Swallowing your pride and asking for help.

[Truckie]

Swallowing your pride and asking for help.

Yes that is what I had to do yesterday. I had to put one of our excavators on a low boy yesterday and it was tough. The low boy is a 1968 Talbert and only about a foot of each track is sitting on the bed.
I had a difficult time getting the machine up on the bed because there were no ramps on the trailer, they were some home made ramps that were made out of steel. It was a pretty steep incline to get up on the trailer, as a matter of fact it was a 45 degree angle. So as you all know steel tracks and steel ramps don’t give or have any traction. It took a few tries to get it up on the trailer and I even slid off twice.
Now keep in mind this was my first time ever having to put a machine up on a trailer like this and no real ramps. I did get it on the trailer. The driver has no experiences at all operating any machines so it was all up to me. I have machine experience but like I said this is the first time I ever did this and no ramps.
We got the machine moved to the job site and got it un chained and was ready to be removed from the trailer. This is where I had to swallow my pride and ask for help. Where we were unloading was not perfectly level the road sloped to the left of the machine as you walk it off the trailer the road dropped off about a10 inches to a foot and to the right there were power lines. I did not want to slide off and hit the power lines or slide off the height of the trailer and then fall another foot. So I had asked one of the other more experienced operators on the job if they could walk the machine off the trailer for me.
They did and with no incident.

So what I learned.
No matter how good you think you are there will always be someone better than you or more experienced .
Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and ask for help.
We need to order s a set of ramps from Talbert for this trailer and we need to get some timbers for the extenders on the trailer.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

 

[Dwan Hall]

When running steel on steel I like to have around a few old pieces of convare belt. steel, rubber, steel makes for cleaner shorts.

 

[Bob Horrell]

Ditto on the conveyor belt. It makes a huge difference. The only time it doesn't make a difference is on ice.

 

[John C.]

We always threw down blocks in front of the trailer and walked up on them first. A couple of old pieces of plywood work on the trailer also.

Nice job anyway.

 

[thejdman04]

never let pride get in the way, he may think your an idiot for asking for help/not doing it youself, but whatll he think when you knock the lines over?

 

[Lashlander]

I've been asked a few times to get a machine out of trouble by inexperienced operators and have never had a problem helping out. Its part of the job. I always try to show them why they are in trouble and how to not get there again. Sometimes it helps, sometimes you can actually hear the swoosh. Don't be embarrassed for asking for help, not very many guys were actually born on there machines.:drinkup

 

[Loaderman380]

never let pride get in the way, he may think your an idiot for asking for help/not doing it youself, but whatll he think when you knock the lines over?

Well said, better safe than sorry. A little swallowed pride is a lot better than an injured operator or damage to equipment, or something else ie. power lines.

 

[Wolf]

Truckie:

That's not swallowing your pride, that's using your brain. Good thinking. No shame in that--why take a chance unnecessarily. And you probably got a new buddy/good supporter in the operator who helped you out.

 

[Dozerboy]

Sometimes it helps, sometimes you can actually hear the swoosh.

Did you say something...what was that again????

 

[Ford LT-9000]

You did the right thing there is no point in taking a chance especially if its not your machine.

Another note on conveyor belting it is very slippery when its wet I learned quickly with a excavator sliding on a barge ramp. I could taste the excavator seat in the back of my throat.

Rough wood is probably the best to put between tracks and steel because the tracks seem to bite into the wood.

I watched a local lowbedder move a old UH Hitachi about a 120 sized hoe trying to get it up a short beaver tail on a lowbed. The machine didn't want to crawl very well to start with I ran the machine for a little bit. The guy got the front of the tracks up onto the beaver tail. The counter weight on the machine almost touched the ground. He swung around to try push but it wouldn't do it. The "F" word was screamed a few times :laugh

Most lowbeds now are detachable gooseneck which makes it so much easier to unload and load machines. I don't know how many machines I have seen doing the teeter totter on the trailer wheels climbing over the beaver tail.

Anyhow there has been a few times I say no I'am not going to do that. Then I watch the other guy do it and its scary looking.

 

[Raildudes dad]

A friend of mine and I went to IN to pick up a combine for his boss. Had to use a come-a-long to keep the front end down on the combine to climb up on the beavertail. Then had to use the come-a-long to keep it from going on it's nose going down to the deck. Oh what you do when you're young Then we high centered it on the road leaving the farm. My friend borrowed the trailer from a friend (never do that. I drove the single axle tractor on the way down empty and he chewed me several times for riding the clutch (smelled hot). We did a brake check about 20 miles from the farm on the way home - guess what, trailer didn't have operable brakes. Took it nice and easy back home and used the come-a-long to get it off. Moral of the story - don't borrow and use a detachable

 

[637slayer]

smart move truckie:drinkup, i was just wondering if you had thought the unloading process through, how you were gonna do it, then watched the guy unload it and how he did it? if you get another chance are you gonna unload it?

 

[Truckie]

smart move truckie:drinkup, i was just wondering if you had thought the unloading process through, how you were gonna do it, then watched the guy unload it and how he did it? if you get another chance are you gonna unload it?

You bet I watched every move the operator made.
I wanted to learn and I did.
I thought about it and thought about it but I said hey better safe than sorry.
I thought to my self what would he say if I did try to unload it and hit the power line or slide in the ditch.
Better to be called a sissy and wimp than hitting the power line or going in the ditch.
Since then I have loaded and unloaded the same machine from the trailer several times with and with out help.
The funny part is the guy that helped me is the guy who had the building fall on his Volvo while he was operating it.
I posted a few pictures of that in the demo section.
So I had to load up my machine with the shear on it and go and help cut him out.

 

[digger242j]

The funny part is the guy that helped me is the guy who had the building fall on his Volvo while he was operating it.
I posted a few pictures of that in the demo section.
So I had to load up my machine with the shear on it and go and help cut him out.

Well, you owed him a favor, didn't you?

 

[Truckie]

Well, you owed him a favor, didn't you?

You are right.
That’s what friends are for.:notworthy:drinkup