Overload of the Day

[Old Doug]

Not an over load but a un-usual wrecker load. Last Wednesday just as it was getting sundown I drove past a accident site where a fancy Pete with a van trailer piled up into the mountainside about 90 miles west of Tok, Alaska. A completely rolled up pretzel of what appeared to be a larger four seater side by side ATV was hanging from a 2 ton wrecker boom in the pull off that was across the road. By the skid marks it was obvious that the truck driver had swerved to the left lane and the adjacent steep downslope trying to avoid the ATV and then skidded back to the mountain side crashing into the rocks and ending up with the tractor 40 ft up the slope. I tried to stop for a photo but the State Patrol yelled at me to keep going. As I neared Tok I met a rotator wrecker with a Fairbanks name. The next morning while having breakfast the rotator pulled in and two guys came in for breakfast. I got the wreck story from them. It appears that two moose hunters setting at the overlook thought they seen a moose down below. They jumped into the wheeler and tore uo the slope to try to get a better view from higher up. They jumped out of the wheeler without setting the brake and it rolled away, backwards, down the mountain rolling out right in front of the truck driver. The driver swerved, it still catching his front steering tire, and sliding under the truck helped him angle back towards the mountain. The ATV rolled up under the truck, tearing the passenger side trailer gear off and bending the other side. They torched the gear off to move the trailer. The poor driver had thought he had killed some people and was ready to when he found out what happened. The truck and trailer was hauled the other way to Anchorage and the rotator was returning to Fairbanks after a long night.

I pulled out on the highway by the farm and met a side by side going down the highway. There was cars coming up behind it. There is no way i would drive one on a highway that dosent seem to have a speed limit. I have a buddy that told me he had insurance on his just like a car this would be a must. I would like to have one but they are the dangerous thing on wheels . They did away with 3 wheelers because of people getting hurt but i think side by sides are worse never ever get in one without using a seat belt.

 

[rockfarm]

OR he was smart enough to remember the height dimension of his garage door and that his [ lets say wooden floor] has a WEIGHT CAPACITY LIMIT.

 

[crane operator]

First picture I took at a local gas station, second one I saw on the internet.

 

[skyking1]

the trailer above might be on the edge of OK but that truck is not up to that. 16K GVW on the trailer, and the empty weight on those is 4 K, and a 305.5 e with cab is 11905
Of course there is not a single chain in sight either : facepalm:
picture two is a genuine FAAFO moment.

 

[Willie B]

First picture I took at a local gas station, second one I saw on the internet.
View attachment 270672View attachment 270671

Not much of an overload. He looks to be tongue high, might be putting more than half the weight on the rear trailer tires.


My triaxle trailer was a project started by a friend. He used my garage to renovate the trailer, the project stalled. I finished it in part to empty the garage. I considered it half mine, I had as much money invested, as much labor. He had bought new Carlyle tires. Days after I finished the project, he loaned it out to a landscaper for a 900 mile trip to move shrubs. The "driver" wasn't very sharp & cranked the electric brake controller to the max. No load, then light load, he skidded the tires at every stop. All 6 tires were octagon from skidding.
I bought new tires. Don't remember the brand. I also bought out my friend. I had blowouts of the sidewalls one by one. Eventually bought 6 BLUE STAR, Chinese tires. One at a time all 6 blew the sidewalls off the rim.
I sold it, I felt my backhoe was too much weight for it. The buyer intended to haul two 5500 LB tricycle tractors. Less weight, I felt would solve a problem. He sold it a month later, said it wore tires. I later learned from the next buyer he never adjusted the pintle height. Front two springs were fully compressed & it rubbed on a crossmember.
This buyer bought two new tires. Then the first wanted to borrow it for one last haul. There were hard feelings, he ruined the two new tires.
I sold the trailer to a guy 35 miles from me.
He sold it to a friend 6 miles from me.
He, in turn, sold it to a fellow 10 miles from me. He hauls a 6 ton rubber tracked excavator. He's very happy with it.

Trailer was adequate for the weight I carried, but a scarce sized tire. I could only find BLUE STAR tires in the weight rating needed. They just wouldn't last! About 5 years, it had maybe 24 tires.
Last time I used it, I lost a tire and wheel. The open center wheels held in place with wedges & nuts were constantly loosening.

 

[crane operator]

Of course there is not a single chain in sight either

I didn't see a thing holding it on, except gravity, and snapped the picture.

 

[skyking1]

The chains would have overloaded it, just sayin'

 

[Willie B]

I didn't see a thing holding it on, except gravity, and snapped the picture.

But I'd follow that vehicle to see if he has to stop quick.

