Bought a new tilt bed 9999lb. gvw

[atgreene]

I haven't decided what to do. I really don't want to ship it back to Pennsylvania for repairs again. I'll either keep it and tell tham to get stuffed and fix it myself, or I'll ask for my money back and buy the Moritz. It's pretty damn frustrating. What do you guys think?

 

[snonut12]

Atgreene, if I were the one who spent $7K and something like that happened, there is no way I would let that slide by. When we buy equipment, we should expect that it to meet/exceed its specifications and the rated capacity, not a bit less. Don't let the manufacturer go without notice about this problem. This is their problem and they need to address it. Otherwise they'll keep building the same way it has been. Don't let them think that someone would just simply cut a $7K check and not to hear someone bug about something that does not really affect the function of the equipment. Some customers probably won't care about this problem, but there are certainly some that do care, like you. I am the same way too. If it were mine I would be blowing steam out of my head. Show the dealer about that problem and tell them to get it fixed right the second time and if they don't then you will expect a refund since you cannot afford more downtime.

 

[cat320]

Alan i think what ya have to do in order to get your money back is is tell them again and let them bring out a brand new one and try it with the rep right there if it does it again , right in front of a cam rep then i would say thanks but i want my money back on this trailer and then go get the the other trailer you mentioned. But i would point out that this is costing you time and money in the hight of your season when you need it the most .

 

[dayexco]

http://deltatrailers.com/200 Tilt-Bed.htm

here's what we just bought for $4600.00

 

[Orchard Ex]

Well at least the dealer is backing you up. If it was mine I'd ask for my money back. They had their chance to "fix" it and evidently they were trying to upgrade it as cheap as possible. Either way you're hosed, down time for another fix or waiting for a new order from Moritz. I doubt that Cam will want to give a refund, but maybe they will put more effort into getting it right next time. Good luck with it.

 

[2004F550]

that shouldn't do that....sorry your having so many problems with....must be the wrong metal or something...we run ours everyday almost and they haven't come close to bending that much.

 

[atgreene]

Here's my latest correspondence with them. They told the dealer that the trailer is now made to bend and it was just the way it is. It's kind of odd that when they took it back to fix it it wasn't supposed to be bending and they added steel to the dovetail to prevent it. At this point I'm just PO and am going to push like H))) as it would appear they are giving me the run around.

Dear Ms. Barrett,

Although I appreciate the rapid repair to my trailer on the previously mentioned warranty items, upon loading my excavator for the first time the dovetail once again bent. Unfortunately the pieces of steel that were scabbed onto this portion of the trailer by your facility in an effort to stiffen the dovetail did nothing to prevent it from bending.

When I spoke to Jeff at Wescott's he advised me that you folks would not stand behind the trailer nor the warranty repair. He further indicated that Cam was now telling him that "the trailer is designed to bend some". What exactley is "some"? And if it is designed to bend, why did you repair it the first time it bent?

I had asked Wescott's for my money back prior to the trailer being repaired after finding the various issues wrong with it. They refused saying I should wait until it is repaired. I want to make this very clear, I would like my money back. If my money cannot be returned than I would like a written explaination as to why you will not fix the trailer.

Short of hiring a welding shop to repair it, I'm left to ride around with an new trailer that has an obvious bend in it. I would assume that this is not the kind of advetising you would want, as anyone looking at it will clearly see it's bent.


Sincerely,

Alan T. Greene



Sandy Barrett <sales@camsuperline.com> wrote:
Mr. Greene,

Our sincerest apologies for letting you down after your long wait to get your new trailer. This is certainly not a normal situation/warranty issue for us nor are we happy that we have a customer that is having problems. We will expedite this situation as quickly as possible.

I have gotten confirmation from my shipping coordinator that we will be picking your trailer up at Wescott’s on Thursday the 13th. We are planning to review the trailer and make the necessary repairs that Saturday and get it back up to you directly after that. We are anxious to get your trailer back for review. We will stay in touch with Jeff and/or Dana and let them know the status of the trailer as well as the cause of failure.

Once again sir, we apologize for all the inconveniences and we will examine your trailer next week and do what it takes to earn your respect and satisfaction.

