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No Chains!?!

OzDozer

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Jan 18, 2007
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2,207
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Perth, Western Australia.
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Semi-Retired ..
The boat isn't a prank, it happened exactly as Steve surmised .. and I have personally seen the result of a load of corrugated iron sheeting (maybe 60-80 sheets?), carried on a rack above the truck tray and cab .. slide right off, forward, under heavy braking .. and flatten the truck cab .. :eek:

I have no info on the European MAN truck wreck .. except to say .. if there was anyone sitting in that middle seat, they would be history .. :(
 

Ford LT-9000

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Nov 17, 2005
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B.C. Canada
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Rolling around in the dirt
I don't know if its the same down in the USA but summer people with boats neglect to make sure their trailer lights work. You follow them you don't know if they are turning or slowing down. The real scary things to see is the wheels on the trailer wobbling you know darn well the wheel bearings are shot. The worst thing I seen was a trailer axle bending in the center not from being overloaded but from rusted thin there is no strength left :eek:

Soon as I seen that I backed right off the trailer was swaying all over the road if the axle broke in half there would be one heck of a accident.

Some of these people drive along pulling their boat the wheel bearings in one of the wheels lets go wheel falls off but the people keep on driving :beatsme
 

OzDozer

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Perth, Western Australia.
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Semi-Retired ..
Ford LT-9000 - I had a friend who told me, when he was travelling West to East across Australia, back in the early 1980's, he came across an old guy hauling a fair-sized (20'-22'), tandem axle caravan (mobile home), across the Nullarbor Plain.

This guy was driving a Landcruiser, and was in his mid-80's .. and must have lost about 90% of his senses .. :roll .. because he'd done in a rear tyre on the 'van .. and kept driving ..

After maybe a hundred kms or more .. the wheel rim finally dissolved .. then the wheel hub .. then the end of the axle .. :eek:

When my friend caught up with him .. and managed to get him to stop .. the end of the axle had been so red hot, the heat had transferred to the springs, and the springs were drooped from the heat .. :eek:

He asked the old fella if he'd felt anything wrong? .. and the old fella just said .. "Oh, I thought it was pulling a little hard .. but I thought it was the headwind, so I just went down a gear .. " :rolleyes:
 
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Ford LT-9000

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Rolling around in the dirt
Doesn't it make you wonder how some people can be so oblivious that there might be something wrong with their trailer or the load they are carrying. If I feel anything shake or move I pull over and check.

This is gotta be 2 years ago now a mobile home company towing a brandnew mobile home burn't up in the middle of the road because the driver ignored a hot dolly brake.
 

Steve Frazier

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Oct 30, 2003
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6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
I was doing a backhaul near the docks in Jersey and witnessed a load of rebar slide on a flatbed trailer with no headboard. The driver was stopping for a stop sign. The rebar slid into the back of the cab of the Mack tractor crushing it and pinned the driver against the steering wheel. After I got loaded and came back through, rescue was cutting the driver out of the truck. He only suffered some broken ribs. He was lucky the rebar moved as a bundle, they did not penetrate the back of the cab otherwise he's have been speared.
 

Ford LT-9000

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With the new regulations on load securement allows truck tractors not to have a cab gaurd bolted behind the cab of the truck. I don't know if thats a good idea or not. Before the new securement rules came out ever truck tractor must have a cab gaurd constructed of steel or aluminum U bolted to the trucks frame.
 

Countryboy

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Georgia
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Load Out Tech. / Heavy Equipment Operator / Locomo
Welcome to HEF goodtrees! :drinkup
 

Willis Bushogin

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Nov 6, 2007
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855
Location
NC
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owner
trailing a machine

Well I know I would not want to chance it .better safe than sorry if the machi e shifted for any reason some one could of got really hurt.
I know this is a old thread, but this happened a few months ago. Me and the driver loaded our Cat D5 on the lowboy, I helped him get the gooseneck hooked back up and I told him to finished everything and I had to go finish with the customer. I assumed he finished, but I thought as I heard the truck leave, boy thats quick. I finished with the customer in a few minutes and headed to the next job. about a mile I saw the truck, pulled off the side of the road, he had put on brakes for a stop sign and the dozer slid to the front of the lowboy, Yep, he forgot to put the bidders on the machine.
needless to say, when we got back to the shop, that was his last day working for me. He didnt damage anything, but it could have been a real bad situation.
Just my 2 cents
 

terryk4675

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Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
7
Location
Ottawa, Il
Occupation
heavy equipment hauler
WOW! That scraper on top of that Mack ....MAN! As far as one less bulldog out there, you know why they put that bulldog on top of the hoods don't ya? So 2 xxxxxxxx can look at each other! Sorry, I spent 4 yrs driving Macks (2 stick R model & CH's) so I can say that. :D

I work in the Chicago metro area, and I see a LOT of guys undersecuring or not securing at all. Around here, it seems the popular thing to do, sadly, is pull the machine against the gooseneck and use 2 chains to pull forward.

I see this more often than not. And I see DOT targeting more dump drivers and container haulers, than anything else.

