Posted by Paul Cook on Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 9:52PM :
In Reply to: Re: another trailer loading question. posted by Allen Patnode on Saturday, January 24, 2004 at 8:21PM :
Having had that experience, I'm sure you can enjoy this. I saw a guy trying to load a backhoe on a conventional trailer. The trailer and its tow truck were on a public street facing downhill. No wheel chocks on the trailer or tow truck. As the weight of the backhoe pushed down the back of the trailer, the tongue lifted - as yours did. This took the weight off the tow truck's rear axle being held by the transmission. The truck and trailer started downhill. The driver tried to speed up the backhoe to get it forward on the trailer and put weight back on the tongue and the truck rear axle. Unfortunately the truck was going downhill a little faster than the backhoe at first. If the backhoe driver had stopped, the trailer would have rolled out from under the backhoe and the whole incident would have been over. Instead, he accelerated the backhoe and ended up matching the speed of the runaway rig. The movie version would have had this street long and finally crossing a very busy intersection with dozens of crashed cars involved. This incident ended when the street changed to an uphill and the backhoe finally ran up onto the trailer. There were two people watching who weren’t laughing - the backhoe operator and the backhoe owner.
Before this incident, I always used wheel chocks – but on the rear axle of the tow truck. That might not have helped this time. The blocks need weight to hold them. Now I always block the wheels of the rear trailer axle. Also, whether it’s my tractor or a POWER WAGON, I always load using four-wheel-drive. That keeps the vehicle being loaded from pushing the trailer on level ground. And, I support the back of the trailer with a piece of a 6” x 6” that’s just enough to hold the back of the trailer up while there’s extra weight back there.