There's a guy a couple miles from my shop with a construction business. He's different, and not someone I do business with, because he's got more issues than just being different- but that's a whole different story. We drive right by his shop early this week, and I see a fresh painted Cat 420D backhoe, up on a gooseneck trailer, behind his single wheel, 3/4 ton duramax crew cab. I wanted to take a picture, but I was in the lowboy. I drove by later with one of the guys with me, and we talked about how it was a accident waiting to happen. Well it didn't take long. I came home for lunch today, and at the top of my hill sat the highway patrol by his empty truck and trailer, and I could see a 5-6' round hole of broken boards where the backhoe bucket would sit. I just turned around, and went over on the highway and saw the carnage. I didn't even stop to ask what happened, because I knew. Fortunately (God protects fools and children) he didn't hurt anyone. I know he popped the hill and was going too fast, there's a little curve, and it bounced him and took off sideways, and he ended up in the cliff face on the other side, in the oncoming lane. Its a miracle someone didn't get killed. If someone had been seriously hurt, I know I would feel bad- knowing it was a bad idea when I saw it, but I'm not sure what I could have done to stop him from driving it. Anyways, I did get some pictures after the fact:
Glad no one was hurt....you just can't fix stupid.... What are the chances he actually had insurance on it?? That'll cost a pretty penny to put back together…
But the trailer had enough brakes to stop it! He should serve some prison time for being such an idiot.
Did he not have it chained down??
I have no idea how he had it tied down. There's no obvious damage to the tie down rail in the picture of the trailer, and it doesn't look like the tie down point on the backhoe shows anything either, but that doesn't mean he didn't have 2-5/16" walmart chains on it. One thrown over each bucket on each end- we've all seen guys that tie down like that. I kind of think that the trailer started jacknifing and trying to come around him, by the tire marks on the pavement. It probably was kind of climbing up on the drivers side, trying to roll, and across the highway and hit the bank on the far side, while the truck and trailer slid into the ditch. Didn't look like the trailer came far enough over to damage the side of the box on the truck, but probably came up enough that when the backhoe hit the bank, it shoved it enough to punch the beams below the deck, and then the bank may have stripped it off the trailer. The picture is kind of deceptive, there's a pretty good hill there, that starts above the curve you see, and the area that he went off in is pitched pretty good also. The corner is pretty flat, not any bank to it, which doesn't help either. Not much shoulder to come back on. Interesting enough, there was a not very pretty loader arm repair under all the new black paint.
This happened a few years back a couple miles here, but a man died because he was crushed by the tractor falling on him. HeavyEquipmentForums
Looks like a bird found the perfect place to relieve himself…
Should buff right out good as new. I have drive cam video of a way too big dozer on a rig just like that rolling down the highway but I can't find it right now. Accident waiting to happen in front of me. Even with an OS articulated dump on the wagon I needed to get around and put distance between me & him. " hold your lane dude, hold your lane...." The guy gave me thumbs up when I went by! uShip specials.
Is that a LAKE in the background?? THAT woulda been even funnier..
This is the reason I sold my F450, it might of been strong enough to handle that loader but I feel more safer with a 2 ton truck handling weight in that load bracket. Better to have too much pulling, stopping and carrying power than not have enough when you need it most and someone gets hurt or killed. P.S. I could of welded that better drunk lol.
that poor backhoe is a goner lift arms bent rops is bent i bet the lift arm frame is tweaked and that is all but impossible to fix there are close to a dozen owner operators here in the valley that run 1 ton duallys and goosenecks and 1 really stupid guy that runs a 3/4 ton one of the guys wrecked his truck 2 months ago while loading his backhoe because the drive axle got light and it took off out from under him totaled the pickup and tweaked the trailer these are accidents waiting to happen there is no way you should load 17000 lbs on that set up and be comfortable. they deserve everything they get
Those are the guys who get on the forums and say, " I came out to my truck & it just clicked".. I have dash lites but it just "clicks".. I put in a new/used battery about 7 years ago...What could be the problem?? & 4 pages later>> "it turns out it WAS the battery..thanks guys".. Fools..
