Loading heavy objects?

[CJ Lagos]

How do you all load heavy equipment? I've got a 24ft deckover gooseneck trailer that I use to haul Jeeps around with. I was at my grandfather's place yesterday and we had to move his tractor from one farm to another. His tractor is a big old "David Brown" made by Case... . I don't know if anyone of you know what that is or not, dunno how common they are.



Anyway, I don't know the weight but my truck had trouble pulling it, and it pulls my Jeep(~5500lbs)perfect. So I'd guess anywhere above 7k.



When we drove it up the ramps, it lifted the back tires of the truck off the ground. Luckily I had it in 4lo with the e-brake on, so it didn't go anywhere, but it made me nervous. When we took it off I backed up to a hill and made the ramps on the trailer almost horizontal... .



What do you pros do?



CJ

 

[Powder Extreme]

Lifted the back wheels off the ground!!?? I have a 24ft gooseneck as well, I load my 8k bobcat with 1500lb attachment all the time with no problem. I would think to lift the wheels of the truck off, that tractor weighed well over 10,000. My gooseneck has legs that flip down on the rear of it, but I rarely use them. They are for loading the really heavy equipment. Just fold them down before loading, then back up a ways after loading to fold them back up. I'm sure most welding shops could put a set on for you, shouldn't be too expensive. My trailer is a Titan brand, pretty common if you'd like to see the legs I'm talking about.



Jerry

 

[KWentling]

I looked up David Browns in my used tractor guide and the heaviest model shown is a 1494 4WD w/cab that weighs in at 9197. That is a '89 model which is as new as my book covers. The heaviest model through the '70s ( the ones I remember) was a 1412 and it weighed 7310. I'd be interested in the model number.

I built my own 24' gooseneck with a beaver tail and folding ramps that also support the back of the trailer when loading and when folded up make the bed flat. I would think you could get the same effect by blocking the back of the trailer to limit how far down it goes when loading and stop the teeter-totter effect. You'll need to make the blocks short enough so when the tractor is loaded the trailer is not resting on the blocks though. Hope this helps.

Kim

 

[Alan Reagan]

My trailer has the ramp braces that stop the tail from sinking when loading the heavy stuff. You may want to weld some on your ramps or put a drop stop on the rear to stop it from sinking while loading.



What happens when you lift the rear wheels. A guy here told me about an episode where he was loading a John Deere with a harrow attached on a flatbed with no ramp braces hooked to a 1/2 ton Ford. The rear wheels lifted on the Ford. The truck/trailer was on an incline. Rather than put on brakes with the tractor, he said he tried to continue driving onto the trailer which ended up with him (in low gear) chasing the truck down a hill into a tree about 100 feet away. Totally wrecked the front end of the truck.



Moral is, even with ramp braces, I chock my wheels when I load.

 

[illflem]

My GN is un-ramped about 4' tall, I use a loading dock or hillside for loading. For the real heavy tractors like backhoes I welded on two trailer jackstands that fold up when not in use on the rear. The tractor needs to weigh over 8k for them to be necessary. It's always good to block the trailer wheels when loading in case the truck's rear wheels come off the ground. That happened to a buddy of mine loading a backhoe from a loading dock, the truck's rears came off the ground and the truck and trailer went forward leaving a 4' gap between the dock and trailer with the backhoe bridging the gap.

 

[CJ Lagos]

So lifting the rear wheels isn't that big a deal? It really caught me off guard but I'm glad I had in 4wheel drive. Could have been disasterous.



I think I'll build something for loading heavy stuff... I don't even use ramps when loading my Jeep.



I'm not sure the model number of the tractor, it is 2wd, has what looks like 66" rear tires, it's got a front loader.



CJ

 

[Alan Reagan]

It's not a big deal as long as the trailer doesn't run out from under you. Also, it can put quit a bit of strain on a transmission with the bucking motion you get loading heavy stuff. Use the emergency/parking brake to prevent some of that. Chock the wheels. Use ramp braces to stop the "lift" and to ease the strain on the rear axle. Remember, when the weight comes on the rear trailer axle, that's when the truck wheels lift. All the weight will be on the rear axle first until redistributed as the weight moves forward. Finally, when you finish, the trailer should be level so that there is even distribution on the trailer axles. I've seen several trucks go down the road swaying with all the weight on the rear axle or crushing the front axle cause the hitch is too low.

 

[David Muench]

My trailer came with a pair of trailer jacks on the back corners of the trailer that flip horizontal when not in use. I use them when I load a heavy tractor or both Jeeps at once.



Something I learned the hard way though - don't use one of those smaller square cinder blocks underneath one of those jacks. I was half way through loading a big ford tractor and one jack crushed the block into 4 pieces, twisting the trailer good and scaring the hell out of the tractor driver. . No damage, but it could of been nasty.

 

[merryman]

The first time I loaded my John Deere back hoe, the trailer I'd bought was too high or the ramps were too short so the "hoe" hung up on the ground; I thought I would use the "Hoe" to push it the rest of the way on the trailer. As I was doing so, the rear wheels of the truck came off the ground and there is was pushing truck and trailer----a totally wierd and scary feeling. Thought I was going to need a change of shorts.



I got rid of that trailer after that one trip.



Vaughn

 

[swamp rat]

Originally posted by illflem

It's always good to block the trailer wheels when loading in case the truck's rear wheels come off the ground. That happened to a buddy of mine loading a backhoe from a loading dock, the truck's rears came off the ground and the truck and trailer went forward leaving a 4' gap between the dock and trailer with the backhoe bridging the gap.

I could tell you of an instance at FedEx where a driver had just backed his automatic straight truck to the dock to unload with a forklift. The auto- straights were supposed to engage the airbreak as soon as the transmission hits park. This particular truck had been written up numerous times as faulty, but as I understand it the mechanics had cleared it as none safety related because you could still engage the P-brake manually. Yeah sure! Anyway, this fellow had gotten out, gone inside, jumped on a forklift and proceeded to unload. As he exited the box with the first pallet, the truck started rolling away from the dock toward the Cumberland river. The forklift went straight to the ground (a full three foot drop or better). Luckily no injuries, but the only thing that kept the truck from going swimming was a line of small trees on the riverbank. Mgmt got raked over the coals for not having chocking signage mounted, nor even providing chocks. The driver wound up with a non-preventable, and I think the mechanics got ripped pretty hard as well. About three months later, you guessed right, if you said the same thing happened. This time the driver wasn't so lucky with the accident determination, but at least he did get the forklift back on the dock before the truck rolled away, but just barely. The truck bowled over two trees and again stopped just short of the water.



I'm glad I didn't have to pay the repair bill. It was rather hefty to say the least.

 

[rickhans]

My GN has hinged ramps which flip up on the dove tail. The ramps have a foot welded on them that normally have about an 8" gap off of the ground. When I load my 13,500# man lift, I have a hard time getting them back up. I either have to drive forward a little bit to start the ramps swinging up, or I have to drive the man lift too far forward on the trailer, putting too much weight on the tongue.



On my small 16' trailer that I sometimes tow my skid steer loader on, I use a single adjustable car jack stand under the back end. I also have to drive off of that one after loading.