trailer question...or two
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 5,903
Likes: 1
From: MICHIGAN
Don't remember, last summer or two summers ago about 60 miles north of me a tree crew towing a chipper with less that desireable safety chains lost the chipper.
Crossed the road, slammed head on into a mini van and killed three people.
Now consider if your trailer breaks loose, something is wrong with your equipment.
So if it hits anything, you are at fault.
I personally want the trailer to stay with my truck if it breaks loose.
As long as it is attached, I do have a way to have input into where it winds up.
If I have to wreck my truck to save a family, they make new trucks every day.
If I die in the wreck, it was my own fault, I missed something when I inspected the hitch before I left.
If I kill the family with my trailer and I live, I am going to wish I was dead every day for the rest of my life and their lawyer is going to take everything I ever will have anyway.
Crossed the road, slammed head on into a mini van and killed three people.
Now consider if your trailer breaks loose, something is wrong with your equipment.
So if it hits anything, you are at fault.
I personally want the trailer to stay with my truck if it breaks loose.
As long as it is attached, I do have a way to have input into where it winds up.
If I have to wreck my truck to save a family, they make new trucks every day.
If I die in the wreck, it was my own fault, I missed something when I inspected the hitch before I left.
If I kill the family with my trailer and I live, I am going to wish I was dead every day for the rest of my life and their lawyer is going to take everything I ever will have anyway.
When I pull things that don't have brakes I definitely check the chains.
Most chippers don't have them and can weigh way more than my truck is capable of stopping comfortably. I avoid trailers w/o brakes as much as possible.
Some of the scariest things I've seen towed are a little gas power cement mixer and the like bouncing down the road at 70MPH behind a 1/2 ton pickup with 2 tons equipment in the bed....dragging the bumper. Around here it's the 'wild west' on the hiway, almost anything goes. Heck the big guys are allowed to gross out at 160K pounds...Hence the Michigan Special.
BTW: My break away only energizes the right side brakes....almost guarantees it going in the ditch.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,151
Likes: 0
From: Blackwater, VA
oh so let's get even more detailed with safety chains: what kind of snap/hook do you use and why? and which way do you attach them? (facing out or towards truck bumper)
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8,608
Likes: 13
From: Belair md
idelay you should have the weight of the chain pulling on the loop, not the hook, it all depends how you hitch is designed as to which way the hook faces.
cuda, you'd love to see some of the stuff we have on trailers at work.....next time we get outside the gates i'll try to get a picture. how about a tri-axle tractor with 700 horses pulling a 14 axle trailer with an 85 ton tank on it??? take a wild guess what the total weight is on that puppy
cuda, you'd love to see some of the stuff we have on trailers at work.....next time we get outside the gates i'll try to get a picture. how about a tri-axle tractor with 700 horses pulling a 14 axle trailer with an 85 ton tank on it??? take a wild guess what the total weight is on that puppy
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,554
Likes: 0
i have had my boat come un hitched one time, i did not put an pin in the hitch latch. i was going pretty slow went over an set of train tracks trailer came unhitched. i was damn glad i had the safety chains on, with the chain criss crossed it kept the tongue from hitting the ground. and the tounge of the trailer was long enough that when i stoped the safty chains kept the bow from slamming into the tailgate. i would say that the each chain should be strong enough that the trailer should be able to be hung compleeetly in the air by it. i strap down things to my trailer with the same thinking, i immagin haning the trailer upside down and think to myself would this stuff still be on the trailer.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 9,010
Likes: 5
From: Johnson City, TN.
idelay you should have the weight of the chain pulling on the loop, not the hook, it all depends how you hitch is designed as to which way the hook faces.
cuda, you'd love to see some of the stuff we have on trailers at work.....next time we get outside the gates i'll try to get a picture. how about a tri-axle tractor with 700 horses pulling a 14 axle trailer with an 85 ton tank on it??? take a wild guess what the total weight is on that puppy
cuda, you'd love to see some of the stuff we have on trailers at work.....next time we get outside the gates i'll try to get a picture. how about a tri-axle tractor with 700 horses pulling a 14 axle trailer with an 85 ton tank on it??? take a wild guess what the total weight is on that puppy
i have had my boat come un hitched one time, i did not put an pin in the hitch latch. i was going pretty slow went over an set of train tracks trailer came unhitched. i was damn glad i had the safety chains on, with the chain criss crossed it kept the tongue from hitting the ground. and the tounge of the trailer was long enough that when i stoped the safty chains kept the bow from slamming into the tailgate. i would say that the each chain should be strong enough that the trailer should be able to be hung compleeetly in the air by it. i strap down things to my trailer with the same thinking, i immagin haning the trailer upside down and think to myself would this stuff still be on the trailer.
Good thinking on the hang upside down idea. Wonder if 2 stroke man could have done that with his 10.5 wide by 13 foot tall load of hay he took over hwy 80 4 times. LOL
Now that is a load and talk about illegal !!!!
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dchamberlain
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Dec 23, 2008 06:45 AM
