Do You Block The Trailer Rear End Before Loading?

[KennyG]

I carry jack stands on the trailer and always use them loading or unloading the tractor.

 

[flyingcow]

I appear to be the only person in my group of friends that places a large wood block under the rear of my 20 foot trailer before I drive the tractor onto the deck. Will the weight and leverage of 8,000 pounds do any damage to the trailer hitch ball or suspension on a pick up truck? None of these friends load anywhere this much weight on their smaller trailers and 2 in the group have never even towed a trailer much less load one yet seem to know everything in their opinion. I have loaded and towed trailers for over 45 years and have always blocked the rear end first not wanting to see the rear end of the truck lift so high in the air during the initial loading. Am I being a girly man about this?

Solid blocks of wood or jack stands. Takes a couple of minutes. plus emergency brake is set.

 

[Sysop]

If it is a dove/beaver/drop tail I just drive on with my tractor or anything else that will have clearance to do so. If the stress of driving up on the back and pushing it 10" to the ground, levering up on the back of the truck and the hitch is going to bend or break anything, it's not something I want to take down the road impacting bumps or taking the torsion of the turns and whatever else. If it will bend simply driving up on it slowly, what is it going to do if I have to brake hard or have to drop off the edge of the pavement some to escape an oncoming driver taking their half of the road out of the middle???

I'd MUCH rather break the trailer or hitch in the driveway loading up than going down the road at 50MPH...

My only concern in doing such a thing has only ever been taking enough weight off the rear of the truck the backend would move. For that reason I generally keep the truck parked in low range, chock both front tires front and rear, and put a chock between the axles of the trailer on both sides.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I don't know Sysop. I'm all for building things 100% overstrength, but if your trailer front and truck back are being lifted 10 feet in the air loading stuff, I'd have to say you probably ain't doing something right. I'll go back to minding my own business and eating my lunch.

 

[Sysop]

If you look close it says " (inches) not ' (feet). I've never edited that post, it's always been that way. Vision been checked recently Doc? Eyes are one of the first things to fail us...

 

[Sysop]

Oh, and that is only how far down the back of the trailer has to go to reach the ground, not how far it lifts the truck. Being a dovetail trailer, the back part of the deck doesn't need to go down much to roll up on it.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

My ramps on my GN usually touch the ground long before anything bad happens if they aren't already into the dirt. This is exactly why I won't own a straight deck trailer with slide in ramps though. If you ever load anything with a decent weight, you have a good chance of picking the truck up off the ground.

 

[handirifle]

I do. I once lifted the rear wheels of a Ram 2500 four feet off the ground loading a large rock.

Chris

Oops! Things that make you go hmmmm.....

 

[Xfaxman]

No, I don't, the ramps do it for me. :thumbsup:

 

[mjonesnh]

I use a 3 ton jack stand in middle of trailer .