HOW DO YOU TOW YOUR TRACTOR 3

[chim]

I followed this and would like to offer a few thoughts:

1. Glad you ended up with a safe trailer, Papa.

2. Regarding enforcement - Although it would be good for a cop to issue citations for "bad" trailers, the average officer wouldn't be sufficiently familiar with trailer construction to make the determination.

3. We have about 20 trailers - most in the 3000# to 7000# range at work for our superintendents to use. It's almost a full time job to keep them in good condition. We have been updating them with LED lights and "armor" to protect them, replacing chains, repairing wiring, etc. It isn't easy to make them "superintendent proof". We do our best to make sure they are safe and in compliance with PA laws. One thing I discovered is that several of our trailers had much smaller safety chains than allowed by law. In PA each chain must be rated for the GVW of the trailer. Several trailers came new with chains that looked like they belonged on a canoe trailer.

4. Our state does require inspections for trailers. The frequency depends on the weight rating. I see trailers on the road that make me wonder how they passed.

5. "Let the buyer beware" is a good credo in general, but most people don't have the ability to make the determination whether the welds or structure might be good or bad. I grew up in construction work, and many of the guys I know have a fair amount of mechanical aptitude, but a lot of other people I know have trouble replacing a car battery. We need less government in most cases, but something like this should be regulated.

 

[Chilly807]

Our province went from an annual inspection to a multi-year program recently, with vehicles sold as "used" required to pass a safety inspection every 2 years, and new vehicles getting a pass good for 3 years, then requiring re-inspection every two years thereafter. So, let's say a vehicle gets driven 35,000 km per year, like mine does. Brakes are going to last for over 100,000 km? How about tires? Exhausts? Wheel bearings?

I wasn't happy to see the extra years added to safety inspections because human nature being what it is, some drivers won't replace anything til they're forced to by law or being left on the side of the road.

We do have "vehicle compliance" inspectors that can make roadside spot-checks at random, and we had a big sting operation a few years back that had vehicles that passed inspections and shouldn't have. That led to quite a few inspection stations having their licenses suspended or revoked. On the other side of the coin, the same operation also exposed a lot of shady garages and dealerships that were finding imaginary problems with vehicles being inspected and gouging the drivers for unnecessary repair bills.

It doesn't catch every poorly built or maintained vehicle on the road, but it does scoop up some of them.

Sean

 

[PAPPASMURF]

I do agree that Government sometimes causes more troubles than necessary, and I also agree that the government sticks their nose in things that probably should be left alone most of the time. I would like to offer a "cop's point of view" on this matter. Until becoming a Police Officer I didn't agree with most of the strick laws you run into involving private property like cars, trailers, land, etc. But as the years have gone by I have seen the problems if SOME of those laws were not in place. Throughout the 50 states of this great nation, Driving on public roadways is a Privilege....not a right. Focusing only on what is being driven on our roadways (as I don't intend to argue over politics here) I would like to offer my viewpoint on the trailer /towing issue that this Thread is about. Too many people put unsafe cars, trucks, trailers, etc. on our roadways making them unsafe. All of us have seen this, and I DO agree with the government sticking their noses in this area. Everyone (at least most of us) pays taxes....some of which ends up going to the road projects in your city / state. But this doesn't mean you have the right to drive whatever you want on those roadways, and there are laws in place to prevent that. I have personally seen utility / equipment trailer accidents all over the United States on a regular basis. It is a much more common thing than you would imagine. Most people don't pay attention to anything other than the vehicles involved in an accident while "rubber necking" and not any other details like a trailer on the side of the road that broke free from the tow vehicle. That being said, I think that the trailer manufacturers should be held to the strick inspections that our cars and truck manufacturers are held to. No one gripes about the safety inspections your car or truck had to go through before you bought it.....NO ONE!. so why do we think utility trailers shouldn't be governed with strick laws like that which do nothing but good in my opinion? I don't think that putting it off on the buyer is a fair thing to do. Most of us here may have mechanically inclined minds. I for one have a very mechanically inclined mind and I do all sorts of projects year round that include construction, mechanics, and electronics....its kind of a hobby to me and has been all my life. I'm not an expert in any of these fields, but well-educated. My point is....I MISSED THE DANGEROUS TRIALER DETAIL when I got my tractor / trailer package, and I'm furious that no one including me in my official capacity can not do anything about it to help save someone from disaster! I had a false sense of security when I made my purchase of the trailer. I really had no clue that government didn't regulate these manufacturers any more than they do. Its a free-for-all in the trailer manufacturing area, and unless you luck up and get a manufacturer that cares what they sell you....your in a bad situation like I was. Its very frustrating to know that any ole redneck can weld up scraps of metal and throw wheels on it, and sell it to one of your family members LEGALLY! I see that most of you agree with me on this, I just hope that the others will take another look at the "government nose problems" where this one issue is concerned. I'm hoping to find out what I can do in my neck of the woods to at least make more people safe in my jurisdiction. Maybe it will catch on in other places when I do! Just my Opinion here. Thanks for all the feedback.:smurf:

