Good job of chaining down your tractor?

[Diamondpilot]

As many of you know I am a pilot. When I pulled up to the Sleep Inn in Ruston, La today to check in after a day of flying from my home base in Muncie Indiana, to Oxford/Henderson North Carolina, and then to my final destination for the day of Ruston Louisiana I seen this rig pulled right up front of the hotel. I snapped some pictures while I was waiting to check in with my phone. Sorry for the picture quality but like I said it was with my phone.

Anyway he was pulling a 16' pipe top landscape trailer with no brakes behind a 3-4 year old F-150 2 wheel drive. No weight distribution hitch but the truck was doing fine. Look at the chain down job. No chain on the rear and the one on the front is a joke. The tractor is a John Deere 5105 and according to JD's site it weighs 3,850# and the 6' Bush Hog weighs 764# according to their site for a total load of 4,614#. He was fine as far as weight but his lack of proper chains and tie down procedures plus the absence of brakes on the trailer make him a accident waiting to happen.

Anyway, thought you guys would like this.

Chris

 

[LoneCowboy]

pretty scary

 

[Duffster]

If he has the park brake on it will be fine.

 

[NSBound]

If he has the park brake on it will be fine.

Not if it's as effective as mine!

 

[Ductape]

Looks to me like the end of the tailwheel is more than 3' beyond the tail lights too.

 

[Diamondpilot]

If he has the park brake on it will be fine.

I assume you are joking? I have seen 12,000# boats come forward on a trailer in a panic stop. This tractors brake or even that pipe top rail would be no match for a tractor sliding in a panic stop or head on collision.

Chris

 

[Duffster]

I assume you are joking?

Of course.

 

[Builder]

The tractor is loaded too far back on the trailer creating very little tongue weight. The way you can tell is by looking at the rear set of wheels on the trailer. They're sprung down more than the front set.

My guess is it's an 7-8,000 lb load and only about 10% (7-800 lbs) tongue weight on the bumper. The F-150 looks saggy even with that small amount of tongue weight, just look at that whopping 3" of fender to top of tire clearance.

By the looks of the tie down job and the way the equipment is loaded, must be a real genius that owns that rig. That dope needs some driver training and a MVCE cop to go through his truck & trailer with a ticket book. He also forgot to cross the safety chains under the hitch.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The tractor is loaded too far back on the trailer creating very little tongue weight. The way you can tell is by looking at the rear set of wheels on the trailer. They're sprung down more than the front set.

My guess is it's an 7-8,000 lb load and only about 10% 700-800 lbs tongue weight on the bumper. The F-150 looks saggy even with that small amount of tongue weight, just look at that whopping 3" of fender to top of tire clearance.

By the looks of the tie down job and the way the equipment is loaded, must be a real genius that owns that rig. That dope needs some driver training and a MVCE cop to go through his truck & trailer with a ticket book.

Come on. As I said its a 2 wheel drive F-150 and its sitting level. The trailer is definitely riding on the rear axle but somehow or another he made it down the highway from Texas without a blow out. A bigger issue is the way he has his ball mount flipped. I agree its too far back on the trailer but the tractor and BH weigh just over 4,600# and the trailer is probably 1,500# so his load is just over 6,100#. He does need to go to proper chain down/securing school. Heck, if this guy had 4 small ratchet straps on it he would be better off than he is now.

Chris

 

[flusher]

As many of you know I am a pilot. When I pulled up to the Sleep Inn in Ruston, La today to check in after a day of flying from my home base in Muncie Indiana, to Oxford/Henderson North Carolina, and then to my final destination for the day of Ruston Louisiana I seen this rig pulled right up front of the hotel. I snapped some pictures while I was waiting to check in with my phone. Sorry for the picture quality but like I said it was with my phone.

Anyway he was pulling a 16' pipe top landscape trailer with no brakes behind a 3-4 year old F-150 2 wheel drive. No weight distribution hitch but the truck was doing fine. Look at the chain down job. No chain on the rear and the one on the front is a joke. The tractor is a John Deere 5105 and according to JD's site it weighs 3,850# and the 6' Bush Hog weighs 764# according to their site for a total load of 4,614#. He was fine as far as weight but his lack of proper chains and tie down procedures plus the absence of brakes on the trailer make him a accident waiting to happen.

Anyway, thought you guys would like this.

Chris

Roger that. Scary looking POS.

That's why I'm looking to trade my 2001 F150 XLT for a 10-15 year old 1-ton flatbed truck and a 20-ft GN trailer to haul my parade tractors which are in the 4000-5000 lb range.