I completely missed that thread. It was a good read. I have an F-550 / 2 7 ton trailers, a 10 ton goose neck trailer and several others. I lost all my trailer brakes and my f 550 is able to deal with the load. But your stopping distance is not good. The truck brakes will wear out very fast. I normally move 12,000 lb loads with the trailers. For anyone that is reading this. A deck over trailer is much more dangerous than a low slung tag trailer. Most bumper pull tags are much less likely to dump the load under less than good driving conditions due to the center of gravity being lower. The grand goose neck vs bumper pull debate. Goose necks place the load in a better place on the truck axle but 90% of them are deck over the trailer tires. Some of the newer dump trailers are not and they are awesome. Look for a deck between the tires for safer load moving. They sit lower. But your trailer deck is not as wide unless you have them specially made to drive onto the fenders. The truck makers have over rated the new trucks and the loads they supposedly can carry are not safe. When your load goes above 5 tons (trailer + load, most 2 axle equipment trailers weigh close to 3000 lbs plus) be aware that you are at risk of being wrecked by the load... at any time. If the brakes fail, a tire blows, or someone stops to fast you might end up wrecked. Gravity and curves can over come your truck system quickly. Wind can push you off the road. Slick roads will wreck you. AND improper(not enough) tongue weight will fish tale you and wreck you as will too much tongue weight break your hitch. It is dangerous carrying a load with a pickup sized truck. Once the gear begins to wear the danger level goes up until you wreck if you don't do it PERFECT every time you move something. I have been wrecked lucky I was the only one effected. I have broken hitches. I have broken wheels, lug studs, dozens of tires, broken springs, worn out spring hangers, broken spring bolts, and I weld broken welds constantly. I have and love my class 8 truck, you are much safer in a bigger truck... but I still use my smaller truck to move the small machines. I own a forklift and I can turn my trailer over. Fix welds, fix broken hangers and hardware and such. It is a constant job. Brakes will wear out and steel will break. A trailer inspection occurs every time a machine goes on. Be safe and drive slower than you think you should. Arrive to work. I have had this trailer down for almost 10 days now. Needed brakes adjusted, new deck, brake away unit services, a ground fault repaired, ramps re-welded, bearings cleaned and greased and repacked, a power lead to break away battery added. Just to get this trailer back in shape to carry a load. The frame members are all bent going under the deck from the load hitting the boards, so extra thick 1 3/4" tubing was welded in to reinforce the frame work. It will bend inline with the rest of the bent members. Constant job keeping your trailers safe...
Unfortunatly its all to common of a sight in sw missouri. I pay thousands to be leagal. Dot numbers ,haul for hire authority, million dollar limit of liabilaty to be able to haul motor vehicles leagle. It just infuriates me when i see guys like this. Nothing about this is leagal! Probably running farm tags and insurance also!
I haul my 10,500# MTL on a 26k GVWR goose neck dump trailer behind a 2017 F-350 crew cab, long bed dually. It tows very well. It goes straight down the road, handles turns well, and the trailer brakes stop the truck. I am pretty sure I am close to legal weight limit when I haul the loader and a few attachments.
What your truck will haul leagally is just one part of the equation. If your doing this as a buisiness anything over 10k lbs is under dot jurisdiction and requirs a dot number and all the headache that goes along with that! Are you aware that hauling motorized vehicles that you fall under hazmat rules now? Cfr 173.220. I dont care what your trailer is rated for. If your total gvw truck trailer and load exceed your vehicle manufactures gvwr you can bet your getting a ticket. Saying "I think im close to being loaded legal" is such an ignorant statement and does not fly when your pulled over on tje side of the road trying to explain that to the dot officer. There are so many ways to be over weight its not funny. Over gross, over plated weight rating, over axles, over bridge, over axle weight rating, over tire weight rating, on and on. And if you go over 24k you need a cdl. I dont think id go with an i think attitude and id go with an i know for sure method or you will find yourself on the side of the road placed out of service waiting for a tow truck with a driver that has all the correct information and accreditation. When you tell the officer that you didnt know his reply will be ignorance of the law is no excuse! Ask me how i know that!
I do not do this as a business. Asking for forgiveness is easier than getting permission. I am 'that guy' who will bring 5000 books of laws in the court to present to a jury when the prosecutor says that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Make no mistake, there would be a jury trial. The jury will love the big pics of all the legal things I could drive and tow that outweigh and outsize my rig. https://goo.gl/images/hP7mvR
P.S. Laws vary from state to state. The rules in MO are not necessarily the same in FL. I am quite sure I could find an exception in the FL Right to Farm Act. My line about being close to weight limit was meant as I know I am under, but approaching. There is no way I am at or over.