We are pleased that you have had a good experience with Wescott’s and we hope that within two weeks we can have all of this behind us and leave you with better feelings toward our company.

Thank you for taking your time to express your dissatisfaction.

Respectfully,

Sandy Poffenberger and Lamar Lehman






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: alan greene [mailto:atgreenetractor@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 12:52 PM
To: sales@camsuperline.com; sandy@camsuperline.com
Cc: jeff@wescotts.com
Subject: Defective trailer

I wanted to write a letter to express my complete dissatisfaction in the Camsuperline trailer I recently purchased from Wescott and Sons in Gorham Maine.

Your website states:

"CAM can provide you with Quality Service and Quality Products to meet your needs
The Quality of CAM Superline Trailers will meet or exceed your expectations!
Our goal is to deliver your trailers on time, every time!
We want your trailer buying experience to be easy and enjoyable!

Unfortunately my experience with your product thus far has been non of the above.

Not only did I wait 10 weeks for it to be delivered but upon loading it for the first time the tail bent! A 7500 lb. excavator should not bend a trailer rated for 14000 lbs. Furthermore the tilt deck catches on the front stationary deck when tilting, the right side of the trailer frame is deflected 3/8" compared to the left and the right fender is mounted 1-1/2" out of line. Not to mention the trailer was painted without moving some of the d-rings, showing the lack of primer and leaving an instant spot for surface rust to start.

I realize mistakes happen, but it would appear my trailer got them all. And although I appreciate you folks agreeing to bring the trailer back to Pennsylvania from Maine to repair it, I ordered it in April so I would have a trailer during my busy season. Here I am in the middle of a booming year for excavation and my new trailer that I waited 10 weeks for is headed back for repairs leaving me unable to run my business for approximately 2 weeks. Not to mention that the trailer was scheduled to haul a float for the local fire department next week in the local old home days parade depriving me of further advertising opportunities.

I would appreciate the trailer being repaired as fast as possible as this is creating a hardship for me financially as well as putting me in a bad position with my customers.

Fortunately Wescotts has been excellent thus far in dealing with my issues. It's too bad that they have been put in a position that they should never have had to deal with if someone had just taken the time to check the trailer before it was shipped.

Sincerely,

Alan T. Greene
A. T. Greene Tractor Services
Sebago, Maine
207-232-1196

 

[cat320]

So now you have to wait again. I would want a cam rep to come up with a brand new trailer and test that no bend therory with a new one.

 

[Jeff D.]

Atgreene, I feel your trailer pain................now.

Here's my ramps after I loaded/unloaded my dozer for the first time. The trailer is less than a year old, and was in perfect shape.

I'll need to do some motifying to the ramps. They'll never hold up to the stress of a dozer as they are now.:spaz

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Jeff those ramps are way too light the angle iron should be minimum 1/2 and the sides of the ramps should be tube or rectangular tube something with a 1/4" wall tubing. If you don't want to use tube use heavy channel something like 5 or 6".

With steel tracked machines you should have wood planks bolted to the ramps so the tracks bite into it. Yes it will be slippery for rubber tires but for tracked machines its a must.

 

[Jeff D.]

Jeff those ramps are way too light....

:yup My thoughts too.

I'll probobly remove those ramps, and build new/better ones.

 

[imjustdave]

back into position. I say the entire set-up is junk, as anything rated for 14000 lb carrying capacity damn sure ought to load an 8000 lb machine on relatively flat terain without looking like a cheap imatation of an equipment trailer.

A few things come to mind...

#1 If I remember corectly you wanted them to derate the trailer to 9,999 Lbs, for DOT reasons. Posiably they built you a trailer 4 9,999 lbs..... trailer weight - 8K machine and you might be over a few 100 lbs now and maybe this is why it is bending,

#2 in looking at the photo of the back side, I believe they have built the trailer wrongm the last bit of tapper on the trailer should be cut out from the bottom side, not the top side. the way it is built now almost 100% of the weight when loading and unloading is on the very edge of the tip of the ramp. If the cutout was from the botttom side, most of the time the presuere would be spread out on the cut out portion instead of just the tip.

#3 your ramp is too narow at the end, it looks like your trailer was built for a show car, or other light weight stuff that can't get over a small hump.

