chain or two was always better than a ticket..

Battery shutoffs are nice too......

I tie it down as though my life depends on it.
All of our chains and hooks are grade 100.

It's hard as hell to make a good,safe living today.
Everyone tries to save a buck and that boils down to me having to run as efficiently as I possibly can.
That means not breaking anything and doing the job by myself where I should have at least an extra set of eyeballs to help guide me as I load some of these scrapers and rock trucks.
But....the money isn't there. This doesn't mean that I use cheaper chains or let my equipment go to pieces.
It means that I jump up and down 38 more times trying to load a scraper by myself.

In my book, there's nothing worse than a lazy lowbed operator.
I'm talking about those who don't seem to think that they need to throw enough chains or those who don't clean off their deck after hauling a dirty piece.
There are laws put in place and it's for a damned good reason.
Loose chains and binders going down the road is not acceptable.
If you can't keep your load tight.....then you are lazy. Its that simple.
If you don't throw enough chains....you're lazy. If you don't keep your trailer clean and free of dirt and rocks, you are not only lazy, but you are also a slob. If you don't have the energy or strength, take a nap. If that doesn't work, park it. Our image has already been smeared thanks to a biased media.
We don't need the help of your lazy rear.

I know what t takes to survive in this cut throat industry. I try my best to comply and operate within the law.... and it's not easy.
I have no problem getting in someone's face and calling the law when I see someone going down the road with rubber bands and duct tape holding their tractor down.
No signs.....I'll call on that too.
The fact that you share the road with my wife and kids is the only reason that I need to feel the way I do.

My thoughts exactly, Pete!

Well said Pete, I couldn't agree more. Hopefully someone reading will realize they need to get their loads secure and someone's life will be saved.

I can't believe that anyone would even take that kind of chance in the first place?
I don't know? Maybe I'm too anal when it comes tying stuff down. I don't ever want any help, don't bother me, stay away when I'm throwing chains, stay away when I'm unchaining stuff and no.....I still don't want any help :Banghead
Follow those few simple rules and we'll get along just fine....
:cool2 who an I kidding?
No we won't

I am not QUITE as antisocial as you, I will accept help if you seem competent and want to real bad, BUT, I WILL, put my hand on every chain you hook, and I won't worry about your feelings while I'm deciding whether or not to redo your work.

mitch504 said:

I am not QUITE as antisocial as you, I will accept help if you seem competent and want to real bad, BUT, I WILL, put my hand on every chain you hook, and I won't worry about your feelings while I'm deciding whether or not to redo your work.

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I'd be happier if they went for a walk while I tie things down, but usually they know what they're doing so this is the route I go.

I agree with pete if you want to help dont. 4 chains can be as good as 6 chains depends were and how you use them.

Nige said:

I have had great difficulty convincing our Elfin Safety people of that dictum.

However now after 5 years we actually move tractors from one side of the mine to the other without chaining them down at all. If a 90-ton tractor wants off the lowboy it's gonna go anyway. Next step will be to do the move with the operator in the cab. Currently working on that.

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Right or wrong, we move everything from our D-7 to our 11's, 5130's,1800, and drills without tying them down. Even going across a state highway

I have always tied loads down when I worked construction, now in the mine we work at we have a 190 ton cat truck with a low bed trailer and we never tie the loads down, d10's 385's, 100 ton shovel buckets, drills etc. It made me nervous at first but offroad I don't worry too much and just don't drive stupid. On my gooseneck it's always overkill when I tie down.

I recall many years ago they wanted to move a Cat D398 V-12 Genset from the shop up to the storage area on the hill at the quarry on a low boy. Boss told driver "Don't worry about the chains, just drive slow" There was a slight dip in the road up the hill on one side. Truck was probably moving much less than 5 mph. After some work with the 30 ton crane we were able to get the genset picked back up. I forget what the total damages were but know when it was moved the next time it was chained down.

Saw this on face book the other day and thought about this thread

He wasn't even on yet and he fell off!

Yair . . . I heard about this but first time I've seen the picture . . . and I haven't heard the full story, I'm sure some one on here will know what happened

Cheers.

bad spotting would be my guess, looks like it wasnt lined up right and tracked right off the left side.


i agree with alot of the above. but at a certain point you're just chaining the trailer to the load not the other way around.

We load everything over the side of our lowboy. If you can stand to watch this jerky video, looks like a 11 getting loaded up at the end of it. It's not my video, just passing it along.

http://youtu.be/utLv4350DI8

Silly way to think for on road hauling,chain it down and when you think you are done throw 2 more on. When I drove lowbed in the bush I would never chain down the load. If the road sluffs and you have a D8 or JD 892 excavator and it go's you are now chained to it, instead of it is chained to truck. Many times I would be 100-200 feet from creek as the crow flies but I was also 4,5,600 feet above it. I think most log truck drivers would wait as well until they were at the paved or public road and throw the binders on there while checking the truck out.