Check Your Ramps!

[Localmotion]

I'm sure my fellow TBN don't need reminding about safety, but thought it wise to share my little mis-hap that happend today...

We move all our machinery using a 7.5 tonne lorry - however to save on operating a second vehicle ours is fitted with a tipping body. While not a problem for our tracked excavator, this makes it very difficult to load & unload tractors - We have to use fairly long ramps, and even then the gradient is quite steep.

Usually when using the ramps, I tip the lorry body slightly, to lessen the gradient on the ramps (as front of body goes up, the back goes down), but today I was unloading at a customers property with a low bank (which I have used several times before), so did not need to tip the body...

To cut a long story short... while backing the tractor down, one of my ramps sunk into the ground (we've had quite a lot of rain) while the other stayed solid. As the tractor was starting to lean, and showing signs of rolling, I dropped the plough to lower the centre of gravity, which then bent / broke the second ramp - to be fair it stopped me rolling, but the result was that the tractor was half on and half off the lorry.

After much pondering we managed to off-load the tractor by tipping the lorry bed steeply, and allowing the front weights to "slide" down the bed.

So what is the morral of this story?..

1 - Check the ground conditions carfeully before using ramps.
2 - Check your ramps regually for signs of damage / wear - ours should not have bent so easily, and afterwards I found a rusted broken weld...
3 - Always expect the unexpected....

Tomorrow I'll go back with the excavator and build an earth ramp for future use :thumbsup:

 

[KubotaSam]

I have a high trailer which needs long ramps to load my tractor. I always scares me driving up and down these ramps. I don't think I could break mine they are 2" thick oak and my tractor with backhoe is less than 2000 lbs but it still makes me nervous each time I load or unload.

 

[Reg]

I guess I'm a BIT puzzled that you weren't using any sort of "pads" on the soft ground.

On customers' sites they would reduce denting of asphalt driveways (In USA it is often called "black-top", but in the summer time it is known as "soft top") and on any unknown surface pads reduce the risk of sinking.

So, why is their use NOT a part of your SOP ?

 

[wolc123]

Thanks for posting, it is especially timely for myself. A few weeks ago, I loaded my Farmall cub into the back of my 8-foot pickup bed using a couple oak planks. I backed the truck's rear axle into a ditch, to lower the grade, then backed the tractor into the truck bed. Traction was horrible, on them wooden ramps going backward into the truck, but I made it ok. Over at the mechanic's place, there is no suitable ditch for loading, after the clutch is repaired. My plan is to back the tractor up to the ramps, then put it in neutral, shut it off, and get off. I will then attach a small chain-fall to hooks on the front of the truck-bed and to the tractor's drawbar, and winch the machine up. I am thinking that should be much safer than trying to drive the tractor up the steep grade. I will let you know how it went, hopefully in the next week or two.