 

[skyking1]

grab your Cat Key and steal it off the back at a traffic light!! drive it down and across a river to escape!
( more like a shallow creek )

 

[92U 3406]

Few years ago I seen a local construction company pickup flipped over in the middle of the highway. That is why you don't tow a 262D with a 1500 series Chevy. This was a fairly large company, not some fly by night outfit either.

 

[mowingman]

In 1985, I saw a fly by night company slide a D8 dozer off of a lowboy trailer, onto the highway, right in front of our sand plant. The driver decided one chain was enough on this little load, since he was just traveling a short distance to our plant. As he turned off the highway into our entrance, the D8 slid off sideways. Luckily, the blade hung up on the gooseneck part of the trailer, so it did not fall all the way off and turn over. Wish I had pictures of that back then.

 

[Willie B]

I'm in extremely rural VT. Excavators who own chains & binders are a minority.
A good friend always argued "if they want to move they will." Once he had a malfunction with a Talbert semi trailer. The trailer separated, trailer dug into the pavement. The 35 ton excavator did NOT move in relation to the trailer.
He's a mechanic, patched it with duct tape & was gone before police showed up. Only a mysterious divot in the pavement.

 

[JPV]

When lowbedding or hauling equipment in general I tie most stuff down then drive like it is not. I figure if it can't get started moving then it should stay on the trailer. I have put the binders on kind of loose when I have not been worried about it moving and found them tight when I got where I was going. It moved.

 

[cfherrman]

Not much of an overload. He looks to be tongue high, might be putting more than half the weight on the rear trailer tires.


My triaxle trailer was a project started by a friend. He used my garage to renovate the trailer, the project stalled. I finished it in part to empty the garage. I considered it half mine, I had as much money invested, as much labor. He had bought new Carlyle tires. Days after I finished the project, he loaned it out to a landscaper for a 900 mile trip to move shrubs. The "driver" wasn't very sharp & cranked the electric brake controller to the max. No load, then light load, he skidded the tires at every stop. All 6 tires were octagon from skidding.
I bought new tires. Don't remember the brand. I also bought out my friend. I had blowouts of the sidewalls one by one. Eventually bought 6 BLUE STAR, Chinese tires. One at a time all 6 blew the sidewalls off the rim.
I sold it, I felt my backhoe was too much weight for it. The buyer intended to haul two 5500 LB tricycle tractors. Less weight, I felt would solve a problem. He sold it a month later, said it wore tires. I later learned from the next buyer he never adjusted the pintle height. Front two springs were fully compressed & it rubbed on a crossmember.
This buyer bought two new tires. Then the first wanted to borrow it for one last haul. There were hard feelings, he ruined the two new tires.
I sold the trailer to a guy 35 miles from me.
He sold it to a friend 6 miles from me.
He, in turn, sold it to a fellow 10 miles from me. He hauls a 6 ton rubber tracked excavator. He's very happy with it.

Trailer was adequate for the weight I carried, but a scarce sized tire. I could only find BLUE STAR tires in the weight rating needed. They just wouldn't last! About 5 years, it had maybe 24 tires.
Last time I used it, I lost a tire and wheel. The open center wheels held in place with wedges & nuts were constantly loosening.

This has been my experience with tires on trailers with 2 7k axles. It's like they are not meant to be loaded all the time.

 

[materthegreater]

This has been my experience with tires on trailers with 2 7k axles. It's like they are not meant to be loaded all the time.

I think you're right. It's pretty hard to find the difference between a 6k and 7k axle... Even 5.2k axles are similar size.

 

[Welder Dave]

7K axles have 8 studs. 6K might only have 6 but I could be mistaken. Looking at the mini ex on the trailer, the trailer doesn't look to be very heavy constructed and the white painted semi-mag style wheels aren't as strong as plain stamped center steel wheels. The wheels and/or tires can be the limiting factor rather than the axle rating. Might only be 6K axles on the trailer.

 

[Old Doug]

I bought new axles for my trailer they ask if i wanted 6 or 8 lugs . I got 8 lug. I ask if he thought the 7k would be heavy enough he didnt say anything. I think i put the axles under it in the early 90s i hauled over 14k on it every trip and have had 20k on it before. I wish i would have kept track of the miles i put on it some were over 300.000. I havent had any problems but if i was doing it agin and done the math i would have been afraid that they were to light.

 

[ianjoub]

Maybe not an overload, but certainly not bright!

 

[cfherrman]

^ I approve of that rigging

 

[skyking1]

I especially like the 3rd trailer upside down on the load. You go, U-Haul!!