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Tie downs who needs stinkin tie downs

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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A 50 ton trailer only weighs 10 tons

So splain to me how you are going to break the chains.

The ten ton trailer suddenly stops when it hits an immovable object. The 50 ton excavator isn't willing to stop all that suddenly, it keeps moving for a fraction of a second. A loud noise, and carnage ensues.
 

Heavey Metal

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Sep 13, 2013
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148
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Texas
The ten ton trailer suddenly stops when it hits an immovable object. The 50 ton excavator isn't willing to stop all that suddenly, it keeps moving for a fraction of a second. A loud noise, and carnage ensues.

And I repeat

The chains change nothing

If you throw a piece of equipment off a trailer all the chains do is add the trailer to the wreck.

If the trailer hits an imoveable object the load is going to hit it also chains or no chains.

But laws are laws so you chain the trailer to the excavator.
 

JPV

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Aug 20, 2015
Messages
756
Location
S.W. Washington
I have seen a D5g Cat and 450h JD lost off trailers by 2 separate competitors in our area, both went around relatively gentle corners too fast. Chains or better driving would have easily prevented both.
 

fast_st

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And I repeat

The chains change nothing

I was thinking what about wet/icy trailer decks, wait, those don't apply in Texas :)

Dozer on a frozen trailer deck, heck a gust of wind could blow it off the side.
 

The Peej

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Feb 6, 2012
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323
Location
Connecticut
In 1953 a 21 year old excavator from Wilton CT bought a farm in VT as a vacation property. Charlie was a real hard worker. He built quite a company in CT. Eventually his much younger brother moved to VT, on the farm, and continued in Charlie's footsteps. They were very big on IH 175s. They must have had 8 or more, a TD15, and a TD25. There was one IH 150. Most of these had Drott buckets. In skilled hands these things are amazing! They also had two Bucyrus Erie cable shovels, and a truck mounted cable shovel. Watching Charlie's son load with a cable shovel is awe inspiring, not quite as fast as a modern super sized wheel loader, but very fast.
Maybe it was 1970 when the first backhoe arrived. The first excavator I ever saw was in the aftermath of a flood in 1973 or 1979, I can't remember which flood. There were a number of big government contracts for stream dredging. A different local contractor bought two John Deeres, a 690, and a 790.

I assume your talking about Charlie Abbot?
 

Todd v.

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Jan 20, 2015
Messages
213
Location
SC
And I repeat

The chains change nothing

If you throw a piece of equipment off a trailer all the chains do is add the trailer to the wreck.

If the trailer hits an imoveable object the load is going to hit it also chains or no chains.

But laws are laws so you chain the trailer to the excavator.
What's easier to flip, a 6K# mini ex that's 5.5' wide or a mini-ex and trailer that weighs 8K# and is 8' wide? Chains can help in some situations, it's not just about "the law."
 

movindirt

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under a shady tree
Stick any machine with muddy or wet tracks on a trailer deck thats wet or icy and you'll have a recipe for disaster without chains.
 

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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Electrician
And I repeat

The chains change nothing

If you throw a piece of equipment off a trailer all the chains do is add the trailer to the wreck.

If the trailer hits an imoveable object the load is going to hit it also chains or no chains.

But laws are laws so you chain the trailer to the excavator.

I bet you don't believe in seat belts on the highway either. A load secured won't cause a wreck. A load unsecured might. Once we start to talk about wreck in the present tense, the chains may not serve any purpose. Every pothole offers an opportunity for a machine wider than the trailer to wiggle a bit to the side. It isn't many potholes before balance is a concern.
 

fast_st

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Yeah, actually the chains change almost everything. It takes two seperate objects, one with a high CG and one with a low CG and averages them, it also adds the hauled item's weight to the tires traction and grip so yeah, making two separate items into one changes a lot, just the reason it needs to be tight tight.
 

Willie B

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Jan 2, 2016
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Mount Tabor VT
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Electrician
Yeah, actually the chains change almost everything. It takes two seperate objects, one with a high CG and one with a low CG and averages them, it also adds the hauled item's weight to the tires traction and grip so yeah, making two separate items into one changes a lot, just the reason it needs to be tight tight.

