When loading your tractor, think it through

That will buff out

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Morons and motorized vehicles are a dangerous combination.

Just can’t fix stupid!


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We call that first one "trailer surfing".

Here's my cure for that:

Hey that's a clever solution. Thanks for the idea. It seems like jacks don't stand up.

OK, this is unrelated, yet related...
Yesterday as I was driving along I saw a large Class A motorhome parked beside the road in a lane that featured a steep down-hill grade from the road. Something didn't look right so I slowed down.

Sure enough, the right front wheel had been removed from the motorhome, and a whackin' big jack was positioned under the front axle to support that corner of the vehicle.

But what was preventing this now-three-wheeled contraption from rolling backwards down the steep grade?

After looking several times to see if wheel chocks had been installed I failed to find them. Instead I saw the two "leveling" jacks at the rear of the motorhome had been extended and were solidly in contact with the gravel surface of the laneway.

Hmmm... I don't know beans about motorhomes, but I looked at the sideways bending loads being placed on those jacks and could only think, "Man, I hope the brakes hold!"

I made up a couple of stepped wood blocks to put under the back of my trailer when loading and unloading. I started with 6x6x12 blocks and added a 2x6x12 and a 2x6x6 to one side. That gives me the options of 5-1/2, 7, or 8-1/2 inches.

I wish I still had the pictures of the customer that trailered his car up to diagnose why it wouldn’t start. He hauled it over two hours to get here and forgot the trailer ramps, no problem right? He decides he just going to back it off the trailer with out the ramps (it’s a Mazda 3). Back wheels drop off the back of the trailer and now the car is stuck, once again, no problem right? Goes to the front of the trailer and unhooks it from the hitch, trailer comes up off the ball and goes right through the tailgate of the truck, don’t know how the hell he didn’t get crushed in the process. He then proceeds to back the car off the rest of the way and ripping the front bumper off in the process. Just amazing how some people survive for so long.

Ugh that second was about as worst case scenario as it could have with those ramps popping up and turning into an undercarriage shredding machine.

Remember, we share the roads with these people...

BXHoosier said:

I made up a couple of stepped wood blocks to put under the back of my trailer when loading and unloading. I started with 6x6x12 blocks and added a 2x6x12 and a 2x6x6 to one side. That gives me the options of 5-1/2, 7, or 8-1/2 inches.

Click to expand...

Used them 6x6 blocks for years

I see this stuff on a daily basis, and honestly a lot of the time it no longer surprises me.

What I see most commonly: wrong ball size for the trailer. Probably seen it 200 times in the last 30 years. 1 7/8" ball, trailer requires 2". No problem right? It pulls just fine. When you go to load your tractor, it pops off of the ball, the chains catch, and guess what happens next? Your $60,000+ pick up truck's tailgate gets trashed. I watched it happen today on one of those GMC trucks with the multi purpose tailgate things. Destroyed the tailgate. Absolutely destroyed it. I was told by someone I know that works at the parts dept at the GMC dealer that those tailgates are about $6000 currently. Something else I see all the time is the latch not latched. Just drop it on the ball and drive off. Chains dragging, wires dragging (if there are any wires). See TONS of them running around with NO trailer lights, and I mean none. Not non-working lights, no lights whatsoever. Another funny one was last week when guy loaded his L3901 that was in for 50 hour service, guy was trying to straddle a hole in the floor of the trailer and, well, it made another hole. Rear right wheel fell right through. Guy was real lucky he didn't come off of the tractor. Ya know...when you have a HOLE IN THE WOOD FLOOR, you just might want to consider replacing the floor sometime in the next 20 years.

Seen another one a few weeks ago, guy shows up pulling an L2501 with a BH77 BH and a LA525 FEL--pulled by a 4 runner. The trailer was a single 3500 lb axle with those little lightweight boat trailer tires. That trailer was screaming for help. The tops of the fenders were BURNT from the tires rubbing on it. I asked the ol' boy how the 4 runner pulled it. He said it did ok, but was really underpowered. Well with the fender ON the tires, I would imagine it felt like the brakes were on. DUH! That wasn't even the best. The best part was that the tractor didn't fit on the trailer with the loader down, so he had it hauled with the FEL bucket as far up as it would go and the BH swung sideways. The front tires were right up against the front rail and the rear tires were maybe (if you're lucky) a 1/2" on the trailer. I told him we'd deliver it back to him for his trouble. Honestly I was really worried he'd try to haul it back home on that same trailer which was dangerous as could be!

Just when you think you have seen it all, someone surprises you.

The sad part? All my trailers have working lights, up to date tags & registrations, maintained bearings and axles and springs (and brakes), yet I guarantee I'll be "that one" who'll have some sort of problem the next time I pull somewhere....wasn't there some guy named Murphy that used to be popular?

This is my solution to that problem. I often unload on uneven ground so I put the blocks on the side of the dovetail not the back.

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