Bulldozer comes off of trailer, kills 2

[JeepHead]

Read that this morning. Very sad for that family. My first thought was how people will use ratchet straps when transporting equipment like this....

 

[Runner]

Can't get much unluckier than that.

 

[big bubba]

on a related safety issue: i see round bales stacked double on flatbed trailers with out any securing tie downs at all...of course the farmer or truck operator sill say gravity holds it down....until.... i always give wide berth when i see one of those rigs.

 

[newbury]

on a related safety issue: i see round bales stacked double on flatbed trailers with out any securing tie downs at all...of course the farmer or truck operator sill say gravity holds it down....until.... i always give wide berth when i see one of those rigs.

Yeah,
I was following a "farm" truck up highway 72 north of Scottsboro, AL where it was 2 lane. They had 3 large round bails on the back. I was trying to get to pass them. One bail dropped off and came right at me. Luckily I was able to dodge it.

 

[big bubba]

Yeah,
I was following a "farm" truck up highway 72 north of Scottsboro, AL where it was 2 lane. They had 3 large round bails on the back. I was trying to get to pass them. One bail dropped off and came right at me. Luckily I was able to dodge it.

it's a real safety issue like the OP's topic. i well know the state 2 lane hwys with no shoulders in agri rural areas. the state patrol & county boys are already overloaded, hard to fully enforce unsecured loads. & always wise, as you say, to keep distance.

 

[John0829]

Yeah, during hay season it is not uncommon to see MANY bales on the sides of the roads. I don't see why just because they are farmers they get a free pass on public safety. Another one that scares the crap out of me are the log trucks, stacked/balanced above the stands, leaning to one side or the other and using what looks like 5/16 chain. Knowing how many of them don't care about anything I have little doubt whatever chain they are using is the cheapest they could lay their hands on. I have yet to ever see any of them checked or inspected.

 

[big bubba]

roger that. actually, i see more unsecured bales than i see loggers hauling to market. working in the woods, they're prob ahead of farmers & haulers in terms of safety. me? always trying to dodge the bullet

 

[newbury]

When I hayed during the summers in the 60's and 70's we were mostly hand loading what would now be called "small 2 string" bales, about 15Hx18Wx36?L. We'd throw them on a wagon and someone would stack them. Towards the end of my "haying" experience some of the farmers started using "kicker" balers and less labor.
Most of the haying was done within 1/2 mile of where it would be stored. Occasionally a bale would fall while we were on the main road going maybe 5 miles an hour to the barn. Not a major problem. Someone (usually me) would jump off, run back, stack it on the side of the road to be picked up later.
But now with the big rounds it can be a major problem. I was looking at well better than half a ton I had to dodge.

 

[5030]

When I haul rounds on my GN, I stack them 2 wide and 2 high and every stack gets strapped plus one in the back pulling forward.

One rule with me and that is, when someone besides me is unloading a piece of equipment from a trailer (any trailer), I never stand next to the trailer, always well away.

Any more, I don't haul rounds. My customer drops his semi trailers in the field and I load them and he secures them. I don't touch any of it ever.

 

[5030]

Before I retired, I hauled steel (coils and sheets) as well as machinery for the outfit I retired from and I never had a load shift or lost anything because I made doubly sure every load was secured properly.