#4 as much as its wrong, "Tail only, seems like the rest is corected" can you live with it? it does funtion as a trailer, yes it looks like crap for the tail to have a bow, but its a equip trailer, not a show car trailer, a little bit of mud, a few more scratches and you wont see it anymore. Not to mention your making money with it. I would rather have them discount it then mess around and lose money on work.

Good luck
David

 

[atgreene]

I am happy with my trailer, other than the constant bending. The bend changes each time I unload, depending upon the surface.

Cam says they are building me a new trailer. They want me to be happy and agree that the knife edge ramp is perhaps less than ideal. I should have the new one shortly, we'll see.

As far as the rating, no, when it was delivered to me originally the 14000 + gvw sticker was still on it.

Either way, they're going to correct it with me. Had they offered me a discount I probably would have been just as happy, but this way they feel they're making it up to me for the hassle, either way, I've got to hand it to them, despite the issues they at least are standing behind it .

Jeff D., I hear ya. These manufactures have lightened everything up to save $$$ to the point where those of us who actually use equipment and not just have it for show can't depend upon it. I think there are so many homeowners buying "toys" that manufacturers are catering to that market betting on getting away with lightweight materials. I thought I was paying for and getting heavy duty, especially at the price I paid.

Good luck.

 

[nobull1]

Atgreene, I feel your trailer pain................now.

Here's my ramps after I loaded/unloaded my dozer for the first time. The trailer is less than a year old, and was in perfect shape.

I'll need to do some motifying to the ramps. They'll never hold up to the stress of a dozer as they are now.:spaz

So it would appear that you drive up the "v" part of the angle iron? On my trailer I drive up on the "^" of the angle. I don't know which is right but mine hasn't been a problem for me in the last 6 years with my steel tracked excavator. I do have box stock on the sides as opposed to channel though. Just curious as to which is the common method?

 

[Jeff D.]

So it would appear that you drive up the "v" part of the angle iron? On my trailer I drive up on the "^" of the angle. I don't know which is right........ Just curious as to which is the common method?

My trailer was supose to have ramps that flipped all the way over, and sat on the beavertail. I was afraid the equipment would be in the way of that happeneing, so I ordered it with stand up ramps, instead.
It's almost like my ramps were just thrown together as an afterthought. The rest of the trailer is built much better, and has the angle "point up" like yours.

I may call the manufacturer and see what they say, being that it's less than a year old, and 10+ ton equipment trailer. Maybe they'll come through like Atgreene's has??

(sorry about the deviation to your thread Atgreene! I thought it might be pertainent, being a "Trailer quality" issue.:beatsme )

 

[woberlin]

From the looks of the rest of the trailer those ramps certainly look light duty. A heavier dozer would probably really rip them up. I've never seen the angles on the ramps turned that way-I'll bet it was a mistake. Hopefully the manufacturer will help you out.

 

[CT18fireman]

Those ramps are an afterthought. What a joke. No offense to you but I would not even have accepted that trailer.

Atgreene, glad to hear that you are getting a good response from them. As I have said, I don't think it should bend. However a thicker edge might help and certainly won't hurt loading or unloading equipment.

 

[dayexco]

jeff,
i'd get rid of those angle iron, weld some plate there instead, and where the vehicles go up, weld some 3/4" bar stock cleats 2' long on the plate about 6" apart, that is what i have on my lowboy, works wonderful.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

No wonder you bent those ramps man are they cheap looking those a one step above a 2x12 plank. Angle iron has more strength with the point up not down like are on your ramps Jeff.

Get new ramps built out of heavier material also make the ramps work on a sliding shaft on the back of the trailer so you can slide them to the center or what ever width machine you have. A piece of heavy walled pipe welded right accrossthe back of the trailer then the ramps pivot on it. At the center of the pipe and the center line of the trailer you would have a brace so the pipe doesn't bend.

The only problem with building new ramps is trying to make them easy to tilt back up unless your man of muscles and weight doesn't matter.

 

[CT18fireman]

Use springs.

You can use garage door spring mounted along trailer side but I like torsion springs hooked to the ramp and trailer and turning on pipe.