All i can say is good luck with that! The laws have changed and that old im just a dumb farmer attitude dosent fly anymore. They are pretty serious about it anymore. Sure there are some minor local variations but all states pretty much mirror the federal dot regs
The laws for hauling are a mess. I just wish people would use a little more common sense. I think the area a person is working in can make a large difference on what is reasonable as well as legal to haul. There can be legal loads that aren't reasonable to haul. The brain behind the wheel can make a large difference also. A load that would work in florida, where it's flat as a pancake, may be a bad idea near my shop, or where Birken is calif, or a lot of areas in the northeast. There are areas of calif that are flat, as well as areas of missouri, where a load that isn't reasonable by me, would work okay there. My little local area happens to be filled with short steep hills, winding roads with no shoulders. No terrible long grades like they have out west, but the road my shop is on, has cars go off it at least twice a month. Sometimes twice a week. If you crowned my shop hill with a pickup and gooseneck with a backhoe on it in more than first gear, you won't make the corners by my driveway, your brakes will be toast before you get there, and you aren't pulling the corners at any kind of speed. I don't care what kind of trailer brakes you have. I've got a backwards tractor Allis forklift. I've hauled it on my gooseneck trailer behind a 1 ton dodge dually. I don't know exactly what it weighs, but I know I didn't want anyone else driving it. After I had hauled it a couple times, I bought a trailer that went behind my full size semi tractor that hauls it comfortably. It just wasn't worth the risk. Sure the Dodge could pull the load, I just wouldn't have a prayer of stopping in a hurry, and it had me, more than I had it. I just thought it was kind of ironic, that I just saw his load, knew it was trouble, and in less than a week he had lost it. The stupidest thing is, he owns a freighliner tandem, and used to have a trailer he could have hauled this on. But he's the kind of guy you can't tell anything too, so fortunately, all of our insurance will go up a little to pay for his wrecked backhoe, because he's a idiot. I'm just thrilled he didn't take anyone with him.
In today's society there is so many laws, rules, regulations and so forth the only difference with person who has bad driving history from tickets or criminal record and person who does is they haven't been caught yet or you live a sheltered life.
AMEN to that!
It's not so much what your hauling but where you have to go with it .
Not, ain't this the truth!
Ok ….. I'll yank ya out but slow it down & take it easy in the curves with the D7F Bro . . LOL
The last few years in our great state if you are caught overweight, they check your insurance policy. If you are insured for only the legal weight of your rig you also get an "over insurance" citation. We are allowed 99,000 on 6 axles in the winter with forest products. Most truckers carry a insurance policy to 120,000 lbs. which is the next increment that most insurance sellers sell.
Ain't that a hell of a note, still needed pulled out with a winch on the back of the tractor... I think I would have figured out A way to bury a log and get it out!
Well the other side of the truck didn't escape. It happened like I thought, with the trailer trying to come around on him loaded up. Looks like it got a little twisted up on him. I saw his truck today on my way to look at another jobsite.
Makes you wonder if the guy is counting his lucky stars. If that machine had landed on his cab he would be broken into bits.
Was he Hispanic by any chance? Only reason I am asking is by the looks of the pickup!
I like the taillight repair....safety first!!
No anchors close buy to tie the dozer winch to . Sometimes it's easier to dial a cell phone and let the GMC do it's thing . " You call we haul "
No, he's not hispanic. I hate to admit it, but he's a Dutchman. (So am I- but I hope our family trees don't share many people after Noah). He has his other pickup and his freightliner done up with the swoopy stripes all over them too. I think it looks stupid, but that's just me. Everybody's different. I thought at first when you were talking about the pickup being hispanic- was because it was beat all up, then I figured out the stripes part.
I like swoopies, It keeps the DOT occupied while my plain white truck drives past.
Howdy neighbors, I sold my heavy trailer to not have to deal with the regs. I just hire it now. I've pushed the limits plenty, but i drive like a grandpa.
Saw a 20ft deck over bumper pull today that was being pulled down the interstate by a half ton with 4 pallets of block on it well it had 4 pallets till the trailer came round and dumped itself and the pickup on the side of the road there were 3 other cars stopped one had a block in the hood with the windshield gone didn't get a good look at the other ones didn't look like anyone was hurt What really eats at me with all these guys is they make it harder for the rest of us to do things with out being hassled by more regs and dot Years ago a rental yard dropped a backhoe off going around a corner only had 2 chains on it and it killed a person there was no way that machine was anywhere close to a legal tie down but the reaction from that and a few other near misses caused so much over regulation in tie downs it ridiculous The way pickups are powered now they empower to many idiots to get entirely to much weight moving at 80 miles an hour and no fore thought about controlling it or a legal tie down with rated chains or straps End rant
td25 that truck sounds awesome..
Wonder if he will manage to wrap that trailer around his truck too...
Well... if at first you don't succeed, try try again
I was doing about 40 mph in Oregon on IH 84 on icy roads in my old F450 with equipment trailer on the back had to get back to Texas before a court date so there was no time to just sit it out. Going around a bend that curves to the left truck spun out I tried correcting it couldn't for the world of me and I found out why. My truck came to rest at complete 180 and between me and concrete barrier was white Subaru, pinned between my truck and trailer snapped the pintle hitch. Car came out of nowhere doing 55 mph passing me(according to police report) said I slid into them. Didn't know my insurance had lapsed I ended up with 30k bill found at fault and few days later one passengers neck was hurting so it went to 50k bill afterwards. To this day I call B.S. cause I also have been hit in front of my truck and didn't feel it by someone passing illegally side swiped my front bumper it's custom built by me.