 

[Chilly807]

One thing I've missed here, maybe it's just me. Do your trailers in the US (generally speaking) have to pass a state safety inspection? Here, most anything that's towed has to, in addition to being certified as properly designed/engineered by either the manufacturer if they're licensed to do so, or by the province if it's a home-built trailer. With the exception of things like woodsplitters, etc, and that's something that I've wondered about too... I can't tow an empty utility trailer without a license plate, brake/signal lights, or safety inspection, but I can hook a woodsplitter to the back of a car and drive on a public road with none of those items. Go figure.

Sean

 

[PAPPASMURF]

Law varies from State to State. Some have to be inspected, others just require a few items of paperwork to register them and get a tag, and still others don't regulate them much at all. Generally speaking, the "inspection" is pretty much a joke and consists of someone from DMV walking outside and looking at your trailer and saying "yep! that's a trailer" and then walking back inside and checking the block that indicates your trailer has been inspected! ha ha.:confused3:

 

[94BULLITT]

In a Virgina a trailer over 3K gross has to have brakes and be inspected yearly.

 

[PAPPASMURF]

In a Virgina a trailer over 3K gross has to have brakes and be inspected yearly.

Have you ever asked anyone "who" enforces that? just curious. What I found out is that Alabama also requires brakes at 3000#, and our law also states that when you show up to get your tag your trailer is "Subject to inspection". Funny thing is, I have NEVER had my trailers inspected. No one I know has ever had their trailer inspected.......................and to make matters worse, No one enforces the 3000# limit. Its just words written on paper. Is Virginia in a better place with the trailer Laws? I am sure interested in how each state carries out the enforcement side of things. Thanks.:smurf:

 

[rustyshakelford]

Here how I usually haul my tractors. I was actually short a few chains from what dot would like but everything was secured. It had 5 or 6 chains. I think only 4 are on for this pic. I'm thinking the trailer was around 20k

Brett

 

[Chilly807]

Up here it's getting hard to find anyone who is licensed to inspect trailers, it's a different license than regular automobile inspection. Some heavy truck repair shops are licensed to do it, though they are used to doing semi trailers and are a bit lost as to what to look at on a 4x8 utility trailer.

The thing is, there's no money in it for them. I think the fee is something like $14 to the owner, for that they're supposed to go over a trailer carefully to be sure it's safe? I guess it's their responsibility to do it right, but it's easy to see how things slide by.

After the shake-up a few years back, a lot of inspection stations disappeared, it wasn't worth the hassle to be licensed to do them anymore. Those that still do are either careful, or picky to the point of being stupid about it.

Sean

 

[Chilly807]

Here how I usually haul my tractors. I was actually short a few chains from what dot would like but everything was secured. It had 5 or 6 chains. I think only 4 are on for this pic. I'm thinking the trailer was around 20k

Brett

Nice setup.. Dually truck or normal rear axle? Any idea what the actual pin weight is loaded like that? The truck certainly isn't squatting under it, to be sure.
Are there any regs saying you have to clean out the undercarriage on the excavator? The guy we use is always careful to get any big clods of mud out of the tracks before he loads, apparently Dept. of Transport will cite you if anything like that can come loose and go on the roadway or into traffic.

Sean