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Loading challenges

JDOFMEMI

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
3,074
Location
SoCal
One of my least favorite loads is the Cat D-400 trucks. With the offset cab, it is hard to center up on the trailer without a spotter. We haul Volvo's and Cat 7XX series trucks all the time, and they are easy enough for one person.
First time I had to load a D-400 by myself was an experience. It is still the only machine I have ever had fall off of a lowboy. It is made worse by the fact that there is only about 1/3 of the tire on the deck of the trailer once you pass the 10' wide section over the axles. My first trip, I lined up (I thought) and headed up onto the trailer. I made it about halfway up the deck, and felt the truck leaning left a little. This happens when there is less tire on one side than the other. I stopped to look, and had only 6 inches of tire on the deck. I tried backing up while turning slightly, but all this did was get the rear off the other side. When I pulled back forward, the left front dropped off the trailer. I stopped and thought about it a bit, then decided to turn left and drive all the way off the trailer, then try to line it up again.

After this, I lined up again and tried again. Too far to the right the second time. Repeat of driving off the trailer, and line up for round 3. I am NOT giving up on this. Finally, the third time, I got it centered. There is about a 2" window where you will stay on the trailer, and off either side of this 2 inches, and you are going over the side.

The good thing is the trucks are stable enough to drive off the side without upsetting or anything like that.

I remember my then new driver going for his first D-400. When I got the call from him, I knew already what had happened. You should have heard him when I told him "No problem, just turn left and drive on off the trailer and try it again" He was pretty sure I had lost my marbles, until I assured him the same thing happened to me.
 

watglen

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2009
Messages
1,314
Location
Dunnville, Ontario, Canada
Occupation
Farmer, drainage and excavating contractor, Farm d
I told my helper to fill the excavator with fuel, and of course he didn't, so when it came time to load, it was low on fuel.

So when i drove it up the ramps you can guess what happened. Half on the trailer, half on the ground. So the machine won't move, and we cant move the trailer either.

Thanks to computer controls, when the fuel pressure drops it sets a code and it wont even crank.

Try as i might i cant recall exactly how we got that thing running again. I think we pumped the primer plunger about a million times and it finally decided it would crank. Lots of screwing around just because it was low on fuel. Won't let that happen again.
 

nextdoor

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
128
Location
Eastern Wheatbelt Western Australia
Occupation
Farming and playing in the dirt
After reading some of the above stories maybe its time to 'fess up to one of my own.
In a rather big hurry (as normal) I loaded our D9L on a slope, once up on the trailer I looked and noticed that fence posts were passing by at an astounding rate. After what felt like 5 minutes I realised that I was stopped on the truck but the lot was moving down the hill. My father was running to catch the truck but I was loosing him fast! I eventually came to my senses and backed up until the ripper was clear of the beaver tail and dropped it in, and I must say that it stopped me quicker than the brakes ever have.
Lesson 1 put trailer brakes ON
Lesson 2 DONT load on a slope!
Lesson 3 ALWAYS keep fresh undies in truck!!
 

monster truck

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
267
Location
cali
Got to watch a pretty good one this afternoon:

Yesterday I got to play mechanic for the day (stupid rain) and one of my projects was to pull the main lift rams out of one of our beavertail trailers and have them rebuilt. I told the driver to back the trailer into the shop when he got done with it and I would pull the rams out, I also told him his trailer would be down for a couple days until we got the rams back from the hydrolic shop.

So when he got done for the day he backed the trailer into the shop, pointed the rams out to me to make sure I understood that the ones with oil all over them were the ones that leaked, and then he headed home for the day. I proceeded to tear the trailer apart after finding a few other issues with it and sent the rams off to get repacked. It took quite a bit of time with a grinder and a welder but I finally got all the other problems fixed just in time to head home myself. I used a forklift to fold the tail up so I could pull the truck out of the shop and park it back in the yard with a lockout tag hanging from the controls just incase anyone forgot.

That brings us up to today when said driver was asked to come in and deliver a skid steer to a job site in the next town over. Parked in the yard are two roll back trucks and the now non functional beavertail, as you can probably he decides that he's gonna load the skid steer on the beavertail despite the lockout tag hanging from the side of it. Me and the head mechanic decide to stand at the shop door and watch to see how long it would take super trucker to remember he had no lift rams in his trailer. After about ten minutes of ignoring the lockout tag and pushing/pulling on every lever on the side of that trailer (luckily I had capped off the disconected lines) and getting the trailer to do everything but lift the tail he walks over, looks the head mechanic straight in the face and says, "my trucks broken, the PTO quits working when I try to lift the tail". After looking at each other to make sure we both heard the same thing we decided it was time to remind him that the trailer was missing a few parts and it would probably be best to try and load the skid steer on one of the other trucks.

I really wonder some people manage to find there way home at end of the day
 

Phixdo

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
4
Location
zebulon ga
5 amp fuse blows when brake button pushed
i know this isnt a big loader but i need help with my skidsteer please when i start my nh185 it starts fine and the seatbelt and seat switches work fine they ave even been replaced but when i push the brake lock switch the 5 amp fuse in the fusebox blow and it quits. It started doing it after it as used for a little while then it got worse and worse til now it blows as soon as i hit the button. any suggestions.
 

Haulier

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
15
Location
UK
Occupation
Project Manager
Everyone else said it couldn't be done!

Loading and transport of oil related equipment from central Poland to Norway, except to say that it measured 5.70m wide and 4.23m high. Within a matter of days, our team had researched and determined a suitable high load route, avoiding all fixed obstructions. It was then just a matter of arranging to remove overhead cables (electricity, telephone, tram etc).
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,973
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Not so much a loading challenge as a hauling challenge. This was us moving a used Cat 797B from one mine (Las Pelambres) to another (Chuquicamata) in Northern Chile to go on an extended demo for a potential new customer. I was in one of the escort vehicles and had no idea that someone had filmed it. No-one argues with you in a rig like that. Total journey distance I would estimate as about 800 miles, in that time the load went from Pelambres at 10,000ft above sea level down to sea level to pick up the Pan-American highway, then back up to 9,000ft to Chuqui.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elNyQ0xZ6mY&playnext=1&list=PLFBC57743EF4322E3

No permitting, no axle weight restriction, no width restrictions, no length restrictions, no bridges, no overhead power lines (well none less than about 40ft above the road anyway), no rain so it really doesn't matter how much weight you put into the road, underneath it's all solid rock. We moved stuff like this all the time. Somewhere I have some photos of a fully-assembled 994F @ 400,000+ lbs on the back of that same lowboy with 2 tractors pulling and one pushing. I must try to dig them out sometime.
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,973
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Found it, or them to be precise .............

IMG_0439 resized.JPGIMG_0440 resized.JPGIMG_0441 resized.JPGIMG_0443 resized.JPG

These 4 date from 2003 which was our first attempt to move a fully-equipped machine.

IMG_0612 resized.JPG

This one is from 2004, and you can see the transport contractor's getting the hang of it ...... 3 tractors might seem like overkill until you realize that they are climbing an 8% grade at that point.
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,973
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
These are from 2006 and the operation's getting more professional.

IMG_1878 resized.JPGIMG_1877 resized.JPG

Lastly this video I found on Youtube is of the same highway (B475 from La Negra to Escondida, Chile) and shows just how the same contractor Ferrovial is moving gear at the moment. 8 years has seen a lot of progress. This 797B is going down the same 8% grade as the lowboy with the 994D was shown climbing it in the previous post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOWQpI8Izew&feature=related
 
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