We haul a lot of precast concrete panels(12' - 16'' wide, up to 125k GCVW) and I'm CONSTANTLY arguing with the people who chain down our loads (yes you read that right) to do it right. Their way is to throw 4 - 3/8" chains from 1 side to the other, regardless of size & weight. Most of time, after they load it, I'll chain it myself, cross chain the front in case of movement foward (and they WILL slide) and haven't had a problem. Unforetunately, there are 30-60 drivers pulling these a day, and I'm 1 of 4 doing this right. The amount of laziness is just plain absurd. :Banghead
 
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Burnout

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Jan 20, 2008
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Edmonton AB
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Operator at Sureway Construction
Wow this thread really makes me feel like a jerk...... Last summer my 973 got moved from one site to another down the street about 3/4 mile. I loaded it on the float, went to help the driver chain it down and he said forget it. I followed him over no problems.

Middle of October, same thing. Just down the road a bit, loaded my 35 ton track loader and a 18 ton Dynapac sheepsfoot packer on a 40 ton 3 axle float trailer. Looped one chain around the drum of the packer, and the loader up against the gooseneck with the bucket in the air.

A week later moved the track loader again with the packer on the front of the trailer, but here is the kicker you guys won't like... and yes I know I know it's my fault for this next part so flamesuit is now on...lol My Jeep was already at the other jobsite we were floating me to, it was only 2 miles down the road that sees almost no traffic. The packer operator rode with the driver in the float truck so where did I sit... in the loader with the engine running. This was one time I couldn't quite believe myself though. Normally I get loaded to the front of the trailer instead of the back. The packer was already up by the gooseneck so I just drove up the beavertail and the driver never got out of his truck. I drove up, was still sitting on the back of the trailer over his tires and he starts driving away while im drivin down onto the deck.
 

Colin Doy

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Dec 31, 2007
Messages
68
Location
Phoenix, AZ
They say confession is good for the soul Burnout but wow:eek:

It's funny how when we try to be more efficient and save time safety seems to be the first thing to suffer.
 

Burnout

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Edmonton AB
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Yeah... the sad part is that I see equipment floated like that all the time. When I was moved in october the day I sat in the machine when they moved it... they also moved a D9N down the road and a 330BL the same way.... oddly enough that morning at 6am when they moved our new 385C it got chained down like there was no tommorrow.
 

BIGBEN2004

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Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
167
Location
Woodsboro, Maryland
A couple of years ago where I used to work we had a local hauling company move the larger equipment for us. Well one day I loaded up my 953C and helped the driver sweep the street and got to talking to him and then we both left. I followed him to the next job about 40 miles away down though all the local cities around Washington DC and out West to the other job. When we pulled in he got out of the truck and started putting on his gloves to start un chaining it and his face turned almost green. I jumped out and asked what was wrong and he said, I can't believe I forgot to chain it down. I looked and sure enough we did not chain it down. I know we went through 50 stop lights and got out on the highway where we easily reached speeds of over 65MPH and that thing didn't even move an inch. He was so mad at himself since he was a owner operator of his trucking company and he said he would have lost everything if that thing slid off and did any damage or even worse hurt or killed someone. Needless to say I always check and recheck when I haul anything now after getting that lucky.
 

Digwizz

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
27
Location
NE Ohio
I've hauled excavators for over 30 years without ever chaining the bucket/boom, just tied down four corners. This worked fine until lasted September when I got DOT'd with a two hundred dollar fine. Just lucky all those years I guess. Guess what, now I chain the bucket! Anyone aware of a circumstance where the upper structure of a machine turned on the undercarraige while being transported.
 

Countryboy

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Georgia
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Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Digwizz! :drinkup
 

AtlasRob

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Feb 8, 2008
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Location
West Sussex UK
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owner operator
warning

I've hauled excavators for over 30 years without ever chaining the bucket/boom, just tied down four corners. This worked fine until lasted September when I got DOT'd with a two hundred dollar fine. Just lucky all those years I guess. Guess what, now I chain the bucket! Anyone aware of a circumstance where the upper structure of a machine turned on the undercarraige while being transported.

A couple of years ago in the UK, a low loader travelled along the road in the dark with the arm of a digger loader swung out at 90deg to the trailer. I could hypothercise as to how it came to be in that position but I wont.
The bucket was above bonnet height of the oncoming cars who didnt stand a chance of seeing it as they passed the tractor unit. Suffice to say several people were killed.
The examination of the machine could find no fault with any of its operations and the reason or how the arm came to be in that position remains a mystery.
 

AtlasRob

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West Sussex UK
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chains

I am working in the centre reservation of a motorway in UK and post the following two pics for your scrutiny.
The excavator is on a UK truck.
The sideboom is one I managed to catch of six that have gone past me. They are on Dutch owned trucks. Must be going to the docks at Felixstow probably from S Wales where they put a 48" pipe in last year.
Spot the chaining difference. :cool2 :rolleyes:
 

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Burnout

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Edmonton AB
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Is it just me or are there no chains on the undercarriage of that Hiachi Excavator?
 

Burnout

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Edmonton AB
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Not necessarily, In Ontario Canada the old man moved our old 992E Deere excavator on our 50ton Lode King 3 axle float. And it got moved behind a 379 tandem with a lift on it and everything was legal.
 
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