Share Pics of People Hauling or Towing Something Wrong

[WinterDeere]

I guess I didn’t get any photos for the group to play along, but I pulled my log hauler trailer out today and made a 90 minute round-trip run down to mom’s today, looking like something out of Sanford and Son both ways.

Mom’s retirement house, the one she bought when all of us kids flew the coop in the 1990’s, has been sold. The clean-out, in order to fit her and her new husband of 20 years into an apartment at the old-folks community, is substantial.

Running a 106-ish inch wide trailer up and down some of the too-busy roads between here and there was fun, as was maneuvering my 50 foot long rig around her little “over 55” neighborhood.

 

[Dftodd]

I had a small boat trailer converted for utility use with a piece of light angle iron welded to the front, and a single sheet of plywood for a deck. The guy I sold it to was going to pull it behind his RV with his nice dresser Yamaha on it... it's his money but I wouldn't have.



I was using my nearly new F150 to haul a little firewood from the jobsite back to the landscaper I was working for. My coworker was about 8 feet from the truck when he started tossing. When I put a stop to it he growled " My uncle smashed the back window out hauling firewood when his pickup was a week old."
Exactly my point!!!

I am rather **** about hauling items such as long pry bars, ice chisels et.at. They are always crosswise in the bed. If I ever so leave the road, I don't need a steel missile joining me in the front seat.

Don't toss a loose ratchet strap in the bed of the truck.

A buddy who works for one of the city waste water companies tossed a loose ratchet strap in the bed of the truck.

He was driving down the road, and all of a sudden the back glass in the truck was shattered.

The tail from the ratchet strap go picked up by the wind, and eventually dropped down between the cap and bed of the truck.

It was all good until the tail of the ratchet strap got wound into the drive shaft

The strap also cut a channel down the bed of the truck by the cab, and the ratchet portion of the strap was what busted out the window.

The pictures he took were impressive

He then had to have an awkward talk with his boss to explain the damage to the truck.

 

[Renze]

It was all good until the tail of the ratchet strap got wound into the drive shaft

When i visited my cousin in Canada in 2004, the wheel well of his Ram 2500 was yanked up, with a sharp fold. He drove over a loose ratchet strap, which yanked on the fixed end of the strap. It was a yank he lost a few mph of speed over, so it must have been pretty serious...

 

[WinterDeere]

When i visited my cousin in Canada in 2004, the wheel well of his Ram 2500 was yanked up, with a sharp fold. He drove over a loose ratchet strap, which yanked on the fixed end of the strap. It was a yank he lost a few mph of speed over, so it must have been pretty serious...

A buddy saw a truck lose half its bed, driving down the highway, due to a loose and trailing ratchet strap. I don't remember the exact details, I only heard the story second-hand, but my buddy saw the loose strap just a few seconds before he watched the passenger side of the bed peel off the truck in front of him.

 

[BigBlue1]

I was fortunate that on my first load/trip working for a lumberyard in my college days I put ratchet straps on the load but didn't fasten the strap tail well and it came loose. It flopped around and finally got ran over by the rear duals and snapped. Saw/heard it immediately and pulled over. Didn't lose anything on the load. But I quickly learned that managing your straps and tails well was important. Never had another strap issue in 37 years.

 

[WM75Guy]

I just make some loops with the tail and slide in back thru the ratchet. Then I lock the handle down. Never have issues.

 

[gstrom99]

The leftover "tails" on my big straps are always too long. I've stopped myself from cutting them shorter - as soon as I did that, I'd have been sorry. They always get tied up real good.

 

[Topzide]

Carry rolls of "electrical tape" to take care of those loose ends. Can also help with the storage of straps.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have one strap cut to length for my snowsled, and another for my ATV.
Then a couple more left full length.

 

[Runner]

Ratchet strap ends:

I like this method.

Then , I strap down the rolled-up loose end with a bungee cord.