Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured.

   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #11  
more regulations won't stop idiots from being idiots.
Agreed. More regulation isn't gonna help a darn thing. These accidents are gonna continue to happen with or without regulation.

Sad though that this happened and the man lost his life.

I always check my trailer before pulling out. I make sure the coupler is securely latched, all the lights are working, lug nuts are tight, safety chains are hooked up and the pin is in the coupler latch.

And every time I stop I recheck those things.

As for the ball being tight. I usually just tack weld the nut into place. But if If not I do always make sure that the ball is secure and not loose.

I see some balls wobbling while going down the road which are clearly too loose. :eek:

Please everyone make sure the nut is tight on those balls. Keep a wrench with you and a cheater bar/pipe. And check that ball often. It could save you or someone else's life.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #12  
All of the above is why I prefer and use pintel hitches on my trailers.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #13  
Have to check the 'nut' on a pintle too ! Years ago I was working for a tree company, I had a bad head cold but was doing my best. Guy I was with that day couldn't have been any lazier. Stopped to dump the load of chips and he was good enough to sit in the truck while I hooked the chipper back to the truck. Jack up, plug in,chocks back,safety chains hooked up,checked everything twice cause my head was all fogged in. All was good till we stopped at a red light going down a hill and the chipper came off the pintle that I didn't get latched ! Safety chains held it though. I thought we would have to pull the tounge of the chipper up off the road with the boom of the bucket truck but while my partner was lazy he was an ox and lifted the chipper back onto the pintel. We jumped back in the cab and took off. All this while a cop sat at the light on the side street with big eyes , never stopped us though !
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #14  
i have had a couple dents in rear of truck, due to trailer coming off the ball. safety chains held. though recently i pulled the hitch into a V shape. hitch was rusted out and just pulled into a V, if i didn't catch it, it would of completely been pulled off. on farm, moving stuff so no real big deal, but still. it could of been a pot hole or having to weave off side of road and a good yank and bye bye trailer....

i hate checking the little "latch" inside the ball that latches up against the ball. i fear for my fingers being crushed. and keep other hand on jack, in case it is not all the way down and slips... though have caught a good amount of mis-hookup's to ball this way.

i wasn't paying attention a couple times, and have stretched and broke some safety chains before. the chains were all tangled up with one another vs being not to tight and not to long. a good old backing up with a jack knife on purpose, and there went the saftey chains. well is should say more along the "hooks" went. not the chains. again on the farm, not going any place off farm, so not really caring or paying attention,

The sales rep that I bought my last trailer from showed me a safer trick. With the coupler latched crank the jack up until it lifts the truck up a few inches. If it holds then you know you are hooked up right and no pinched fingers.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #15  
I had the strangest thing happen to a hitch ball. It was a 2 5/16 ball for my dump trailer, installed on the drawbar of my tractor and used for hauling some rotted manure from our cattle yard to my lawn. After having hauled several loads successfully I dumped one and when all the weight shifted the hitch came up. I thought I might not have latched it but there was the ball still locked in the hitch. The nut was on the ground with all the threads stripped out. Threads on the ball were still good. I tried tightening it again and when it tightened up it wouldn't take but a light torque to spin the nut. Threads were really gone. Ball was stamped USA but don't know where that nut came from. Got another 1" fine thread nut, used the same ball, and was back in business.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #16  
My first trailer, my Turnbow bumper pull, we took our 7 yr old Morgan to a carriage driving clinic in NH - smaller roads, highway, steep curvy hills. When we got there we discovered that we had lowered the hitch onto the ball, but had forgotten to lock it in place by sliding the collar forward. If the trailer tongue had rocked up, it would have been off the ball. We were always trailering, but this was the first clinic. After that - I always walk around the truck and trailer checking all of the connections, wire hook up, doors, lights. horses, etc. It takes a couple more minutes - but just needs to be done.

A friend from work recently bought a used horse trailer that was parked on a hill. They backed up, put the ball hitch into the receiver and hitched up. Their two kids were in the truck, they were distracted and working quickly. They pulled out onto the road. The hitch slid out of the receiver, the trailer (no chains} came loose and slid across the road. They forgot to put the pin in to hold the ball hitch in the receiver. A car coming along went into the ditch to avoid the trailer. They were all pretty shook up. The cops were called of course. ...It is easy to overlook details.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #17  
I've never had a trailer come off, but I have gone back to inspect before driving off - and noticed the latch was still up. :eek:

Never answer your phone if it rings while hooking up a trailer.
 
   / Breakaway trailer kills father of two... kids injured. #18  
I heard that
 
 
Top