Accident into our property

[jgillott]

A local farmer hauling a load of hay got out of control on the hill above our house and ditched the truck in our yard before he got to the next hill below us. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. I didn't get there in time to get a picture of the truck itself, but it was a 2nd gen 3500 4x4 Dodge hauling 20 round bales on a ~24 gooseneck. The picture that I have here don't really do justice to the total distance he traveled. We measured it to be just shy of 300' from the point where he left the road to where the truck finally came to a stop.



Here's where he left the road.

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Almost the same angle, but you can see where he turned to avoid one of my trucks and one of the barns.

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I'm assuming that this is where the trailer ended up on the main road.

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And one from the top where he finally rolled to a stop

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Later this afternoon, the driver of the truck stopped by, after he got finished with all the post accident stuff he had to do, to say that he was sorry for messing up the yard. He was in his 70's and just a really nice guy. He said that the truck came out of gear on the hill above us and he couldn't get it back in and he couldn't get it stopped with the brakes. About a quarter mile down from where he ran it off the road is an intersection and then a sharp left hand turn. I'm very happy that he made the choice he did. I'll fix up some ruts any day rather than someone getting hurt.



Anyway, I'm not really sure what the point of this is other than I think this is just one of those examples of what could happen when we least expect it. We get in to a lot of discussions on here about how, with what, and how heavy we haul or tow. This just really makes the safety aspect of it all hit home for me.

 

[TWalley]

Great points!! We all need to remember that stopping that load is just as important as getting it, and keeping it going.

Glad nobody was hurt and all you got out of it were a few ruts.

 

[BGlidewell]

why would the brakes not stop his truck?

 

[Simplysmn]

why would the brakes not stop his truck?

Maybe No Trailer Brakes ?????????????

 

[mwilson]

So how much does a round bale weigh X 20????

I am well aware that hay weight can vary a lot due to pasture, type of grass and moisture content, etc. but someone must have a ballpark figure.



I bet he was quite a bit overweight and had crappy trailer brakes.



I worked on dairy farms while in High School but only had regular bales, I can certainly tell you how heavy those were heaving them to the top of the hay trailer while building the load... ... :-laf:-laf



We didn't have any of that new-fangled equipment... .....



Mike.

 

[RustyJC]

Shhhhh..... people don't want to hear about possible consequences of towing grossly overweight with the "mighty Cummins!" :-{}



Rusty

 

[EGroeneveld]

Maybe No Trailer Brakes ?????????????

I'm betting that too. Would be much bigger ruts with trailer brakes locked up.

 

[Wertles]

Although most likely overloaded, it sounds to me as though the trailer was more overloaded than the truck. I don't expect my truck brakes to stop a 10K load by themselves. I do expect my trailer brakes to stop any load that they were designed to stop. I definitely would be leery of a 30K load on a 20K trailer and expect the brakes to hold down a hill. I know that my tri axle trailer with 6 brakes stops much better than my dual axle trailer did with 4 despite it being heavier.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Yep, the result of being grossly overloaded and poor or no trailer brakes.



The rancher who mows and bales the hay in my pasture hauls loads about half that size... 11 bales per load on his 24' tandem axle gooseneck trailer. BTW, he tows his hay haulin' gooseneck trailer with a clean, nice looking first gen CTD dually with a RV hauler flat bed on it.



He tows his 5th wheel RV with a 2nd gen CTD dually. The first gen does the work and the 2nd gen does the play. :-laf



Bill

 

[tarnett]

So how much does a round bale weigh X 20????

I am well aware that hay weight can vary a lot due to pasture, type of grass and moisture content, etc. but someone must have a ballpark figure.

Tried to paste the table from this government link but format didn't hold. Weight is by hay variety, bale diameter and bale length. Weights ranged from 425 to 1,655 lbs.

Using and Feeding Round Bales to Horses

 

[mwilson]

Tried to paste the table from this government link but format didn't hold. Weight is by hay variety, bale diameter and bale length. Weights ranged from 425 to 1,655 lbs.

Using and Feeding Round Bales to Horses

Oh that chart and info is awesome!!!!!!



So at the bare minimum with 4 x 4 alfalfa bales he had at least 10,000 lbs of hay.



Also didn't realize round bales were used for horses, always figured the hay would be too dusty and the horses would get the heaves.

Thought it was only used for cattle.

Apparently the storage is the key.



Neat!

It is indeed a wasted day if you don't learn something new.



Thanks, Mike.

 

[BGlidewell]

our round bales where 1500# of E Texas coastal. the trailer had to weigh some amount too...

 

[Wingate]

our round bales where 1500# of E Texas coastal. the trailer had to weigh some amount too...

x2!!. .



I have to say, I am guilty of overloading my Goat on more than one occasion. Usually its been when hauling hay as well. . I do have excellent trailer brakes though. .

Seems like the trailer I used had a dry weight of 6500lbs. . then with 10 bales on it ... . yea. . it was overloaded. .

 

[MelvinPierce]

My round bales run 1400-1600#, depending. So, ave. 20 X 1500 = 30,000# hay, plus the trailer, plus the truck. He was grossing 42-45,000#.

And, being a farmer, there is at least a 50% chance he had NO trailer brakes to start with!

MP

 

[fest3er]

My round bales run 1400-1600#, depending. So, ave. 20 X 1500 = 30,000# hay, plus the trailer, plus the truck. He was grossing 42-45,000#.



And, being a farmer, there is at least a 50% chance he had NO trailer brakes to start with!



MP

Which is why farmers with an ounce of smarts tow only one loaded grain wagon (as much as 25K#) with a pickup and don't exceed 20 MPH or so.