I like the logic.
 

maddog

Senior Member
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Apr 20, 2009
Messages
730
Location
middle TN
JNB; that photo is classic

I fully agree with you. Kids get sent to school and only get programed by folks, most of whom have never existed outside of a school or had to think for themselves. Schools need to go back to teaching kids how to think for themselves, and reason, not just programing them to somebodies ideology.

Yep; common sense is gone. SAD
 

maddog

Senior Member
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Apr 20, 2009
Messages
730
Location
middle TN
If your driveing skills are capable of throwing a piece of equipment off a trailer all the tiedown will do is add the trailer to the wreck.

But the law is the law.

You really don't believe this do you? Driving skills could be fine until the road/circumstance changes, as others mentioned slippery trailer, road conditions, fool that cuts in front of you etc.... I will agree if you drive into a cement barrier then yeah your correct but there are a lot of little variables that come into play where chaining down the load could save a life. Even the wheeled SS I mentioned would be hard to move because of the drive system, BUT it is man made so it is very possible to not be a perfect locking system. Tracked machines on a trailer are quite stable, BUT once again anything could happen. I don't agree with a lot of laws, but chaining down a load is not only the law it is the smart thing to do.
 

digger242j

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Oct 31, 2003
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Southwestern PA
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Self employed excavator
Quote: Originally Posted by Heavey Metal

And I repeat

The chains change nothing

If you throw a piece of equipment off a trailer all the chains do is add the trailer to the wreck.

If the trailer hits an imoveable object the load is going to hit it also chains or no chains.

But laws are laws so you chain the trailer to the excavator.



I couldn't help but think of this thread today.

A friend of mine was hauling his mini-ex, on the interstate, when an 18 wheeler driver with his head up his ass, decided to change lanes, while he was right beside my friend. Hard braking, and a sudden swerve avoided a collision, but the end result was my fiend's truck facing north, in the southbound lanes. (Actually, on the southbound shoulder.) Damage was limited to the trailer's fender and three sections of guardrail. The machine ended up closer to one side of the trailer than the other, and needed to be re-positioned and re-secured, but the chains kept it on the trailer.

The chains not only kept the excavator from being part of the wreck, they very well might've kept somebody's family from becoming part of the wreck too. Lots of laws are laws because they're written in blood...
 

Heavey Metal

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Texas
I couldn't help but think of this thread today.

A friend of mine was hauling his mini-ex, on the interstate, when an 18 wheeler driver with his head up his ass, decided to change lanes, while he was right beside my friend. Hard braking, and a sudden swerve avoided a collision, but the end result was my fiend's truck facing north, in the southbound lanes. (Actually, on the southbound shoulder.) Damage was limited to the trailer's fender and three sections of guardrail. The machine ended up closer to one side of the trailer than the other, and needed to be re-positioned and re-secured, but the chains kept it on the trailer.

The chains not only kept the excavator from being part of the wreck, they very well might've kept somebody's family from becoming part of the wreck too. Lots of laws are laws because they're written in blood...

Entirely the wrong move when hauling a 100,000 lbs excavator

Proper move is to pull both buttons and mash the footvalve to the floor.

Swerving is just going to put you in the wreck on your side
 

movindirt

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Entirely the wrong move when hauling a 100,000 lbs excavator

Proper move is to pull both buttons and mash the footvalve to the floor.

Swerving is just going to put you in the wreck on your side

Maybe when you are rolling with 100k lbs, but if I am in a 1 ton I am moving towards the median, no way no how you're going to stop the truck that fast.
 

fast_st

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Proper move is to pull both buttons and mash the footvalve to the floor.

The anti-compounding valve is going to work against you, service brakes are the way to go as the system will steal air to release the parking brakes at the same time as it applies the service brakes.
 
Last edited:

Heavey Metal

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148
Location
Texas
The anti-compounding valve is going to work against you, service brakes are the way to go as the system will steal air to release the parking brakes at the same time as it applies the service brakes.

You should study and learn about air brakes before you coment
 

fast_st

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Enlighten me! so there is no such device?
 
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